I visited an “entrepreneur” friend not too long ago. I was explaining the concept of the Düdle game to him when he asked me, “Do you have a UPC code?”
“You mean like a barcode? No... Should I?”
“Yeah! How can I sell your product if its doesn’t have a Universal Product Code?”
“How do I get one?”
“Same place we get everything, online.”
So the rest of the visit UPS and barcodes were all I could think about. When I finally got home I spent the whole afternoon researching the history of the UPC and the barcode. It’s pretty interesting. They first appeared in the US in grocery stores in the 40’s to make it easier to stock products and check out customers. If you really want to learn about the history of barcodes and UPCs, I recommend this article.
www.barcoding.com/information/barcode_history.shtml
So after researching how to get a UPC today, I found that I had two options.
One was to become a member of the GS1, the global organization in charge of international business standards like barcodes and UPCs. Or two, buy a pre-existing UPC from a third party company for a discontinued product. While it’s way cheaper to go with a third-party UPC provider, I wouldn’t have any control over it and major retailers wouldn’t carry my product. So I decided the best bet was to dish out the $250 to become a member of the GS1 and develop my own UPC. The nice thing about the $250 membership is that it includes up to 10 different UPCs! That way when I make the Düdle expansion pack I’ll have a new UPC ready and waiting!
Find out more at:
https://www.gs1us.org/
Or watch this delightful propaganda piece
“You mean like a barcode? No... Should I?”
“Yeah! How can I sell your product if its doesn’t have a Universal Product Code?”
“How do I get one?”
“Same place we get everything, online.”
So the rest of the visit UPS and barcodes were all I could think about. When I finally got home I spent the whole afternoon researching the history of the UPC and the barcode. It’s pretty interesting. They first appeared in the US in grocery stores in the 40’s to make it easier to stock products and check out customers. If you really want to learn about the history of barcodes and UPCs, I recommend this article.
www.barcoding.com/information/barcode_history.shtml
So after researching how to get a UPC today, I found that I had two options.
One was to become a member of the GS1, the global organization in charge of international business standards like barcodes and UPCs. Or two, buy a pre-existing UPC from a third party company for a discontinued product. While it’s way cheaper to go with a third-party UPC provider, I wouldn’t have any control over it and major retailers wouldn’t carry my product. So I decided the best bet was to dish out the $250 to become a member of the GS1 and develop my own UPC. The nice thing about the $250 membership is that it includes up to 10 different UPCs! That way when I make the Düdle expansion pack I’ll have a new UPC ready and waiting!
Find out more at:
https://www.gs1us.org/
Or watch this delightful propaganda piece
All that’s left now is to update the package design to include the newly acquired UPC barcode! Man, it’s feeling like a real product now!
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