UPC Barcodes

[Jrboulder]

...

[Jim Bremner]

steal thhe upc labels from 15 different beers!

[saxen]

If there is variation you should use multiple UPCs however what will the difference be? That may change the ansower

[MysticLlama]

You could get away with one if it's for boutique type retailers, but anyone with automated reordering is going to want them to be separate if they are separately chosen / shipped.

i.e., if they sell completely out of blue, they'll want to know that to reorder without going to count the inventory.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

Okay, so let's pretend I'm making widgets and they are almost all the same except for one cosmetic part. Let's pretend I'm making 15 different but very similar versions, they are all made at the same location, by the same people, with the same tools, with materials from the same suppliers, cost the retailers the same, and they all have the same MSRP.

Do I need 1 barcode or 15?

I've never needed to get a UPC before, although I feel I might need more in the coming years

If I just need one I will get it from an online seller of UPC's, but if I need 15 I may as well just get my own UPC manufacturer code.

Thanks,
Jackson

You want 15 different ones. The cost of getting your manufacturing code is quite high, plus maintenance fees. I'm looking into this as well...

The cheap places may re-use UPC code from discontinued products.

[Shifter]

How many part numbers do you have? Does your customer expect the same part each time? If so, you need a barcode for each part number. In the long run, it will make your life easier.

[island911]

I bought a hundred of them directly from GS1 for $700. ..iirc

$2 each seems really cheap.- too good a deal ?

[Dantilla]

I use GS1.

Ask your retailers what they need- One or 15.

[stomachmonkey]

15.

Without knowing what the cosmetic variant is I have to assume that one/some will be better sellers than others. Without a unique UPC there's no way to know which are not worth making. You can't rely on retail to give you accurate inventory on variants with the same sku.

And don't do retailer specific UPC's.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

I bought 18 of them for $1.99 each. We will see. I payed with paypal so I can just make a big deal out of it and get my $35.82 back if they are no good.

It's not that they are likely 'no good.' -it's more that you will likely have to pay again. That is, I expect that you are essentially renting those numbers. Whoever has full control over them will ask for more money if you have any changes, and/or more money annually.