Condition in Merchant Center: new, used or refurbished

Merchant Center has three condition values, and your page has to agree with the one you send. New means unused and unopened; an opened box is used. Open-box stock, returns and B-grade items sent as new are the mismatch to hunt for, and they usually come from one template default.

Major4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

You run this check yourself

Our scanner can’t see inside your Google accounts, so this one’s on you. Work through the checklist below without running a scan.

Why this matters

Google's [condition] page defines the three values. New: “Your product is new and has never been used. It's in its original packaging, and has not been opened.” Refurbished: “While your product isn’t new, it's been professionally restored to working order so that it appears new, and comes with a warranty.” Used: “Your product is second-hand or has been modified from the original condition as sold by the manufacturer.” Its examples of used include a product where “the original packaging has been opened or is missing”. Condition is optional for new products and required for every used and refurbished one.

The page has to say the same thing. Google's landing page requirements put it in one line, “Make sure the product condition matches your product data.”, and the [condition] page explains why it matters: “It’s important to set this value correctly since it is used to refine search results.” Merchant Center's automatic item updates can correct condition too, and Google's page on them suggests using the words new, used or refurbished in your title or description so the values can be matched.

Comparing the feed value with each page is a manual check. StoreVerifier does not read your feed. The free scan reads the structured data on your product pages and flags condition markup that is missing or says something other than new, used or refurbished. Brand and identifiers are in brand attribute in Merchant Center, and every product-data check is on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

Condition wording: compare the feed and the page

StoreVerifier can capture the Product schema condition property and visible description text. Compare those public signals with the submitted feed condition yourself; the scan does not retrieve feed data.

Used iPhone 13 — Grade A

feed: new|'Certified Refurbished — Grade A, cleaned and tested'

B-stock headphones

feed: new|'Open box — original packaging opened by returns team'

Brand new MacBook Air (sealed)

feed: new|'Brand new, sealed in box, full 12-month Apple warranty'

Own-refurb laptop

feed: refurbished|'Manufacturer-certified refurbished, 6-month warranty'

Make the condition a shopper sees unambiguous, then compare the submitted item manually. The right product-page structure depends on the offer and current product-data guidance.

The public signals this check looks for:

The feed template sets every item to new, including customer returns, open-box and B-stock…
The feed template sets every item to new, including customer returns, open-box and B-stock.
The page says “Certified refurbished, grade A” while the product data says new
The page says “Certified refurbished, grade A” while the product data says new.
New and refurbished versions share one product page, with two rows in the feed pointing at…
New and refurbished versions share one product page, with two rows in the feed pointing at the same URL.
A “like new” or “open box” label on the page and no matching condition value in the feed
A “like new” or “open box” label on the page and no matching condition value in the feed.
Used or refurbished items sent with no [condition] value at all
Used or refurbished items sent with no [condition] value at all.
Items sold as refurbished that were only cleaned, with no restoration and no warranty
Items sold as refurbished that were only cleaned, with no restoration and no warranty.

What it looks like once it is right

Sealed handsets go out as new. The graded ones go out as refurbished on their own pages with the warranty stated, and the open-box ones as used, each page saying the same in words and in its structured data.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

A phone shop sends 300 handsets as new. The pages call 120 of them “Certified refurbished, grade A, 6-month warranty”, and the open-box ones say “box opened, never used”.

Self-check steps

Download your product list from Merchant Center and filter by [condition]. Every used or refurbished item must carry a value, and every value should be new, used or refurbished.
Search your product pages and titles for refurbished, renewed, pre-owned, open box, graded, B-stock, ex-display and second-hand, and check none of those items goes out as new.
Apply Google's definitions: unopened, unused and in the original packaging is new; restored to working order with a warranty is refurbished; opened or missing packaging is used.
Give new and refurbished versions their own product pages and URLs, each stating its condition near the title and the price.
Add the condition to each page's structured data as itemCondition (NewCondition, UsedCondition or RefurbishedCondition), matching the feed value.
Put the word used or refurbished in the title or description where it applies, which also helps automatic item updates match the value.
Fix the template default so only genuinely new stock defaults to new, set the rest per item, then re-send your product data.

Separate URLs for new and refurbished

Both conditions share the same product but must have different URLs and different product pages. The feed references the correct URL for each condition with the matching schema markup.

new

/products/iphone-13

Brand new, sealed box, 12-month Apple warranty

schema: NewCondition

refurbished

/products/iphone-13-refurbished

Manufacturer-certified refurbished, Grade A, 6-month warranty

schema: RefurbishedCondition

mixed (wrong)

/products/iphone-13

New or refurbished — select below

schema: NewCondition (only one schema, both on same page)

Separate URLs allow separate schema, separate feed items, and separate ad targeting. One URL for two conditions is always the wrong architecture.

Copy this, and change the parts in your own words

<g:condition>new</g:condition>
<!-- Accepted values: new | refurbished | used -->

Questions merchants ask

Is an open-box item new or used in Merchant Center?

Used. Google's [condition] definitions describe new as never used, in its original packaging and unopened, and list opened or missing packaging among the examples of used.

What counts as refurbished on Google Shopping?

Google's [condition] page defines refurbished as professionally restored to working order so that it appears new, and coming with a warranty. An item that was only cleaned, or has no warranty, does not meet that definition.

Do I need a condition value for new products?

No. Google's [condition] page makes it optional for new products and required for used and refurbished ones. Setting it on every row anyway makes a wrong template default easier to spot.

Remediation

Risk signal

Condition errors come in batches because they come from a default. One wrong template setting turns a refurbished catalogue into “new” overnight. Fix the default, match each page to its data, and let the words on the page say what the feed says.

PriorityAddress and document this finding as part of the store’s remediation work.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

Similar cases

Sources

Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

The free scan lists what it finds on your store. The paid report adds the affected pages, captured evidence and step-by-step fixes. Start free, with no account needed.