Barcodes for selling on Amazon

Amazon’s brand registry’s core objective is to ‘protect brand registered trademarks on Amazon and create an accurate and trusted experience for customers.’ This means that any brand can apply, and through a screening process, will be deemed eligible or not. Once accepted, no other seller will be allowed to list that product, change the existing product listing or sell the product.
 
The brand registry needs as much information to prevent other sellers from listing and selling the same product. Although providing Amazon with a GTIN may not be mandatory, the downside for the seller is that if a GTIN is not present, another seller might be able to list this product - unless the brand registry identifies the listing first.
 
In addition, if you trade your product across other channels (e.g. online marketplaces and/or bricks & mortar stores), then you will need a globally unique product identifier such as the GTIN. The Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is unique within the Amazon system only.

You can use GS1 Australia barcodes anywhere in the world.

We will issue you a GTIN-13, which Amazon refers to as EANs, so be sure to select this as the product ID type when listing.

For most product categories, sellers are required to use an industry-standard product identifier when creating new pages in the Amazon.com catalogue. The ISBN is an industry-standard product identifier for books (incl. e-books) and book-like products published internationally. As the ISBN is incorporated in the GTIN standard, you do not need to assign a separate GTIN in addition to the ISBN to your product. Click here to access the Australian ISBN Agency.

Note however that an ISBN cannot be used for non-book products, even if the products are related to a book (e.g., teddy bears, coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc. related to a book launch). Such non-book products do require the allocation of a GTIN, which can be obtained through GS1.

Amazon may verify the authenticity of product GTINs by checking the numbers against GS1 services such as the Verified by GS1 (VbG) database. GTINs that do not match the information provided by GS1 may be considered invalid, which may result in Amazon removing your Seller rights

Amazon recommends obtaining your GTINs directly from GS1 (and not from other third parties selling GTIN licenses) to ensure that the appropriate information is reflected in the GS1 database.

Amazon require to be able to differentiate sellers based on their Fulfilment Network Stock Keeping Unit (FNSKU) to ensure any queries, complaints or questions can be directed to the correct seller. This internal barcode label allows Amazon to do this. This only relates to Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA).

We will issue you a GTIN-13, which Amazon refers to as EANs, so be sure to select this as the product ID type when listing.

Amazon accepts the following:

GTIN = GTIN-14 (14-digit number)

EAN = GTIN-13 (13-digit number)

UPC =GTIN-12 (12-digit number)

There may be a number of reasons why Amazon has not accepted your GTINS/ barcodes.​

1. Invalid error: usually due to not selecting EAN as the product ID type

A common problem is selecting the incorrect product ID for a listing.

You can resolve the problem by following these instructions:

When you upload your product into Amazon Seller Central, the first attribute you are asked for is the product ID. This the unique GTIN provided to you by GS1 Australia (if you are selling someone else's products then you will need to ask them for numbers).

Amazon allows you to add:

• UPC - Amazon is expecting a 12 digit number. Amazon is expecting a 12 digit number. It is unlikely that you would select UPC as the 12 digit number, as these are for US retailers only.

• EAN - Amazon is expecting a 13 digit number. Therefore, if you are selling a single product, sometimes called a SKU or a child product if you have variants, you will need to select this option.

• GTIN - Amazon is expecting a 14 digit number. If you are selling a case or box of products - for example, a carton of 6 products (that would usually be sold separately) all together, then you need to select GTIN and input the GTIN-14 that you have assigned.

• GCID – is a number that Amazon assigns to your product, if you have a GTIN exemption.

Note: After April 17, 2018, GCIDs can no longer be used in place of a UPC, EAN, JAN or ISBN to create ASINs. If your brand has been approved for the new brand Registry programme and you do not have UPCs, EANs, JANs or ISBNs for your products, please apply for GTIN exemption.
 

2.  Barcodes do not match

This is usually an issue with the brand name being different to the company details registered with either Amazon or GS1 Australia.  When you receive an error message, you will need to provide Amazon with proof of the connection between the seller and the brand.  Examples of proof include trademark certificate, invoices to show that you purchased the stock from the brand or a letter of authorisation to prove that you have permission to sell.  For more information, contact Amazon Seller Support.

3.  Potential match

You will receive a message stating “We found possible matching product(s)."  This means that the product you have listed may already be in the Amazon Catalogue. You will need to check if it already exists.

Product pages in the Amazon.com catalogue provide buyers with an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) in the product details section and in the URL of the page itself. ASINs are used to reference catalogue data, track inventory for products, and index catalogue pages for search and browse.

However, the basis for accurate product page creation and product matching is product identifiers outside of the Amazon.com system. For most product categories, sellers are required to use an industry-standard product identifier when creating new pages in the Amazon.com catalogue.

The GTIN, or Global Trade Item Number, is such industry-standard product identifier. GTINs are administered by and can be obtained through GS1. GTINs may also be referred to as UPCs (Universal Product Codes), EANs (European Article Numbers) or JANs (Japanese Article Numbers) and also includes ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers – obtainable through your local ISBN Agency).