Amazon & UPC Codes: All the Answers for Amazon Sellers
Hey, what is up everybody? This is Seth Kniep. Keep'n it real. So excited to be here.
Today, I'm gonna be teaching you about Amazon & UPC Codes, GTINs, Barcodes,
GCIDs, EANs, PZNs, ISBNs. All of these crazy barcodes.
I'm gonna teach you everything you need to know. Now if you're selling on Amazon,
on eBay, on Walmart on Jet, all of this applies to you. Even if you need to understand this for
your brick and mortar store, it also applies to you. I'm gonna teach you the freaking full tutorial
so you can grasp this with confidence and move forward and build margin so that you have
the freedom to do the things you love with the people you love. The first question most people
ask is what is a product barcode? It is simply a code that identifies a product that is scannable
or readable by a computer. Simple as that. It's kind of like an IP address to a computer or a
social security card to a human or an EIN to an LLC. It identifies your product. I mean,
imagine you're walking into Walmart, your job is to sort all of their products and keep track
of inventory. And every product has to have a full-on detailed description to identify it.
It's massively overwhelming. - How many do you think there are? (soft ) - Ten.
- But having a simple digital code that you can scan in with RFID or with a laser makes
it so much easier. Now, you might be saying, "Well, Seth, what does this have to do with
Amazon?" Because we're not exactly scanning. Well, actually, every single product has to
be scanned into Amazon's fulfillment center. But it's not a UPC like you thought and I'm
about to explain that to you. So the next question is, why do I need a barcode?
Why does my product need it? Well, ultimately, the barcode identifies your product.
So, online platforms like Amazon, like eBay, like Jet, like walmart.com.
They require you to have a product identifier and the barcode uniquely identifies your product
and attaches it to your brand name. If this is your product, not only does it get its own unique
code that identifies this product, but there's another part of the code that attaches it to the
brand name or the owner or the manufacturer, that would be your business, to the product.
Your product needs a barcode as well if for some reason, someday you have the opportunity,
as many of our students have to get your product on TV, on QVC and Target and Walmart and
Kroger. We actually have a guy on our team who helps people do this. Now, when you're an
Amazon specifically, you're gonna see a page just like this. And this page has product
identifiers. Every single one of these boxes is an identifier. But if you look at the top left corner,
you see product ID. That is where your barcode goes, not the bar part of it.
I'll explain that in a minute. But the actual numbers whether it's an EAN or UPC or an ISBN,
that's what you're gonna type in, in that section. Amazon has something to say about this.
We verify the authenticity of your product UPCs by checking what is called the GS1 database.
UPCs that do not match the information provided by GS1 will be considered invalid.
We recommend obtaining your UPCs directly from GS1 and not from other third parties
selling UPC licenses. Now the big question is then how are people able to go to EZ Barcodes
or nationwidebarcodes.com buy barcodes there, use them on Amazon and it works and they
cost way less, and they don't charge you an annual rental fee. There's a reason for this,
which I will explain but I want you to notice the next thing which I find fascinating. Important,
they add, all invalid product UPC listings will be removed. Now,
I just scratched my head when they say this because you can't actually enter the code.
It has to accept the code before it even becomes a listing. So, Amazon doesn't have a way
of knowing it's invalid because they won't accept it if it's invalid. So
, I really think this is more of a scare tactic. But the day could come if you use a recycled
barcode and it works. Instead of just moving your listing to a different category.
Like happened to poor Bobby McGee, what happens instead is Amazon removes your
listing completely. All Amazon sellers need a product barcode. First of all, as a private label
seller, we like to call them Brand Builders because we focus on helping people to build brands
that become huge. You need a code for that product because you're creating your own listing.
So, you need a code to identify that listing. If you were an arbitrage seller, you're reselling
current branded products. The code is already in Amazon's catalog.
You're just adding your offering on the listing that already exists.
You're piggybacking on the listing. You're not creating it, so you don't have to go get it.
