I will 2nd what @homeprogreen said. He nailed it. I will just add the square for retail is amazing and so easy to use. I use their SKU especially when I added the scanner. It saved me time, I was kinda in a time crunch, and I wanted to make sure it was done correctly. It was a live event in a store that was open and full 😳😂 all went smoothly and it was synced with everything! As far as the cost vs the printing your own again maybe the others could help there. Just my experience only, starting, especially with one-of-the-kind pieces or limited stock of certain jewelry. I would rather be safe than sorry. Making money is the goal but if customers order something and later find out that oh no it sold already most aren't so understanding. Hooking it up is a breeze and if I remember correctly it does give you a chance to test mode X amount. Good luck with it and I hope it is a huge success!
So this is the tricky part, barcodes are something you are supposed to pay to use if you are a producer of goods - if these are for retail sale on 3rd party platforms like Amazon, where you NEED a actual barcode then you have to pay a licence fee
If this is for internal printing I would get yourself a https://squareup.com/shop/hardware/ca/en/products/zebra-zd411-barcode-label-printer-ca and put in some SKU's for internal use and print some labels with it - it prints some sticky labels you can put on the back of the box or onto a cardboard tag attached with string to smaller pieces
I also did a write up on the printer here https://community.squareup.com/t5/Retail-and-eCommerce/Why-I-m-Upgrading-to-a-Second-Zebra-ZD4011-Pr...
@VHL ;
Barcodes are basically a Text for a Barcode Reader. There are different types of Barcode Fonts, 1D or 2D types. Square standard Barcode format is a 1D format that prints from the Retail version of Square. You can choose from the UPC or the GTIN fields in Square for the Barcode font to print from. The GTIN field has more restritions on the characters you type in the GTIN fields, mainly only Numbers, where as the SKU field can be both Numbers and Letters. I use the Retail version of Square that when I create a new Item it automatically generates a SKU for me. I use this to print my Barcodes through my Label printers software as a 2D barcode and works great in Square and is small. You also need to findout what type of label you would like to use, which Square Label Printers accept that type of label.
Since you do jewlery I would look into Barbell or Dumbell type labels, this is what I use for my small items and Jewlery like necklaces we sell. Square uses Code 39 or Code 128 for their 1D barcode from the app or through windows, these print both Letters and Numbers.
Square has a 40 character limit I believe for SKU length, but each Letter or number is about 8 lines of code in a Barcode, so the Longer your SKU the longer your Barcode. Squares Generated ones are about 7 characters long, and Square does give you a warning if you have the same SKU in your catalog already when you try to save a new SKU or GTIN.
The type of Barcode you can read with Square is limited by what the Scanner can read. Like I said the Barcode is a Font, The Scanner Reads the Font, But then the Scanner needs to be able to translate the Font to Square. So you need a Scanner that works with Square, and can read the Barcode you choose to print on your Labels. I use my Label printers software, and print 2D Datamatrix Barcodes that work with my setup. My barcodes are about 3/16 of an inch square for my small labels and can be up to 1/2 for my larger labels if I want. If you have more questions ask away. Here is a screen shot of some guidlines:
Here is a Link to more information about barcodes:
I agree with @HC_Charlie ; for small jewlery yes use the Barbell type Labels. I bought Dedicated Label printers and because I use different types and sizes of labels. But with printing on label sheets like recommended you could do the same with a good quality sheet feed printer too. Before I bought my label printers, I tested brinting out different Barcodes, by just changing the Fonts in a spreedsheet like Google sheets to a Barcode font like code 128 or code 39. Printed a few sample barcodes and tested with a cheap scanner. This allowed me to see which barcodes worked and which ones didn't. And on regular paper I had Bleed issues. On label stock it worked great.
Here is what my small Barbell Labels look like now, using 2D barcodes so I could add my own text which you can not do through Square.
The Data Matrix 2D barcodes just are text of the SKU using Data Matrix Font instead of Times Roman Font for exalmple.
The Below image is on a Larger label with a QR code. After testing I found I could get better reliabilty of scans with smaller Data Matrix 2D codes than i could with a Smaller QR code.
This is what my Barbell labels look like when attached to a necklace or a pair of tapers. The 1005 is part of the SKU for this item. I recommend printing the Item or SKU incase the barcode does get damaged.
Hey @VHL! To generate barcodes, you will need to be enrolled in Square for Retail. Once you're enrolled, barcodes are created from the Items page. There are several options for label sizes. If memory serves me right, there are two for jewelry specifically. You can find additional resources on generating barcodes here.
Let me know if you have additional questions! Happy to help. 🙂
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