Amazon barcodes

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

To be honest I only know about the check digit from an IT lesson at school years ago but surely the point of the barcode is a unique identifier of the product. Pushing aside listing on Amazon, if anyone can slap any barcode on a product eventually you'd end up with two products with the same barcode on a supermarket shelf and the till won't know which is which. From having a quick Google it seems all barcodes should be authorised by the Universal Code Council?

The issue with Amazon is, if you make up a barcode and one day that happens to be officially used on say a piece of Disney merchandise, when Amazon's product team go to add the product to the site they probably just wipe your page from the site but more importantly give you a slap for misusing the barcode.

RFW

Thanks for the help guys. They are separate items with their own identity so whilst I can have variations on Ebay it won't work the same on Amazon and would benefit search, etc to keep them separate.
They are actually imported and the person who imported them had their own product codes. Anyway as I said there's no need to have barcodes they are accepting them and going on Amazon without.

So you know it is in home/kitchen categories. I know from past experience of listing CDs and DVDs there are plenty incorrect barcodes about and on Ebay too.

lovinituk

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

Yes they do, when I said any number I didn't mean literally any number like 4, 796 etc.

The structure is simply that a UPC has 12 digits and an EAN has 13. Something like 0000000000001 probably wouldn't work as it is clearly made up but 0095748576830 would. Musically, Sony products always have the catalog number in the barcode with 2 zeros at the front and one at the end (at least), each label have their own format but all EAN's are always 13 digits long.

You're missing the point. I know they are certain number of digits long but as we have said several times already on this thread - you cannot just make up a random 13 digits for example. You should read the link ludovico posted as it explains what a barcode check digit is. A calculation (checksum) can be performed on the barcode and the check digit will confirm if its a valid barcode structure or not.

A barcode is not just a set of 13 numbers - the numbers are in groups that determine certain things about the barcode/product.

I would expect Amazon to run the checksum to confirm if a barcode is of the correct structure. This is why the random number you quoted above does not work as proved by ludovico.

lovinituk

ludovico wrote: »

The issue with Amazon is, if you make up a barcode and one day that happens to be officially used on say a piece of Disney merchandise, when Amazon's product team go to add the product to the site they probably just wipe your page from the site but more importantly give you a slap for misusing the barcode.

Exactly! This is the point that most people seem to ignore! Why risk it for the sake of a few quid?! It could ultimately lead to a ban from Amazon if ever found out.

johnnyboyrebel

ludovico wrote: »

The issue with Amazon is, if you make up a barcode and one day that happens to be officially used on say a piece of Disney merchandise, when Amazon's product team go to add the product to the site they probably just wipe your page from the site but more importantly give you a slap for misusing the barcode.

Of course this can happen and when it does, you pull the listing and have a rethink, I guess it depends if you're planning on selling the same product long term or for a temporary period.

True, if I were to produce a new product I wouldnt just make up a barcode but we are talking about listing it on Amazon here, it doesnt really matter how it is done as long as it is listed.

lovinituk wrote: »

You're missing the point. I know they are certain number of digits long but as we have said several times already on this thread - you cannot just make up a random 13 digits for example. You should read the link ludovico posted as it explains what a barcode check digit is. A calculation (checksum) can be performed on the barcode and the check digit will confirm if its a valid barcode structure or not.

A barcode is not just a set of 13 numbers - the numbers are in groups that determine certain things about the barcode/product.

I would expect Amazon to run the checksum to confirm if a barcode is of the correct structure. This is why the random number you quoted above does not work as proved by ludovico.

As I said, I have done it myself for a company and various other times so it does work. Whether this is for CD's alone I do not know but it does.

I have worked with EAN/UPC/UPC A/UPC E etc.for a long time now

lovinituk

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

Of course this can happen and when it does, you pull the listing and have a rethink, I guess it depends if you're planning on selling the same product long term or for a temporary period.

Unless the punishment is a permanent ban from Amazon! I'd rather not take the risk.

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

True, if I were to produce a new product I wouldnt just make up a barcode but we are talking about listing it on Amazon here, it doesnt really matter how it is done as long as it is listed.

Unless it leads to losing your account! Again, not worth the risk.

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

I have worked with EAN/UPC/UPC A/UPC E etc.for a long time now

But didn't know about the check digit!!

MoneysavingArthur

Officialy you should register with GS1.

Costs about £200 for the first year for unlimited barcodes, but you may need to keep paying the £100 odd quid a year to maintain them.

Still cheaper than buying individually.

lovinituk

MoneysavingArthur wrote: »

Officialy you should register with GS1.

Costs about £200 for the first year for unlimited barcodes, but you may need to keep paying the £100 odd quid a year to maintain them.

Still cheaper than buying individually.

There are some authorised re-sellers where you can buy in smaller quantities.

johnnyboyrebel

lovinituk wrote: »

Unless the punishment is a permanent ban from Amazon! I'd rather not take the risk.


Unless it leads to losing your account! Again, not worth the risk.


But didn't know about the check digit!!

you're account will not get closed because you have used an 'incorrect' barcode for listing an item so stop scaremongering.

I am not getting into any debate over barcodes...

lovinituk

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

you're account will not get closed because you have used an 'incorrect' barcode for listing an item

How the hell do you know?!?!? Its bad advice to say that people should use any old barcode or any old number and is actually against Amazons T&Cs...

Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions
Do not list your item against a detail page with a different ISBN, UPC or other external identifier. Only list an item against a detail page with the same ISBN or UPC as your item.

Source - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200770190

*edit* Just found a more appropriate T&C...

Product Detail Page Rules
The use of false product identification information in product detail pages, including EAN/UPC codes, is prohibited.

Source - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200781460

Can't argue with that!!