GTIN exemption: when you can sell without a barcode

A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the number behind a retail barcode. EAN-13 and UPC-A are both GTINs, issued through GS1. Marketplaces use the GTIN to match your offer to the right product page and to tell apart products that look alike. If you are unsure which code you have, read GTIN vs UPC vs EAN first.

A GTIN exemption is permission, or a rule, that lets you list a product without that number. It exists because not every product has a barcode: a handmade bowl, a made-to-order sofa or a car part sold loose may never have been assigned one. An exemption is not a shortcut for products that do have a GTIN. Every channel in this guide treats leaving out an existing GTIN as an error.

Amazon asks for a product ID such as a UPC, EAN or ISBN when you create a new listing. If your product has none and you cannot match it to an existing listing, you may be eligible for a GTIN exemption. Amazon's seller guide to GTINs describes the route: search the catalog first, choose to create a new listing, tick that you have no product ID, and apply when the form offers it. You need a product name and images that show all sides of the product and its packaging.

An Amazon staff post in the Seller Forums lists the typical cases below and is clear that products which already have a GTIN are not eligible. If the category is restricted, you need category approval as well. Amazon's detailed help pages sit behind the Seller Central login, so check the current rules for your category there before you apply.

Google has no exemption to apply for. Instead, its gtin specification says that private-label products, products you are the only seller of and custom-made items often have no GTIN: leave gtin empty and send brand and mpn. If a manufacturer did assign a GTIN and you leave it out, the product can be disapproved. Never guess or invent a GTIN.

The identifier_exists attribute tells Google that a product has no unique product identifiers at all, meaning no GTIN, no MPN and no brand. Google names custom and one-of-a-kind goods, and products made before GTINs existed such as antiques, as typical cases. Set it to no only when you are sure; if Google finds evidence that an identifier exists, the product gets a warning.

eBay works with a fixed substitute text. When a category asks for a GTIN, brand or MPN and the product has none, you enter the site's own phrase: Does not apply on the English-language sites, Niet van toepassing on eBay.nl and Nicht zutreffend on eBay.de, as listed in eBay's product identifier text reference. Use it only when the identifier really does not exist.

bol.com has no exemption. Its partner platform states that every offer needs a valid, registered EAN or ISBN, that branded items need an EAN registered with GS1, and that an EAN belongs to one specific article. If you plan to sell on bol.com, a GS1 membership is part of the cost of doing business.

The table puts the four channels side by side. Rules change, so open the linked source for your channel before you list a large range without GTINs.

An exemption solves one channel at a time. If your own-brand products are going to sell in more than one place, real GTINs from GS1 are usually the better choice: one number per product and per variant works on Amazon, Google, eBay, bol.com and in physical retail. Buy them from GS1 or your local GS1 organisation, not from resellers whose numbers may be registered to someone else. Check every number with the EAN and GTIN validator before it goes into a listing.

Whichever route you take, the identifier data has to be right per product and per variant. A GTIN on the parent but not on the sizes, or a brand spelled two ways, is enough to break a listing. Keep EAN, MPN and brand as fields on every product, record which products are exempt and why, and check them before every export.