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Digital Phablet has announced updates to the Google Merchant Center pricing policies scheduled for September. The revisions include changes to merchant fees, government charges, import and export expenses, regional and installment pricing, price discrepancies, and automated price updates.
This development was initially noted by Emmanuel Flossie, who shared details on his blog and LinkedIn. He highlighted that Google has clarified the handling of import and export costs within its Merchant Center policies.
Merchants are now required to either incorporate these costs into their product prices or explicitly disclose them on their websites, such as within shipping policies. Charges imposed directly by governments, like duties or taxes, should not be added to the product feed’s pricing or shipping information. The goal is to promote transparency, ensuring consumers understand total costs upfront and reducing unexpected charges during checkout.
Here’s a quick summary of the key points:
(1) Merchants must disclose fees they impose, such as service, processing, activation, or handling charges, in the shipping details or settings, when legally permissible in their region.
(2) Government-imposed fees (like taxes or duties) cannot be included in product or shipping prices.
(3) The Regional Availability & Pricing (RAAP) feature, once limited to select countries, is now accessible in many additional countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, India, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, among others.
(4) Newly updated attribute guidelines specify that installment payment options and energy-efficiency attributes should be categorized under the certification attribute.
Additionally, Emmanuel shared a video explaining these updates.
Discussions about these changes are active on professional forums and social media platforms.