If you're a wholesale distributor, you need the product code from the wholesaler.
Same thing from a drop shipper. You need to ask them, well, what is the product code?
So, I can put it in when I create the listing on Amazon. Assuming you're creating your own
listing. How many different barcodes are there? Did you really have to ask that? Code 128,
EAN 128, EAN 13, QR code, Data Matrix, GS1 data matrix, EAN-8, PDF417, ISBN 13, ISSN,
ISMN, EAN-14, DUN-14, SCC-14, ITF-14, SCC-18, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code-39, Code-39
Extended, Code-25, JAN, EAN-5, EAN-2, EAN-99, EAN-Velocity, ISBN-13, dual ISBN-10,
Code-Bar, Code-93, Code-93 Extended, PZN-7, PZN-8, Light code, I-Dent Code, Code-128 A,
Code-128 B, Code-128 C, MSI, Plessey, PostNet, Royal Mail. Now, here's the good news.
Today, I'm just gonna walk you through the barcodes that you need to know.
I just thought you would enjoy knowing that there's a lot of codes out there.
How do barcodes work? I love this part. Check this out, this is fascinating.
First of all, you got these bars, they're vertical bars. And you need to understand that
these were invented in the pre-internet days.
That's the reason we call it a barcode because before the internet existed, typically it would be a bunch of bars and when the scanner scans that. Those barcodes, those vertical bars, the distance of them from each other and how thick they are. That's information so when you scan it, it tells your POS system, your Point Of Sale system where all your inventory is, who it belongs to, what kind of product it is. Like a lot of details go into that. But you also have the numbers on the bottom so that when that cash clerk is there, scanning it. If the scanner didn't work, they would type it in, all 12 or 13 or 14 digits manually into the system. You've probably seen this happen when you're grocery shopping. And they type in the number manually for you. However, today things have changed. We're no longer selling all products in Brick and mortar stores. Many of them are now online. First, here's what the numbers mean. The first number and usually it is a zero. It's telling you what kind of code this is. Now, this code here is a UPC. A UPC is a kind of code just like an EAN, or an ISBN. I'm using a UPC as an example. So, the zero simply tells you what kind of code it is. So, if it's a two, it means a weight item like meat. If it's a five or a nine, it means it's a coupon type code. The next part is the five digits three-six-zero-zero-zero. It's your manufacturer number or your brand number. It's a code unique to your brand to your company. So it identifies you. In fact, when you combine the zero and the three-six-zero-zero-zero into one group. You call this your prefix or your company prefix. It's sort of like a brand identifier for your company. No one else gets that number. It's special, which means you're special. The next five in the third group is the item number. And what this does is uniquely identifies the item that you are selling. So for example, let's just say you have a coffee mug. You could say that digits two through six on the mug are your company brand. And then digits seven through 11 identify the product type. Next question. Where do barcodes come from? Now, this is fascinating. Everything will make so much better sense if you understand where they started. (bell ringing) - [Narrator] The year is 1948. Bernard Silver, recent graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Drexel is hungry for opportunity. One day he overheard a conversation that would change the course of his life. - [Man] I don't think you get it. - [Man] No, I don't. - Look, I'm telling you as president of the grocery store line. We are gonna lose hundreds of customers when it takes an eternity to check out all these products. It's so slow. - What do you suggest? - I suggest you find a solution, find a way to automatically scan every single product. - I don't think that could be done. - You are the Dean of Electrical Engineering at Drexel. - I think I can help. I think I can help. In fact, I was thinking and I am sure of it. - Who are you? - Don't pay attention to him. Just a former student. - Bernard Silver. Dean. Anyways, I am a Electrical Engineering student here at the university. And I've been thinking and I am convinced that I have a solution for your problem. - How? - With ink. - With ink? - Yes. So, imagine if you were to create a pattern of ink and you were to shine an ultraviolet light onto that ink. With that I'm convinced that you could scan every single product easily. - Tell you what, I want you to call this number. (gentle ) - Oh, right. Thank you. Right away, sir. - Silver. You got 30 days. (gentle ) - [Narrator] Erupting with excitement, but realizing there was no way on planet Earth he