Barcode printing question/suggestion?

[MelMac3]

Has anyone ever used an outside source (free barcode generating websites) to create barcodes for your small business? Specifically, Priced barcodes? I'm wondering if they can be read by a scanner with Square. I am a very small Foodtruck business just starting out and cannot afford to pay $89/mo to Square to print out a handful of barcodes. It would help the person at my order window to go quicker. Please help!

[Candlestore]

@MelMac3 ;

Here is a thread that deals with Price Embedded Barcodes.

Square-for-Retail/Price-embedded-barcode-setup/td-p/776920 

I am just trying to figure out how this would work on a Food truck.  Where would the Barcode be on the food?

You could make up a Barcode for each Food item and scan that, and then Square would automatically add the price in the cart.

Meaning Taco has a SKU of ta84521 and  price of $5.00, use free barcode tool to change font to a barcode font code 128 for example, that your Square compatible scanner reads.  Scan the non price embedded barcode for Taco, and the Price would show in the Checkout cart.

Here is a Youtube vide for making barcodes with Google sheets.

It is better if you use Square to generate these so there are no errors in creating the Barcode.

Sheets Barcode Making Video 

I use my Label printers software to create barcodes for my items.   I scan the Barcode with Square, Square the looks up the Barcode in the SKU and GTIN fields to find the Item attached to the barcode.  Then populates the Price from the information of the Price field for that item.  No need for the barcode to be Price embedded.  

[MelMac3]

Thank you so much for your quick reply. You are correct in the way I would use it for my foodtruck. I would have a sheet with all barcodes on it that can be scanned as someone orders. Since I only have the small handheld Square terminal, it takes more time scrolling the small screen to find the items. I believe I understand the video about using Google sheets. I'm going to give that a try. Wish me luck! And thank you again. 

[Candlestore · Accepted solution]

@MelMac3 ;

A reference Barcode sheet does work for me for a few of my items that sometimes have harder to read barcodes.  When Testing your Google Sheets Barcodes, you can print just one to test it, before printing all your Barcodes.  

Things to watch for when printing your own barcodes:

1. Type of Paper and Ink
   1. Some paper lets inject ink bleed causing scanner errors
   2. Ink if it is too thin can bleed or smear on denser paper (Think Photo Paper)
2. Barcode size
   1. Too small might not be able to be read by scanner
   2. Too large the spacing might not be correct between the verticle bars
3. Try using a Label printer that can print 230 dpi at minimum then stick these on a sheet of paper.
4. Make sure the Scanner is compatible with the Terminal your using with Square before buying the wrong scanner.  The terminal I believe comes with a USB hub for connecting a Scanner through USB, but only certain ones are compatible with Square.

Square-compatibility/accessories/barcode-scanners 

Good Luck   🙂

[Summer2024]

Thanks for the response here @Candlestore ! 

@MelMac3 , please let us know if you have any other issues!