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ISBN or UPC?

When you pick up a book at your local bookstore and flip it over to read the back cover, you may notice that a small portion of the cover is devoted to a barcode. This barcode - a device that we are used to seeing on almost all products - is used by the scanner at the cash register to access the book's price and title information for your purchase, as well as for the store's reordering system.

It seems like a simple thing - you want to sell your book so you get an ISBN number and a barcode for the cover. However, not all barcodes are created equal, and if you don't plan out your sales ahead of time you may find that your book cannot be sold where you want it to be just because you have the wrong type of barcode.

So what's the difference between ISBN and UPC and what do you need to know to choose the right one? Let's explore each one and how they are used:

ISBN

The Bookland EAN barcode is made up of 2 components: the larger part on the left is the ISBN number that you purchase for your book, and the smaller part on the right is an add-on used to encode the price and currency and is optional.

Most large booksellers prefer the add-on of the price as their computer systems and scanners take advantage of the automatic data collection.

When do I use an ISBN barcode?

You must use an ISBN barcode when your book is to be sold through:

bookseller
wholesalers
distributors

How do I get one?

When you are in the book production process, you will need to decide if you are going to sell you book in a traditional bookstore. If this is part of your sales plan, you need do the following to acquire an ISBN and barcode for your book:

If you are in Canada, contact the Library and Archives of Canada to have your book catalogued and receive your ISBN number.
If you are in the U.S., contact the US ISBN Agency to have your book catalogued and receive your ISBN number.
Using your ISBN number, acquire a Bookland EAN barcode for your book cover - there are several online companies that will deliver your barcode digitally for a small fee, such as Barcode Graphics. You can also get your graphic designer to acquire your barcode for you if they provide this service.

UPC

When books are sold in retail stores, the scanners are not equipped to read ISBN barcodes and this produces errors. If you decide to sell your book in a retail store, you will instead need to put a UPC (Universal Product Code) barcode on the cover.

Printing more than one barcode on the back cover of your book can cause confusion at the bookstore when scanning. Many publishers avoid this problem by printing the barcode that will be used the most on the cover and printing labels with the opposite barcode for shipping to the alternate stores. This also saves on the cost of printing a second barcode on the inside front cover where there is usually no text.

When do I use a UPC barcode?

You must use a UPC barcode when your book is to be sold in:

retail outlets
supermarkets
drugstores
department stores
any other type of store that does not have a scanner for Bookland EAN symbols (ISBN)

How do I get one?

When you are in the book production process, you will need to decide if you are going to sell you book in a retail stores. If this is part of your sales plan, you need do the following to acquire a UPC barcode for your book:

If you are in Canada, contact GS1 Canada to apply for a company prefix and unique product number.
If you are in the U.S., contact GS1 US to apply for a company prefix and unique product number.
Using your UPC number, acquire a UPC barcode for your book cover - there are several online companies that will deliver your barcode digitally for a small fee, such as Barcode Graphics. You can also get your graphic designer to acquire your barcode for you if they provide this service.

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