Unlock The Secret To Smooth Amazon Product Updates

Author

Adam Weiler
February 01, 2025

Welcome Back to the Emplicit Weekly Newsletter!

Every Saturday, we'll share an actionable Amazon & TikTok growth guide with practical tactics and strategies to help you dominate your competition and scale your Amazon sales. This newsletter will remain free forever. We hope you enjoy!

At Emplicit, we've helped over 500+ eCommerce brands earn $550 million in sales through Amazon.

Want to boost your sales using Amazon & TikTok? Click here to book a call & claim a Free audit of your store/brand.

If you've ever encountered the frustrating "Error 8541" when updating product attributes, you’re in the trenches.

Here’s how to get out of them:

This catalog mismatch error can be a nightmare, often forcing you to delete and re-list products.

But we've cracked the code.

Here's the game-changing solution we discovered:

Use ASIN as your product ID instead of UPC when uploading flatfiles.

Let's break down why this works and how to implement it:

1️⃣ One of a Kind

ASINs are unique to each product, unlike UPCs which can be linked to multiple items.

ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) are one of a kind, they’re like fingerprints for your products on Amazon. Each ASIN is tied to one specific item in Amazon's catalog.

For example:

- ASIN: B07X6C9RMF (Unique to a specific color and size of a product)
- UPC: 885909950805 (Could be used for multiple variations or even different products)

Using ASINs eliminates confusion and ensures you're updating the exact product you intend to.

2️⃣ Speak Amazon’s Language

When you use UPCs, Amazon's system sometimes struggles to match your data with the right product in their catalog. This is where Error 8541 often pops up.

Here's what typically happens:

1. You upload a flatfile with UPC as the identifier
2. Amazon's system tries to match it to their catalog
3. If there's any discrepancy (even minor), you get Error 8541

By using ASINs, you're speaking Amazon's language. It's like giving them an exact address instead of a general neighborhood.

3️⃣ Keep it Clean

Every ASIN is linked to only one UPC (sometimes none at all).

This is crucial. In the past, some sellers would "hijack" UPCs, linking them to multiple products. This created a mess in Amazon's catalog.

With ASINs:

- One ASIN = One product
- One ASIN = One UPC (at most)
- Some ASINs don't even have UPCs

This clean, one-to-one relationship makes updates smoother and more reliable.

How to implement this change:

1. Open your flatfile template
2. Find the column for product identifier
3. Instead of entering UPCs, enter your product's ASIN
4. Save and upload as usual

After implementing this across our department, we've seen a dramatic decrease in Error 8541 occurrences.

This simple switch has saved our clients (who collectively spend $100M+ on Amazon ads) thousands in potential lost sales and wasted time.

Real-world impact:

- Before: 20% of uploads resulted in Error 8541
- After: Less than 1% encounter this error

That's a 95% reduction in errors!

In the fast-paced world of Amazon selling, every minute saved on errors is a minute you can spend growing your business.

Make the switch to ASIN-based uploads.

Until next week,

Adam

Enjoyed this?

Here are some other newsletters you might find useful:

Whenever you are ready, here’s how we can help you:

Grow Your Brand on Amazon & TikTok with 100% hands-off marketplace management

We've helped over 500 clients earn more than $550 million on Amazon. If you need help making the most of the Amazon opportunity, click here to book a call & claim a Free audit of your store/brand.