Invalid Shipping Label
shipping_label is a custom identifier you use to group products for shipping rate purposes. It lets you assign different shipping rules to different product categories: 'oversized', 'fragile', 'hazardous', 'perishable', 'free-shipping-eligible'. The label itself can be any string up to 100 characters, but it must match a label configured in your GMC shipping settings. An invalid label means the value doesn't match any configured shipping rule — causing the product to fall back to default shipping or fail shipping calculation.
Invalid value [shipping_label]Impact: Invalid shipping_label doesn't disapprove products, but it breaks your ability to apply product-specific shipping rates. Without a valid shipping label, products fall back to your default shipping rate, which may be incorrect for oversized, hazardous, or special-shipping items. This causes actual shipping charges at checkout to differ from what shoppers saw in ads.
Root Causes
- 1Your feed submits a shipping_label value but no corresponding label is configured in GMC shipping settings (Tools → Shipping and returns → Shipping services → Labels).
- 2Typo in the shipping_label value — 'oversized' in feed but 'oversize' in GMC settings.
- 3Case sensitivity mismatch — 'OVERSIZED' in feed but 'oversized' in GMC.
- 4You configured shipping labels for one country's shipping rules but assigned them to products in feeds targeting other countries where those rules don't exist.
- 5Label exceeds 100 characters or uses unsupported characters.
Fix by Platform
- 1First: configure shipping labels in GMC. Go to Tools → Shipping and returns → Shipping services → Add service with custom label for each product category (e.g., 'oversized', 'fragile').
- 2In Shopify, add a metafield: Settings → Custom data → Products → Add definition. Namespace: 'google', Key: 'shipping_label', Type: Single line text.
- 3Set the value on applicable products (e.g., 'oversized' on furniture products, 'fragile' on glass products).
- 4In your feed app: map 'shipping_label' to the google.shipping_label metafield.
- 5Verify the label values in your feed exactly match labels configured in GMC (case, spelling, spaces).
{{ product.metafields.google.shipping_label }}When This Doesn't Apply
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Frequently Asked Questions
What values can I use for shipping_label?+
Any text string up to 100 characters. Common conventions: 'oversized', 'fragile', 'hazardous', 'perishable', 'express-only', 'free-shipping', 'freight'. The label is just a key — it only has meaning when matched to corresponding shipping rules in your GMC settings. Keep labels simple, lowercase, hyphen-separated for consistency.
How do I configure shipping labels in GMC?+
Go to Tools → Shipping and returns → Shipping services. Create a service (or edit existing) → Advanced settings → Add a shipping rate based on 'Shipping label' → enter the label name and set the specific rate for products with that label. Repeat for each label. Products without a matching label use your default shipping rate.
Can I use multiple shipping_labels on one product?+
No, shipping_label accepts a single value per product. If a product needs multiple shipping behaviors (e.g., oversized AND fragile), create a compound label like 'oversized-fragile' and configure a corresponding shipping rule in GMC for that combination.
Why is my shipping_label flagged as invalid even though I set it?+
Most common cause: the label value in your feed doesn't match any label configured in GMC shipping settings — case-sensitive and whitespace-sensitive. Double-check for typos. Second common cause: the label works for one country but not others. Shipping labels must be configured per country in GMC. If you target US and DE, both countries' shipping configurations need to include the label.