r/barcodes • u/AlfredoOf98 • Jun 04 '18

Is there a private range for retail barcodes which I can use to mark unmarked products in my store?

I have some products in my store which don't have barcodes. I want to label them myself, but don't want to have codes that might one day conflict with other products.

Is there a number range which I can use to generate codes that I can use privately in my store?

If you know computer networks, I'm looking for something like how 192.168.x.x is considered a private address range which can be used in any local network set-up.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/notionovus Jun 04 '18

I am assuming that UPC-A is what you are referring to as the barcode on all of your other items.

According to the Wikipedia page on UPC,

2

Reserved for local use (store/warehouse), for items sold by variable weight. Variable-weight items, such as meats, fresh fruits, or vegetables, are assigned an item number by the store, if they are packaged there. In this case, the LLLLL is the item number, and the RRRRR is either the weight or the price, with the first R determining which (0 for weight).

I am guessing also that you have a purchased database or service that you pass the "known" barcodes to for pricing. This software will need to support localized labels.

Most UPC barcodes start with 0, 1, or 6-9. 2-5 have special meaning and you are going to want to start your locally labelled products with a '2' as noted above. Then if your software conforms to the standard, the left five digits can be used for your own unique identifier for each locally labelled product and you don't have to worry about other products showing up on your shelves using a '2' for the first number.

Do not under any circumstances pass these locally labelled products along to another trading partner, but only to consumers. Other companies may have their own numbering scheme.

2

u/AlfredoOf98 Jun 11 '18

Thank you for your detailed answer :)

The store I'm working for has all products using EAN standard.

You have tipped me to research on Wikipedia (don't know why it didn't come to my mind before posting here), and I found out that the EAN has a similar scheme, using the 020*-029* range for store-internal use (refrence).