We received a message from one of the shipping services we use, Shippo, yesterday, stating:

"Starting November 1, 2026, the EU requires a product identifier on every item in merchandise shipments entering the EU from outside it, unless it's a B2B [business-to-business] shipment..."

So here's what we learned about a "product identifier".

If we understand the new EU product identifier requirement correctly, this means that the shipping label must have all products listed and each product must be identified by their SKU and a unique standardized manufacturer code. The data is displayed on the label in the form of a barcode.

Standard manufacturer barcodes are purchased from global authorities like GS1 who manage barcodes. Standard manufacturer barcodes aren't something we can generate ourselves and they aren't free.

A single barcode for a single product purchased from a global authority like GS1 typically costs about $30 USD. Once purchased, the barcodes for all products are then registered with the code authority (GS1, etc.). Since we offer more than 1000 unique products, we could be looking at a $30,000+ barcode bill.

Why this is important when selling on 3rd party platforms like eBay or Amazon: major platforms like Amazon, Google, and eBay verify barcode ownership against the GS1 database and will reject codes that do not match our official business name.

Additionally, we will need to purchase an official and unique "Company Prefix" from GS1. The "Company Prefix" composes the first 6-10 digits of each product barcode. The registered barcodes then become associated with our business in their registry. The cost of a "Company Prefix" is approximately $2500 USD with an annual renewal fee of about $500 USD.

If our understanding is correct (and I hope it's not), this requirement will make selling to our valued customers in the EU permanently unaffordable for us.