When you join GS1, the main thing you receive is not a barcode or a certificate. It is a short string of digits called a GS1 Company Prefix. Everything else, including your GTINs, the barcodes on your packs and your listings with retailers, is built on it. This article explains what the prefix does, how much room it gives you, and the mistakes that cause trouble later.
What the prefix is
A GS1 Company Prefix is a number that a GS1 Member Organisation, such as GS1 India, GS1 UAE or GS1 US, licenses to a company. It forms part of every identification number that company creates, usually at or near the start.
Think of it as a postcode for your product numbers. The postcode is allocated to you; the house numbers within it are yours to assign. Together they give every product an address that no other company can have.
A GTIN-13 is built from three parts:
- Your company prefix, licensed from GS1.
- An item reference, which you assign to each product.
- A check digit, calculated from the other twelve digits.
Because no two companies hold the same prefix, no two companies can create the same GTIN. That is what makes GTINs globally unique without any central body approving each one. See what is a GTIN? for the GTIN itself.
It is about who issued the number, not where the product is made
The first few digits of a prefix identify which GS1 office issued it. For example, prefixes beginning 890 are issued by GS1 India, which describes itself as the only authorised body in India for barcodes starting with 890.
Those digits do not state the product's country of origin. A perfume made in France for a brand registered with GS1 India may carry an 890 number. A product made in India for a brand licensed elsewhere will carry that office's prefix. Country of origin belongs on the label in words, where regulations require it, not in the barcode.
How prefix length sets your capacity
Prefixes come in different lengths, and the length matters. A GTIN-13 has 12 digits before its check digit. Whatever your prefix does not use is left for item references.
| Prefix length | Digits left for item references | Maximum GTIN-13s |
|---|---|---|
| 7 digits | 5 | 100,000 |
| 8 digits | 4 | 10,000 |
| 9 digits | 3 | 1,000 |
| 10 digits | 2 | 100 |
Each digit given to the prefix divides your capacity by ten. A company with a small range gets a longer prefix; a company with thousands of products needs a shorter one. Local GS1 offices set their own capacity bands, fees and options, including ways for very small businesses to license individual GTINs. Check your office's current terms rather than relying on the table above as a price list.
When planning capacity, count every GTIN you will need, not just today's products:
- every size, colour, flavour and variant;
- gift sets and other fixed assortments;
- outer cases and multipacks sold as trade units;
- replacements when a change triggers a new GTIN under GS1's rules;
- products you expect to launch in the next few years.
A worked example
Maison Ardent licenses a 9-digit prefix, giving it 1,000 item references. It sells six perfumes in two sizes (12 GTINs), plans a gift set per perfume (6 more), and gives each size its own case GTIN for distributors (12 more). That is 30 GTINs, leaving plenty of headroom. When it adds a body-care line with 40 variants, it still fits comfortably. A brand with a few thousand SKUs, such as a fashion label with many colour and size combinations, would need a shorter prefix from the start.
It does more than GTINs
The same prefix is the base for other GS1 identifiers your company creates. Every SSCC, the 18-digit code that identifies a carton or pallet you ship, contains your company prefix. Companies typically use it to create GLNs for their own sites too. So the prefix is your company's identity across products, shipments and locations. The SSCC is explained in what is an SSCC?
It is a licence, not a purchase
You do not buy a prefix outright. It is licensed to your company under terms, including fees and renewal, set by your local GS1 office. Keep that licence current and keep your company details up to date with GS1. Those details are what trading partners see when they check who your numbers belong to.
GS1's Verified by GS1 service lets anyone check whether a GTIN is properly structured, whether GS1 issued it, and which company it is licensed to. What that registry holds, and what it does not, is covered in does GS1 store all my product data?
Why you shouldn't buy resold numbers
Websites offering "barcodes" for a few dollars each are usually reselling GTINs from a prefix originally licensed to another company. They may scan perfectly. The problem is ownership.
- In GS1's registry, the number still points to the original licensee, not to you.
- Marketplaces check. Amazon's GTIN-exemption guidance says it verifies product UPCs "by checking the GS1 database" and that UPCs not matching GS1's information "will be considered invalid". It recommends getting UPCs directly from GS1. More in how product identity works on marketplaces like Amazon.
- Retailers and partners who look up your GTIN will find someone else's company name.
- If you later need more numbers, SSCCs or GLNs, you will have to license your own prefix anyway, and possibly relabel products.
Licensing directly from your local GS1 office is the only way to make your numbers unambiguously yours.
In summary
Your GS1 Company Prefix is small but foundational. It makes your numbers unique, ties them to your company, and sets how many products you can identify. Choose a capacity with room to grow, keep the licence and your company details current, and avoid shortcuts that leave your products registered to someone else. For the organisation behind it all, read What is GS1?
Generate a GS1 Digital Link from your own GTIN