Yes, You Need a Price Specific Barcode
If I find out the identity of the person who is telling people that they don’t need a price specific barcode, I am going to smack them.
Here is a pic of a barcode WITHOUT a price embedded in the barcode:
Book buyers and bookstores who see this barcode will often instantly put it in the “no” pile because it does not have a price embedded in the bar code.
What does a barcode with a price embedded in the code look like? I am glad you asked!
See the 51995 number over the shorter bars? That means that the book is $19.95. The ISBN-13 barcode (also called an EIN) should include a price in it. It will start with a “5” and be followed by the remaining numbers which will make up the price.
This is NOT OPTIONAL if you want to get into bookstores. Ingram, Baker and Taylor and Barnes and Noble will ask your sales rep if your book has a price embedded barcode. If the answer is no, the chances are that the book buyer will also say “no”… to your book.
Get a price specific barcode. It is a requirement. Do it. Do it now.
D5 Creation
I am self publishing on amazon. How do I get them to print a price specific bar code on the back cover? The one that is there is not price specific.
I am afraid that Amazon does not allow barcodes with prices. They stopped allowing prices in the barcodes in 2018.
Thanks for the excellent tip. What happens if the price changes (eg you decide to sell it at either a lower or higher price, or a bookstore decides to sell it at a lower or higher price)? Does it matter that it has a fixed price in the barcode?
The reason WHY a bookstore and library insist upon price specific barcodes is because they don’t want publishers changing the price. Pick a price and stick with it. Do your homework and make sure the price is competitive and reasonable and that you can make a buck or two…. If a bookstore or retailer (Amazon) decides to offer the book at a discount, that is their decision and they take the discount from THEIR cut, not yours. The retail price stays the same, the SALE price may fluxuate if the retailer decides on that.
I was told by a publisher that when the exchange rate changes for a foreign book market, the price on the book changes and would require a new barcode price each time and for each country in which the rate changed. The option was to use 90000 as the price, which means the price is a floating price and will need to be determined at the time of sale.
If books are sold in a foreign market, when the exchange rate changes so does the price for that book in the other market. It was recommended to me by a publisher to change the price to 90000 so a new barcode wouldn’t need to be created each time and for each country where the exchange rate increased or decreased.
How do you get a price specific barcode?
Here you go! This video will show you how!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Noa6i83H1s
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