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Likely cause: Play Store caching + account eligibility
This is a very common Google Play Billing issue after moving from testing tracks to production.
When in-app products show in internal/closed testing but not for real users after release, the usual causes are:
Play Store cache tied to tester accounts
If products appear only on the same device/tester account used during testing, it means:
Google Play cached the billing configuration
Tester accounts bypass some production checks
Real users fetch fresh catalog data and may see nothing if something isn’t fully propagated
This is normal behavior.
Product propagation delay in production
Even when products show as Active, Google’s backend may take:
up to 24 hours normally
sometimes several days
to propagate to all regions and accounts.
During this time:
testers see products
new users don’t
This happens frequently after first production release.
License tester vs real user behavior
If your tester email is still listed under:
Play Console → Setup → License testing
then:
products load immediately for that account
but may not load for non-test users yet
This explains why purchases work on your device but not others.
Play Store app caching on user devices
Sometimes the issue is simply stale Play Store data.
Users can try:
clearing Play Store cache
clearing Google Play Services cache
restarting device
reinstalling app from Play Store
This often resolves missing products.
Make sure the product IDs exist in production APK/AAB
Even if you used the same build, confirm:
the uploaded production artifact actually contains the same product IDs
no feature flags hide them
the correct billing key is used
A common mistake is uploading a different build variant than expected.
What usually fixes it
In most cases this resolves automatically within a few days once:
- products fully propagate
- users refresh Play Store cache
- real accounts begin querying the catalog
Since your tester device works and real purchases succeed, your setup is likely correct and this is a propagation/caching issue.
Recommendation
Wait another 24–48 hours, then:
test with a completely new Google account
on a fresh device
after clearing Play Store cache
If products still don’t appear, it’s likely a backend Play Billing sync issue that only Google can fix (your support ticket was the right move).
