Product identifiers
What is an EAN number? How to get one
Every product you can scan at a till carries an EAN number. This guide explains what the 13 digits mean, how a brand gets real ones from GS1, how to find the EAN of a product you sell, and why made-up numbers fail on Amazon, bol.com and Google Shopping.
Diego Nijboer · WISEPIMLast updated:
Short answer
An EAN number (European Article Number) is a 13-digit product code, officially a GTIN-13. It identifies one specific product, variant and pack size, and is printed as the EAN-13 barcode on the packaging. The first digits are a company prefix licensed by a GS1 organization such as GS1 Nederland or GS1 Germany, and the last digit is a check digit. You can't make one up: brand owners get them by joining GS1 in their country, and resellers use the manufacturer's code.
What an EAN number is
EAN stood for European Article Number. The system went worldwide long ago, and GS1 now calls the number a GTIN-13 (Global Trade Item Number with 13 digits). Shops, marketplaces and suppliers still say EAN, and they mean the same 13 digits.
The number identifies a trade item, not a product family: a red T-shirt in size M has a different EAN from the same shirt in size L, and a 6-pack has a different EAN from a single can. It carries no price and no description. Those live in the databases that look the number up.
Shorter and longer relatives exist: EAN-8 for very small packs, the 12-digit UPC in North America and the 14-digit GTIN-14 for cartons. GTIN vs UPC vs EAN compares them.
How the 13 digits are built
Every EAN has the same four parts. Only the check digit is calculated; the rest is assigned by GS1 and by you.
| Part | Example 9501101530010 | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| GS1 prefix | 950 | GS1. It shows which GS1 organization issued the number (870 to 879 is GS1 Nederland, 400 to 440 is GS1 Germany), not the country of origin. |
| Company prefix | 950110153 | Your GS1 organization, when you join. A longer prefix leaves fewer digits for products. |
| Item reference | 001 | You, one number per product, variant and pack size. |
| Check digit | 0 | A calculation over the first 12 digits. |
The check digit, step by step
Multiply the first 12 digits alternately by 1 and 3, starting with 1 on the left, and add the results. For 950110153001 that is 9 + 15 + 0 + 3 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 15 + 3 + 0 + 0 + 3 = 50. The check digit is what you add to reach the next multiple of 10. 50 already is one, so the check digit is 0 and the full EAN is 9501101530010.
A typo or two swapped digits almost always break the sum, which is how tills and marketplaces catch mistakes. A correct check digit does not prove the number is registered to anyone. The check digit calculator does the sum for you.
How to get real EAN numbers
If you own the brand, join the GS1 organization in the country where your company is based. You get a company prefix and number your products from it. GS1 Nederland charges a one-time fee plus an annual fee that depends on your revenue, and GS1 Germany charges an annual fee based on turnover. Check the current prices on their sites.
If you resell products from another brand, you don't need your own EANs. Use the code the manufacturer printed on the packaging or put in its product data, and copy it exactly.
- Avoid sites that sell single EANs cheaply. Those numbers come from another company's prefix, so GS1 data names that company as the owner, not you.
- Once you have numbers, the barcode generator draws the EAN-13 for your packaging. It draws bars for numbers you own; it does not issue numbers.
| Where your company is | Where to get EANs |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | GS1 Nederland |
| Germany | GS1 Germany |
| France | GS1 France |
| Spain | GS1 Spain |
| United States | GS1 US, which issues 12-digit UPCs |
How to find a product's EAN
Look in these places, from most to least reliable. Always prefer the manufacturer's own data over a code copied from a listing.
- The packaging: the 13 digits under the barcode. Scan or type them, and keep any leading zero.
- Supplier data: price lists, product data sheets, EDI messages or a GDSN data pool.
- Verified by GS1: GS1's lookup service, which replaced GEPIR, shows which company a GTIN is licensed to and basic product data the brand registered.
- Your own catalog or ERP, if the product was imported earlier. Check the length and check digit before you reuse it.
- Public EAN databases and marketplace listings are crowdsourced. Use them as a hint and confirm with the manufacturer.
What marketplaces check
Marketplaces use the EAN to put every seller of the same product on one page, so they care who the number belongs to.
| Channel | What it expects | Without an EAN |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | A UPC, EAN, JAN, ISBN or GTIN-14, checked against GS1 data | Brand owners can apply for a GTIN exemption |
| bol.com | A valid EAN registered with GS1 for branded items, one per article | Not possible: bol.com has no exemption |
| Google Shopping | The manufacturer's GTIN in the gtin attribute | Send brand and mpn for products that have no GTIN |
Sources
Vendor documentation we read for this guide, as of October 2026. Features and names change, so check the current documentation before you decide.
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