could pull this off in just 30 days. Silver contacted his 27 year old friend, Norman Joseph Woodland. - Tell me more. (gentle ) - [Narrator] Woodland had also graduated from Drexel, but with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. - So, you will help me? - So, we'll have 30 days. I'd have to quit my teaching job. I'd also have to sell all of my stocks. So, I can have enough money for food. And my grandfather has an apartment in Florida that I can move into. - So, that's a yes? - Yes. - [Narrator] Silver and Woodland began. Hour after hour after hour after hour. Every solution presented a new problem until they wiped the slate clean and started again. Repeatedly, Silver and Woodland scoured the earth for every possible solution. (orchestral ) But one night, just as they thought they had the answer. They realized a fatal problem. The cost for printing these ink patterns on every single grocery store product would thrust the grocery store into utter bankruptcy. - All the numbers speak for themselves. Now, we did some calculations. We did some theory crafting and- - Oh, but you guys never considered this. - What? -
What about this data that indicates the return on the profit? Is there a reason you guys didn't include that? - Well that's what I was hoping to talk to you about today. - Silver, I came to you for a solution. This is not gonna work. - No, no, no, no. It will, like look, we just need more time. If I can go back to the drawing board. - Look, I'm sorry son. But I wish you good luck. (melancholy ) - Fine. With or without you, I'm gonna find a way. - [Narrator] And they did. (melancholy ) One day at the beach, Woodland recalled his boy scout training. How Morse code dots and dashes were used to send information electronically. (melancholy ) Woodland had just figured out the first product barcode.
On October 7, 1952, the United States Patent Office granted the first official patent for a barcode to Bernard and Silver. 22 years later, in an Ohio supermarket, the first product in history was scanned. A 10 pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum. - How many barcodes do I actually need for my product? You just need one unique code per product variation. For example, let us pretend that you are selling this peach candle. If you are going to sell 1000 of these, you only need one barcode for all of them. But if you also come out with a yellow or a banana-flavored, banana smelling candle, you're gonna need a second code. Let me give you another example. Let us pretend that you were selling Fedora hats. You have all these Fedora hats, but each hat comes in four different colors and four different sizes. That means you need 16 different barcodes, one per variation. But if you're selling 1000 just of this color, you only need one barcode. You don't need a new one for each edition of the same variation. Now a lot of people ask, "Well, what if the variations on my listing "are quantity variations?" So for example, an Amazon shopper navigates to your toothpick listing- 'Cause I'm sure you sell toothpicks-and you have a 50 pack. You have a 500 pack and you have a 5000 pack. Each pack needs its own barcode because each one has its own contained pack. The same is true if you are doing a bundle. The next question many people ask. "Well, what codes do I actually need for my Amazon business?" Now, I'm so glad you asked because there are two main kinds of codes. First of all, you have what is called Universal Product Codes. Now, do not confuse this with a UPC. By Universal, I mean ones that can be used in most places in the world that are not specific to an organization such as
eBay or Walmart or Jet, or Amazon. Second, you have codes that are unique to a specific organization. So, these would be codes that are unique to a company like Amazon. So, universal product codes the most important ones you need to know are the UPC, the EAN, the IAN, the ISBN, the PZN, and of course last but not least, the GTIN. Which is the main one which I will explain. For Amazon, the main codes you need to understand are the ASIN, A-S-I-N, the FNSKU, and the GCID. I don't know if it sounds kind of official. What's up, your part of the GCID? Now the question happens. "Which one do I pick?" When you go to create your Amazon listing and you click that drop down, you're gonna notice all of these options right here. "So, how do I know which one "I'm supposed to pick for my product?" Well, first of all, let me help you understand the main universal product codes. First of all, you have the GTIN. It stands for Global Trade Item Number. It is a generic term for all major barcode types and it is recognized almost anywhere in the world. So, a lot of people call barcodes UPCs. It's actually incorrect. UPCs are just for selling in the US, just for selling in Canada.
