Who needs a UPC number?

If you sell products to a distributor or a retailer, those products will need a UPC bar code that represents a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) . All retailers doing scanning of merchandise at the checkout counter will require you to bar code label any merchandise you want them to carry.

What is a UPC bar code?

If you buy products in a retail environment, then you are familiar with the bar codes you see on most products in any of your local retail stores. This is called a UPC-A code, is 12 digits long and looks something like this:

The UPC number itself is referred to as the GTIN - Global Trade Item Number The GTIN is made up of your UCC Company Prefix and the number that you have assigned to that unique product.
The UCC Company Prefix is a 10, 9, 8, 7 or 6 digit number assigned to you by the Uniform Code Council. The number of digits is determined typically by how many products you will need to assign numbers to. If you have 50 products that require unique numbers, you would probably be assigned a 9 digit UCC Company Prefix (That leaves 2 digits to represent your items). In the bar code sample to the left, a 6 digit number, "012345" had been assigned. This number will represent the manufacturer on all of their products as well as in any EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) applications.

The second set of numbers are used to reference the specific product. It is called an " Item Reference Number ". This number is not assigned by the Uniform Code Council. This number is up to the manufacturer and is often assigned in a random manner. In the example bar code above, the Item Reference Number is "67890". Depending on how many items you have requested numbering for, this Item Reference Number may be 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 digits long.

The last number is a check digit calculated from the previous 11 digits. It is not randomly assigned. Most bar code printing programs will calculate this check digit for you. The check digit for the example above is "5"

How do I get my own UPS Code?

Only the GS1 US (formerly the Uniform Code Council) can issue UPC numbers.

The contact information for the GS1 US is: