Barcodes FAQ
If you can't find the answer to your question below, email us, we are happy to help.
Our ordering help page can help you decide what you need. Our ordering process page takes you through the steps between ordering your barcodes & receiving them from us.
What is a Barcode?
Where did the barcode system come from?
What are the EAN-13 numbers that you provide?
Do I need to buy a barcode?
What are the EAN & UPC barcode systems?
How many barcodes do I need?
Will my barcode work for any retail product?
Will my barcode work in all retail stores?
Will my barcode work in a country other than India?
Are your barcodes issued by an official barcode body?
Are your barcodes legal for use in the India?
Can you guarantee that all retailers will accept your barcodes?
How do I purchase a barcode from you? How and when do I receive them?
Is there anything that I need to do after I receive the barcode number from you?
What if I have more than one product, or some variations of my product?
Do I have to be a registered company to purchase a barcode number?
My business is located outside of India. Can I still purchase a barcode number from you?
Why should I purchase a barcode number from you?
Will the barcode number I receive be unique?
Will my barcode ever expire?
Will I ever have to pay Renewal Fees?
What are acceptable dimensions for EAN-13 barcode printing?
Will the barcode I buy be registered in a Central Database?
How can you sell me a single barcode number?
Who invented barcodes?
Why was Barcodes Limited formed?
Do I have to print my barcode in black on white?
Can I see some sample barcode graphics?
What numbers are required for books and magazines?
What is a Barcode?
Barcodes are a unique
number that allows retailers to track sales of your product within
their inventory system. A barcode (also bar code)
is a
machine-readable representation of
information (usually dark ink on a light background to create high
and low reflectance which is converted to 1s and 0s.
Barcodes are also known as UPC (Universal Product Codes).
The barcode numbers can be of different lengths - 12 or 13 digits is
most common.
Where did the barcode system come from?
The UPC numbering system and bar symbols were conceived and designed in
the early 1970’s by
George J. Laurer on behalf of IBM. He
presented them to the grocery and food industries as a universal way
to keep track of inventories, prices and manufacturers. It was
chosen ahead of many other options, and has since been accepted
and adopted worldwide as a unified product tracking method.
What are the EAN-13 numbers that you provide?
EAN-13
barcodes represent unique EAN numbers which can be used for your
products. The barcodes are lines (or bars) of different widths that
represent the unique sequence of numbers shown below the lines.
Barcode scanners can tell what the barcode number is when they scan
the bars. The retailers computer system will then find the
corresponding product name & price (you need to supply this product
information to your retailers when you give them your product &
barcode).
Do I need to buy a barcode?
The use of barcode numbers is a voluntary system. Retailers use it
as the basis for their pricing, inventory and ordering systems. It
is increasingly common for retailers, both large and small, to
require all products they sell to display a unique product barcode
for this purpose.
What are the EAN & UPC barcode systems?
Most
barcode numbers
consist of 12 or 13 numbers. EAN-13 is the European standard, which
is used in India and has 13 numbers.
The
UPC barcode system is typically used in the
The EAN-13 code is used
internationally. Scanners can typically read both EAN-13 and UPC
codes.
How
many barcodes do I need?
You
need a unique barcode for each unique product
that you sell. Retailers use
barcodes in their computer systems to record product information &
track products. If you are selling a t-shirt that comes in 2
different sizes (small & medium) and 2 different colours (red &
blue), you will need to buy 4 barcodes. With a unique barcode on
each size & colour, if the small blue t-shirt is selling faster than
the other t-shirts, your retailers can easily find out & order more
of that t-shirt.
Will
my Barcode work for any retail product?
Yes.
All retail products in
For further information about restrictions
(affecting NZ, Australia & the US) regarding the barcodes
you purchase from us, read here.
Will
my Barcode work in all retail stores?