GTIN is the generic term for all the different barcodes that's like the mother of them all. Okay?
Then you have the UPC, which stands for Universal Product Code.
These are uniquely called UPC specifically, again, for the US and for Canada.
It's a kind of UPC, it's the most common, and it has 12 digits.
There's another one called UPC-E. Letter E as in Edward only has eight digits.
And that's if you have a smaller product with less room to print. So, you need a smaller code,
a shorter code in order to get it onto the product. But those are not as common.
The next one is the European article number also known as the EAN. Now, most people think,
"Well, this is only if you're selling in Europe," Not true. If you're selling in Mexico if you're
selling in Honduras if you're selling in Cuba or any of these other places in South America.
You're gonna use an EAN as well as all the countries in Europe. It's basically used for all
countries except the United States and Canada. I don't know if Canadians and Americans like
to be unique or something. (laughing) The most common EAN code is called the EAN-13. So,
if someone says, "Hey, you got an EAN?" they usually mean the 13 digit code. So,
most UPCs have 12 digits. Most EANs have 13 digits. The EAN-8 however, is kinda like the
UPC-E I was mentioning. It only has eight digits and that is for packages with less room.
So, first, you got your GTIN up top. That's your main, the Global Trade Item Number.
A UPC is a kind and an EAN is a kind. These are the three most important universal product
codes you need to understand. If you know these, you're gonna know 98% of everything
you need to know when it comes to Universal Product Codes. Now, when you create your
Amazon listing. If you purchased a UPC code, you can select GTIN in the menu on the right
side. You can select that and then you can drop in your GTIN. Just understand, a GTIN is
typically a longer number. Usually, it's 14 digits. If you want the UPC version of it, typically in
most cases, you just remove the first two digits which are almost always two zeros.
Now you have 12 digits and that's your UPC. Similar to an EAN. Again, if you purchased an
EAN, you can select a GTIN or an EAN. Just like the UPC. Just make sure you select the
right one. You put in the right number for it. Now, what if Amazon or the seller platform won't
accept my code? And you know you got it from a legitimate source like GS1, which I'm gonna
show you exactly how to do that, by the way. Well, if you already have a 14 digit EAN,
there are actually some 14 digit ones out there. But the platform requires 12 or 13 digits for an
EAN, just remove the first of two numbers or digits from the code. Look at it this way,
and don't overthink it, don't stress about it. The first few numbers usually don't matter as much.
So, if you need to add a zero or remove a zero. Give a zero, take a zero, give a couple zeros,
take a couple of zeros, you can make it work. Now, what about Amazon-specific codes?
Now, this is really interesting. You've probably heard of an ASIN. It is an Amazon Standard
Identification Number and the number are auto-assigned to your listing and it's not something
that you can change or edit. It is the easiest way to identify any listing on Amazon. If you
know the ASIN you can find the product. In fact, you even have that on PPC of people running
ads on your ASIN sometimes. You can even search for a product by typing in the ASIN on
the search bar on Amazon. As you can see right here. For books, the ASIN is the ISBN number.
So, instead of putting in the ASIN, you're gonna put in the ISBN, which is sort of like
the UPC version for a book. They get the ISBN, 'cause you know, books are special.
It's also the ASIN in the URL of your Amazon listing right after where it says DP and then a
slash, and it almost always is gonna start with B0. You know you've gone too far if you get to
the question mark. REF, which means reference, which is data on how they search the
keyword to get there. But the ASIN is always in the URL after DP. Now, let's talk about the
GCID. You're also gonna see this when you create a new listing and you're probably gonna
go, "What in the world is this Global Catalog Identifier?" I'll explain to you exactly what it is.
