Barcode Labels for Shop Products: MRP and Price Labels

Why barcode labels pay for themselves

At a busy counter, the slowest part of a bill is finding the item. A helper searching for “hinge” scrolls through 30 hinges and picks the wrong finish. A scanned barcode picks the exact item in under a second, with the right price and GST rate.

Barcodes also catch mistakes at the other end. When stock arrives and every carton is scanned into the purchase bill, the count is right before it reaches the shelf.

This guide covers barcode label printing for a shop: which code to use, where the numbers come from, what size labels to buy, what a label must show, and which scanner to get.

EAN-13 or Code 128: which barcode type

	EAN-13	Code 128
Characters	13 digits only	Letters, digits and symbols
Length	Always 13	Variable
Where you see it	Almost every packaged retail product	Courier labels, internal stock codes
Last digit	Check digit, calculated from the first 12	Check character built into the symbol
Read by retail scanners	Yes	Yes, by almost all modern scanners
Best for	Products sold at a counter	Internal codes such as “PVC-ELB-1IN”

For a shop, EAN-13 is the safe default. Every scanner reads it, and it fits on small labels. Use Code 128 when you want the barcode to carry your own item code with letters in it.

The last digit of an EAN-13 is a check digit. If one digit is misprinted or misread, the check fails and the scanner refuses it rather than adding the wrong item.

In-store “2” codes vs GS1 India “890” codes

Not every 13-digit number is yours to use.

GS1 India codes (starting with 890) are issued to a company by GS1 India, the body that manages barcodes in India. A product with an 890 code can be sold in any supermarket or on any marketplace, because the number is globally unique. If you make or pack a product that other retailers will stock, you need these, and that means GS1 India membership.

In-store codes (starting with 2) are set aside for use inside a single store. Any shop can create them for its own loose or self-packed items, such as dry fruit packed in 250 g pouches, screws in small bags, or a gift set you put together. They work at your counter and nowhere else. Another store scanning your “2” code will find nothing, or worse, its own product with the same number.

Situation	Code to use
Branded product with a barcode already printed	Keep the manufacturer’s code
Loose item you sell only in your shop	In-store code starting with 2
Product you pack and sell through other stores	GS1 India code starting with 890
Internal code with letters, for the store room	Code 128

Never stick your own label over a manufacturer’s barcode. Scan the code that is already there.

A4 label sheet sizes

Most shops print on A4 sticker sheets with a normal laser or inkjet printer. Common layouts:

Labels per A4 sheet	Label size (mm)	Good for
65	38.1 × 21.2	Small items: screws, cosmetics, jewellery boxes
40	52.5 × 29.7	General shelf items
24	63.5 × 33.9	Packed food, stationery, hardware packs
21	63.5 × 38.1	Items that need MRP and net quantity
12	105 × 48	Larger packs with more text
8	99.1 × 67.7	Cartons
4	105 × 148.5	Cartons and shipping boxes

Choose the label by how much text it must carry. A 65-up label fits a barcode and a short name. If the label must also show MRP, net quantity and a packing date, move up to 21 or 24 per sheet.

Practical tips:

• Print a test page on plain paper and hold it against a sticker sheet to check alignment.
• Use part-used sheets by skipping the labels already peeled off.
• Keep an EAN-13 barcode about 30 mm wide or more. Much smaller, and cheaper scanners start needing two or three tries.
• Print black on white. Red bars on a white label cannot be read by most scanners.

What a label must show

Branded goods with a manufacturer’s label

The manufacturer’s label already carries the legal declarations. Your shop label, if any, is a price or shelf label. Do not cover the manufacturer’s MRP or declarations. You may sell below MRP; you may not charge more than it.

Goods you pack yourself

If you pack loose goods into pouches or boxes for sale, you are acting as a packer, and the pack becomes a pre-packaged commodity under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. The label generally needs:

• Name and address of the manufacturer, packer or importer
• Common or generic name of the product
• Net quantity, in standard units (g, kg, ml, l or number)
• Month and year of manufacture (check the current Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules for the exact date wording your product needs)
• Retail sale price as MRP, inclusive of all taxes
• Unit sale price, such as price per kg, where it applies
• Consumer care details: phone or email for complaints
• Country of origin, for imported goods

Packers may also need registration with the Legal Metrology department, and food products carry additional FSSAI labelling rules. The details depend on the product and pack size, so confirm with your local Legal Metrology office or your CA before printing in bulk.

Choosing a scanner

Type	How it connects	Good for
USB wired	Plugs into the PC; types the code like a keyboard	Fixed billing counter
Bluetooth	Pairs with a PC, laptop or tablet	Counter plus shelf checks and stock counts
2D (image) scanner	USB or Bluetooth	Reads barcodes from phone screens and damaged labels

A USB scanner needs no software. Open the billing screen, click the item field, scan, and the code arrives as if typed. Test any scanner by scanning into a notepad first; if 13 digits appear followed by a new line, it will work with billing software.

Barcoding 500 items over a weekend

You do not need to stop the shop to start barcoding. A plan that works:

1. Sort items into two piles: those with a manufacturer barcode, and those without.
2. Scan the manufacturer codes into your item list first. Scan each product once into the item’s barcode field. No labels needed for these.
3. Generate in-store codes for everything else, all at once, from your billing software.
4. Print labels by shelf, not by item list. Take one rack at a time, print its labels, stick them, and move on. Mixing racks is how labels end up on the wrong product.
5. Label the shelf edge as well for items too small to label, such as single washers. The cashier scans the shelf card from a laminated sheet at the counter.
6. Scan-test every new label at the counter before the next rack.

Keep a stock of blank sheets for new arrivals. From then on, labelling becomes part of receiving stock: goods arrive, get scanned into the purchase bill, and new items get their labels before they reach the shelf.

Mistakes to avoid

• Two items with the same code. The scanner picks whichever it finds first. Most billing software, including VyapRise, refuses a duplicate barcode when you save an item.
• Labels on curved surfaces. A label wrapped tightly round a thin pipe bends the bars. Stick it lengthwise along the pipe, or use a tag.
• Glossy labels under bright lights. Glare can stop a scan. Matte labels read more reliably.

How VyapRise handles barcodes and labels

• Item barcodes: keep manufacturer EAN-13, UPC or Code 128 codes on the item, or let VyapRise generate an in-store EAN-13 starting with 2 (Pro).
• Label sheets (Pro, and in the free trial): print 65, 40, 24, 21, 12, 8 or 4 labels per A4 sheet, or set a custom size. Each label can show a header line, the item name, the barcode, MRP with “Incl. of all taxes”, net quantity, and batch, MFG and expiry dates typed for that print run. A code that is not a valid EAN-13 prints as Code 128.
• Thermal rolls and labels from a bill (Pro): 50 × 25 mm and 38 × 25 mm roll presets print through the browser, and “Print labels” on a purchase bill opens with the pieces received, the batch and the MRP already filled.
• Scanning: a USB or Bluetooth scanner adds items on the sales invoice (on the Free plan too) and on the purchase bill and the POS billing screen (Pro).

What it does not do: there is no printer-specific thermal driver (roll labels go through the browser’s print), no phone camera scanning, and dates typed on a label for one print run are not saved as stock data.

Make a few labels without signing up using the free barcode generator, or see how scanning fits into billing on the barcode billing software page.