thread Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory? in Archived Discussions (Read Only)

How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

GCBoothSales — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 11:11:36 GMT

I want to create barcodes and add them to my inventory on square. Or make new items and add a barcode. My biggest question is how do I create a barcode. There are tons of barcode generators out there, but which ones are going to work for labels that can be attached to merchandise? Which kind of barcode?

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

knieuwoudt — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 18:11:25 GMT

I had a tough time figuring this out, but after lots of reading and research I found this one to be the most helpful, with no extra work needed. You just type a SKU into the program, and it creates a barcode, which you then have to export as a png, jpg, pdf or whichever format you choose. I have a soap shop so I export my barcodes as png files ( very small) then insert them onto the actual soap label of each product.

It costs $50 from itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibarcoder/id439864161?mt=12. All you have to do is choose the barcode you want to use, and go through the setup options on your scanner (square recommended scanner below).

After you've created the barcode, there are two ways to get it into square. Go to edit item, then manually type the SKU into the SKU field. OR in the edit mode you can just scan your newly printed barcode and it will populate the SKU field for you. Do a test after each one, just to make sure you have it correct.

I use the barcode scanner that square suggests.

Socket Mobile 7Ci, which you can google or find on square support pages. You also have to go through setup options but they are very simple. A booklet is provided to help.

Hope this is helpful.

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

knieuwoudt — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 18:12:33 GMT

Also, if you don't want to add the barcode directly to the product label, you can buy barcode size labels from onlinelabels.com.

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

Sean — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 18:08:55 GMT

@knieuwoudt - Thanks for your help with this! Awesome response! 👍

Need advice on generating barcodes for Square Register

HennaShoppe — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 23:53:05 GMT

Does anybody have advice on a good workflow for barcoding items you sell? Especially if not all your items have barcodes themselves? This seems to be a SORELY lacking area in Square for retail applications.

Sure Square has the ability to scan in an existing barcode, but we have a lot of products without barcodes. Therefore, I have a complicated flow with custom spreadsheets, with macros to generate the bar codes. And unfortunately the printing is pretty wasteful. It's pretty labor intensive.

I imagine there have to be some solutions others are using that are somewhere between my very manual process, and the current best-in-class (my assesment) i give below.

I have investigated other POS systems, which while they fell short in many regards had phenominal barcoding abilities. The best one I've seen has the following functionality.

Every item has a button "print barcodes". You click that, and are presented with 2 choices. 1) how many barcodes do you want to print, and where on the "avery label" sheet do you want to start printing? (So you can use partially-printed sheets

In addition, every item can have multiple "codes" associated with it. This is especially useful if you have products that came with barcodes and products that don't. Then you can assign your own internal code to every item, while being able to look up the item with whatever code happens to be visible.

Any guidance provided is much appreciated. There must be something better than my crazy excel spreadsheet workflow.

Re: Need advice on generating barcodes for Square Register

Spenser — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 18:59:07 GMT

Hey, @HennaShoppe, check out the responses here for creating barcodes for use with Square. Here is another helpful thread as well. Hope that helps!

Bar codes

libby — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:17:47 GMT

How do you create a bar code within the square register? I purchased the bar code scanner, but I don't understand how to create the actual bar code so I can print it out.

thanks

Re: Bar codes

Sean — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 23:38:30 GMT

Hi @libby — It looks like a seller in this thread had the same question, and received an answer. Check out the replies above and let me know if this helps!

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

Bigbothways — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 01:43:15 GMT

I can't find this for iPad, it says Mac App Store only. I'm assuming that means mac computer.

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

jenreidphotoart — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 00:37:34 GMT

So helpful. I've been floundering as I try to chart a course to use a barcode system. I appreciate your sharing of advice and research.

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

Sean — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 18:46:44 GMT

@Bigbothways - It does look like the suggested software (iBarcoder) was for a desktop/laptop mac. Did any sellers have a mobile suggestion?

Do any of you know a barcode generator that allows for description of the item on the barcode?

Gudrun — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:35:15 GMT

I am looking for a bar code generator that allows a short description of the item along with the barcode. I appreciate any information.

Re: Do any of you know a barcode generator that allows for description of the item on the barcode?

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:55:22 GMT

@Gudrun - I went ahead and merged your comment where we had a discussion about this already. Check out this thread, and feel free to tag any specific community members by putting the @ symbol before their name.

Re: Do any of you know a barcode generator that allows for description of the item on the barcode?

knieuwoudt — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:55:30 GMT

I bought ibarcoder from itunes and I use Code 128. When you creat your barcode in ibarcoder there is a box you can check that says "human readable text". It gives a lot of options, even how big or small you want your barcode to be. I think the human readable text would be available on other codes as well. You just have to play around a bit to find the one that suits your needs. Code 128 is a really simple one to make checkout easier for my customers in my store.

Re: Do any of you know a barcode generator that allows for description of the item on the barcode?

Bigbothways — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 01:18:15 GMT

@knieuwoudt did you buy this for iPad or mac computer? Thanks

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

Trish1 — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 17:00:25 GMT

Thanks for sharing that info @knieuwoudt. I'm wondering -- do you create your own SKUs?

We're making sandwiches and salads and other items and we want to make our own barcodes for them. We want the details to include the barcode, price and ingredients.

Any guidance you --or others-can give us is so appreciated.

Re: How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

EJ_ — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 17:08:30 GMT

Hey @Trish1

You're able to add SKU or UPC in the SKU field when creating your items, so if your items have a bar code you'll be able to scan them for checkout.

Re: Need advice on generating barcodes for Square Register

MumsandKisses — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 20:16:37 GMT

I know this is a late response. But no need to print the barcode just for scanning purposes. If you only need to scan it once and are printing just to scan then put the scanner up to your computer screen and scan right there off the screen.

Help with SKU's and scanner

Becky08 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:46:11 GMT

My products came with bar codes on them. Can the square scanner accept the pre label codes setup from the home office.

Re: Help with SKU's and scanner

nika — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:24:38 GMT

Hi @Becky08! We moved your post to this thread so you can take a look at @knieuwoudt's Best Answer on how to set up bar codes and SKUs.

Be sure to ask any other questions you might have on this thread! We have some really knowledgeable sellers watching this one!