As far as we are aware, our barcodes are acceptable for all India stores (please let us know if you find any restrictions, so we can
inform other customers)
The only problems we've found are with a few shops in Australia & the USA (Wal-Mart, Kroger's, and Woolworths Australia). Those shops require registration with a barcode organisation that will verify your product barcode.
As far as we
know, this barcode verification is NOT a requirement in India. Our barcodes
should be accepted by retailers in India (except for magazines and books which
require an ISBN or ISSN number - see below). Hence, if you
need a barcode for your product, Barcodes limited can help you, and
save you $$$.
Will my barcode work in a country other than India?
Yes.
Our barcodes will work anywhere that either UPC or EAN barcodes are
scanned - which is most of the modern world. This includes
Are your barcodes issued by
an official barcode body?
Yes, they are. Our barcodes were issued by UCC -
the Uniform Code Council (now renamed GS1-US). UCC first issued our
barcodes in bulk to a company in the USA. We purchased a large
quantity of these barcode numbers and are now selling them on to
people who want barcodes without having to pay annual fees.
Are your barcodes
legal for use in India?
Yes.
As our barcodes were originally
issued by UCC - the Uniform Code Council (now renamed GS1-US), they are
legal for use in India, New Zealand & anywhere in the world.
Can you guarantee that all retailers will accept your
barcodes?
No, we cannot guarantee that all
retailers will accept our barcodes. No barcode supplier or issuing
organisation can guarantee that every retailer in the world will
accept their barcodes. 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 organisation to guarantee universal
acceptance.
It is your obligation
to find out the specific barcode & packaging requirements of your
particular retailers BEFORE
purchasing
barcodes from us. Do not print your packaging until your
retailers have expressed full acceptance of your barcodes &
packaging. For further information about restrictions regarding the barcodes
you purchase from us, read here.
How do I purchase a barcode from you?
All you need to do is click the "Order Now" button on the home page,
then complete
the required information and press "Submit." You then pay for your
purchases via Visa or MasterCard.
Upon successful credit card verification you will receive an
email confirming your barcode purchase.
When
we receive your order, we assign your EAN-13 barcode number(s) from
our database. If all you want is the number, this is
emailed to you.
If you require a graphic image of your barcodes, our Graphic
Design department convert your numbers into barcode images and
email
them to you.
The
turn-around time is often only a few hours. On some occasions it may
take our team one to three business days. (If you have specific
completion time requirements, please call or
email to check on the
current schedule.)
Is there anything that I need to do after I receive the barcode
number from you?
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.
What if I have more than one product, or some variations of my
product?
A unique EAN number is required for each different product in order
for your retailer to properly identify your products in their
inventory system.
Do I have to be a registered company to purchase a barcode number from you?
No. Any person, business, or organisation can
purchase & use our barcode numbers. You do not have to be registered
as a company.
My business is located outside of India. Can I still purchase a barcode number from you?
Yes, you can purchase your EAN-13 barcodes from us.
EAN-13 codes are used throughout the world.
Why should I purchase a barcode number from you?
If your business only has a relatively small number of
products or only needs new barcode numbers occasionally, then we
are the best option (in our opinion) for purchasing barcode numbers and
MUCH CHEAPER than alternatives.
Our Main Advantages are:
1.
Low initial cost - you can start with one barcode number from
$20
2.
No annual fees
- Our EAN barcode numbers are
sold for a one-off fee (no ongoing annual fees are charged). This an be a
significant cost saving.
3.
We
provide the barcode graphic FREE - many other barcode providers
don't provide you with a graphic barcode image, or charge an extra
fee for it.
4.
No
5.
We
are fast! – we can usually complete your order within hours, not days.
Will the barcode number I receive be unique?
YES. 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 also provide a free Guarantee Certificate
by email (or post for a small fee). The Guarantee Certificate covers
all the numbers you purchase at that time.
Our
-
manufacturers allocating the same number to two different products
-
businesses making up their own barcode number
-
buying a number from a company that generates numbers randomly.
