The Truth About Buying UPC Codes

May 13, 2010 · 35 comments

Click Image to Make a Bar Code

If you ever wonder why I don’t post daily it is because what should be simple is often incredibly complicated and all the research takes a lot of my time. I then publish the results so others don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

If you sell products this post is important to you.

Amazon has recently started requiring UPC codes for products listed for sale. Genuine Seller wrote a beneficial post about Dealing with Amazon UPC Requirements that anyone who lists unique individual products should read.

If what you are selling already has a UPC code and you have either a bar code reader or the exact product name you can try to use a UPC database to look up UPC Codes. You can also try the Keyword.com bar code search.

Why we recommend everyone BOYCOTT AMAZON
They are intentionally risking their employees lives
and created an app to steal buyers from small businesses!

The codes DO make it easier for shoppers to compare prices which can be both good and bad; good because it makes it easy to compare prices and bad because it make is easy to make price the focus when it is NOT what either buyers or sellers should most care about.

This focus on buying cheap is what is destroying our economy and making us all poor! But that is a topic for an entirely different post so see what we can do to change all that is explained in my post Supporting Small Businesses.

This post is about how to buy UPC Codes without overspending or creating issues by buying from the wrong source.

If you have products manufactured that are not unique you are eventually going to need to buy a UPC code for each item if you want to sell at Amazon, on Shopping Comparison sites or in stores.

The very best explanation of the UPC issue is provided by Innovation Hall of Fame Member George Laurer. Read his information BEFORE you Buy UPC Numbers and what to do if you only need to purchase one UPC number (or a few).

I recommend you use his list of legitimate UPC resellers if you don’t want to register your own.

If you regularly have products manufactured or wish to control the registry of your UPC you should use the official USC registrar GS1US.org. Using them is the only way to have the UPC number registered directly to you.

All sites besides GS1US.org are resellers and the numbers they sell you are registered to them.

The Official GS1US site makes this claim:

“There’s only one U.P.C. barcode that’s accepted by retailers everywhere. And it’s only available from GS1 US.” ~ That is not entirely true ~

Even their own site mentions Solution Partners and articles like this one on buying UPC codes in the Washington Post acknowledge that there are legitimate UPC code resellers where you can buy a few or even buy one UPC code.

There is additional good information in this post about How to Sell your Book at Amazon on Kevin Kelly‘s Cool Tools site and in the comments there. The information Simply BarCodes published on UPC Codes for Amazon.

I also recommend StartUp Nation‘s How to Obtain a UPC Code especially if you are a business selling in traditional brick and mortar stores like Nordstrom or Bloomingdale or any of the other companies that now require them for everything they sell.

If you sell handmade goods or collectibles that do not have UPCs and are unique (one of a kind) follow this UPC advice from SingleFeed:

“Do your best to include these unique identifiers in your product feed, but do not make these numbers up. If you’re selling handmade goods, you will not have MPNs or UPCs. That’s actually ok. If you’re buying your inventory from a distributor/supplier and that product has a real manufacturer, though, you can get MPNs and UPCs. It’s going to take work as not all distributors/suppliers are used to giving out this information, but you have to keep on them to do so.”

This UPC issue is going to affect resellers and merchants on a growing number of channels including Amazon and Google Product Search. See the resources below for additional resources specific to those channels.

SELLING ON AMAZON:

UPC CODES GOOGLE:

Official Google Merchant Center: Unique Product Identifiers including Using UPC Codes on Google Product Feeds
Official Google Base Blog; Google Base MPC, UPC and ISBN Requirements
LoveYourFeedBlog: Google Base Requiring MPN & UPC for Google Product Search
Google Product Search Best Practices
Optimizing Google Product Feeds
Optimizing Google Base Product Feeds

Tagged as: amazon, Ecommerce, selling at amazon, upc codes

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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }

Barry Osandoval Twitter: none January 30, 2012 at 2:44 pm Twitter: @none

There’s a great ebook about UPC bar codes at: http://www.mybarcodestore.com

It explains all about how to get a UPC code, who is authorized to sell them, how to print them, and much more.

