What is the sale price effective date in Merchant Center?
WeAdU · Updated 5 October 2026
In Merchant Center, the sale price effective date attribute `[sale_price_effective_date]` tells Google how long to show the sale price. Without it, the sale price applies as soon as you upload it.
What it isn't
The price, already in the glossary, is the amount outside a promotion. While the promotion runs, the sale price holds the promotional amount. A price mismatch is a gap between the product data and the landing page. It has nothing to do with how long a promotion runs. The subscription cost `[subscription_cost]` is for a subscription to a physical good, not a standard promotion. Custom labels and the feed label are separate topics.
Figures from our homepage
Copied word for word from https://weadu.com/ on 5 November 2026.
| Block | Exact text |
|---|---|
| Clients | 70% of clients see a higher ROAS after we restructure their accounts |
| Scope | 14 of 20 clients, over 12 months |
| Spend | $32M+ ad spend managed |
| Sales | $241M+ in sales generated |
| Tracking | $132M+ tracked in Google Ads |
| Conversions | 5.3M+ conversions |
| Duration | 24+ years (2002) |
What Google's help page says
The help page, read on 5 November 2026, makes the attribute optional for each product. Use it when the sale price `[sale_price]` marks a promotion. It then sets the window when the sale amount shows. The value is a date range in ISO 8601 format: a start date and time, then an end date and time, separated by a forward slash. You can add a time zone to the time, or the letter Z for UTC.
Beyond the format, the help sets no minimum requirement. It still recommends sending the time and time zone with the date. With no time, the sale starts at midnight on the start date and ends at 11:59 PM on the end date. With no time zone, Google uses UTC.
In a multi-brand file
Sometimes a promotion only covers one colour or one size. Put the date range on that row, with its sale price, not on the whole group. The item group id ties variants together without merging their promotions. When sales differ, each row in a multi-brand file keeps its own window.
Where we describe catalogue work
From the Automate step on our homepage, read on 5 October 2026: "Daily product classification, custom label updates, and feed maintenance." Our article on Performance Max structure, linked below, is the source for catalogue work.
What the WeAdU audit covers
From our homepage, read on 5 October 2026: "The free audit covers Google Ads only." This page gives no Google Ads account figures.
Help pages
Merchant Center help page read on 5 November 2026.