There are a variety of related websites set up under the umbrella name ‘The Barcodes Shop’ that are porporting to sell genuine EAN-13 or UPC-A retail barcodes for a one-off cost. None of these websites should be trusted in the least. They have been proven untrustworthy and been ruled against by the UK advertising standards authority, however continue to mislead customers and sell barcodes that are either illegal for use, or significantly different from what is described on their websites.
The websites we know of that relate to ‘The Barcodes Shop’ are:
Thebarcodesshop.co.uk
GlobalBarcodeStore.com
laboutiquedesbarres.com
elranchodelasbarras.com
singaporebarcodeshop.com
thebarcodehouse.com
indiabarcodeshop.com
haibisognodiuncodiceabarre.com
latiendadelasbarras.com
deutschestrichcodes.com
The main problems with these sites are:
- The represent their barcodes come directly from GS1 and that they sell ’50’ numbers or other country codes.
- They lie about themselves in the FAQ including suggesting they have been around for 35 years (which is ridiculous)
- They are difficult to contact
- The UK ASA has ruled against them for false advertising
- The have false customer feedback on their websites
David O’Sowa appears to be the person behind these websites. It is clear that this level of deception is deliberate obviously in terms of what they say about themselve, but also the ‘factual’ information provided about barcodes. It wouldn’t be difficult to find the correct information regarding this.
For a more complete appraisal of these sites, and for information on other barcode reseller sites that are operating dishonestly, please see The Barcode Sellers Website.
And to buy good quality barcodes, we recommend members of the International Barcodes Network.