Please help clarify the question in the title.
The question mark as the term explanation says "Your price start date" for 'Offer Release Date' and "Provide the merchant release date using YYYY-MM-DD format" for 'Merchant Release Date'.
I read some comments about the 'Offer Release Date' is the one for product launch date (listing goes live on Amazon). This doesn't align with the term explanation at all.
Thank you.
Offer Release Date: The date a seller selects to begin selling the product.
Merchant Release Date: The date the product first came to market.
This does make a difference in some cases. Example:
I sell DVD's. A new movie begins in the theatre October 1st. 28 days later (10-28-24) is the Manufacturer's release date for the DVD. However, I receive the DVD's to sell a month before the movie is released. BUT... I better not sell them before the merchant release date of Oct.28th, or they will close my account.