Amazon Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Are suppliers required to have UPC or ISBN barcodes for items/books being sold on Amazon?

YES! In order to set-up items in Amazon’s brand registry, users are required to enter a UPC number (general merchandise) and an ISBN number (for books) as part of the item set-up procedure.  NOTE: There are a some exemptions to the UPC/ISBN requirement, refer to Amazon’s UPC/ISBN Exemption policy if you believe your company does not need a UPC/ISBN product identifier.

Does Amazon allow suppliers to use UPC barcode numbers obtained from a UPC Reseller?

As of May 2016 the answer is NO, UPC barcode numbers from UPC Resellers are NOT ALLOWED. Amazon revised the UPC section on Amazon Seller Central that explicitly states ‘Amazon requires sellers to obtain ‘valid’ UPC’s from the GS1 and further states that Amazon will confirm UPC barcodes are registered to their sellers and not 3rd parties.’  For many year before this announcement, some suppliers obtained UPC numbers from UPC resellers who advertised with discount prices online and on ebay.  To view Amazon UPC Requirements go to; Amazon.UPC.Seller.Requirement

We have worked with several Amazon suppliers who reported that during the item set-up procedure, Amazon flagged their UPC numbers for either of the following reasons;

• UPC Numbers were already being used by a different supplier
• UPC numbers were not issued to supplier being set-up.

In both cases, Amazon required the supplier to license a UPC Company Prefix from the GS1. Click Here for GS1 UPC Barcodes.

Amazon suppliers who need UPC barcodes to set-up items on Amazon should  contact us to discuss available options.

Are all Amazon suppliers required to place a UPC barcode on each item shipped to Amazon Fulfillment Centers?

NO! Amazon requires an Amazon Product Label on all non-Stickerless Commingled Inventory.  For suppliers who are not able to place an Amazon Product Label on each item, need to mark items with a UPC label and then pay Amazon $.20/per label to print and apply an Amazon Product Label.

Is there a recommended label size for the FBA Product Label?

YES! Even though Amazon permits suppliers to use a variety of label sizes for the FBA Product Label, we recommend suppliers use a; 2.625″ x 1.0″ label for the FBA Product Label.  This label size enables the FNSKU barcode to be printed in a size which will be easy to scan by Amazon.  To order blank laser labels to print FBA Product labels, go to BC-30 labels