Improve your online business with a GS1 GTIN

Many marketplaces (and retailers) require a GS1 GTIN™ to sell products online.

If you are a product’s brand owner or manufacturer, many marketplaces and retailers will require you to get a GS1 GTIN™ from GS1.

If you are reselling or distributing a product, many marketplaces and retailers will require you to provide that product’s existing GS1 GTIN™. To do that, you may need to contact the product’s brand owner or manufacturer and ask them.

Marketplaces rely on GS1 GTIN™ to manage their product catalogues, enrich product data and detect counterfeit products. Marketplaces have found that requiring GS1 GTINs™ ultimately enhances the customer experience and drives traffic to your products.

The GS1 GTIN™ is unique and it is searchable in Verified by GS1, the publicly accessible GS1 global database that is used and trusted by many marketplaces around the world to verify the identity of the product you want to sell.

A GS1 GTIN™ is a unique, global, verifiable product identifier issued by GS1 used to uniquely distinguish your products. It’s the number found under a product barcode's black and white lines.

GS1 GTINs™ vary in length depending on the type of product. Some GS1 GTIN™ formats are more common in some countries.

Here are the different GS1 GTIN™ formats you might encounter. Note that all formats of GS1 GTIN™ are usually accepted by all marketplaces and retailers around the world: 

• GTIN-12 is also called UPC. It’s a 12-digit number mostly used in North America
• GTIN-13 is also called EAN or JAN. It’s a 13-digit number mostly used in Europe and rest of the world
• GTIN-14 is a 14-digit number used for cases and packaging
• GTIN-8 is an 8-digit number used for smaller-sized items
• ISBN is a 13-digit number used for books
• ISSN is a 13-digit number used for “serial publications” like newspapers or magazines

Interested in learning more? Watch the YouTube video from GS1 ‘What’s the difference between GTIN™, EAN, UPC, and barcode numbers?’, or the YouTube video from Amazon.

Only a GS1 GTIN™ is unique and verifiable in the GS1 system, everywhere in the world, forever.

The GS1 GTINs™ you get from GS1 are unique within the GS1 system that is used by two million companies around the world.

GS1 will never issue the same GS1 GTIN™ twice. GS1 also does not allow the transfer or (re)sale of GS1 GTINs™.

GS1 GTINs™ are included in our GS1 database, which is accessible to everyone through Verified by GS1. Many marketplaces use this database to check if your GS1 GTIN™ is linked to your company and/or product.

Numbers sold by other parties (parties not listed on our GS1 website) are:

• either not numbers in the GS1 System, or
• numbers originally issued by GS1 to a specific party that have been transferred or (re)sold.

These numbers will either not be in our verifiable database or, if they have been transferred or (re)sold against GS1 guidelines, they will appear together with the data of the original party that licensed the number and not with your data.

The numbers sold by other parties sometimes can overlap with GS1 numbers, which can create confusion. GS1 cannot be held responsible if marketplaces do not accept these numbers.

Sometimes organisations outside GS1 use our logo and brand without authorisation to sell their numbers. The only way to be sure you are getting a GS1 GTIN™ is to go through our GS1.org website to find your local GS1 Member Organisation. Only a licensed GS1 Member Organisation can provide you with GS1 GTINs™ and guarantee their uniqueness in the GS1 database.

Find your local GS1 Member Organisation by visiting our web page.