Barcode number duplication can
also occur through companies like ours selling the same number to
more than one purchaser. We are aware of this potential danger, and
have accurate systems in place to avoid duplication of numbers – we
guarantee that we will not sell the same number to
more than one client.
(This is also a reason why we cannot offer
refunds for any barcode numbers purchased – we cannot resell any
numbers ‘returned’ to us because of the danger of duplication).
We purchase our barcode numbers from a reputable source in the
Will
my barcode ever expire?
No.
Once
we have assigned a barcode number to you, you have the right to use
it for life (with no ongoing annual charges), and your barcode will
never expire.
Will I ever have to pay
Renewal Fees?
Absolutely not. All of our charges are one-off payments. We will
never ask you for any renewal or licence fees. Because these barcode
numbers come from a company which joined the UCC in the 1990’s,
before they started charging renewal fees (August, 2002), we don't
need to pay any renewal fees. This saving is passed on to you - we
do not & will not ever charge you any renewal fees.
What are acceptable dimensions for EAN-13 barcode printing?
The nominal size of an EAN-13 image is 37.3mm wide x 25.9mm high.
The minimum recommended size is 80% of the nominal size (ie 30mm
wide). The maximum recommended size is 200% of the nominal size (ie
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
image prototype produced by your manufacturing facility before going
into mass production.
Will the barcode I buy be registered in a Central Database?
No. Individual barcode numbers are often not registered in a
Central Database.
There is no centralised international database of individual barcode
numbers and products. It is up to the owner of the barcode number to ensure it is not used
in duplicate situations, and to keep track of how the number is
used.
When
you receive your barcode number from Barcodes Limited, you control
that specific number. If you discontinue one product, you may re-use
that barcode number on another product - BUT you must pass on this
information to the retailer, and ensure that both products are not
being supplied at the same time. (It is wise to allow some time
between the end of one product’s life, and the reuse of that number
on another product). Hence, you become the registrar of that unique
barcode number and are responsible to ensure it is used properly.
How Can You Sell Me a Single Number?
In
the
1990’s, some manufacturers in the
Who invented barcodes?
George Joseph Laurer (born September 23, 1925 in
Why was Barcodes Limited formed?
We
were involved with another business, which developed a small number
of successful retail products for Australia and NZ. As these products became more successful, we found
that some stores required a barcode number on the products. Our
initial investigations led to only one major source for barcode
numbers, and horror when we saw the
cost of obtaining the few barcodes we required. No-one else in NZ
seemed able to provide us with a barcode. This got us asking
questions - we thought there should be a way to purchase one (or a
few) barcode numbers without paying large joining fees or annual
fees for membership.
After lots more research, investigation & ingenuity, we
obtained our barcode. Then we got calls from other companies asking
how they could obtain a barcode number. So, not wanting others to
waste their time and money unnecessarily, we decided to help other
people obtain barcode numbers and graphics easily
à
hence Barcodes Limited was formed.
Do I
have to print my barcode in black on white?
No.
Black bars on a white background is the normal colouring for
barcodes, and provides good contrast for scanning. However, you can
print your barcode in other colours, but it is essential to have a
good distinction between your barcode
bars and the background. If you plan to print your barcode in other
colours, get expert help and also undertake rigorous test scanning.
Can I see some sample graphics?
You can
see sample images here. If you have trouble with these, just send us an
email & we can email you samples of barcodes in various graphic
formats - so you can see which format you prefer.
What numbers are required for books and magazines?
If you are looking
for a barcode for your magazine or book, we recommend first getting
an ISBN number (for books) or an ISSN number (for magazines) from
the appropriate organisations. After you have the number, please
come back to us & we can use the number to provide barcode images
for you (you will not need to buy a unique barcode number).
You can get ISBN numbers in India from here.
You can get ISSN numbers in India from here.
Once you have the number,
contact us
or order online and we can provide the
correct artwork to print on your magazine
or book.
Can't find an answer to your question? Please email us
Order Now
To order a barcode number or graphic,
click
here.
