Product IDs are also called Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). For Amazon sellers, they are very important, along with brand registration, and are also important concepts that sellers need to understand in detail before officially listing products on the Amazon platform.
Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs)
If sellers want to list product introduction pages on the Amazon platform, there is one thing that is indispensable and must be prepared by sellers before uploading product introduction pages. We call it Product IDs, or Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). Generally speaking, Product IDs (GTINs) are divided into the following 4 modes.
①Universal Product Code (UPC).
②International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
③European Article Number (EAN).
④Japanese Article Number (JAN).
All the above four modes of code can be used as Product IDs, but the most commonly used one is UPC. UPC is a barcode for commodities developed by the Uniform Code Council of the United States. It is mainly used in the United States and Canada. Due to its wide range of applications, it is also called the “universal barcode”. So how should sellers obtain UPC?
Generally speaking, there are two purchasing channels: one is the official and formal channel, and the other is the dealer channel.
Let’s first take a look at the official and formal organization that can provide UPC-the International Article Coding Organization (GS1). Chinese companies can go to the GS1 branch authorized organization “China Article Coding Center” to register as a member. The fee is about 2,600 yuan for 2 years. After you register as a GS1 member, GS1 will issue you a certificate and give you a manufacturer identification code. We can use our own identification code to form a limited barcode, and the barcode can only be used for the release of our company’s products in a certain sense. The company entity on the certificate is best to be consistent with the registered entity of the Amazon seller account, which will have a good effect on responding to Amazon UPC spot checks and cracking down on follow-up sales in the later stage.
In addition, the barcode obtained from the “China Article Coding Center” is EAN, not UPC. Sellers can choose to use EAN as the product code when uploading the product introduction page on the Amazon backend.
Sellers can also use UPC, as long as the first 0 is removed from the EAN code to become UPC. To facilitate the understanding of readers, I will introduce the difference between UPC and EAN below.
UPC is a 12-digit barcode. We can add 0 to the front of UPC to make it a 13-digit EAN, which means that each UPC has a corresponding EAN, and only one of the two can be used (if a UPC is used, 0 cannot be added in front to use as EAN).
EAN is a 13-digit barcode, and a 13-digit EAN may not have a corresponding UPC (only EANs with a 0 as the first digit have a corresponding UPC).
When sellers upload product introduction pages on the Amazon backend, the options for filling in “ProductIDs” are different. If the product code requires a 13-digit EAN, select “EAN” in the “Product IDs” column; if the 12-digit UPC is filled in, select “UPC” in the “ProductIDs” column.
After talking about the official channels, let’s talk about the UPC dealer channel. This channel is also the most commonly used channel for Amazon sellers to obtain UPC, because it is relatively simpler and requires less initial investment. There are many UPC dealers, and the more well-known organization is Bar Codes Talk. Of course, you will find many dealers when you search for “Amazon UPC” on Taobao. These dealers are essentially the same as Bar Codes Talk. They all buy UPC from GS1 first, and then resell it to Amazon sellers in need, making a profit in the middle. One thing to remember here is that sellers must find dealers who can provide UPC digital certificates. If the dealer cannot provide a digital certificate, then its UPC is likely to be generated by a generator. This type of UPC is very cheap, but the hidden dangers after use will be very large, so it is not recommended.
In addition, even if the UPC has a digital certificate, we still need to be more careful, because many dealers may use the digital certificate after PS to deceive you, and such things have happened before. Therefore, sellers can put the purchased UPC on the GS1 official website to check whether the company information on the website is consistent with the company information on the certificate. If not, then do not use it.