Chinese suplier and barcodes

I should tell the chineese manufacturer to print the barcodes like this and put them on each and every single package right?

Answer: You can have them printed directly on the box. No need for labels

Barcodes EAN size for FBA

I’ve printed my product EAN barcodes out as they were on the pdf (27 on 1 A4 page 29.6mm x63.5mm) but when I measured the actual barcodes they’re smaller than this (10x50mm). I have been told to have the barcodes the same size as what they are on the pdf but the barcode requirements on seller central say barcodes should be 1×2” minimum

Answer: You don’t have to print the EAN/UPC barcodes, but the SKUN’S from your amazon listing. You’ll need the EAN/UPC to create the listing.

What is needed to sell on other Amazon markeplaces

Is selling on other Amazon marketplaces (like France, Spain, Germany etc) as easy as clicking ‘List Internationally’ under Amazon Selling Coach? Should I be aware of anything like tax laws or export duties? I’m a non-VAT registered LTD company if that helps.

Answer: Most important from a tax side: keep an eye on your vat liabilities…. if you exeed a sales threshold ypu need to register for VAT.

You can monitor your threshold for free with the hellotax software (just connect your amz account and it runs in the background)

Private label, products to differentiate

in private label when you look for products to differentiate, and improve upon, how do you go about getting this manufactured? I understand the concept of differentiation and finding a strong way to improve a product, but how do you exactly communicate this to suppliers and make this happen. Are we talking about finding products slightly different but off the shelf from Alibaba etcetera, or does it mean somehow customising a product off the shelf to make it unique? if so there is really not much information that I can find online about the process of doing this. Lots of youtubers saying Differentiate, but how to do so?

Answer: You can differentiate in many ways

Let’s say you are selling a Phone Case…. here’s what you can do..

– Sell the Phone Case with screen protector (bundle)
– Sell the phone case with various designs
– Sell phone case with grip/handle
– Sell phone case with built in battery

FBA after brexit

I dont do PAN but sell with FBA on .de, .fr etc.
Come Feb what will change with regards to VAT re Brexit?
As long as I stay under the threshold can I still sell without VAT registration?

Answer: Brexit will have no effect on us once UK leave at least 2 year everything will remain the same. Going away from 40 plus year of partnerships is not a joke.

Amazon Disboursments

Why is Amazon paying 2 weeks after the estimated delivery date? It can get quite confusing with disbursements and how they relate to the orders placed. Is there anyway you can track this? I know Ebay breaks it down nicely with each sale, the fees you have paid and how much they have paid you but can’t see a similar thing with Amazon. The whole 2 weeks after the delivery date makes it hard.

Answer: Download a spreadsheet. Payments/Date Range Reports/Transactions Custom Dates.
Read across each line and you will see the transaction and it’s cost with a net payout on the right hand column. Follow these down and you will see the two weekly clear out when the disbursement happens.

Answer: Do NOT let the funds build up for two weeks. Should your account be put on hold/you suspended/banned etc then you will struggle to get that money for ages/sometimes at all. See people often with Amazon oweing them 1000s but no way to access it. I request funds every 48 hours.

Can I use a thermal printer for FBA labels?

Does anyone use a thermal label machine to print the FBA labels? When I click print on my shipment it doesn’t ask what size label I want

Answer:  you can use 6×4 labels. You can usually print out the FBA label by removing the auto center auto rotate option. Then depending on how many pages you can ‘snapshot’ each UPS label and print or you can crop the pdf down to just the ups label and apply to all pages and print.

EAN Barcodes

European Article Numbering: (EAN-13, EAN-8, EAN + 5, EAN + 2, UCC-E, gencode, GTIN) is a digital barcode that can be read omni-directionally.
It is used on all goods whose code is read by a scanner at the cash desks of retail stores.


History:

The UPC code was invented in the 1970s by George J. Laurer, an engineer at IBM and was adopted in May 1973 by the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council (an organization of industrialists and distribution companies in the United States).

