Do I need a GS1 barcode?

Whether you need a GS1 barcode depends on where you sell and whose product it is. This guide answers from GS1's and Amazon's own pages, not from forum advice. It lists its sources at the end; forum reports are labeled as such.

Sources read on October 28, 2026.

When you need a GS1 number

GS1 publishes the standard that defines U.P.C. and EAN barcodes, the GS1 General Specifications. It also allocates (hands out) the numbers those barcodes carry, through a member organization in each country. In the US, that is GS1 US.

The number inside a UPC-A or EAN-13 barcode is a GTIN, short for Global Trade Item Number. It has 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits. A 12-, 13- or 14-digit GTIN starts with a company prefix that GS1 assigns to one business (4 to 12 digits long), then the business's own item number, then a check digit. An 8-digit GTIN is issued differently, from a short GS1-8 prefix.

You need a GS1-issued number when:

• you sell your own product in most stores that scan barcodes at the checkout, or
• you list your own product on Amazon as the brand. According to GS1 US's page on barcodes for Amazon, Amazon recommends getting the GTIN directly from GS1 or from the product's original manufacturer.

How to get a U.P.C. number: you don't make it up. A number used in open trade (sold through stores and marketplaces anywhere) has to be allocated under GS1's rules. So it comes from GS1 US in the US or, for a product you resell, it is the number the manufacturer already put on the package.

When you may not need one: a code that never leaves your own business, such as a stock label only your staff scan. GS1 sets aside restricted circulation numbers for this: numbers that are only valid inside one company or one region, never in open trade. For your own internal labels, the range is numbers that start with 4 in UPC-A form. These must not go on products you sell through other stores or on Amazon.

Numbers that start with 2 are a different case. They are regional in-store codes, for example for items priced by weight, and part of the number can carry a price. Don't use them for your own labels: a register could read them as a priced item. Numbers starting with 952 are kept for demonstrations and examples only.

Once you have your number, our UPC generator draws the barcode at a size that follows GS1's rules.

What it costs

GS1 US sells two things: a single GTIN, for one product, and a company prefix, from which you make a set of GTINs for several products. We don't list prices on this page, because they change and we have not re-checked them for it. See GS1 US for current prices.

In seller forum threads we read from 2025 and 2026, cost was a common complaint. Cost is not a reason to use numbers from outside GS1.

What Amazon checks

GS1 US's page on barcodes for Amazon quotes Seller Central: We verify the authenticity of product UPCs by checking the GS1 database. We have not yet read that sentence on Amazon's own page, so treat it as Amazon's position as reported by GS1 US.

So a number with a correct check digit is not enough. The check digit only shows the number is well formed. Our check digit calculator tells you that, but no calculator can tell you who a number is registered to.

Bought a cheap UPC? The risks

Some sites resell U.P.C. numbers outside GS1. We read seller forum threads from 2025 and 2026 about what happened next. These are sellers' own reports, not Amazon policy:

• A buyer checked a block of resold numbers and found some already belonged to other, active products.
• A seller who had listed with resold numbers wanted to switch to GS1 numbers and was told to expect relisting the products as new ASINs.
• A seller with a wrong number on a live ASIN said they were told the number could not be edited or replaced once the ASIN existed.

If a number came from anyone other than GS1 or the product's own manufacturer, it falls outside what Amazon is reported to recommend. Sellers in these threads report being told to expect relisting as new ASINs, so check where a number came from before you print it.

Amazon's GTIN exemption

Amazon lets some products be listed without a GTIN, through a GTIN exemption. Who qualifies is set by Amazon in Seller Central, and we have not summarized those rules here, so check them there before you apply.

One rule we have read: products listed with a GTIN exemption still need Amazon barcode (FNSKU) labels when you send them to Amazon's warehouses.

FNSKU labels since March 31, 2026

Since March 31, 2026, resellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon must put an Amazon barcode label on every unit, even when the product already has a UPC-A or EAN-13 barcode. These labels carry an FNSKU, a code Amazon assigns, which usually starts with X00. Brand owners enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry may still use the manufacturer's barcode.

Amazon also stopped offering its own prep and item labeling service on January 1, 2026, so sellers or their prep services now apply these labels. Our FNSKU label generator makes them for label sheets or thermal printers, and its page lists Amazon's label rules.

Have your number? Make the UPC barcode →

Sources

• GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0, January 2026: sections 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 (prefixes and restricted circulation numbers), section 7.9.1 (check digit).
• GS1 US: Barcodes for Amazon (Amazon's recommendation and the quote from Seller Central, as reported by GS1 US).
• GS1 US: An Introduction to the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), Release 2.1, July 2021.
• Amazon Seller Central help pages "Use Amazon barcodes for FBA", "FBA barcode requirements", "FBA Label Service" and "FBA Barcode Choice and Labeling FAQ" (read October 28, 2026; Seller Central may ask you to sign in).
• Seller forum threads on Reddit, 2025–2026: sellers' own reports, used only in the section on resold numbers.