Overview

Amazon sellers frequently encounter error 90012 when uploading product feeds through Seller Central. The message means the file is missing one or more columns that Amazon’s system expects for the chosen category or feed type. Fixing the issue quickly is essential to keep listings live and avoid sales interruptions.

Key Points

• Required column omission — If a mandatory header such as product-id or price is absent, Amazon rejects the entire feed. For example, a clothing seller who leaves out the size column will see error 90012.
• Header mismatches — Extra spaces, misspellings, or different capitalization (e.g., Item Name vs. item name) break the exact‑match rule and trigger the error.
• Out‑of‑date templates — Amazon updates its flat‑file templates several times a year; a template downloaded six months ago may lack newly required fields like fulfillment-channel.
• Category‑specific fields — Electronics listings require a battery-type column, while home‑goods do not; using a generic template can omit needed columns.
• Manual spreadsheet edits — Deleting a column to simplify the view or using “find‑replace” that alters header text can unintentionally remove required data.
• Bulk‑upload tools — Third‑party listing software that caches an old template will generate feeds missing the latest columns, leading to repeated 90012 rejections.

How to Resolve Error 90012

1. Download the latest template — Go to Inventory → Add Products via Upload in Seller Central, click Download Template, and select the exact category (e.g., “Sports & Outdoors”). A seller launching a new line of yoga mats would choose the “Sports & Outdoors – Yoga” template, which contains the current mandatory headers.
2. Open both files side‑by‑side — Use a spreadsheet program to display the fresh template and the seller’s existing feed next to each other. This visual comparison makes it easy to spot missing headers; for instance, the new template may list  while the old file does not.