What are ASINs, ISBNs and UPCs/EANs?

You’ve probably encountered one, two, or all of the above abbreviations on Amazon at one point or another. What do they mean? Where do they come from? Why use them anyway? The answer is the scale of sales on Amazon as an e-commerce giant. Imagine how difficult it would be to track thousands of shipped goods and identify them in the logistic cycle. Here is when ASIN, ISBN , and UPC/EAN come to the rescue.

In the guide below, we answer questions like “How to get a UPC code for Amazon” or the ones related to ISBN barcode generator.

What is ASIN?

Asin number stands for the identifier for managing the constantly-growing product catalog on Amazon. ASINs help to identify all the products that originate from Amazon. Every product identifier is generated uniquely, it cannot be repeated on any other item. What is ASIN from shoppers’ perspective must be answered by every seller who wants to stay eligible on Amazon.

Currently, Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) helps brands to deliver the stock of unique goods for Amazon buyers. Amazon ASIN works in two ways for the sellers:

  • Link the product you sell on Amazon with the existing ASIN from another brand. In this case, you don’t have to register the brand from zero to get the needed ASINs for your stock.
  • Start with your own brand on Amazon to register your personal ASINs for the unique items that you offer. This process might take longer than in the previous scenario when you borrow the identifier numbers from actual sellers who offer the same items as you intend to sell.
ISBN

It’s also important to note that ASIN is the alternative to ISBN (book identifier on Amazon). Next time, you’ll have a clear answer to what is ASIN number in contrast to other identifier codes currently available on Amazon.

What is ISBN?

It’s a separate category of identifiers on Amazon. ISBN number stands for International Standard Book Number, the solely-attributed marking number for books, magazines, e-books, and various sorts of published media. Every book that goes through publishing has the ISBN on the back cover, that’s the obligatory international standard for all books. Take a look at the typical book from Amazon, that’s the custom weekly planner, or 17-month calendar.

EAN

ISBN meaning is a puzzle for the most Amazon inhabitants. However, it takes less than a minute to decipher, nothing vague and complicated. The ISBN for the following book is the following

16 3136 567 3

Looking at the digits, they are all grouped into the sections. What is ISBN in a closer look? We have the answer for you:

  • First 2 digits represent the Group .
  • Next 4 digits refer to Publisher .
  • The later 3 digits stand for the Title of the book.
  • The final number is Check Digit .

When thinking about how to explain Amazon ISBN next time, the above guide will come in handy for the sellers who do not want to stay adrift in selling books on Amazon – one of the easiest product entries to build e-commerce monopoly.

What is UPC?

Universal Product Code (UPC) is the way for retailers to utilize the same code for a specific product. People wonder how to get a UPC code for Amazon, and the way to do that is not that bumpy. You have to register with GS1 to get the code of your company. After that, you can use the prefix, or the company code, so you get the answer on how to get a UPC code for free like that.

DigitUniversal Product Code

Where is the UPC code from the image above located anyway? It’s on the back of the box or items you sell or buy every day. From electronics to consumer goods, UPC is everywhere. Another question that you may ask is the actual UPC number and where to look for it.

Good news is you don’t need to perform UPC number search. It’s not available somewhere on the web, there is no randomizer for that. You have to order every Amazon UPC code at GS1 website. The code consists of 12 digits . The included number attributes are weight, product type, name, and so on. The barcode reader scans the code to relate the purchase to a specific price. The billing and postal service processing goes much faster with the help of UPC. We hope that the questionof “What is the UPC code” won’t bother you anytime now.

What is EAN?

Amazon EAN is almost the same as UPC code we discussed previously in the review. European Article Number is the specific encoding for the countries of Europe. The thing is that EAN number Amazon helps tracking the product of American or Canadian regions somewhere in the European location. Yes, Amazon creators probably did not have vast ambitions to outreach the beyond-ocean markets, but that’s what happened, and EAN helps with ambition like that.

The total length of the EAN is around 13 digits . The sole difference compared to UPC is in the single-digit country prefix. What is EAN on Amazon for the sellers who want to sell goods in Europe? This is the gateway to that market because without EAN, you’re selling items under UPC standard. One way or another, EAN is a simple country-code prefix on every item that you sell.

Final Thoughts

Without product tracking, Amazon would have never existed. Virtually, it’s impossible to deal with such amounts of items dispatched in different corners of the world every second. Amazon handles that in no time with the help of product coding. Several people are going to take care of the product before it’s at the doorstep of a customer.

The zones of responsibility for a successful dispatch are distributed between packaging and shipping, and last-mile parties are involved in the logistics cycle. Hopefully, ASIN, ISBN, UPC, and EAN help to understand what is actually happening with one item or another. Without codes like these, it’s the shipping of the wrong product. The marking system is a must to control the flow of goods from Amazon.


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