Overview

Error 20005 is a common catalog error that Amazon sellers encounter when attempting to upload product images through inventory files or data feeds. This error indicates that Amazon cannot link an image to a specific SKU because the underlying product listing has unresolved data issues that must be fixed first. Understanding the root causes and resolution steps can save sellers significant time and prevent listing delays.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Images depend on valid product data — Amazon will not process image uploads for a SKU that has other pending errors or validation failures in the catalog. The product data must be clean before images can be associated.
• SKU must exist in the catalog — If a SKU has not been fully created or approved, any image uploads targeting that SKU will fail with this error.
• Incorrect SKU references cause failures — A mismatch between the SKU listed in your product image data feed and the actual SKU in your catalog will trigger error 20005.
• Image specifications matter — Even when product data is correct, images that do not meet Amazon's technical requirements and style guidelines will be rejected.
• Fix other errors first — This error is often a downstream symptom of other product data problems. Resolving those upstream issues frequently clears error 20005 automatically.

Why This Error Occurs

Error 20005 is essentially a dependency error. When sellers submit inventory files or product data feeds, Amazon processes the data in stages. If the product information associated with a particular SKU fails validation at an earlier stage, all subsequent steps — including image association — are blocked. This means that even if your images are perfectly formatted and meet every technical specification, they will still be rejected if the SKU they reference has unresolved issues elsewhere in the submission.

The most frequent triggers include submitting a new product listing with data errors in required fields, referencing a SKU that does not yet exist in the Amazon catalog, using an incorrect or mistyped SKU identifier in the image feed, or uploading images that fail to meet Amazon's file format, resolution, or content guidelines. In many cases, sellers see this error alongside other error codes that point to the actual root cause.