How to Get UPC Codes for Amazon Through GS1 the Right Way

If you’re getting ready to sell a product on Amazon, one of the basic things you may need is a UPC code. This is also one of those areas where it’s easy to make a decision early on that creates problems later.

In most cases, especially if you’re planning to sell on Amazon, you want to get your UPC codes directly from GS1. GS1 is the organization that keeps track of UPC codes and which companies own them.

The process itself isn’t very difficult. One thing you need to decide is how many UPC codes you need to get at the same time.

You’re not choosing between different types of UPC barcodes here. You’re still getting UPCs either way. The choice is whether it makes more sense to buy individual UPC codes as you need them or get a GS1 Company Prefix that gives you capacity for a larger number of UPCs.

There is also a separate Amazon option called a GTIN exemption that may make more sense for certain types of catalogs. I’ll explain where that comes into play below.

Here’s the process from beginning to end.

Start at the GS1 Website

Go to the GS1 website and choose the option to get a barcode.

GS1 operates internationally, so you’ll first want to make sure you’re using the correct country organization. In this walkthrough, we’re using the United States.

Once you get into the purchasing process, you need to decide whether you want to:

• Buy individual UPC codes
• Get a GS1 Company Prefix with capacity for a larger number of UPC codes

The barcode itself is still a UPC. What changes is how you’re purchasing and managing the codes.

Image above: Start on the GS1 website and select the option to get a barcode. Image credit: GS1. Click the image to visit GS1.

Buying Individual UPCs vs. Getting a GS1 Company Prefix

This is probably the most important purchasing decision in the process.

You’re not choosing between two different types of barcodes. In both cases, you’re getting UPCs. The difference is whether you buy individual UPC codes as you need them or license a GS1 Company Prefix that gives you capacity for a larger number of UPCs.

For a lot of smaller product lines, buying individual UPCs makes more sense.

The walkthrough shows individual UPC codes at $30 per barcode, with that being a one-time license rather than something requiring an annual renewal fee.

The prefix option works differently.

If you get a company prefix, you’re paying for the capacity to create a certain number of UPC codes. The example in the walkthrough is a prefix for up to 100 barcodes:

• Initial price: $750
• Annual fee: $150 per year

The exact decision depends heavily on how many unique UPCs your brand actually needs.

If you’re a very large brand with a lot of products and variations, a prefix can make sense.

If you only need something like 20 UPCs, paying for a much larger prefix and then continuing to pay annual fees may not make sense compared with purchasing the UPCs individually.

So don’t assume that because you’re running a real brand you automatically need a Company Prefix. First figure out how many individual product variations actually need identifiers.

The main point isn’t that one option is always better. You want to calculate how many unique UPCs your catalog actually needs before choosing.

There is also another option in some situations: an Amazon GTIN exemption. That is not simply a cheaper substitute for UPCs, and it can create limitations later. If you’re deciding between the two, read our guide to when a GTIN exemption makes sense on Amazon before creating the listings.

Image above: GS1 offers Company Prefix options based on the number of unique barcodes a company needs. Make sure you account for product variations before choosing a tier. Image credit: GS1. Click the image to visit GS1.

Figure Out How Many UPC Codes You Actually Need

This is where brands sometimes underestimate their barcode needs.

If you’re using UPC codes, each separate product variation generally needs its own UPC.

For example, imagine you sell a hat.

• Green hat, size small
• Green hat, size medium
• Green hat, size large

Even though all three are fundamentally the same type of product, they are different variants. If you’re using UPCs, each one needs its own UPC.

So if you had a small and a large version, you wouldn’t normally buy one UPC and use it for both.

You would create one UPC for Green hat, size small and another UPC for Green hat, size large.

That becomes important very quickly if you have a product with several sizes, colors, styles, pack quantities, or other variations.

Before buying UPCs, I’d recommend figuring out your actual variation structure first. You don’t want to count one product family as one UPC if that product is really going to turn into several different variants when you create the Amazon listings.

So even though this is one basic product—a green hat—the three different variants would require three separate UPC codes if you decide to use UPCs.

There is an important alternative to consider before buying hundreds or thousands of codes: an Amazon GTIN exemption.

This comes up especially often with clothing and apparel. A clothing brand might have a relatively small number of basic styles, but once you multiply those styles by every size and color combination, you can end up with hundreds or even thousands of individual variations.

