Barcode Label Printing Services Wanted - Liberty.me

Barcode Label Printing Services Wanted

Tags: barcode entrepreneur help wanted

Brian Farmer December 29, 2015 at 7:34 pm

I am a beekeeper, and I primarily sell my honey wholesale to stores. For most of the stores, I deliver cases of honey with no price tags. I let the store deal with that.

I have one store that insists on being a pain. They have over 300 suppliers of local products on consignment, and everything is on a computer inventory system. When I started selling there, I was required to put price tags on with a regular price tag gun, and to also put a 4 digit SKU code on the price tag. The cashier just enters the 4 digit code into the cash register computer – the customer is charged the correct price, and it also adjusts the inventory and sales records.

The store has a brilliant marketing idea, and they have a great location in a huge shopping center. (50K people a day visit this shopping center.) And they just opened up a 2nd store at another shopping center that just got built. But the store has serious management problems. They have hired too many people because they were friends, instead of hiring workers based upon competency. As a result, the cashiers are incredibly slow. I’ve seen them take 5 minutes to ring out customers when it should have taken less than a minute. (I used to be an assistant manager of a gas station when I was 20, so I know how quickly you can clear a line of customers.)

The owner knows there are problems with checkout times. They have been encouraging vendors to put bar code price tags on items to help speed up checkout times. Starting 1/31/16, the bar codes will now be mandatory.

If they didn’t sell so much honey, I would tell them to go pound sand and not sell honey there anymore. As it is, I made over $600 last month. (Most of the stores I sell to, buy about $300 a month from me.)

My problem is that I am technologically impaired. (I grew up without a tv or telephone.) I still use a flip phone and don’t have a tv. I don’t have an Ipad or laptop – my computer is a desktop, and desktop computers have served me well for 15 years. I have the labels for my honey bottles custom printed. The people at the store tried telling me some gibberish about how to print my own bar code labels, but they might as well have been talking Greek to me.

Does anyone have any experience printing bar code labels? Or is anyone interested in some work printing some bar code labels for me? I need 3 different bar codes for the 3 sizes of honey I sell at that store. (12 oz $7.00, 16 oz $9.00, and 32 oz $16.00.)

I would probably only be buying 1000-2000 labels a year.

I am currently paying around 14 cents a label for glossy, color labels for my honey bottles. I only need a basic black and white bar code label that I can stick on my bottles.

The store that sells my honey calls itself a small business incubator. I considered asking management to ask other vendors if they were interested in printing labels for other vendors (like me) who are technologically impaired, and have absolutely no interest in printing my own labels.

But I thought I would ask you all first, and see if anyone here was interested in some work. I don’t do bitcoin, but I do PayPal or can mail a check.

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Craig Spencer December 29, 2015 at 8:14 pm

You can go to countless free websites that will generate any bar code you need. Here is one.

https://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php

You can xerox as many copies as you need. Or that same site has ads from people who will print sticky labels for you.

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  Brian Farmer December 30, 2015 at 4:26 pm
  
  Thank you. Being able to order sticky labels is what I am looking for.
  
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Lee Roesner December 29, 2015 at 10:54 pm

Brain, if you need more help let me know. I am a graphic designer/marketer and can point you in the right direction if I can understand your needs better.

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Ken Jons-un December 29, 2015 at 11:19 pm

I second Craig’s response. Your first step will be to have text/numbers for each of your three products and I believe the store should help you with that because that product code is what they have setup in their system for your product. Also snap a photo of a similar products barcode so you can compare entering that on the link Craig posted, click advanced and you’ll see there are a few different code types, try each type to make sure your sample matches. Print out the codes after you enter them and verify they work at the store then send your set off to the printer.

It’s possible that your other stores could use the same barcodes in their system but also they might use something different. So if there’s flexibility beyond 4 digits then you might consider making it more unique.

Bonus – if you have a website you can also make a QR code for it to put on your label and many people will recognize the QR code as something to scan on a smartphone and get to your site.

And if anyone is still bored enough to read down this far you might know that you can just show a bar code on your phone and the registers can read it. I frequently snap pictures of the tags at hardware stores where a single bolt or paver doesn’t come with a tag on it. Helps save time.

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Matthew Barnes January 5, 2016 at 11:49 am
Brian,

The volume of your need is small. So are your profits. You seem to feel a little frustrated and flustered about what they are asking you to do, which is understandable for a Luddite such as yourself. 🙂

I am not a printer, so it would be difficult for me to help you with a complete solution. I do have a good bit of experience with the systems that retail uses and maybe I can offer you a little advice on that side of things and ease the path for you with some help.

Barcodes are nothing but funny looking numbers and letters. That is it. making a barcode label is not that different from any other label it just looks strange and alien. Here is are the basic step you need to take:
1. Gather information: Contact the store and insist on an email with instructions. It is not important that you understand them. It is important that you have them for people who do understand them and can pass them along. You need them to tell you:
  
  The text of each of the barcodes.
  
  The barcode type
  
  The recommended size
2. Get Label Artwork: You need someone to layout the artwork for the label. Just about anyone can help with this, but they need the information above to do the job.
3. Print the Labels: You need a printer. This will be much easier when you have artwork ready, most printers are not layout artists. Even if there were a printer reading this and willing to help you, they would be stuck without artwork.
Once you get the information for the labels, I would be happy to help you with artwork. It may likely take me a few days to get the time, but it is a simple thing to do and would be happy to help gratis (though I do love good honey… wink wink).

