Usually, a 13-digit EAN-13 barcode is used on food or drink products in Canada (and the vast majority of countries). You can buy these barcodes above, and we will promptly email them to you.

The EAN-13 barcodes we sell are globally unique barcodes that comply with the standardised retail barcoding system used in Canada and worldwide. Our barcodes are compliant with all retail barcoding software and barcode scanners, both in Canada and worldwide.

Retailers use barcodes for stocktaking purposes (so that they can easily keep track of their inventory) and make the sales/checkout process efficient and fast.

Every different retail product requires a different barcode number (including product variations such as size or flavour). You will need two EAN-13 barcodes if you have a drink product that is being sold both as individual bottles and in cartons to be sold by the case.

You need a different barcode for each product when the price changes. If the price is the same (across all the product variations), then you might get away with using the same barcode number on all the product variations. This depends on which retail stores you are selling your products in – the larger retail stores, in particular, might require a different barcode for each product variation (especially if they do stocktaking automatically instead of manually).

You will need a different barcode for each vintage if you have different vintages for sale at the same time, each with a different price, at the same time in the retail stores to ensure the correct price appears when the barcode is scanned at checkout.

Some retailers and wholesalers require ITF-14 barcodes (also called GTIN-14 barcodes) to go on the pallets of food and beverage products.  An ITF-14 barcode goes on the delivery boxes that contain your products – please discuss this with your retailers to find out if they require these. ITF-14 barcodes are 14 digits long and are based on the 13-digit EAN barcode that goes on the product labels. They are scanned when each delivery carton enters the warehouse/storage area so that your retailers know how many items of your product are in each box. This helps them keep track of the remaining stock in their warehouse and know when they’re running low on a particular product and need to order more. Usually, you’ll need one ITF-14 barcode for each EAN-13 barcode that you have. You can purchase an ITF-14 barcode here if you need one.

No, you don’t. All you need to do is to buy the barcodes on our website and pay by credit card. You will receive your barcodes automatically by email as soon as we receive your payment. Each barcode will be a globally unique sequence of 13 digits encoded into a barcode image (the vertical black bars and white spaces). No product information will be encoded into the barcodes when you receive them – your barcodes and products will only be linked together once you give them to your retailers. The retailers enter the information into their inventory system (after that, when the barcode is scanned, the product/price information will appear on the retailer’s checkout screen).

You can find more information on how to use your barcodes on this page. We also have a short (7-page) Barcode Buyer Document PDF that explains how to use your barcode.

This is not necessary. You can assign the barcodes to your products, incorporate them onto your product labels, and then start selling your product instantly. There is no obligatory barcode database for any retail product anywhere else. However, there are some (optional) general barcode databases available online that list different retail products. One of the best ones is the International Barcodes Database. When you buy “EAN-13 Barcode Packages” from us, you will be able to register your barcodes for free on that database. Registration is an optional service. It is not compulsory. For more information about barcode registrations, click here.

Yes, you can. We can send you a roll of barcode labels (via courier). This could be a good option if your labels were printed before you got a barcode (or if the barcode printed on the labels is not scanning correctly for some reason). You can purchase barcode labels here.