In that situation, buying a separate UPC for every variation can get expensive very quickly, and a GTIN exemption may make more sense for the Amazon catalog.

That doesn’t mean every clothing brand should automatically use a GTIN exemption. There are tradeoffs. For example, GS1 UPCs are generally much easier if the same inventory needs to move between Amazon, Walmart, retail stores, distributors, and other sales channels. A GTIN exemption is much more Amazon-specific and can create additional labeling requirements.

The main point is that you should make this decision before buying a large quantity of UPCs and before creating the Amazon listings.

Also, don’t confuse the UPC assigned to a product with Amazon listing fields such as item package quantity and unit count. Those are separate concepts. If you’re dealing with packs or products containing multiple units, see our guide to Amazon package quantity and unit count.

Enter the Brand Name and Product Description Carefully

When you purchase the UPC, GS1 is going to ask you for information about the product.

One of the important fields is the brand name.

You’ll also enter a description of the specific product connected with that UPC.

The important thing here is to make the description clear enough that when you come back later and look at the UPC, you know exactly which product it belongs to.

For example:

Green hat, size small

is much more useful than entering something vague like:

Hat

If you have another UPC for the large version, you could enter:

Green hat, size large

Now you can immediately tell the two UPCs apart.

This becomes even more important as your catalog grows.

You might only have two UPCs today, in which case you think you’ll remember which one is which. Once you have dozens of products and variants, that gets a lot harder.

The description should identify the product clearly enough that you aren’t guessing later.

Add Each UPC You Need to the Cart

If you’re purchasing individual UPCs, you can add multiple codes during the same purchase.

So choosing the single UPC option does not necessarily mean you can only purchase one UPC during that visit.

Using the hat example, you could enter the information for the small hat, add it, and then add the large hat separately.

Once you’ve added everything you need, GS1 will show you the number of barcodes in your cart.

In the example from the walkthrough, two UPC codes at $30 each would make the checkout total $60.

Again, under the purchasing option shown in the walkthrough, those individual UPCs are described as a one-time license without annual fees.

That is different from the company-prefix example, where there is both an initial cost and an ongoing annual fee.

Those totals are simply the $30-per-code amount from the walkthrough multiplied by the number of individual UPCs.

Proceed Through Checkout and Verify Your Email

Once the UPCs are in your cart, proceed to checkout.

GS1 will ask for an email address.

You’ll receive a verification email, and you’ll need to click the verification link before continuing through the account setup process.

After verifying your email, you’ll enter information including:

• Company information
• Company address
• Your personal/contact information

This is doing more than simply completing a payment.

You’re also creating an account that you can use to get back into GS1 later.

Keep Your GS1 Login Information

Once you’ve created the account, keep track of the login.

You may need to return to GS1 later to do things such as:

• Review your UPCs
• Change product descriptions or other information
• Purchase additional UPC codes

When GS1 emails your UPC information, the email will also include account information you can use to log back into the GS1 website.

You want to keep using that same account as your barcode needs grow.

You do not want to create a completely different GS1 login every time you need another UPC if you can avoid it. That makes the whole thing unnecessarily difficult to manage.

Keeping everything organized under the same login makes it much easier to see what you’ve already purchased and which products are associated with each UPC.

What You Receive After Purchasing the UPC Codes

After you complete the purchase, GS1 will typically email the UPC numbers to you.

A UPC is a 12-digit number.

The email will show information such as:

• The UPC number
• Your brand name
• The description associated with the UPC

If you bought multiple UPC codes, you’ll see the individual codes and their corresponding product information.

So, for example, you may have three different products listed in the email, each with its own UPC.

That gives you the actual identifying number you’ll eventually use when setting up the product.

The UPC Number and the Printed Barcode Are Not Exactly the Same Thing

When you buy the UPC, you receive the UPC number.

If you need the actual visual barcode—the black lines that can be scanned—you need software that takes that UPC number and generates the barcode image.

Those two things are closely related, but they aren’t identical.

The UPC is the identifying number.

The barcode graphic is the scannable representation of that number that can be printed onto packaging or labels.

So don’t get confused if GS1 sends you a 12-digit number and you’re expecting the final black-and-white barcode artwork for your packaging.

Wait Before Using a Brand-New UPC on Amazon

If you’re getting the UPC specifically because you’re preparing to create an Amazon listing, there’s one final step that can save you some unnecessary confusion.

