Add the Barcode, Get Found

A lot of buyers don't think in part numbers — they think in barcodes. So we added a UPC field to every listing.

It's optional and it's just one line: the UPC, GTIN, or EAN printed on the box. But that single number does three useful things at once.

First, it makes your parts findable by barcode. A buyer scanning a unit on the shelf, or pasting the number straight off the packaging, now lands on your listing — even when they don't know the manufacturer or the exact part number. It's searchable everywhere search already works, including your saved-search alerts, so a match the moment someone lists it still reaches you.

Second, it feeds Google Shopping. The UPC goes into the structured product data behind each listing — the same data that powers our Google Merchant feed — as a proper GTIN. Google treats products with a valid barcode as higher-quality, better-matched results, which means your surplus shows up for more of the searches buyers are actually running.

A quick word on the acronyms, because they trip people up. UPC is the 12-digit barcode common in North America. EAN is the 13-digit version used in most of the rest of the world. GTIN is just the umbrella term that covers both. For our purposes they're interchangeable — put whatever number is on the box in the field and you're done. Our spreadsheet upload even recognizes columns named upc, barcode, gtin, or ean, so a bulk import maps itself.

You don't have to go back and add it to everything. Fill it in on new listings, add it to the ones where it's handy, and leave the rest. Every UPC you enter is one more way for a buyer to find the part you're trying to move.