Amazon forces you to upload GTIN?! Will they delete the product if it is invalid?

Amazon released an announcement in the background these two days. The content did not make any changes to the existing policies, but it really surprised the sellers - Amazon reminded sellers to use formal GTIN , otherwise it will be invalidly identified and the product will be deleted!

The announcement stated that for most products on the US and European sites, Amazon requires sellers to provide a unique product identifier GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) to create new listings. If the GTIN code used by the seller is not provided by GS1 or is not authorized by the brand owner, it will be considered invalid . If the product's GTIN is invalid, the seller needs to change it to a valid GTIN as soon as possible from the Repair Product page, otherwise the product will be removed by Amazon.

The sellers were shocked to see this. Usually, we use UPC codes to upload products. What does this have to do with GTIN? Will UPC codes purchased from other places be identified as invalid codes, causing the products to be removed? Many sellers who were confused started to discuss in our group, and the communication group went crazy!

First of all, let me tell you that UPC is a type of GTIN (Global Trade Item Number). EAN, JAN, ISBN, etc. are all GTIN. Normally, our North American sellers use UPC. According to formal procedures, GTIN codes such as UPC are provided by the only legal organization, which is the "GS1" mentioned in the Amazon announcement.

GS1 is a non-profit organization and the only legal publisher of GTIN codes, including UPC. It has developed global standard barcodes for the supply chain. The UPC barcodes issued by GS1 are the main barcodes used in the United States and Canada. Manufacturers and brand owners need to register as members of GS1, pay membership fees and purchase barcode packages to generate formal GTIN codes.

The compliance process is like this. We sellers usually buy a large number of UPCs from third-party platforms such as Taobao to upload products. This type of UPC is usually resold by relevant dealers (such as GS1 agencies, etc.), and is usually a code registered by someone else. If you use the resold UPC to upload products, Amazon will grab the product seller information and compare it with the GS1 database based on the UPC code. If it is not matched, the seller's account may be removed or suspended. ( You can also get the UPC code from the GS1 database to check whether it is included . The query address is at the end of the article and scan the code to find me to get it )

Does this mean that we must all register and purchase UPC codes through GS1 in the future? No, I will analyze the specific correspondence with you below.

Many times, when sellers upload products using UPCs purchased from third-party platforms, they find that the prompt "The UPC used does not match the product" appears. In fact, this is because the GS1 database does not match or the UPC code has been used by someone else to upload a product, and then they receive this error.

Generally, sellers can just change a few UPC codes at this stage, but the mismatch between the product and the UPC code is still a hidden danger. Some sellers will receive a warning that the product ID is invalid and will be locked and have their products deleted. This happens occasionally, but the probability is generally very low.

The nature of this announcement is more of a reminder to sellers of the current policy content, and there is no change to the current policy .

We have always uploaded products despite this risk, simply because of cost considerations. Since there are no special changes, the above old method can still be used for small-scale sellers.

Some profitable sellers can complete brand registration as soon as possible, and then apply for GTIN exemption in the Amazon backend, so that they don’t have to use UPC to upload products. This will fundamentally eliminate the problem of UPC and product inconsistency .

Amazon is now increasingly leaning towards a branded operating route. Unbranded mass-produced goods will have a hard time every step of the way. The primary link of uploading products like this will also widen the gap with the methods of branded sellers. The importance of branding is evident. Unbranded, white-label and mass-market sellers must plan for transformation as soon as possible.