Wait approximately 24 to 48 hours after purchasing the UPC before trying to use it to create the Amazon product listing.

Amazon’s database needs time to sync with the GS1 database.

If you try to use the UPC immediately, it may still work.

But you can also get an error that basically says one of two things:

• The UPC doesn’t exist
• The UPC doesn’t match the product you’re trying to list

That can make it look like there’s something wrong with the UPC you just purchased when the problem may simply be that Amazon hasn’t received the updated GS1 information yet.

If you bought the UPC correctly and run into one of these errors right away, you may just need to wait a little longer.

Give it the 24- to 48-hour window and then try again.

If the problem continues beyond the normal sync period, the next step is to check what company and product information GS1 actually has connected to the identifier. Our guide to Amazon UPC mismatches and checking GS1 ownership walks through that process.

You can also run into a separate issue where Amazon accepts the UPC but hasn’t approved the brand name you’re trying to use. If Seller Central gives you an Approval Required message or Error 5665, see our Amazon brand name approval walkthrough.

A Simple Example From Start to Finish

Here’s what the process looks like using the same basic product example.

Suppose you have a green hat available in two sizes:

• Small
• Large

Because those are separate variants, you want two separate UPC codes if you’ve decided UPCs are the right setup for the products.

You go to GS1, select the United States, and choose the individual UPC purchasing option used in the walkthrough.

For the first UPC, you enter your brand and a description such as:

Green hat, size small

Then you add another:

Green hat, size large

You add both to the cart.

At the $30-per-code pricing shown in the walkthrough, the total would be $60.

You proceed to checkout, enter your email address, verify the email, and then complete your company and contact information.

After payment, GS1 emails you the two 12-digit UPC numbers along with the corresponding brand and product descriptions.

You keep the GS1 login because you may need it later to update descriptions or purchase more UPCs.

If you need physical barcode artwork, you use barcode software to convert the UPC numbers into the scannable barcode format.

And if these UPCs are going to be used to create new Amazon listings, you wait roughly 24 to 48 hours before trying to use them in Amazon so the databases have time to sync.

That’s the entire process.

When a GS1 Company Prefix Makes More Sense

Individual UPC codes aren’t necessarily the correct option for every brand.

If you have a very large product catalog and are going to need a significant number of UPC codes, a GS1 Company Prefix may make much more sense than buying those UPCs individually.

The important thing is to do the math based on your actual catalog.

In the example from the walkthrough, the 100-barcode prefix costs $750 initially and has a $150 annual fee.

If you’re a large company that is going to continue introducing many products and variations, that structure can be reasonable.

If you’re buying around 20 UPCs, the walkthrough recommends looking at individual UPC codes instead.

But there’s another question you should ask before moving up to a large Company Prefix just because you have hundreds or thousands of Amazon variations: should these products use UPCs at all, or does a GTIN exemption make more sense?

This is especially worth considering for clothing and apparel with large numbers of size, color, and style combinations.

A GTIN exemption can allow qualifying products to be listed on Amazon without purchasing a UPC for every individual variation.

There are tradeoffs, though. If your products already have manufacturer UPCs, if you plan to sell through Walmart or physical retail, or if you want one universal barcode that can follow the same inventory through multiple sales channels, GS1 UPCs are generally the cleaner setup.

You also want to make this decision before creating the listings. If you build the catalog around a GTIN exemption and later decide you want to use GS1 UPCs instead, changing the identifier structure later can create additional work.

So the decision isn’t just individual UPCs versus a Company Prefix. First decide whether UPCs are the right setup for the products at all. If they are, then determine whether buying them individually or through a Company Prefix makes more sense.

Common UPC Mistakes to Avoid

Most of the problems in this process are preventable.

Buying UPCs Before Checking Whether a GTIN Exemption Makes More Sense

Not every Amazon catalog necessarily needs a UPC for every variation.

This is especially important for apparel. A clothing product can quickly turn into hundreds or thousands of child variations once you combine different styles, colors, and sizes. If you buy a separate UPC for every one of those variations without first checking your options, you may spend a lot more than necessary.

For some of these catalogs, an Amazon GTIN exemption may make more sense than buying UPCs.

That doesn’t mean a GTIN exemption is automatically better. It can make multi-channel inventory more complicated, particularly if you also sell through Walmart, retail stores, distributors, or other channels that rely on standard UPCs.

Make the UPC-versus-GTIN-exemption decision before purchasing a large block of UPCs and before building the listings.