Sonia - Goodie Bags Twitter: gogogoodie January 23, 2012 at 1:01 pm Twitter: @gogogoodie

We are a small business and trying to enter the Amazon world. Our margins are very small and buying UPC codes is a big hurdle to doing business with Amazon. I’ve seen numerous sites offering “free” upc’s but I’m gathering these are just random numbers and not valid.
Bottom line, if I only need 5-10 codes what is my cheapest solution?
Thanks for the article and reading all the comments helped too!

growmap Twitter: GrowMap January 23, 2012 at 3:56 pm Twitter: @GrowMap

Hi Sonia,

If you’re sure you want to get on Amazon and they require UPC codes for your products you will want to buy them from a legitimate reseller as explained in this post. There are probably additional suggestions in the comments.

While Amazon is huge if your margins are small they are not what I would recommend. Have you looked into sites like Etsy or other alternatives to eBay?

Amazon is a hard site to make money from and many of us boycott Amazon because of their evil ways.
growmap would love you to read ..What If There Was an Easy Way to Get Your Tweets Retweeted? There Is – And It is Fast and Free

Sonia - Goodie Bags Twitter: gogogoodie January 23, 2012 at 4:07 pm Twitter: @gogogoodie: Hello Gail,

We are going to just try Amazon for a few months to test the water. It might not be a valuable outlet for us, but as of today, we are willing to give it a try. Being a new website it’s been a slow to build traffic to our site, so hopeful that we can use Amazon to create revenue while we improve our SEO. I do understand the negative feelings that are growing towards Amazon…. small businesses have a HARD time competing!

Reply

Luc December 21, 2011 at 6:19 pm

I will have to disagree with most here. I have sold products on Amazon using an ASIN code..not a UPC code, and get away with it for a very long time now. There’s always a way, kiddies.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap December 22, 2011 at 11:12 am Twitter: @GrowMap: While that may be true, anyone with a conscience should no longer be buying from, selling on, or promoting Amazon for the reasons explained in the post I’ll put in CommentLuv in this reply.
growmap would love you to read ..Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet

Reply

Edward Logan, DDS Twitter: ofallondentist November 2, 2011 at 11:49 am Twitter: @ofallondentist

Thanks for this great article and for all of the articles you site. I am trying to add a unique product to Amazon and debating the UPC reseller route since I only have one item that needs a UPC. Thanks for the information.
Edward Logan, DDS would love you to read ..Now Available on Amazon

Baryy Osandoval Twitter: none October 12, 2011 at 11:51 pm Twitter: @none

I did find mybarcodestore.com. It sells certified UPC codes for much less than GS1 does. I bought a few codes there. Great fast service.

James Twitter: sixworks October 4, 2011 at 11:30 am Twitter: @sixworks

If only all our fulfilment Clients had read this article before setting up their stores, our fulfilment centre would run so much more efficiently. Having barcodes is a very good idea for all sellers and suppliers – if they are useful for you, they are likely to be useful for someone else in the supply chain.
James would love you to read ..eCommerce: Stepping up from home seller to pro seller

growmap Twitter: GrowMap December 22, 2011 at 11:17 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi James,

You are welcome to provide any information you find on this site that you believe will benefit them to your clients directly. Attribution and a link/URL back is always appreciated.

Does sixworks have any US distribution centers? If not, can you recommend any companies that provide the services your company does for the U.S.?

I would like to meet up with you at your convenience to discuss a distribution solution that could be used by small businesses so that multiple small businesses with related products could have them distributed from the same location and so that their products could be marketed by bloggers, affiliates and ecommerce sites.

See the contact tab on this blog for the best ways to reach me.
growmap would love you to read ..Small Business Internet Marketing: Where to Start

Reply

Dan Bither September 26, 2011 at 4:20 pm

If you need a UPC Code and your selling on Amazon use certified Reseller Quality UPC.
Visit: http://www.Qualityupc.com
Instant UPC Code Downloads
GS1 Certified
George Laurer (The inventor of the UPC Code) Approved
Only $29.99

Brian Kinkade who writes about denver relocation September 2, 2011 at 11:14 am

Quality always costs a bit more but its true that we’re all after buying cheap. I came across this UPC Codes issue but its solved now and very much true, we should check for the actual UPC numbers and look them up in the databases before buying.

