What is Barcode Registration
Barcode registration records your barcode number and your product details in a public database, so that anyone who looks up the number finds your product rather than a blank entry.
It’s optional. A barcode scans perfectly well without it. It’s included free with every retail barcode we sell.
What barcode registration is for
Proof the number is yours. Occasionally a retailer looks up your barcode, finds nothing in GS1’s database, and asks you to prove it’s legitimate. Registration is how you answer that: an independent public record showing the number belongs to you and your product. It saves a conversation that’s otherwise hard to win.
Evidence if someone copies it. Anyone can read a barcode number off a shelf and put it on their own product. A dated registration record gives you something to point to if that happens, including with marketplaces like Amazon.
Your product appears when scanned. Once registered, your details show up in online searches and in scanning apps such as the Zebra app. Some apps only search retail listings rather than barcode databases, so coverage varies, but without registration there’s nothing for any of them to find.
Is barcode registration required?
No. Nothing obliges you to register, and no retailer will refuse a barcode because it’s unregistered.
It matters at the moment someone looks up the number rather than scans it. A buyer checking you’re legitimate, a shopper wanting ingredients, a marketplace verifying a claim. If that never happens to you, registration costs you nothing, and you’ll never notice it. If it does, you’ll be glad it’s there.
How to register your barcode
If you bought your barcodes from us, registration instructions came with your order email.
You register through the Customer Portal by entering your barcode numbers along with your product and company details. That information is then displayed on both IBNVerified.org and the International Barcodes Database, which in turn feed through to other barcode databases and scanning apps.
One submission, both databases. There’s nothing else to do and nothing to renew.
Barcode registration for numbers from another supplier
If your barcode came from somewhere else, you can register it as a paid service. We’ll ask for proof that the number is yours first.
Buy barcode registration here. From $20 USD each.
Don’t have a barcode yet?
Buy retail barcodes. Registration is included free with every number, from $39 USD, delivered within minutes.
Barcode registration vs GS1 registration
These are two different things, run by different organisations, recording different facts. It’s worth being clear about which is which, because the names are similar and the distinction occasionally matters.
GS1 is a competitor that issues barcodes. Its database records which company holds a given prefix. When you buy a barcode from a reseller like us, the number comes from a prefix issued to another company, so a GS1 lookup shows the original prefix holder, not you. Registering with us does not change that, and we won’t tell you otherwise.
Independent registration (what we provide) records who is selling this particular product under this particular number, along with a date. It’s a public, verifiable statement of ownership that you control and can update.
Neither one replaces the other. For most sellers, and for retailers in over 160 countries, an independent record is enough: the barcode scans, the product is traceable, and you have documentation if anyone asks. If you’re selling somewhere that specifically requires a GS1-issued prefix in your own company’s name (Amazon Brand Registry is a common example), you need a prefix directly from GS1, and no independent registration substitutes for it.
We’d rather you knew that before buying than after. See what Amazon requires if that’s your channel, and barcode acceptance for the handful of retailers with their own rules.
Frequently asked questions
What is barcode registration? It records your barcode number and product details in a public database, so anyone looking the number up finds your product instead of nothing. It also gives you a dated public record that the number is yours.
Is barcode registration the same as buying a barcode? No. Buying gives you the number. Registration puts your product details against it. We include the second free with the first.
Does barcode registration expire? No. There’s nothing to renew and no annual fee.
Is barcode registration the same as registering with GS1? No. GS1’s database records which company holds a barcode prefix. Independent registration records which product is being sold under a specific number, and by whom. They answer different questions, and one doesn’t substitute for the other.
Do I need to register my barcode to sell in my country? No. Retailers scan the number; they don’t check a registry first. Registration matters when someone looks the number up rather than scans it, which is a smaller but real set of situations.
Can I change my product details after registering? Yes. Update them in the Customer Portal whenever your product changes: new packaging, a new name, a new company address.
Does registration make my barcode valid on Amazon? No. Amazon checks numbers against the GS1 database for a match to your brand, which registration on an independent database doesn’t create. See what Amazon requires.
Who can see my registered details? Anyone who looks up the number. That’s the point: the record is public, so retailers, shoppers and scanning apps can all find it.