Resolving Error 6000: Invalid Date Entries in Seller Central File Uploads
Error 6000 occurs when a bulk upload contains an impossible date such as 2025‑02‑29. In a 5,000‑SKU file, up to 120 rows can be rejected, halting promotions. Adding a spreadsheet formula like =IF(AND(MONTH(A2)=2,DAY(A2)=29,MOD(YEAR(A2),4)<>0),DATE(YEAR(A2),2,28),A2) corrects non‑leap‑year Feb 29 entries.
Overview
Error 6000 appears when Amazon Seller Central detects an impossible calendar date in a bulk file upload, such as February 29 in a non‑leap year. The validation stops the offending rows, forcing sellers to edit and resend the file. Fixing the issue quickly prevents unnecessary delays in inventory, pricing, or catalog updates.
Key Points
- Invalid calendar day — The error is triggered whenever a date field references a day that does not exist for the given month, for example 2025‑02‑29.
- Typical culprit — Most sellers encounter the problem by entering February 29 during a standard year, when February only has 28 days.
- Leap‑year cycle — Leap years repeat every four years; recent examples are 2020, 2024, and 2028. Any year outside this pattern has a 28‑day February.
- Other impossible dates — Dates such as April 31, June 31, or September 31 also generate Error 6000 because those months have only 30 days.
- Partial upload effect — Only rows containing the invalid date are rejected; all other rows may still process successfully, leading to fragmented uploads.
How the Error Occurs
- File submission — The seller uploads a flat file (inventory, pricing, or catalog feed) through Seller Central’s bulk upload interface. For instance, a spreadsheet containing 5,000 SKU rows is selected and submitted.
- System validation — Amazon’s backend parses each row and checks every date column against the Gregorian calendar. If a row lists “2023‑02‑29,” the validator flags it because 2023 is not divisible by four.
- Error generation — The platform returns Error 6000 for each offending row, halting its processing while allowing the rest of the file to continue. The upload summary shows the number of rows rejected and the specific error code.
Context: Before vs. After Validation Fixes
- Before: A seller uploads a monthly inventory file on March 1, 2025, with a promotional start date set to “2025‑02‑29.” The system rejects 120 rows, and the seller must manually locate the bad dates, delaying the promotion launch.
Analysis & Recommendations
Why This Matters
Rejected rows force sellers to manually locate and fix dates, causing delays such as a promotion launch being postponed when 120 rows are blocked. Automating date correction saves minutes per upload and prevents revenue impact.
Key Takeaways
- Error 6000 is triggered by impossible dates like 2025‑02‑29 or April 31.
- A 5,000‑row upload can lose up to 120 rows due to invalid dates.
- A spreadsheet formula can auto‑convert non‑leap‑year Feb 29 to Feb 28.
- Running a Python/VBA audit script each 5 minutes catches date errors early.
Recommended Actions
- →In Seller Central, open the bulk upload template and add the provided IF formula to the date column to auto‑correct Feb 29 entries.
- →Create a Python or VBA script that scans the file for day numbers exceeding month limits; schedule it to run before each upload.
- →Maintain a leap‑year lookup table (2020, 2024, 2028, etc.) in the spreadsheet and reference it when validating date fields.
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