Danny August 31, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Such nonsense that they force you to buy UPC codes.
What else will they think of?
Danny would love you to read ..Black & Decker NPP2018 18-Volt Cordless Electric Pole Chain Saw

Mark Larson July 16, 2011 at 2:23 am

Is anyone know this company:
http://www.codeupc.net/services.html

They sell each UPC for $1.99 !!

I’m not sure if to buy from them or not… anyone?

rick January 12, 2012 at 10:25 am: Was wondering if you went with codeupc.net and, if so, any problems?The actual cost of creating a barcode should be virtually $0 so I can’t see the value of spending more than this as long as the code is valid

Reply

Baryy Osandoval Twitter: none June 10, 2011 at 7:40 pm Twitter: @none

If you do need your own UPC codes the least expensive way to get them is through a reseller, rather than through GS1.org. Any firm that bought a sequence of 100,000 UPC codes before the class action lawsuit in 2003 can legally resell portions of their numbers to other firms. GS1 charges $750 for 100 numbers for a year. Places like mybarcodestore.com charge $50 – $20 per UPC code and their codes are good forever. They also offer software to print those bar codes if you need it.

Trailers and Reviews April 3, 2011 at 6:56 am

Lol, a corporate entity like Amazon will never listen to a single individual with a some sort of backing. But I had no idea about the UPC Code was necessary, thanks for the information.
Trailers and Reviews would love you to read ..Source Code Trailer

G Holliday January 12, 2011 at 6:49 pm

Thanks for the info, didn’t realise the UPC needed to be added to the database for Amazon checks!

Mike July 4, 2010 at 2:56 pm

This is going to be very tough on small businesses. I don’t know why Amazon would go this route. I guess this is the only way to keep tabs on everything
.-= Mike´s featured blog ..Youtube to Mp3 =-.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap December 22, 2011 at 11:19 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Mike,

Because Amazon is NOT pro- small business. They take the profit out of selling products so that they end up being commodities – which is why they want them to all have UPC numbers for easy price comparison. Amazon is EVIL and that is extremely obvious today where it was not in previous years. See the post I’ll put in CommentLuv in this reply.
growmap would love you to read ..Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet

Reply

Alex who writes about Cistanche June 7, 2010 at 3:43 am

Wow, great article. I went through something similar a few years ago with UPC codes, only it was with music CDs, not books. However what’s more common now is for distributors etc to offer UPC packages thrown in with the CD deal (i.e. CD Baby) – so I’m wondering if the same might apply with book distributors / publishers who deal with Amazon on behalf of authors.

Brittney who writes about Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment June 5, 2010 at 1:04 am

Yeah, trying to sell something on Amazon has become more of a hassle than its worth! However, you do give some good tips and resources. Thank you for posting this, and I don’t mind if you don’t post daily, I’d rather have the reliable and researched info.
.-= Brittney@Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment´s featured blog ..Do Antibiotics Cause Bacterial Vaginosis? =-.

donnie who writes about web design chattanooga Twitter: focusfloorstile May 26, 2010 at 9:42 am Twitter: @focusfloorstile

This cleared a few things up for me. A client of mine recently asked me about this very thing. I can talk on the subject now. Thanks.
.-= donnie@web design chattanooga´s featured blog ..MCA of Chattanooga Launches New Website =-.

Tanmay who writes about Bracelets handmade Twitter: tanmay2346 May 26, 2010 at 4:41 am Twitter: @tanmay2346

Hi,

Just like many others would agree, Amazon requiring UPC Codes has pretty much complicated things. The extra expense plus the additional steps that come with it.
Fortunately, I find someone with a similar scenario.

Jeremy who writes about hard carrying cases May 19, 2010 at 2:08 pm

I came across something like that when we were trying to add our products to Google product search. Luckily they are not too picky and accepted our listings with made up product codes. It sounds like a waste of money to buy UPC codes, but I guess there are some advantages such as brand protection. Requiring UPC codes for things like ebooks and handmade products is just silly though. I guess Amazon doesn’t really want to deal with the small time sellers. Then again, maybe their business would run a lot smoother if only dealing with big companies.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap May 25, 2010 at 4:46 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Jeremy,

UPC codes are useful for making it easier for shoppers to compare products and prices and for eliminating duplicate entries on comparison shopping sites.

It does NOT make sense to require a UPC on a non-commodity product that is unique such as handmade items, collectibles and anything else that is one of a kind.

