How to Get a GS1 Company Prefix for Your Barcodes

If you plan to sell your products in major retail chains like Amazon, Walmart, or Tesco, you cannot just use "random" barcodes. You need officially registered identifiers from GS1.

What is a GS1 Company Prefix?

A GS1 Company Prefix is a unique identification number assigned to your company. It ensures that your product barcodes are unique globally and will not clash with any other product in the world.

The Process of Getting Your Prefix

Choose Your Region: Visit the GS1 website for your country (e.g., GS1 US, GS1 UK, GS1 Poland).
Provide Company Details: You will need to provide your business registration and tax information.
Select Your Capacity: Depending on how many products you have, you can buy a prefix that allows for 10, 100, or 10,000+ unique barcodes.
Payment: Pay the registration fee and annual membership.

Official vs. Generic Barcodes

You may find websites selling "cheap" barcodes. Be careful:

Official GS1 Codes: Recognized by all retailers and linked to your company in the global GEPIR database.
Generic/Third-party Codes: May be rejected by major retailers as they are not officially registered to your business.

Next Steps

Once you have your GS1 prefix, you can generate your individual product codes. Use our Free Barcode Generator to turn those numbers into professional, scan-ready SVG barcodes for your packaging.