George J. Laurer, after graduating from the University of Maryland in 1951, worked at IBM.
In 1969 he was entrusted, by the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council, with the enormous task of creating a code and its identification symbol for all the products distributed in stores.
Its Universal Product Code (UPC) solution radically changed the world of distribution.
He then improved the code by adding a 13th character to it, thus creating the EAN code.

Laurer retired in 1987. He holds 25 patents and is registered on the honor roll of the A. James Clark University School of Engineering in Maryland in the United States (near Washington D.C.).

EAN and UPC:
The EAN-13 code used worldwide and the UPC-A code (Universal Product Code) used in the USA are almost identical.
 
The only difference being that on a UPC only 12 digits appear instead of 13 digits on the EAN.
 
A UPC is an EAN whose first 2 characters to the left of the code are 0 (zero).
In the OCR representation (numbers written in clear under the code) of a UPC, only one of these 0 (zero) appears.
 
Since 2004 the EAN code has also been used by Swiss insurers and doctors with the Swiss flag as part of Tarmed.
For more information see EAN and Tarmed.

Minimum dimension of an EAN 13 symbol
The GS1 regulatory body defines the minimum size of an EAN 13 symbol at 80% of its nominal size, i.e. a minimum width of 29.83 mm for a height of 20.73 mm.
EAN 8:
For the composition of the EAN 8 code, see here
Minimum dimension of an EAN 8 symbol
The GS1 regulatory body defines the minimum size of an EAN 8 symbol at 80% of its nominal size, i.e. a minimum width of 21.38 mm for a height of 17.05 mm.
The EAN Code includes the following information:
bullet The EAN Prefix:
2 or 3 digits, it is the code of the country which issued the participant number.
 
For Switzerland this code is 76.
For other countries see our EAN Prefixes page.
 
The prefixes 977, 978 and 979 indicate that it is a book or publication with an ISBN or ISSN number
 
– The Participant Number:
5 to 7 digits, it is issued by the EAN organization of the country concerned.
 
In Switzerland this organization is:
GS1 – EAN (Switzerland) – CH 3000 Berne – http://www.gs1.ch/

If you are looking for a participant in EAN we advise you to visit this page:
Search the EAN database.
 
– The Article Number: of the producer of the object thus coded on 3 to 5 digits.
 
– The Check Digit: or Check Digit is calculated according to the first 7 (EAN-8) or 12 (EAN-13) digits that make up the code.

Merge two Amazon accounts

Question: How do I merge 2 amazon seller accounts? I have one selling a few products and my partner also has one selling a few products. We plan to become a ltd company soon and would like to merge the accounts without losing any sales ranks or reviews.

Answer: You need permission from the verification team. You will need the limited company in place. They will normally convert one to a limited company then add the other one, once that is done. But the rules are dependent on the accounts and Amazon, so there is no set rule in place on how they do it, so you need them to explain it to you.seller-verification-enquiry@amazon.co.uk.

Answer: Look into the Amazon Web Marketplace Web Service (MWS) With your MWS API key you can then connect your amazon accounts with a third party software to manage both of your both accounts from 1 login. Shipwire is one vendor but there are many more out there which offer the full end to end service. Check your seller central pages, there should be a MWS page somewhere Ive seen it previously.

Answer: Keep them separate, you can sell on both and keep under vat untill your doing well the vat register. And you have on to fall back on if one gets suspended

Amazon brand not renewal/reapply?

Have you been told instructions that you have to re apply for Amazon brand registry. Did you have a brand registered years ago and Amazon have had all your trademarks certifications and numbers for years?

Your existing brand pages are visible but can’t access them apart from USA?

Seems very odd? Has this happened?

Answer: I’m assuming you signed up for Brand Registry Pre Brand Registry 2.0 – so yes, you had to “sign up” again to Brand Registry 2.0 even if you were registered in the original Brand Registry…

And you need to sign up for a BR 2.0 account in each Amazon marketplace you sell in, and then provide authorisation from the main BR 2.0 account (where you first got brand registry) to all of the “satellite” BR accounts.

It’s legwork to setup – but useful in the long run that stuff is separated out by marketplace