Beware of Very Cheap Barcodes!

When buying, we are not all tempted at some point to buy the cheapest that they offer us. 

As for EAN barcodes, especially those that are now starting to sell products, this temptation is more than succulent to reduce costs. If you choose to buy a cheap barcode you may face a scam or an expense from which you will not be able to profit. 

We explain below everything that is happening in the sector with barcodes that are sold very cheaply online. Watch out!

Cheap barcode that is not valid

On the Internet, if you browse lightly, you will come across numerous proposals for the sale of cheap barcodes, with prices that are very different from those on the market. As a good businessman, you know that there are no bargains that do not have a counterpart.

As for barcodes, the most common is that they are fake copies and not valid barcodes.

All barcodes follow standard patterns that are regulated throughout the world. As a universal logistics language that allows all operators to communicate.

Now if you fall into the trap of using the cheap barcodes offered online you may be scammed as most of these pirate barcodes are not up to standard.

In the most serious cases, they are not even valid since they manipulate the barcodes and these do not really provide information on the traceability of the product.

If you use these non-validated barcodes, your merchandise will be rejected.

How to know if a barcode is original?

Before paying for a barcode no matter how cheap it may be, we always recommend checking them. With a barcode verification calculator you can do it online and in most cases at no added cost.

These systems check the coincidence of entered digits and barcodes against barcode databases.

Of course, if you want a plus of officiality, the international body GS1 has a barcode validation service. But it is not free.

Cheap barcode online (from other countries)

In addition to pirate barcodes, there is another risk when buying a cheap barcode: that they are not valid for you to sell your products in Hong Kong or in marketplaces such Amazon.

This is because these barcodes are sold very cheaply because they are made from American websites. In them, you can get very cheap EAN barcodes when paying in dollars. 

But they have a big drawback.

This type of cheap online EAN code that they sell in these initiatives does not start with 489, which is, as you well know, the code that you really need to sell in Hong Kong.

Or what is the same, you buy a cheap barcode to pay later so much and be able to sell in Hong Kong.

Are you going to risk it?