Buying Barcodes guide 2025

What is a barcode reseller?

Before we dive in, here's a quick explanation of the types of companies we're covering. A barcode reseller is a business that provides EAN/UPC barcodes (also known as GTINs) but is not a member organisation like GS1. These companies acquire barcodes from various other businesses that legally purchased barcode prefixes from the UCC, a US-based organisation that sold barcodes for a one-time fee before merging with GS1. All legitimate barcode resellers will provide prefixes starting with 06 or 07, indicating they were originally allocated in the US.

GS1 court loss

In the 1990s, GS1 was established in most parts of the world, licensing its 13-digit barcode numbers to its members. However, a separate organisation in the US—United Code Council (UCC)—sold 12-digit barcode numbers directly to its members (with no ongoing licensing fees). The UCC effectively competed with GS1. Its 12-digit numbers were essentially a subset of the 13-digit system. By the late 1990s, the UCC merged with GS1 to become GS1-US. As part of this change, they decided to start charging annual licensing fees to all their members, including those who had previously paid a one-time fee for barcodes in the 1990s. Naturally, many of these members were unhappy with the new annual fees, leading a group of them to file a lawsuit against GS1. The members won their case in the US Supreme Court in the early 2000s, resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement from GS1. An additional outcome of this court case was proof that the original numbers issued by the UCC in the 1990s are now outside GS1's control and therefore do not require licensing fees. These are the numbers that barcode resellers buy in bulk and sell to customers. They are considered 'new' numbers in the sense that they have never been used on a retail product.

Buying barcodes in the Philippines [2025]

The main barcode company selling GTINs (EAN or UPC numbers) for the Philippines market for a one-off fee is Barcodes Philippines. They were the first company to offer this service to the market and have local customer service staff. Crucially, they are recommended by 100% of customers who have left reviews on their Facebook page which is a great vote of confidence from customers.

Barcodes Philippines is a member of the International Barcodes Network, and is the only company selling their services to the Philippines market . You can find out about this organisation at https://internationalbarcodes.net. They operate in over 160 countries and have sold over 3 million barcodes since 2013.

When searching the internet, you will see results like this:

Search results

Here we will cover the two companies seen above, barcodes.ph and philippinebarcodes.ph.

Barcodes Philippines barcodes.ph

Operating since: 2017

Description: The original, most trusted barcode supplier - rated 5 stars.

Genuine barcodes and QR codes for the Philippines and worldwide. Our codes are being used in over 120 countries, making us a reliable choice for businesses ranging from startups to multinationals. 

How to buy barcodes: EAN barcodes

Barcode prefix provided: 07 

Formats supplied: EAN and UPC 

Pricing

1 barcode = ₱1,599. 100 barcodes = ₱15,900 

Other services: ITF-14, Dynamic QR Codes, Custom QR Codes, ISBN images, ISSN images, asset tracking codes 39 and 128.

Comments: The official website of the International Barcodes Network for the Philippines. Features the widest range of barcode products and services for the local market, and the first company in PH to provide a GS1 compatible Digital Links system for customers with existing 07 GTINs.

Barcode registration: Free registration to the International Barcodes Database (barcodesdatabase.org) which sends registrations to other major online databases. Products also appear on ibnverified.org.

Local support: Yes, via SMS, Viber, Facebook messenger and email

Local payment methods: Yes - over 100 over the counter, in store, bank and mobile payment methods supported.

2D Barcode Support: Yes – through IBN Link, a 2D Barcode membership site belonging to  the International Barcodes Network, which allows you to upload your product data and generate GS1 Digital Links as 2D Barcodes. These will eventually replace the standard EAN barcode images scanned at checkout. IBN Link runs a fully GS1-compatible resolver - the key piece of technology required by retailers to be able to scan these 2D Barcodes at checkout.

They also offer free access to  IBN Digital, a 2D Barcode image generator.

Unique selling points:

Comparison table showcasing key points for ‘Barcodes Philippines’ versus ‘Other Suppliers.’ The table includes the following key points with checkmarks for ‘Barcodes Philippines’ and cross marks for ‘Other Suppliers’: 1. Authorized member of the International Barcodes Network. 2. Special offers for government/DTI/cooperatives. 3. Free online reader for barcodes and QR codes. 4. Customer Barcode Portal. 5. 2D Barcode support. 6. Free registration of barcodes purchased with us. 7. Registered products will also be listed on the IBN Verified product database for free. 8. Barcodes checked for illegal use online before selling using a proprietary deep search of major online platforms such as Amazon.


Philippine Barcodes philippinebarcodes.ph

Operating since: 2022 

Description: The best value barcode seller for the Philippines.

Here at philippinebarcodes.ph you don’t need to pay recurring membership fees to get genuine barcodes for your products. 

Barcode prefix provided: 07 

Pricing

1 = ₱499

100 = ₱6,950 

Other services: None (EAN barcodes only).

Comments: A provider of a no-frills service for those looking for a cheap, accessible way of get their product to market in stores with 07 GTINs which will work in the Philippines and globally. A GTIN Certificate is an extra cost.

Barcode registration: None.

Local support: Email only.

Local payment methods: Yes, through Dragonpay.

2D Barcode Support: None.


philippinebarcodes.ph