bar code

[Curtis McMillan]

Is their a goverment office to get or supply bar codes to keep from having the same as another product. What's the fee for this service.

[heartland distillers]

The government does not issue bar codes. They are issued by GS1 which was formally called the Uniform Code Council. Try here: http://www.gs1.com/

[SteveJ]

Join the GS1 Partner Connection group. It's about $158 per year and you are all set.

[will]

...or just buy what you need from NationwideBarcode.com

you can read about NWB v.s. GS1 HERE

100 barcodes for $175, and no annual fees. good enough for me.

[coop]

...or just buy what you need from NationwideBarcode.com

you can read about NWB v.s. GS1 HERE

100 barcodes for $175, and no annual fees. good enough for me.

I keep hearing about bar codes and what it cost. Some facts that I have found out. Liquor bar codes in Colorado us a 13 number sequence. I am sure that some one out their can calculate just what the odds are of coming up with the same bar code of another product. I think that there are at least 2000 codes used in a liquor store for different products. Not all but most use them. Colorado has approximately 2000 liquor stores. After 3 years and 7 different bar codes we have never duplicated one. We are in 5 states now and again no duplication. The point is we make our own up with the help of a $10.00 program from Office Depot. I am not sure but unless your state requires that you get a code from a registered origination why waste the money and yearly fees

[Jedd Haas]

Coop, that's a very interesting approach. Did you know that you can google bar code numbers and come up with the product? You might want to do that with self-generated codes, just in case.

[will]

Liquor bar codes in Colorado us a 13 number sequence. I am sure that some one out their can calculate just what the odds are of coming up with the same bar code of another product. I think that there are at least 2000 codes used in a liquor store for different products. Not all but most use them. Colorado has approximately 2000 liquor stores. After 3 years and 7 different bar codes we have never duplicated one. We are in 5 states now and again no duplication. The point is we make our own up with the help of a $10.00 program from Office Depot. I am not sure but unless your state requires that you get a code from a registered origination why waste the money and yearly fees

The 13-digit sequence is an EAN barcode. It's similar, used everywhere except the USA, and should be readable in most stores using UPC barcodes.

There's also a UPC barcode setup of some sort that's for cased goods - it includes a code for the item count - as I recall.

The only downside to using a barcode from an organization other than GS1 is that you may not be able to sell at Kroger, Walmart, and Macys....and that list may grow.

The only downside to using a self-generated barcode is that someone else may get a legal right to that code, and that may be confusing/troublesome in the future.

[heartland distillers]

I would not use self generated bar codes. You will only run into trouble in the future. You run the risk of using a barcode that, even if it is not being used now, may be issued by GS1 (or Nationwide Barcode) in the future. This would put you in the position of possibly being mandated by a court ro recall all outstanding products with those codes. I have seen this happen with printing mistakes involving bar codes. Using an unregistered bar code would put you in greater legal jeopardy. Also, not all upc numbers that are in use can be found on google or other search engines. I know this for a fact, as several of our upcs do not come up on google.

As for Nationwide Barcode, it is a subseller of barcodes, using them would put you at risk of losing your rights to the barcode if this company is bought out or goes out of business. Near term, this is not likely to happen, however it will happen one day as all of these subsellers have a finite number of barcodes they can sell.

Finally, although Nationwide states that only Walmert, Macy's and Kroger require a gs1 certificate, that number is surely to increase in the future as as barcode technology matures and as retailers shift to the use of RFID and other new technology.

When applying for your prefix with gs1us, be sure to play with the numbers that they are asking. The price they charge you for your initial registration depends on the info you provide them. www.gs1us.org

[Jonathan Forester]

For GS1, that's the annual fee, but it starts at $760 to apply. Basically if your annual revenue is under $250,000.00, and you want 100 or less barcodes, then it's $760 to apply, and $148.00 a year. If you use up your barcodes, then you move up to the next level, and your annual fee goes up slightly. GS1 is the only bar code registry.

You can also us QR codes, these are free, generated on several free sites, and can be used for many types of info. Each code carries exactly what type of info you want. They are read with a special QR code reader... OR by an app on many cell phones with cameras. I am having both types being printed on my labels now.

Example:

ADI Home Page QR Code

Join the GS1 Partner Connection group. It's about $158 per year and you are all set.

[Charles@AEppelTreow]

Jon, have you looked as Microsoft Tags at all? A little more centralized than QR Codes in some ways, as the URLs all feed back through MS - which provides for usage tracking. But more customizable in visual appearance than QR codes. They can be generated in CMYK - and the elements carrying the data can be replaced with pictures. Logo elements, or images that pertain to your business.

Free readers available for all the typical platforms.

Thing is - would they be of any value to my customers? I'm not sure the demographic that shows up in my tasting room is tuned to such tools. I can hang tags on pieces of equipment, or on bottle displays, that link to more info on my website - but I think I'd really rather just talk to them.

I've thought about hanging weatherproof tags out in the orchard to provide background info for walking tours. But again - would they get used? Seen as a valuable addition?

[Jonathan Forester]

Qr codes are starting to get wider acceptance. They are being used at State and National parks, and other areas for walking tours. And in viral marketing plans. I think that if more are made, more will be used by the public. There are some sites that charge a low fee to track scans made through their sites.

I haven't looked in to Microsoft tags, I'll do so.

Jon, have you looked as Microsoft Tags at all? A little more centralized than QR Codes in some ways, as the URLs all feed back through MS - which provides for usage tracking. But more customizable in visual appearance than QR codes. They can be generated in CMYK - and the elements carrying the data can be replaced with pictures. Logo elements, or images that pertain to your business.

Free readers available for all the typical platforms.

Thing is - would they be of any value to my customers? I'm not sure the demographic that shows up in my tasting room is tuned to such tools. I can hang tags on pieces of equipment, or on bottle displays, that link to more info on my website - but I think I'd really rather just talk to them.

I've thought about hanging weatherproof tags out in the orchard to provide background info for walking tours. But again - would they get used? Seen as a valuable addition?

[Beauport Bob]

There are previous threads on this that go in greater depth. I believe GS1 is actually a court mandated result of trying to compress and unify merchandise trade tracking domestic and internationally. The Sub sets of numbers cheaply available were issued to appease the others in the tracking game at the time. It is worth reading up on it rather than rely on bits and pieces of information which could lead you to make a decision you may regret. There is not right or wrong, just where you are going.