It probably doesn’t make much sense to have a UPC code for something that only your company sells; however, if it massed produced and sold even if only you handle it most likely eventually registering a UPC code for it is going to have to be done.

Google recently announced that they are intentionally favoring big brands which includes Amazon. I have already seen Amazon search listings moved above the stores that were ranking first or second for specific searches and expect that to increase in the near future.

It has always been true that it takes just as much time to deal with a company that can drive millions is sales as it does to work with a small company. That is why so many focus on working only with Fortune 500 companies and big clients and why anyone whose highest priority is making money favors big businesses over small.

If we want to improve our economy we need to understand that buying from corporations and big business is what is destroying it (in the U.S. and worldwide) and that supporting small businesses that provide quality products and services is the ONLY feasible solution.

Anyone who continues to focus on buying what is cheapest is contributing to their own financial demise and the economic destruction of their local, national and global economies.
.-= growmap´s featured blog ..Word of Mouth Marketing =-.

Reply

Lisa who writes about Baby Sign Language Twitter: babysigns May 14, 2010 at 6:04 pm Twitter: @babysigns

It doesn’t surprise me at all – Amazon are notorious for making it difficult to sell stuff on. I have tried time and time again just to list my ebook on there and it is one hurdle after another. Especially for those of us who do not live in the USA and therefore don’t have a US bank account or address. Then there are the formatting requirements and so forth. I gave up in the end – too difficult. The UPC is only one of the many hurdles small time manufacturers or publishers have to jump through.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap May 25, 2010 at 5:07 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Lisa,

There are far too many hurdles for bsuiness success. What you need is a partner in the U.S. to work with so that those that are caused by you being outside the USA can be eliminated.
.-= growmap´s featured blog ..Support Small Businesses =-.

Reply

Terminate Your Termites™ May 14, 2010 at 3:07 pm

“If you ever wonder why I don’t post daily it is because what should be simple is often incredibly complicated and all the research takes a lot of my time. I then publish the results so others don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

VERY TRUE, however if there is daily information that needs to be spread, I am sure you will get the WORD OUT ;=), posts should only be made as information arrives and needs to be distributed.

Gail who writes about Support Small Business Twitter: GrowMap May 25, 2010 at 4:09 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Believe me when I tell you that I have enough information that could benefit my readers to post every single day for years and never run out. There is simply not enough of me to get everything I’m doing done.

The post I’ve featured in CommentLuv in this reply is one the termite business needs to read.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Business´s featured blog ..Local Search Directory Listings =-.

Reply

Dennis Edell who writes about Direct Sales Marketing Twitter: DennisEdell May 14, 2010 at 11:54 am Twitter: @DennisEdell

So this is basically for manufacturers, yes? Anything bought to be resold should already have this taken care of, correct?
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Web Income Experiments DotCom Wins Hands-Down! =-.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap May 14, 2010 at 12:12 pm Twitter: @GrowMap

Hi Dennis,

This can also affect bloggers who sell things they make or collectibles. Any commodity that is resold will already have a UPC code but if a merchant has products made that they sell they may eventually have to have a UPC code for each product.

Many eBay sellers were also using Amazon to sell their goods. Some have managed to list them without UPCs but others have been shut out. The high cost on top of the already very high cost of selling on Amazon makes this requirement financially unfeasible for many.

You can read the comments from some of the small sellers who have been affected by the Amazon UPC issue and see that some are trying to get their visitors from Amazon to visit their eBay stores as a solution like this eBay novelty store.

Anyone buying products to resell needs to specifically ASK whether the products have a UPC before you buy them. Do not assume they do. I would ask for the actual UPC numbers and look them up in the databases (links in this post) or in a search engine or on a major shopping site to make sure they’re real.

As far as I know there is nothing that requires a wholesaler or manufacturer to provide a UPC code. Even if there were that doesn’t mean all of them would have taken care of it. It IS expensive and it is yet another practice that greatly favors major brands over small businesses.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Support Small Businesses =-.

Dennis Edell who writes about Direct Sales Marketing Twitter: DennisEdell May 15, 2010 at 10:06 am Twitter: @DennisEdell

So someone should tell Amazon to stop screwing the little guy, yes?
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Web Income Experiments DotCom Wins Hands-Down! =-.