When you enroll your products in Amazon's Brand Registry. You may use a UPC code, or
you can choose to use a GCID code instead if you want. Amazon will provide the GCID code
for you. You don't have to go buy it from GS1. The way you do this is you're gonna fill out all
the key attributes, the unique key attributes for your Amazon listing, even the SKU,
which is just your own personal number to keep track of your product. It's not official anywhere.
And Amazon will assign each of your brand registered products its own GCID.
So for example, every single one of these boxes is a product identifier.
And the only one you won't fill is where it says product ID. And notice how on the right side
I have selected GCID. If you fill in all the other ones and you are brand registered,
Amazon will populate the product ID for you. Which means you don't have to buy the UPC.
So, in step number one, you select GCID in the drop-down menu. Step number two,
you enter all the unique product identifiers except for the product ID. And step number three,
Amazon-tada! They give you your own GCID automatically. If you enter a UPC code in
the product identifier field then Amazon will not give you a GCID number. So, keep that in mind.
The last and not least very important code you need to understand when you're sending
products to Amazon's fulfillment center is the FNSKU. I can see you like tonight you're sleeping
and you're like swimming in these numbers. And you can always go back and below guys,
we have these timestamps. So, it's really easy for you to navigate to the one you need to learn
about. Okay? This is so important. It stands for Fulfillment Networker. Oh, my word Fulfillment
Network Stock-Keeping Unit. Amazon gives you an FNSKU. I don't even know how to say
it that fast. (indistinct) You can't say it fast. For each product variation when you ship those
products to Amazon's fulfillment center. For example, if you're selling green pirate coffee
mugs, every single green pirate coffee mug needs an FNSKU on the product 'cause when
Amazon receives it, how do they know it's yours? They're not like, "Hey, that's a cool coffee
mug." "Out of the millions of sellers, "I bet that Seth's." "Yeah, it's probably Seth's." "Okay,
we'll credit him." (giggling) Like they have to have a code. You're like, "Wait a minute Seth.
I thought I was supposed to put the UPC "or the EAN or the GTIN on the product code."
Nope. You're not supposed to and you shouldn't be. "Are you serious? Yeah, I'm serious.
I'll explain that to you in a second. So, you have three options to get these codes on your
product. Option number one, you're gonna pay Amazon 20 pennies apiece. 20 pennies
apiece to label these for you. Which means it will delay getting it into the fulfillment center.
It'll give you the option when you set up your shipping plan. Step number two.
You can print the labels at home if you enjoy printing labels and touching sticky things and
label every single product yourself. And step number three. You can have your supplier print it
onto the retail packaging, which is excellent. And that's exactly what you should be doing.
And I'll tell you why. Where can I find these FNSKU codes? That word is so inconvenient to
say. Come on Amazon, can you come up with something easier? When you print your
shipping label, Amazon will generate the code for you and you can print it onto a PDF.
You can choose if you're the merchant, by the way, see where it says the merchant option on
the drop-down or Amazon is going to affix the labels. When you print your shipping label,
Amazon's gonna generate the code so you can save it as a PDF. When you just go to the
print item labels. You can also go to your Manage Inventory page and print them from the
Edit the drop-down menu which you're gonna see on the right side of every listing. Now,
if "Print Item Label" is not available, that simply means that your product listing is set up as
FBM, Fulfilled By Merchant which means you are shipping your own products.
When Bobby McGee and Lucy Pickleberry, and all those other amazing people buy your
product, instead of Amazon shipping it for you. The only reason you need an FNSKU is if
Amazon's fulfilling it. Because it goes in their fulfillment center, they have to know how to
categorize the product. So, when someone buys it, you get the cash for the sale.
So, you can easily switch it to FBA by selecting Change To Fulfilled By Amazon.
