How do I create barcodes to add to my inventory?

[GCBoothSales]

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?

[knieuwoudt · Accepted solution]

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.

[knieuwoudt]

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

[Sean]

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

[Bigbothways]

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

[jenreidphotoart]

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. 

[Sean]

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

[Trish1]

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.

[EJ_]

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. 

[Becky08]

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

[nika]

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!

[cturn714]

So am I understanding correctly, just an iPad won’t work you have to have a PC to print barcodes?

[cturn714]

So am I understanding correctly, just an iPad won’t work you have to have a PC to print barcodes? Does it matter whether or not you have Square Retail?

[isabelle]

Hey @cturn714!

You cannot produce barcode labels using Square for Retail from an iPad as of right now. You would have to log onto a computer (can be PC or Mac), open up Google Chrome, and generate the barcode labels from the Online Dashboard.

To start printing bar code labels from your Square for Retail dashboard:

1. Sign in to the Items section of your online Square Dashboard on a Computer then select Actions.
2. Click Print Labels.
3. Select a label type and location.
4. Choose to print labels by Category, Purchase Order, or Product.
5. Click Create > download or print labels.
6. Select Done.

By downloading the labels to your computer, you’re able to revisit the file to print more labels in the future, as well as send the file to another computer.

I hope this helps clear things up. Hopefully in the future our Square for Retail sellers will be able to print barcode labels from an iPad. 

[DRESSCODE]

Hi I'm running into this problem now.how do I add barcodes to items I already created. I have printed out all my barcodes already. When I go to edit a item from before the sku section is gone 

[Kassi_]

Welcome back to the Community, @DRESSCODE - 

Did you use another system to create the barcodes? And do you use the Square for Retail platform for your business?

This could be the reason you're not seeing that option to add it when editing your items. 

I will keep an eye out for your reply👀. 

[HennaShoppe]

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.

[Spenser]

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

[MumsandKisses]

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.

[libby]

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

[Sean]

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!