Overview

Amazon reports error 20004 when its servers cannot fetch a product image from the URL supplied in a seller’s inventory feed. The failure blocks the image from appearing on the listing, which can delay launches and lower conversion rates. Sellers who use bulk feeds need to understand the root causes and apply a systematic fix to keep their catalogs fully visual.

Key Points

• Error 20004 = image download failure — Amazon’s feed processor tries to retrieve the file at the exact URL you provided; if every attempt fails, the error is logged.
• Multiple download attempts are made — Amazon does not give up after the first try; it repeats the request several times, so a transient glitch rarely triggers the error.
• Typical culprits are missing files, redirects, timeouts, or hosting limits — A broken link, an HTML redirect, a server that stalls, or a host that throttles Amazon’s requests will all produce the same code.
• Diagnosis must be URL‑specific — Each image URL in the feed should be tested individually to pinpoint which one is causing the problem.
• Resolution varies by cause — Re‑uploading the image, replacing a redirect with a direct link, or improving server reliability are the three main remedy categories.

How the Image Retrieval Process Works

1. Feed submission — When a seller uploads a product feed, Amazon parses each row and extracts the image URL field. Example: a row for SKU 12345 includes https://myhost.com/images/sku12345.jpg.
2. Server request — Amazon’s backend initiates an HTTP GET request to the supplied URL, expecting a direct image file (JPEG, PNG, or GIF). Example: Amazon’s crawler contacts the host and looks for a 200 OK response with an image MIME type.
3. Redirect handling — If the URL returns a 301/302 redirect, Amazon follows the redirect only if it leads directly to an image file; otherwise it treats the response as a failure. Example: http://short.link/sku12345 redirects to a landing page, causing error 20004.