Then the print item label option suddenly appears like magic. Now here's what a sheet of FNSKU labels look like. It's the most interesting thing you've ever seen. In fact, I just wanna show you an example of one. I brought this along. Check this out. This is awesome. So, here my friends is an example of an FNSKU code right there. It looks like a UPC. But it's not. But Amazon's systems can scan that in. See, it's not a sticker. I keep trying to scratch it, but nothing's coming off. It's printed into the retail packaging. That is an FNSKU code. Here's an example of a UPC code. Now, I know some products you buy from Amazon. I know that some of them come with a UPC. It is possible to put a UPC on it, Amazon registers but they tell you not to and the day may come when it doesn't work anymore. So, why not do what they ask? It's just smart. Very likely this Chambong is being sold in a retail store. And that's why they have this on here 'cause they already printed the UPC on there, and they made it work with Amazon. What codes physically go onto my product? The FNSKU code is printed onto your products retail packaging, or a sticker that goes into your packaging. You can actually get stickers like a meal sticker. Get the stickers and you'd literally take the sticker and you just put it on the product. Okay. So, this is your retail packaging. This isn't the physical product. If you do not see the physical product. This is why they call it a trial pack. So look, it would look pretty cheesy and pretty bad. If I had an FNSKU label on this additionally, it'd be kind of nuts because think about it. So, I am Amazon, right? And this is what you send me. If you send me this, are you actually saying- If I'm Amazon, and you send me this, are you saying I have to go through the trial of getting everything out to scan it? No, you're gonna put it on the retail packaging. Keep it simple. So, if your product however, does not come with retail packaging. Okay. here's an example. Usually hats if they do, it's just a band. Sometimes they don't. It's just this, a hat. Okay. Come on, it doesn't need retail packaging. It's kind of a cool packaging itself, you know what I mean? So, if it doesn't, then in that case, it would go somewhere like right there on the tack. So in that case, it would go on the product itself, but in most situations, it's gonna go on the retail packaging. Question, does the UPC or the EAN need to be printed onto my product? No, it does not. As I mentioned before, unless it's going into a physical retail store. However, if you're selling at Walmart or Home Depot, or Kroger's or other cool places, then yes, you will need it printed on there. And you can work that out with your manufacturer. This allows the store to enter the product into their inventory system, so they can track your inventory levels. The Point of Sale system is at the retail store records the purchase of your product at checkout. And this creates a seamless experience for the customer so they can just scan it and they move on with their day. "What about the other non-Amazon code Seth?" "Like I know there's more out there" and you gave me this massive list of them "but what about the other ones?" I'm gonna just tell you, just a couple the most important because you will see these in the drop down menu option when you create a new Amazon listing. Number one, your ISBN. It stands for International Standard Book Number and as I mentioned, it replaces the UPC code. It's sort of like the ISBN is the GTIN for all the books. It uses 13 digits and is a special form of the EAN-13 code. Number two, you have JAN. She's cool by the way. JAN stands for Japanese Article Number. JAN is another name for the EAN-13 barcode but is specifically for Japan. Next you have PZN. Even sounds German. It stands for Pharma-Zentral-Nummer. PZN as a code for a medicine identification in Germany. And finally, last but not least you have what is called IAN, International Article Number which is just a different term for an EAN. Is your mind swimming yet? Just remember, the GTIN, UPC, EAN. Those are the three most important for non-Amazon codes universally. If you got those, you're good. What are the most important for Amazon? Your ASIN which identifies the product on Amazon. Your FNSKU, so you can identify it when it goes to Amazon's fulfillment center. That's only for FBA, not FBM. And then your GCID, which stands for Brand Registry. If you want to use a Brand Registry code instead of a UPC or EAN, which are both called GTIN. How are you doing? How do I get my barcode for my product? I'm gonna invite you right now to jump into the screen with me and we're gonna go on a little journey called GS1. The first step you're gonna take is you're gonna go to gs1.org. And you're gonna click this big orange button right here called Get your barcodes. From here you're gonna click on Get a Barcode from GS1 US. And remember a barcode for the United States or Canada is gonna be a UPC, and for all other countries is gonna be an EAN, which stands for European
