If you sell products, you may want to take advantage of their barcodes to let you take orders and receive goods faster and more accurately. If you’re selling a product, just scan what you’re selling, then print out an invoice and have your inventory automatically adjusted.
It’s much easier and cheaper to get this going than most people think. All you need besides your computer is a barcode scanner and some compatible software. Turns out, we’ll be able to help you with both!
If you’re interested in an in-depth look at how you can get started barcoding your small business be sure to checkout our Ultimate Barcoding Guide. It covers absolutely everything barcode related but it’ll take a bit longer to get through than two minutes.
inFlow Barcode Scanners
We love our barcodes here at inFlow, so it only makes sense that we have our very own collection of barcode scanners, each designed to fit your specific needs. The inFlow Rugged USB Scanner scans all 1D and 2D barcodes for only $199, and is a great option for anyone scanning in one location. If you need a bit more mobility, we also have the inFlow Rugged Bluetooth Scanner for $279.
Then there is our most robust scanner, the inFlow Smart Scanner. It’s an Android device with a built-in laser scanner that’s optimized to work perfectly with out software.
How about inventory software?
You also have various options for the software. If you run a retail store, a point of sale (POS) system may suit your needs. You can also buy add-ons that add barcode capability to QuickBooks. Or inFlow Inventory is a complete small business system that lets you manage inventory and take orders using barcodes. It even has a Free Edition you can download and use with no time limits.
Symbol barcode scanners are designed to maximize productivity. From ruggedized, industrial-class scanning in warehouse environments, to speeding your customers through the checkout isle at a retail location, there is a Symbol scanner that will suit your need. Symbol scanners have best-in-class features and perform under almost any conditions. Durable, reliable and affordable, Symbol scanners have it all.
what do i need to start a barcode business?
You can buy a scanner from the online stores in this blog post, and use inFlow software to help you keep track of your stock.
i used legalbarcode.com to get my barcodes. I paid 50$ for a barcode with lifetime right of usage and i even got a second for free.
Thanks Michael; that’s a great tip that I’m sure will help people!
I am having trouble finding a good program for inventory tracking. I want to be able to use my new barcode scanner (USB) with a simple inventory control program (possibly free). I tried inFlow but was a little overwhelmed. I am brand new to barcoding. I want to be able to scan an item and have the database (inventory control program) to subtract from whatever total quantity. Please help, thank you.
Regards
This article on how to use barcode with inFlow should help: https://www.inflowinventory.com/KnowledgeBase/questions/5/Barcode Support
Thanks,
-Louis
i read the message u sent to me bit i can not find any point that could be the answer for my question.i were interested to get this soft ware having my own account by free since i can not afford any payment u know this is why since i am from ethiopia. so please try your best to help me have a free inflow soft ware with my own account.i hope u will do this soon
thank you in advance
I am taye from Ethiopia,Bahir Dar
I have a series of 49 bar code numbers that I have been shown how to input into Corel to convert to the bar code. I do not understand how the code is programmed to have the information about the product and price. Where does that stage occur?
– Julie
Dont even spend $150 i bought a usb barcode scanner on ebay new from Hong Kong for $40 shipped and it works great with inflow and my computer! It was plug and play and saves me tons of time.
(Sorry for the extremely slow responses!)
@Taye: You can try our Free Edition at marketing.inflowinventory.com
@Julie: Usually, this information isn’t kept within the barcode itself. You would use some software (e.g. inFlow) that recognizes the product from the barcode, and then retrieves the rest of the product information, including the price.
@P: That’s quite a bargain! Thanks for sharing
Do you have any solutions for companies that have not implemented barcoding, but need to conduct periodic tagged physical inventory counts? A challenge many companies face with this type of inventory count is that they are using the manila tags with carbon copies (some are carbonless) and require a great deal of handwriting.
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Hi. I have a barcode printer and a scanner. I printed out some lables and tried to scan, but inflow is not picking up the information. How do I connect the scanner so it will work witn inflow?
Please help
Hi Julia,
Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with the scanner. If you can open a new notepad, scan the barcode and have the numbers show up then you should be able to use the scanner with inFlow. If you don’t see any numbers appear the scanner is likely not properly installed and you may want to contact the manufacturer.
For more information on Barcodes and inFlow please see our article here:https://www.inflowinventory.com/KnowledgeBase/questions/5/Barcode Support
And let us know if you have any further questions or concerns!
Hi. I have scanned aproduct and got code No.308570010, format-code_128. How do I know the details of the product?. Pl mail me.
I’m sorry Raghuraj but the scanner (unless it is very sophisticated and has access to a vast database of items) will not be able to give you the details of the product. You will have to save the barcode to the product record so that the system knows which product your scanning. Hope that helps!
I want to use Barcode in Godown for Identifying Inventory…etc. So what all things will i need and what will be the investment. The Books has a Barcode so is it necessary to have a printer?
Check out https://barcoding.inflowinventory.com/, it should be able to answer all your questions! Let me know if it helps!
-Matt
Thank you for the very informative article on bar coding, I am just getting started and want to avoid mistakes.
Thank You
jim
how are barcodes used?
In many ways! I’d check out this book to start: https://barcoding.inflowinventory.com
I am looking to do a service, so when a person walks in the door, I am looking to get his/her ID that should go to a computer. Then to print out a bar code for a package, if left. Then when service is done on more the one machine. I am looking at having a barcode on each machine, (so I know who did the work) so when done. The item goes back to the same package/person. Also I am looking at each person on the floor, with a barcode or name, as I know who did the work.
So when the package is shipped. Then to use the same package,
I hope I can make cents
Hi James, I think inFlow Cloud could help you with this.
When a customer walks in, you could create a new purchase order for them.
If you want to track who dropped the item off, make sure to assign the vendor name as the customer name. Otherwise a generic vendor name like “Drop off” will do the trick.
If they’re leaving a new product with you, you could create it on the spot and assign a purchase price of $0.00.
inFlow can create a new barcode for it right on the spot, and you can print the label right then, too.
When the work has been done on the item, you can create a sales order, specify the customer, and sell the item back to them at a price of $0.00 on a sales order.
And since you make your money based on the services provided, so you’d add service items onto that sales order. This ensures that inFlow tracks that you made no money off the item itself, just the services rendered.
If you ever want to look up what kind of service was done on that item, you’d simply need to look it up in the system using the barcode. inFlow keeps a complete record of which orders an item was involved in.
I hope that helps!