I can, when using the “add a product troubleshooter”, type in our manufacturer barcode, and see the response "There is no issue detected with the item [ASIN # here].
But on inventory screens and reports, the “FNSKU” field always has the ASIN, and so does the ASIN field. How do I show Amazon employees that the barcode is the correct barcode?
I ask because I have a refusal to understand from the “Merchant Inbound Coaching Team”, as they say that they expected [ASIN] but received [Manufacturer barcode], as the excuse for why yet another case of product was received, scanned, counted and confirmed at an initially receiving FC, but lost on subsequent transfer to a destination FC a week later. The inventory ledger seems to be no help here - these people are stubborn, and stupid.
But this may be the key to uncovering the root cause of the problem that seems to make a significant faction of my FBA units since last spring go AWOL on FC transfer, and result in a reimbursement, rather than on-stock inventory.
We don’t use FBA but i’ll assume there is somewhere in the shipping plan or abouts where you tell Amazon if it is being shipped labeled with a UPC code or a FNSKU.
From what I have read having pre-labed with a FNSKU is the preferred way.
Note: I do get the ASIN in the UPC/Ean Field when I jump on an existing product using “Add a product” But if I uploaded a file to add items then the field, in Inventory management, does show the UPC I entered into the file.
So, the upload updates the UPC field to be the barcode, if I upload and change it to the barcode? (I want to be sure, as I am not a seasoned “uploader”)
If I understand correctly - the barcode scan returns the ASIN instead of the UPC. To see if this is true you can test by just using a barcode scanner with your laptop/pc on the label yourself. Just place your curser in any text doc, or browser field (like your Search) and scan. It will return the barcode data.
If you don’t have a scanner, and every seller really should, you can use a cell phone and an app like Walmart, Kroger, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. to get the read from the barcode
That would be a software issue and leads me to ask - How exactly are you printing out your FBA Item Labels?
If you are using a 3p software then maybe a setting is wrong. It owuld be similar to the setting in Seller Central which I give below.
If you are just using Seller Central then maybe you HAD the setting in Seller Central > Fulfillment By Amazon > FBA Product Barcode Preference set to “Manufacturer barcode” when you created some new SKUs for FBA. That would could issues if Amazon required ASIN/FNSKU.
Then …
Correct. All it means is you joined the ASIN. This can happen even for brand owners … when they add another SKU onto an existing listing.
No, that’s not it - the barcode does NOT appear to be linked to the ASIN - that’s the crux of the problem. We applied for a GTIN exemption, and we used a unique, non UPC barcode on the Amazon labels. It is alphanumeric, similar to an FNSKU.
The problem here is that Amazon is able to initially scan these items and count them on the inventory ledger as “received”, but they subsequently “lose” inventory on FCs transfers, and attempt to blame us, misclassifying an internal loss as an “inbound” loss.
The “inbound performance group” was so presumptuous as to attempt to “coach” us, saying “We expected to receive [ASIN] but we received [Barcode].” But seller support confirms that [Barcode] is the correct barcode for [ASIN].
There seems nowhere that the seller can verify that the barcode they are using is correctly associated with the ASIN at issue!
I have never seen any FBA Barcode that when scanned did not return either:
ASIN
UPC
FNSKU
The latter 2 can easily be confirmed by report or in Seller central
I wrote an app (once upon a time) for my account (inventory, orders, repricer, ect). I even created the FBA labels myself because Amazon only had the 30 sheet at the time.
I have no idea why you can’t determine the barcode data and it’s association to the ASIN.
Earlier you stated:
The answer is to verify what your printed barcode is returning yourself, so you scan a printed barcode (from whatever software you are using) and find out.
When using the “Amazon Seller App”, scanning the barcode results in "Sorry, we did not find a product on Amazon for this scan. Please try again, or create a new listing"
I’m sorry for making this confusing … I did not mean to use the Seller App to scan. We know that won’t work. I meant “scan a barcode printed … (that you generate) …from whatever software you are using.” Not to scan it “within” that software.
So …
Print out a barcode “from whatever software you are using” to generate them for FBA.
Scan that barcode using a barcode scanner and a laptop/pc
Open notepad or any other text editor
Click inside of it so the cursor is in the text field area
Scan
Whatever is returned is now showing so you can compare against what Amazon is saying …
EXAMPLE …
This barcode should return “ABC-abc-1234” when scanned.
The FNSKU that we have used for several years, and Amazon now claims "never existed, as they claim that the FNSKU is the same as the ASIN.
Not kidding here - they honestly are telling me that, going forward the FNSKU should be the same number as the ASIN for the product, not the FNSKU assigned in 2021.
Any changes on your part in the above from when the original listing was made will effect things.
I would expect either a new SKU, or a change in how Amazon is classifying your ASIN.
Hopefully the below helps you narrow things down.
FBA & Labeling Inventory 101
FBA Listings themselves are SKU specific. You can have multiple SKUs which will act differently depending on the Barcode Preference settingswhen you create the SKU and require different label types
Definitions for the two options under barcode preference
Manufacturer barcode: If you choose this (have this set when you create the SKU) as your preference, all eligible offers that you create thereafter will have the default option to be sent in with the manufacturer barcode and participate in virtual tracking.
Amazon barcode: If you choose this (have this set when you create the SKU) as your preference, all the offers that you create thereafter will display the Amazon barcode as the default option and require you to place an additional label on individual units. Units labeled with an Amazon barcode will not participate in virtual tracking.
Your SKU can be set up as Manufacturer barcode (This uses the Product Identifier, is often referred to as “Stickerless” and is typically commingled)
This will be a GTIN Barcode
Your SKU can be set up as Amazon barcode and is stickered with a scanable barcode.
This when scanned will return the Amazon created FNSKU (starts with X0000)
This when scanned will return the ASIN for products with a GTIN Exemption (if I remember correctly)
Here’s one example of the X000… type shown in Manage Inventory:
I don’t have any inventory without a GTIN do I can’t show an ASIN example image.
@packetfire have you seen this thread? You’re not alone, and I’m (again) wondering whether FBA barcode scan problems are more widespread than Amazon wants anyone to realize.
@papy yes, I am an avid reader of the ongoing telenovella that @ASV_Vites was subjected to over a mere glossy (rather than matte) finish on his labels.
But this is not that - the barcodes READ perfectly - this is purely database, and they refuse to correct it - they no longer associate that barcode with any ASIN or any SKU.
Despite this, they somehow can “find” bottles here and there. That stumps me. They either ARE using the barcode, or they are overarching for the product name when found. I have not gotten a straight answer, as the moment they find a unit, they push it to the front of the line for fulfillment, and it gets shipped to a customer, and the inventory management aspects are not revealed.
But it is a waste of breath to talk to seller support - they don’t even understand the systems themselves, so they can’t explain anything to us.