You can private message me here with the info. I would also want a picture of your products with their labels on (front and back), the measurements of your bottles (stand a ruler up next to them in the picture), and if you have them, the files used for the existing labels would help me make sure the barcodes look good with better matched style.

With artwork in hand you should have an easier time finding a printer to get your small batch of labels done. I would recommend that you use the same printer as did your primary label. You want to have the same label stock so that the labels look like they were meant to be together.
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Brian Farmer January 5, 2016 at 4:48 pm

Hi Matthew,

The store tells me to download some free barcode font so I can print my own barcodes. That’s worthless information to me.

I just want 3 different barcode stickers. When the barcodes are scanned, I want the codes to read, 9723, 9724, or 9725.

Barcode labels don’t need any artwork. All I want is a sticker with black lines on it and the number code. I already have artwork labels for my bottles of honey – they just don’t have a barcode on them. I do not want to incorporate a barcode into my regular labels. (I use the same label for all the stores I deliver to – only this store needs a barcode.)

I’ve never messed with label printing. (And to be honest, I don’t have any desire. I’d rather do what I do best, and hire someone to make the labels for me.)

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Lee Roesner January 5, 2016 at 5:05 pm

Sorry Brian, I know this is a pain, but you’ll need a bar code prefix (first set of figures) that is registered that will represent your company.

More info here: http://www.gs1us.org/get-started/im-new-to-gs1-us

Once you get this sorted out, generating a UPC-A type barcode based on the final bar code and printing it on labels in very easy to do.

Lee

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  Brian Farmer January 5, 2016 at 5:20 pm
  
  Hi Lee,
  
  From what I understand, you do not have to register a barcode before you can print one. Registering barcodes is just to prevent confusion caused by multiple items trying to use the same barcode. If you register a barcode, that code belongs to you no matter where you are. This is not the situation I am dealing with.
  
  You can create your own barcodes for your own use without registering the codes, such as for managing inventory in a warehouse. That is the situation I am dealing with here. The store has assigned me 9723, 9724, and 9725 codes to use on my products in their store. No one else is allowed to use those numbers at that store.
  
  Those codes, and the barcodes, will be worthless at any other store.
  
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    Lee Roesner January 5, 2016 at 5:31 pm
    
    Gotcha…so you don’t need a full UPC-A 12 digit code…? But then, the stores must be using a UPC-A scanner…or not?
    
    The big question then is: what “type” of bar code do they want that they can read? Might want to ask another supplier there what they did.
    
    Take a look at the bar code list here….there are certain syntax and digit requirements for each.
    
    http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/
    
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    - Brian Farmer January 5, 2016 at 5:53 pm
      
      I just worked out a deal with another vendor at the store. (The store has over 300 vendors supplying locally made products, so many people are undoubtedly scrambling for barcode labels.) He is going to print rolls of 250 labels for $50 a roll. I just peel and stick.
      
      Problem solved.
      
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    - Lee Roesner January 5, 2016 at 5:59 pm
      
      But what bar code format? How are you making the 4 digit bar code?? I’m curious now…?
      
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    - Brian Farmer January 5, 2016 at 6:38 pm
      
      I don’t know and don’t care. 🙂 All I know is the store assigns a 4 digit code to each product a vendor sells. The store owner told me to talk to this guy. I told him the 4 digit codes that are assigned to my products. The store assigned him 4 digit codes for his products, and whatever he is doing works. That’s what’s important to me.
      
      This is the message he sent me:
      
      UPC codes are one of the many things that I make every day. There are a few options when it comes to these. I will do my best to convey them to you.
      If you want a roll of labels printed on a waterproof and UV resistant vinyl material (this is what I use for my products) it would be $50 for every 250 labels (of the same SKU). The price per piece would drop at quantities of 500 pcs. of the same SKU. Some people do not like these because they contain PVC and are not as Earth-Friendly.
      Some people would rather have these thermally printed on adhesive paper. Picture a sheet of printer paper with 50 labels on each sheet. These would run $15 per sheet of matching SKU numbers – So $75 per set of 250. Price would also drop at 500 pcs of the same SKU. The only real benefit of these is that they are biodegradable and they are easier to store since they are flat.
      I can give you prices for lower quantities if you want. These only take 2-3 days to produce no matter which method you choose.
      
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    - Lee Roesner January 6, 2016 at 7:19 am
      
      OK…only reason I ask is I may need 4 digit bar codes for customers of mine. Please let me know if you ever find out what type of bar code he is producing for you. thx.
      
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Ken Jons-un January 5, 2016 at 5:12 pm

I doubt he needs a prefix those are for major companies. just go to the generator link above and type in 9723 select one of the code types and print it, repeat for each type then drop by the store and scan them at the register to make sure it rings up correctly. note which code used is correct.

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dave luther June 8, 2017 at 1:18 am

Try at digitek print shop, they also do labels and many other print materials. It is also where I ordered my business flyers and brochures after learning their offers from here http://www.digitekprinting.com/brochures-flyers.

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Zachary July 21, 2017 at 5:08 pm

I realize that this topic is very old, but I’m surprised no one has mentioned a thermal label printer. A tiny Dymo can crank out hundreds of labels in a few minutes, and requires minimal time/hassle to set up. I’ve never gotten labels printed professionally, but I’m guessing that printing them is trivially expensive in comparison. Dymo and Zebra are the two biggest brands in this niche.

Alternatively, I’ve used Avrey 5160 labels, a laser printer, and Avrey.com to generate barcodes without much trouble.

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