Invalid Shipping Weight
Your product has a shipping_weight attribute but its value or format is invalid. Google requires a numeric weight followed by a unit separated by a space: '2.5 kg', '1.2 lb', '500 g', '16 oz'. Common failures: missing units, wrong unit abbreviations ('kgs' instead of 'kg'), negative values, zero values, values that are too large to be a real product, or mixing different unit systems in the same feed.
Invalid value [shipping_weight]Impact: Invalid shipping weight causes product disapproval in countries where weight-based shipping costs are calculated. If your shipping rules use weight tiers and the product weight is invalid, Google can't calculate accurate shipping, so the product is disapproved. This affects all major shipping carriers' rate calculations and any country using weight-based shipping (US, UK, AU, DE, FR, etc.).
Root Causes
- 1Your feed submits shipping_weight as just a number ('2.5') without the unit — Google requires the unit appended.
- 2Wrong unit abbreviation — 'kgs' (plural), 'Kg' (capitalized), 'Kilos' (spelled out) all fail. Valid units: lb, oz, g, kg.
- 3Zero weight — products with weight 0 (common for digital or placeholder products) cause 'invalid value'. Use a minimal valid weight like '0.1 lb' or submit without shipping_weight.
- 4Extremely large values — a '500 kg' shipping weight on a t-shirt fails sanity check. Often caused by unit conversion errors (converting grams to pounds incorrectly).
- 5Decimal separator mismatch — European locales use comma (2,5 kg) but Google requires period (2.5 kg).
Fix by Platform
- 1Shopify stores variant-level weight with a unit (kg, g, lb, oz) configured in Settings → Shipping and delivery → Default package.
- 2Check your current weight values: product editor → variant → Shipping section → Weight. Ensure all variants have non-zero weights in a consistent unit.
- 3In your feed app (Simprosys, AdNabu), map 'shipping_weight' to the Shopify variant weight. Most feed apps auto-format to '{value} {unit}' correctly — verify by inspecting your feed XML.
- 4For zero-weight products (digital items, gift cards): exclude these from the Google feed entirely, or exclude shipping_weight for these specific products.
- 5Consistency check: run a Shopify report on products with zero weight or unusually high weights — these are the ones causing feed errors.
{% comment %} Build shipping_weight from Shopify variant {% endcomment %}
{% if variant.weight > 0 %}
{{ variant.weight }} {{ variant.weight_unit }}
{% endif %}When This Doesn't Apply
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Frequently Asked Questions
What units does Google accept for shipping_weight?+
Exactly four units: 'lb' (pounds), 'oz' (ounces), 'g' (grams), 'kg' (kilograms). Values go before the unit with a space: '2.5 kg', '16 oz', '500 g', '3 lb'. No other formats are accepted — 'pound', 'lbs', 'kilos', 'Kg' (capitalized) are all invalid. Use the decimal separator '.' (period) regardless of locale — European comma separators cause validation failures.
My products have zero weight because they're virtual. How do I handle this?+
Virtual products (digital downloads, services, memberships) should not have shipping_weight in the feed at all. Either: (a) exclude them from the Google Shopping feed entirely (they're typically not shoppable via Shopping ads anyway), (b) set shipping_weight to a minimal valid value like '0.1 lb' if they need to be in the feed for other reasons. Zero weight is always invalid; missing shipping_weight is acceptable.
Can I mix units in the same feed (some products in kg, others in lb)?+
Technically yes — each product row can have its own unit. But this is confusing for shipping configuration and prone to errors. Best practice: pick one unit for your entire feed (typically matching your primary market — lb for US-targeted feeds, kg for international). Consistent units simplify shipping rate setup in GMC and eliminate unit-conversion bugs.
What's the maximum shipping weight Google accepts?+
There's no explicit maximum, but extremely large values (>1000 kg) trigger sanity-check failures for consumer products. For legitimate large items (furniture, appliances), the real-world weight is accepted even above 500 lb. If you're selling industrial or freight-scale items, Google Shopping may not be the right channel — Shopping is primarily for consumer goods that fit standard parcel shipping.