Articles on: General Knowledge

Barcodes

A barcode is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. The barcode consists of parallel black and white bars and digits that a barcode scanner can read.

Barcodes are valid:

To track and store information about goods in your store, a warehouse, or a fulfillment service
Improve the accuracy of inventory control and reduce excessive spending on products

Barcodes are required:

To sell your products on Amazon, eBay, and Google, you must add Barcodes for most categories. New listings with missing Barcodes may not list on these marketplaces.

Available Barcode Types

Below you will find the Barcode types that Sellbery supports:

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)

GTIN is a unique and internationally recognized identifier for a product.

Also known as: GTIN-14, ITF-14
Number of digits: 14

Universal Product Code (UPC)

This type of GTIN is found in products sold in the United States.

Also known as: UPC-A, GTIN-12
Number of digits: 12

European Article Number (EAN)

This type of GTIN is found in products sold in Europe or Japan and books sold worldwide.

Also known as: EAN, GTIN-13, JAN
Number of digits: 13

Short European Article Number (EAN-8)

EAN-8 is a smaller version of EAN-13 that was developed for use on small packages where an EAN-13 barcode would be too large.

Also known as: EAN-8, GTIN-8
Number of digits: 8

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

Sellbery automatically converts 10 digits ISBN codes to 13 digits ISBN codes. This is because marketplaces like Amazon do not accept 10 digits ISBNs.

This type of GTIN is found in books and book-like products published internationally.

Also known as: ISBN
Number of digits: 10 or 13

Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN)

An Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is an Amazon internal catalog number. Each ASIN is unique and consistently associated with a particular product or product variation. Every ASIN will be 10 digits and consist of letters and digits.

Also known as: ASIN
Number of digits: 10

Where to Find Barcodes

There are a few ways to find existing Barcodes:

Barcodes can be found on the packaging of an item or the tags of clothing.
Find the product you will sell on the internet and copy the barcode.

If you sell your own self-made products on marketplaces, you need to get the new barcodes or apply for GTIN exemption (on Amazon).

How to Get the New Barcodes

Don't use barcode generator applications. Marketplaces will decline self-made barcodes, and your products won't be listed.

Please note that only certified companies can create and provide Barcodes.

Get barcodes for goods

To get Barcodes for your products you need to apply through GS1 (the Global Standards Organization), which manages and assigns GTINs, UPCs/EANs.

Go to the GS1 website
Choose a country and click the "Get a Barcode" button.
Follow the instruction to get the Barcodes for your products.

Get barcodes for books

Go to the ISBN website
Follow the instruction to get the Barcodes for your books.

Add Barcodes to Sellbery

Simple product

Go to Sellbery products > Simple product
In General tab add a barcode in the Identifiers section.

Product with Variations

Go to Sellbery products > Product with Variations
In Variations tab add the barcodes in the Barcode column.

Sellbery does not check if your barcodes are valid or not. We only show what possible type your barcode can be.

For example, if you have a real and fake UPC identifier for iPhone 14, Sellbery recognizes them as the UPC type identifier.

Troubleshooting

If you recently just generated the barcodes in GS1 (within a couple of days), you can get a message from marketplaces (Amazon or eBay) that your barcodes are invalid. This is because marketplaces and GS1 database were not synced up, so they didn’t recognize the new barcodes.

You need to wait from a few hours to a couple more days and try to add your products again.

Updated on: 09/02/2025

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