Overview

Error 13013 is a common feed processing error that Amazon sellers encounter when attempting to update or manage a SKU that doesn't actually exist in Amazon's catalog. This error blocks updates to pricing, inventory, images, and shipping overrides until the underlying product listing issue is resolved. Understanding what triggers this error and how to fix it can save sellers significant time and frustration when managing their catalog.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Root cause — This error fires when you try to modify a SKU that was never successfully created in Amazon's catalog, or one that has been deleted.
• Affected feed types — The error can appear in inventory feeds, pricing feeds, shipping override feeds, and XML product data feeds.
• Not always a problem — If you intentionally deleted a product and then see this error on a deletion feed, no action is needed.
• 24-hour waiting period — If you deleted a SKU and want to recreate it, you must wait at least 24 hours before resubmitting.
• Original identifiers required — When resubmitting product data, use your original UPC or GTIN rather than a suggested ASIN to avoid catalog matching issues.

Common Causes

Error 13013 typically surfaces when there is a disconnect between the product data you are submitting and what actually exists in Amazon's catalog. The most frequent scenario is attempting to update pricing, inventory levels, or images for a SKU that failed its initial creation. This can happen silently — a product data feed may appear to have processed, but individual SKUs within that feed may have been rejected due to errors. Sellers also trigger this error when submitting shipping override files that reference SKUs not yet established in the catalog, or when trying to post XML feeds for products that were never successfully added through a product data feed.

Another common trigger is attempting to modify a SKU that was recently deleted. Amazon's catalog system requires a cooling-off period before a deleted SKU can be recreated, and any feed submissions referencing that SKU during that window will return error 13013.