Frequently Asked Questions

Amazon requires bar codes on all its products because items with barcodes are much more efficient to receive and ship to our customers.

Each item shipped to our fulfilment centres must be handled several times before it reaches the customer. In receiving, stowing, and shipping items to customers, the ability to scan a title decreases handling time for each title by several minutes.

A barcode version of your EAN/UPC or ISBN significantly reduces receiving errors caused by typing the ISBN by hand. For this reason, bar codes can reduce errors both in your fulfilment of orders and by distributors and vendors in receiving your title.

The ISBN is also printed in numbers, so the ISBN can still be verified accurately if the bar code cannot be scanned.

Put it simply, NO Barcode NO products listed on Amazon.

You can obtain a barcode anytime during or after the manufacturing or printing process.

Pre-production: Ideally, bar codes should be integrated into the design of your item. If your product has not been manufactured, you can obtain a film master or EPS file from bar code production companies. In most cases this film master or EPS file is then integrated into the design of the product's back cover.

Post-production: If your product has already been manufactured or printed, bar code labels can be produced after printing and applied to the back cover of each book with labels. If you desire labels that can be removed by the customer, please ask your bar code manufacturer.

Prices vary depending on the number of labels and the number of unique bar codes.

If you are storing and despatching the products yourself, you don't need to put a label with the image barcode image on to your product (but you can if you wish to).

However, if you are using the Amazon warehousing & despatch arrangements (Fulfilled by Amazon), you will need to put the barcode image on to your products. LINK TO LABELS PRICE LIST

BarcodesForAmazon offer a number only service, this means that we only give you the barcode numbers, this is all you need to list your products on Amazon. It is for the reason that we can offer our customer such good value.

If you require the images/artwork for your barcode numbers we recommend you email your requirements to: info@makebarcodegraphics.com

Most people today have seen barcodes, they are printed on nearly every item in a supermarket. They are either UPC or EAN13 linear barcodes. Most linear barcodes are nothing more than a "license plate" that identifies a specific item. The numbers stored in the barcode are unique identifiers that, when read, can be used by a computer to look up additional information about the item. The price and description of the item is not stored in the barcode. The data is read from the barcode, sent to a computer, and the computer looks up the price and description of the item from the computer's database. Barcodes are read by either scanning a point of light across the symbol or capturing a video image of the symbol and measuring the lengths white spaces and (black bars. A computer program analyzes the lengths and positions of the spaces and bars and the data is extracted. The relative widths of both the bars and spaces code the data stored in the barcode. The barcode reader detects these relative widths and decodes the data from the barcode. The difference between Optical Character Recognition or OCR and barcode is OCR reads text not designed to be read by a computer while barcode reads symbols designed to be read by a computer.

You need a unique barcode for each unique product that you sell. For example, if you sell a bar of soap that comes in one colour and 2 different sizes you would need to buy 2 barcodes. With a unique barcode on each size soap bar, if one of the sizes is selling faster than the other, the shop will be able to tell instantly which one needs to be replenished without having to do a manual count.

EAN-13 is the European standard, which is also used in Australia and has 13 numbers. The UPC barcode system is typically used in the USA and is 12 digits long but can be also be used internationally. (Including Europe & Australia) Scanners can typically read both EAN-13 and UPC codes.

World. This includes Australia, USA, Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East.Yes, they will work anywhere that either UPC or EAN barcodes are scanned - which is most of the modern

Yes, our barcodes were originally issued by UCC - the Uniform Code Council (now renamed GS1-US), they are legal for use in the UK, USA & Worldwide.

Yes, all our barcodes have been issued by UCC - the Uniform Code Council (now renamed GS1-US). Our barcodes were originally issued by UCC in bulk to a US company

Stores use the product's barcode to determine the type and cost of a product being sold. Some use the barcode to maintain inventory and to reorder. Let's say that a soft drink with a particular UPC barcode is sold in 500g sizes. The manufacturer discontinues 500g sizes and changes the size to 450g. Since stores often print a short description that includes size on the customer receipt, not changing the UPC could result in an incorrect size being printed on the receipt and an angry customer. If you can assure that the descriptive databases of all the stores that sell your product will be updated with the new description, you might get away with not changing the UPC barcode. However, this assurance is almost impossible these days with international sales. The safest is to change the barcode.

No it doesn't. The 3-digit prefix code indicates which GS1 numbering organization has allocated the block of numbers to the company. Once the company has been assigned the block of numbers, they self assign each individual number in the block to a given product.

As of January 1, 2005, all retail barcode systems are required to read both EAN and UPC. You no longer have to use UPC in the USA.

UPC barcodes were always readable by EAN scanners outside the USA. As of January 1, 2005, all retail barcode systems worldwide are required to read both EAN and UPC.

Most barcodes found on products are UPC or EAN barcode. These barcodes only can store numbers and the data is always 12 or 13-digits long. The product barcode is nothing more than a unique number that identified the type of product For example, all 1kg boxes of rice from the same manufacturer will have the same bar coded number. In general, the product barcode does not contain product price, age or store it was purchased from. When the barcode is scanned, the number is looked up in a database, which contains a description and price for the product. It does not indicate price, age or where it was purchased.

Retailers have the right to refuse specific barcodes (or products) for a variety of reasons, or to make specific requirements for the labelling & packaging of good they stock - hence it is impossible for any organization to guarantee universal acceptance. No barcode supplier can guarantee that retailers in the world will accept their barcodes. We have never had any problems and our customers who sell on iTunes, Amazon, HMV, and ASDA etc regularly use our barcodes.

We guarantee that the barcode number you receive is unique and has not been issued by us to anyone else anywhere in the world. We source our barcode numbers from a reputable source that have sold over 2million barcode numbers, with no numbers being sold twice.

No. Your barcode will never expire. Once the barcode number is issued to you, it is yours for life.

Is there any Renewal Fees?

No you don't have to pay renewal fees.

Simply create an account on barcodesforamazon, once you are logged in click the "Purchase" button on the home page. Then complete the required information and press "Submit". Next pay for your purchases via Debit/Credit Card, Paypal or Google Cart. Upon successful payment verification you will receive an instant download link to your unique barcodes.

Once you receive your unique barcode number, you can begin using it on your product. When you supply your products to your retailer, you usually need to provide them with the barcode number, as well as the product name, description, price etc. They will input this information into their inventory system.

The nominal size of an EAN/UPC image is 37.3mm wide x 25.9mm high. The minimum recommended size is 80% of the nominal size (i.e. 30mm wide). The maximum recommended size is 200% of the nominal size (i.e. 74.6mm wide). Width is more important than height, as the width influences the distance between the bars and how well the scanner can distinguish between them. We recommend test scanning any EAN/UPC image prototype produced by your manufacturing facility before going into mass production.

It is very risky to reduce the size of aEAN/UPC symbol. The minimum recommended size is 80% of the nominal size. The maximum recommended size is 200% of the nominal size. Larger EAN/UPC's scan better. Smaller EAN/UPC's do not scan as well or not at all. Ink spread can also decrease the flexibility of size reduction of a bar code. If a bar code is reduced too much, an attempt to silk screen print it will blur the bars together. This is one of the reasons why it is recommended to keep the bar code within the minimum of 80% of the nominal size. Many large chains now fine or disqualify vendors who supply products with bar codes that do not scan. If you reduce the EAN/UPC symbol below the maximum recommended, you run the risk that the symbol will not scan. That could result in you losing a big customer.