Buying UPCs Without Counting Variants

If you’ve decided to use UPCs, don’t count a product with three sizes as though you only need one UPC. Each variant needs to be accounted for separately.

If that calculation suddenly results in hundreds or thousands of UPCs—especially with clothing—stop and determine whether a GTIN exemption would be a better fit before purchasing the codes.

Using Vague GS1 Product Descriptions

If you write something like “hat” for several different UPCs, you’re making the catalog harder for yourself to manage.

Use descriptions such as “green hat, size small” so you can tell exactly what each code belongs to.

Losing the GS1 Account Information

The GS1 account lets you return later, review the codes, change descriptions, and purchase more UPCs.

Keep everything under the same login instead of creating multiple disconnected accounts.

Confusing a UPC Number With a Barcode Graphic

The 12-digit UPC number is the identifier. If you need the scannable barcode image for packaging, that has to be generated from the number.

Trying to Create the Amazon Listing Immediately

If Amazon tells you the UPC doesn’t exist or doesn’t match the product shortly after you purchased it, don’t immediately assume the UPC is bad.

The walkthrough recommends allowing 24 to 48 hours for Amazon to sync with GS1.

Frequently Asked Questions About GS1 UPC Codes for Amazon

Does Every Amazon Product Variant Need Its Own UPC?

If you’re using UPCs, each separate product variant generally needs its own UPC. So a small, medium, and large version would each have a separate code.

There is an important alternative to consider: some products may qualify for an Amazon GTIN exemption instead. This comes up especially often with clothing and apparel catalogs that have very large numbers of size, color, and style combinations.

Should I Buy UPCs or Use a GTIN Exemption?

It depends on the product and how you plan to sell it.

GS1 UPCs usually make more sense if you want one universal product identifier that can work across Amazon, Walmart, physical retail, distributors, and other channels.

A GTIN exemption can make more sense for certain Amazon catalogs where purchasing a UPC for every variation becomes impractical. Clothing with hundreds or thousands of size, color, and style combinations is a common situation where you should at least consider the exemption option.

There are important tradeoffs, so make this decision before creating the listings. You can read the full breakdown in our guide to when a GTIN exemption makes sense on Amazon.

Do I Need a GS1 Company Prefix?

Not necessarily.

If you only need a relatively small number of UPCs, individual UPCs may make more sense. If you know you need a large number of UPCs, a Company Prefix may be more practical.

But if you’re considering a large prefix mainly because you have hundreds or thousands of Amazon variations—especially apparel—check whether a GTIN exemption makes more sense before buying the prefix.

Can I Purchase Multiple Individual UPC Codes at Once?

Yes. Choosing the individual UPC option doesn’t mean you have to go through a completely separate checkout process for every code.

You can enter multiple products and add the UPCs you need to the cart.

What Should I Put in the GS1 Product Description?

Make it specific enough that you can immediately identify the product later.

For example, “green hat, size small” is better than simply “hat.” If you have multiple variants, include the information that distinguishes them.

What Does GS1 Send Me After I Purchase the UPC?

The walkthrough shows GS1 emailing the UPC information after purchase. The email includes the 12-digit UPC number along with the associated brand and product description.

It also gives you account information you can use to return to the GS1 website later.

Is the UPC Number the Same Thing as the Barcode Image?

No.

The UPC is the 12-digit number. If you need an actual scannable barcode graphic, you use software to turn that number into the barcode.

How Long Should I Wait Before Using a New UPC on Amazon?

The walkthrough recommends waiting 24 to 48 hours before trying to create an Amazon listing with a newly purchased UPC.

That gives Amazon time to sync its database with GS1.

If you try too soon, Amazon may tell you that the UPC doesn’t exist or that it doesn’t match the product.

Get the UPC Setup Right Before You Build the Listing

Buying a UPC through GS1 is pretty straightforward once you understand the choices.

The bigger things to get right are deciding whether UPCs or a GTIN exemption make sense for your catalog, determining whether individual UPCs or a Company Prefix make sense if you do need UPCs, buying a separate UPC for each applicable variant, entering product descriptions that you’ll actually understand later, keeping your GS1 account organized, and giving Amazon time to recognize a new UPC before trying to create the listing.

If you want a walkthrough, the video above covers this step-by-step. And if you’ve got a quick question about your situation, leave a comment on the video and I’ll try to point you in the right direction.