What Is a Barcode and GTIN, and How Do You Get One?

A barcode is the machine-readable striped/square visual form of the numeric code that identifies a product; a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the unique 8, 12, 13, or 14-digit global product number behind that image. In other words, the GTIN is the "identification number" and the barcode is the "visual format" that lets a scanner read that identity — don't confuse the two. The GS1 standard keeps that number unique across more than 150 countries worldwide; once you're assigned a GTIN, that number belongs to you globally, and no other company can use the same one. The EAN-13 barcode you see most often is actually the visual counterpart of a GTIN-13; nearly every product on a store shelf carries this format.

When you want to get a GTIN and barcode, the only authorized body is GS1 Turkey (operating under the TOBB National Product Numbering Center) — fake or overseas "barcode-selling" sites don't register you in the official GS1 database. The process runs entirely online, and you'll usually have your company prefix in hand within 3-5 business days. During the application, you're asked to upload your company's business documents and declare your line of business and estimated product count; this information determines how many digits your prefix will have. Follow the steps below and you can have your first GTIN number ready within the same week.

• Register with GS1 Turkey — Fill out the online application form on the official GS1 Turkey website and choose your membership type
• Upload your documents — The system requests scans of your tax certificate, signature circular, and trade registry gazette
• Get your company prefix — GS1 Turkey assigns you a 7-12 digit prefix, which becomes your unique identity
• Derive your product numbers — Use the template GS1 provides to create a separate GTIN for every product and variant
• Generate the barcode image — Convert the number into an EAN-13 barcode using GS1-approved barcode generator software
• Add it to the marketplace — Print the barcode on your packaging and enter it in the product/variant barcode field in the Trendyol/Hepsiburada panel

A GTIN isn't actually a single format; there are 4 different digit lengths depending on the use case, and mixing them up can trigger an "invalid barcode" error in the marketplace panel. The most commonly asked-about difference is between GTIN-13 (EAN-13) and GTIN-8 (EAN-8): GTIN-8 is a shortened format designed only for products with very small packaging surfaces (gum, lipstick, samples), while GTIN-13 is the primary format used for standard retail products. In logistics, the 14-digit GTIN-14 (ITF-14) is used for shipping units like cartons and pallets — if you use this instead of a single-item barcode, the marketplace panel will reject it.

EAN-13 is the 13-digit form obtained by adding a '0' to the front of a GTIN-12 (UPC).

GS1 Turkey's membership and barcode allocation fees aren't a fixed price list; they work on a model of an annual due plus a one-time application fee, both of which vary based on your company's size (sole proprietor/tradesman, SME, large company) and the number of product numbers you request. You need to check the current rate on GS1 Turkey/TOBB's official website, since the figures change from year to year and by company category. The "generate a free barcode number" sites you see online, on the other hand, don't perform actual GS1 registration; they generate a random 13-digit number that doesn't appear as yours in GS1's global database. If you use one, another company could be assigned the same number years later, and you risk your product being rejected in international sales or by large retail chains.

Turkish marketplaces like Trendyol and Hepsiburada currently don't require GS1 barcode registration or automatic integration; the system just requires you to fill in a separate, unique barcode field for every product and every variant (color/size), whether or not it's GS1-approved. In other words, you can't leave the "barcode" box empty on the product upload screen — the panel marks it as a required field. However, if you're a brand-owning seller, or when getting brand approval in certain electronics/cosmetics categories, a genuine GS1-approved GTIN may be requested; a randomly generated code of your own could be rejected at that stage. If you sell the same product on multiple marketplaces, keeping the barcode consistent across every channel prevents stock mix-ups; Ecomiro's Stock Sync module automatically maintains this consistency through barcode-based matching.

Learn the full Trendyol selling process

A GTIN isn't just a required checkbox on a marketplace form; used correctly, it builds an infrastructure that makes your product traceable end-to-end across stock, supply chain, and point-of-sale (POS) processes. You can track the product using the same number from your warehouse management system to your e-commerce panel, and from your shipping label to your accounting invoice; this significantly reduces manual matching errors and stock count discrepancies. If you sell across 3-4 marketplaces at once, using a different barcode on each channel makes stock synchronization nearly impossible. Ecomiro's Multi-Store module works on exactly this single-GTIN logic: it syncs stock and barcode matching across all your marketplaces from a single screen.

Read the stock and warehouse management guide