What happens if I submit a sale price without an effective date?

If you provide a sale_price but omit the effective date, the sale price will remain active indefinitely until you remove it from your feed.

How do I format the start and end dates?

You must use the ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmZ) and separate the start and end dates with a forward slash (/). For example: 2026-11-20T00:00-0800/2026-11-30T23:59-0800.

Are timezones required?

While some platforms like Google Merchant Products will default to UTC if no timezone is provided, it is highly recommended to explicitly state the timezone (e.g., +00:00, Z, or -0500) to ensure your sales start and end exactly when intended.

Sale Price Effective Date Attribute

The sale_price_effective_date attribute defines the specific date and time range during which your sale_price applies. This attribute allows you to pre-schedule promotions across Google Merchant Products, Facebook Products,Pinterest Products, Tiktok Products, and Reddit Products.

Submitting accurate effective dates ensures that your discounted prices are automatically applied and removed, preventing policy violations related to mismatched pricing between your ads and landing pages.

Contents:

Online Validator
Platform Comparison
General Requirements -Formatting Examples

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Platform Requirements Comparison

While all platforms use ISO 8601 standards, there are platform-specific naming conventions and behaviors.

Requirement	Google Merchant Products	Facebook Products	Pinterest Products	Tiktok Products	Reddit Products
XML Tag	`<g:sale_price_effective_date>`	`<g:sale_price_effective_date>`	`<g:sale_price_effective_date>`	`<g:sale_price_effective_date>`	`<g:sale_price_effective_date>`
CSV Header	`sale_price_effective_date`	`sale_price_effective_date`	`sale_price_effective_date_attribute`	`sale_price_effective_date`	`sale_price_effective_date`
Format	`ISO 8601 / ISO 8601`	`ISO 8601 / ISO 8601`	`ISO 8601 / ISO 8601`	`ISO 8601 / ISO 8601`	`ISO 8601 / ISO 8601`
Timezone Default	UTC if omitted	Explicit recommended	Explicit recommended	Explicit recommended	Explicit recommended
Max Length	51 characters	Standard	Standard	Standard	51 characters
Special Notes	Starts at 12 AM if time omitted	Start/end date required	Uses a specific column name in CSV	Currently not strictly enforced for expiry	Overrides regular price only during this window

General Formatting Requirements

To successfully schedule your promotions, adhere to the following strict formatting rules:

ISO 8601 Compliance: Dates and times must be formatted as YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm[±hhmm] or YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmZ.
Separator: The start date/time and the end date/time MUST be separated by a single forward slash (/).
Time Designator: Use the capital letter T to separate the date from the time.
Timezone Offset: Always include the timezone offset from UTC (e.g., -0800, +02:00) or use Z for UTC. If omitted, platforms likeGoogle Merchant Products will default to UTC.
Dependency: This attribute is completely ignored if thesale_price is not provided.

Formatting Examples

XML Feed Format

Correct Formatting: Uses the 'T' designator, includes a timezone offset, and separates the start and end with a slash.

<g:sale_price>19.99 USD</g:sale_price>
<g:sale_price_effective_date>2026-11-25T00:00-0500/2026-11-30T23:59-0500</g:sale_price_effective_date>

Incorrect Formatting: Missing the 'T' designator, missing the timezone, and missing the slash separator.

<!-- Incorrect: Missing 'T' separator, timezone, and uses 'to' instead of a slash -->
<g:sale_price_effective_date>2026-11-25 00:00 to 2026-11-30 23:59</g:sale_price_effective_date>

CSV / TSV Feed Format

When working with CSV files, keep the string contiguous without spaces around the slash. Notice that Pinterest Products expects a specific header name in CSVs.

Correct Formatting: Valid date ranges with timezone indicators.

id,title,price,sale_price,sale_price_effective_date
SKU123,Premium Jacket,150.00 USD,99.00 USD,2026-12-01T00:00Z/2026-12-31T23:59Z

Correct Formatting (Pinterest CSV): Uses the Pinterest-specific column header.

id,title,price,sale_price,sale_price_effective_date_attribute
SKU124,Summer T-Shirt,25.00 USD,15.00 USD,2026-06-01T09:00:00.000Z/2026-06-15T21:00:00.000Z

Incorrect Formatting: Invalid date formats and missing slashes will cause feed failures.

id,title,price,sale_price,sale_price_effective_date
SKU125,Running Shoes,80.00 USD,50.00 USD,11/25/2026-11/30/2026