What Amazon asks for

When you create a new product in Seller Central, the "Product ID" field wants a GTIN: a UPC (12 digits), EAN (13 digits) or ISBN for books. One product, one code. Amazon uses it to file your product in its catalog, stop duplicate listings, and match your item to the same product sold by others.

You do not need a UPC if you are adding an offer to a product that already exists on Amazon, or if you have a GTIN exemption for a category that allows one. Every new, unique product you create needs its own code.

Three ways to get a UPC, and what they cost

1. Own it outright from UPCs.com. $10 for a single code, $30 for ten, $90 for a hundred, delivered by email within minutes with barcode images and a certificate. You pay once. The number is yours for life and is never resold or reused. Our codes come from prefixes issued before 2002, which a court settlement confirmed are owned outright; that is why there is no renewal fee. Read how that works.

2. Rent a prefix from the annual-fee registry. A company prefix costs a few hundred dollars up front plus a yearly renewal, and single-code licences carry a fee per code. If you stop paying, the licence lapses. This route puts your own company name on the prefix record, which matters only if a specific program requires it (see Brand Registry below).

3. Cheap resellers. Codes sold for pennies on marketplaces and auction sites are sometimes generated at random, sometimes copied, and often sold to more than one buyer. If two products share a code, Amazon merges or blocks the listings. There is usually no company behind them and no support.

For the vast majority of sellers, including private-label sellers listing under their own brand without Brand Registry, option 1 is the fastest and cheapest, and it is what more than 200,000 businesses have done with us since the late 1990s.

How many codes you need

One per product variation. If size, color, material, flavor, scent, quantity or packaging changes, it is a new product with its own code. A t-shirt in 3 sizes and 3 colors is 9 codes; a supplement in 60- and 120-count bottles is 2. Parent listings on Amazon do not need a code, only the child variations that customers actually buy. Buying a few more than you need costs little; the per-code price drops at every quantity break.

Listing your product, step by step

1. Buy your UPC codes and open the delivery email (or download them from your account).
2. In Seller Central go to Catalog, then Add Products, and choose "I'm adding a product not sold on Amazon".
3. Select the category that matches your product.
4. Under Product Identity, set the Product ID type to UPC and paste your 12-digit code. Fill in the title, brand and the rest of the listing.
5. Save. Your listing is usually live within minutes; images and inventory can be added afterwards.

The Amazon UPC codes page has screenshots for every step.

Errors 5461 and 8572: what they mean and what to do

Error 5461 means Amazon needs approval before you can create a listing in that category or under that brand name. It is a category or brand gating message, not a problem with the code. Apply for approval in Seller Central or list under a brand you are allowed to use.

Error 8572 ("the brand name does not match the GTIN") appears when the brand you typed differs from what Amazon expects for that product identifier. Amazon may compare the GTIN against the registry's database; codes from UPCs.com show the original prefix owner there, which is expected. In most cases the fix is to list under the brand name exactly as it appears on your product and packaging, or to use "Generic" where Amazon allows it. If a code is rejected and you cannot resolve it, contact us within 90 days: we replace the code or refund the order. The Help Center has a step-by-step article for both errors, and our team answers within one business day.

Amazon Brand Registry: if your brand is enrolled in Brand Registry, Amazon may require GTINs licensed in your brand's own name or a GTIN exemption. Those rules are Amazon's and can change; check the current requirements in Seller Central before you buy.