UPC Barcodes Explained
UPC Barcodes Explained
In this video I want to explain Amazon Barcodes the difference between a UPC, ASIN, and FNSKU, so you can have the right barcodes on your products, send to your supplier, and avoid any kind of error codes. Whether you're doing FBA or FBM, wholesale, arbitrage, or private label, I'll show you which barcodes are required, how they need to be placed on your product, and where to get these barcodes.
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UPC Barcodes Explained
A UPC code stands for Universal Product Code, which are primarily used in the United States & Canada. This is the 12 digit barcode on the back of every product you’ve seen at the store. So when you go into a Walmart, a grocery store, a shopping mall, anything like that, just pick a random product off the shelf and it’ll have a UPC code. This is a code they use to track inventory. It’s important to understand that you only need to buy 1 UPC barcode per product SKU. Meaning if I was selling a Large Green shirt, I would buy 1 UPC barcode, and for every large green shirt I sell, I would still use that same 12 digit UPC barcode.
But let’s say I now choose to sell the same green shirt, but Medium size. Then I would have to buy a new UPC barcode for that SKU, because even though both shirts are green, they differ in size, and because they differ in size, they are not technically the same product. One thing you need to understand is the word SKU means “Stock Keeping Unit” and it’s unique identifier is assigned to each distinct product, specific to the product variation such as size, color, and style. So even though it may seem like I’m selling 1 green shirt, for each size I’m choosing to offer, each variation will have it’s own UPC Barcode and SKU Name. To summarize, for each variation type, such as size or color, each product variation must have it’s own UPC barcode.
(CANVA GRAPHIC)
Hopefully you’re not confused, and this all makes sense. Incase you’re still confused, think of a barcode similar to a social security number or a VIN number on a car. No two people will ever have the same social security number, just like no two cars in the world will ever have the same VIN number.
What Is The EAN/JAN/ISBN ?
If you’ve ever been unsure with what a EAN or JAN is, take that same concept of the UPC barcode I just explained, but if you’re selling in European market, it’s called a EAN or “European Article Number”. Or if you’re selling in Japan, it’s called a “Japanese Article Number”. So they all serve the same purpose of product identification, but they differ by geographic region, code length, and specific applications. Now, the manufacturer barcode, which is also called the UPC or EAN, is an international standard, so they're recognized worldwide. That's why if you're doing wholesale or arbitrage, which means you're reselling other manufacturers branded products like Colgate toothpaste or Nike shoes. Regardless of where you bought your inventory from the UPC barcodes found on those products are recognized anywhere around the world.
hen lastly the ISBN or “International Standard Book Number) which is the unique identifier assigned to books. Before showing you how to buy a UPC barcode, create your listing, and send it to your supplier, I want to briefly explain the ASIN and FNSKU.
ASIN & FNSKU Explained
An ASIN “Amazon Standard Identification Number” is Amazon’s own unique identifier per product sku that’s created inside a seller account. You can find these numbers inside the product listing URL and they always seem to start with B-0 etc.
Now more specifically the FNSKU (Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit), is a unique identifier generated by Amazon for products enrolled in the (FBA) program. FNSKU is used for inventory tracking and fulfillment purposes within the FBA system. So when you’re about to send your products to Amazon's warehouses for fulfillment, you need to apply the FNSKU labels to each unit to facilitate accurate storage, picking, and shipping. It’s literally the same concept of a UPC barcode, except it’s Amazon version of it.
Now, you can only receive an ASIN or FNSKU after purchasing 1 UPC barcode from GS1, and using that barcode to create your product listing. Then once you see your listing in the inventory file, you can see your ASIN. To print out your barcodes, you’ll click the right side button and press “print item labels.
(INSIDE AMAZON SELLER CENTRAL)
So to summarize, if you're doing wholesale or arbitrage, your inventory is already going to have the manufacturer barcode or UPC on it. However, if you're doing private label, you'll need to get your own UPC barcode.
How To Place Barcode on Product
Now that we understand what the difference is between the UPC and FNSKU barcodes. How does the barcode need to be put on your products? If we take a look at the packaging and labeling guidelines, we can see here that it says any FNSKU barcode you place on a unit must be unique and must correspond to only one unique product variation, similar to what I was saying earlier.
Now for each product, the barcode needs to be on the outer most packaging of your product, just like in the store. So someone can quickly and easily find it and scan it. It can't be on the inside or covered up by anything. Now, this should be pretty self explanatory, that only one barcode can be visible on your product. So if you're doing wholesale or arbitrage, you need to cover up any existing UPC barcode. If you're going to use the FNSKU barcode. What I suggest is to just cover up the UPC barcode with the FNSKU barcode sticker.
How To Get Barcodes From GS1.com
Okay- does that make sense so far? Now, the next issue is if you need to get the UPC barcode, where do you get it? Or if you plan to use the FNSKU, like I suggest, where do you get that? Again, if you're doing wholesale or arbitrage, the products you purchase are already going to have the manufacturer barcode or UPC on it that you can use.
Otherwise, if you're doing private label like I do, then you are the manufacturer. Your product isn't going to come with a UPC barcode, and you can't get the FNSKU without a UPC barcode. What you’’ll need to do is buy your own UPC Barcode from GS1.com. Once you have the UPC barcode, you can create your listing and get the FNSKU barcode. Then you’ll either place the FNSKU barcode on each product if you’re fulfilling orders from home, or you’ll email a copy of your barcodes to your supplier and instruct them to place on each unit before shipping your order.
Okay, so where do you buy a UPC barcode? If we take a look at the barcode policy on Amazon, we can see here that it says.
(Explanation of Barcodes) ”We verify the authenticity of product UPCs by checking 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 party sellers selling UPC licenses to ensure the appropriate inform ation is reflected in the GS1 database.
(Quick DEMO on how to buy barcodes from GS1)
And you can also see here that it says, If you don't buy directly from GS1, your listings may result in your ASIN creation or selling privileges being temporarily or permanently removed. Now, in the past, people have been buying UPC barcodes from third party sellers like Barcodes Mania and Nationwide Barcodes because they’re cheap.
How To Place Barcode on Product
Now that we understand what the difference is between the UPC and FNSKU barcode. How does the barcode need to be put on your products? If we take a look at the p ackaging and labeling guidelines, we can see here that it says any FNSKU you use on a unit must be unique and must correspond to only one unique product. This is what I was referring to earlier with my Green Shirt example. For each product, the barcode needs to be on the outer most packaging of your product, just like in the store. So someone can quickly and easily find it and scan it. It can't be on the inside or covered up by anything. Now, this should be pretty self explanatory. Only one barcode can be visible on your product. So if you're doing wholesale or arbitrage, you need to cover up any existing UPC barcode. If you're going to use the FNSKU barcode. What I suggest is to just cover up the UPC barcode with the FNSKU barcode sticker.
I hope this has all made sense, but please comment down below if you have any questions about what I’ve discussed. If you could do me a favor to hit the like button, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one
