marketing, sales, retailI’m starting a brand on Amazon/eBay, and someday I wish to open up my own brick and mortar store. But for now, I’m just online.
I used easyupc.com to get quick UPC codes for products that I’m selling with my own brand name on Amazon/eBay. Is this generally bad to do if I want to open a physical store later down the line? Is there anything illegal about using these kinds of UPCs in a physical store?
Regardless of whether you want to open your own brick and mortar store, sell through other channels, or stick to just Amazon/eBay, you shouldn't use any UPC codes that are not assigned directly to you by GS1. It is against the UPC licensing rules for the original owner of the UPC code to sell/lease/sublet/etc use of their UPC codes to another party. Specifically for Amazon it will get you blocked, likely sooner rather than later. They are making a concerted effort to clean up their product catalog. One element of that effort is improving the quality of the UPC codes being used. For new listings, Amazon is confirming the details of your product to the GS1 database of UPC codes.
For Amazon, you can request a global catalog identifier (GCID) instead of a UPC code, provided you are the manufacturer of the product and not just reselling someone else's product.
Amazon’s New UPC Policy: What it Means for Sellers
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