Google uses handling time and transit time to show shoppers an estimated delivery date. When part of that is missing, Merchant Center shows "Missing shipping sub-attribute" or "Missing value: cutoff time". This guide explains each part and where to fix it.
How Google builds a delivery estimate
Google adds maximum handling days to maximum transit days, counting business days only.
- Handling time: Business days you need to process an order before it ships
- Transit time: Business days the carrier needs to deliver after pickup
- Cut-off time: The time after which orders start processing the next business day. Google says it is optional and defaults to 8:00 a.m. PST
Orders placed after the cut-off get an extra business day in the estimate.
What the issues mean
"Missing shipping sub-attribute" means a product lacks one of the three values Google needs for a delivery estimate: max_transit_time, max_handling_time and price. Google says the transit and handling values are then not used for the affected products, though the shipping price can still be used. "Missing value: cutoff time" means a shipping service in Merchant Center has no cut-off time entered.
| Issue | What is missing |
|---|---|
| Missing shipping sub-attribute | Transit time, handling time or price on a product |
| Missing value: cutoff time | The cut-off time on a shipping service |
Most cases come from mixing account settings and product-level values. Google says a handling time set on a product overrides the Merchant Center value for that product only. A product with a handling time but no transit time, or a transit time but no price, triggers the issue.
Find the affected products
In Merchant Center, open Products, go to the Needs attention tab and filter by the issue name. Then check where your shipping values come from. Shopify's Google & YouTube channel offers to import your Shopify shipping settings automatically or leave shipping for you to set up in Merchant Center. Whichever you chose, open the shipping policy in Merchant Center and check the delivery times it shows.
Fix it
For account settings, go to Shipping and returns, then the Shipping policies tab, and edit the policy with the pencil icon. In the Delivery times section, enter handling time and transit time as a minimum and maximum, and set a cut-off time and time zone. For one product, open it from the Needs attention tab, choose Edit product and add the missing values under shipping. For many, correct the data and resubmit it.
- Same speed for everything: Set handling and transit once in the shipping policy
- Slower items: Use max_handling_time and min_handling_time on those products only
- Different areas or groups: Google says shipping_label can apply different transit times
Keep estimates accurate
Shoppers see the maximum figure, so set times you can meet, including busy periods. Google adds a day when handling or transit overlaps a listed holiday.
- ✅ Handling time that reflects your real dispatch speed
- ✅ Product-level values only where they differ from the default
- ❌ Half-filled product overrides, such as handling time without transit time
If the shipping cost itself is missing, see how to fix missing shipping.
Doing this at scale
FeedFix checks every product against Google Merchant Center and Meta Catalog rules and scores each one from 0 to 100 per channel, so you can see which products have data problems. It drafts compliant title and description rewrites you review as before/after diffs, apply in bulk, and every change is audit-logged. See FeedFix.