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ASIN

Amazon Standard Identification Number

An ASIN is Amazon’s own 10 character code for a product in its catalogue, generated when the product is first listed there.

Product data engineer

What it means

ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. Amazon UK says every product offered for sale on Amazon “gets an automatically generated ASIN”. It adds that “Multiple sellers may offer the same ASIN.”1

Amazon describes it as “a series of 10 letters and numbers used to identify products within the Amazon catalog”. ASINs are created when a new product is listed, and they appear on Amazon’s product pages.2

It works only inside Amazon. Amazon says “an ASIN isn’t able to help with product identification outside of Amazon”, while a GTIN identifies a product “no matter its retailer”.2

Think of it like this

An ASIN is like a library’s own shelf mark. It finds the book at once in that library, but another library uses its own mark. The ISBN on the cover is the same everywhere.

For example

A kettle with the EAN 5012345678900 is new to Amazon UK. The first seller to list it creates its product page, and Amazon generates an ASIN for it. The ASIN shows in the page’s web address, after /dp/.3 A second seller of the same kettle matches that listing instead of creating another.1

Why it matters

If you sell on Amazon, the ASIN ties your stock to Amazon’s product pages. Keep it in a column of its own, beside your SKU. It never replaces the GTIN in your own data, because outside Amazon it identifies nothing.2

Not to be confused with

An ASIN is not a GTIN. Amazon creates the ASIN for its own catalogue, while the GTIN comes from the manufacturer and is the same in every shop.

Sources

  1. Amazon UK, Sell on Amazon. How to start selling on Amazon.
  2. Sell on Amazon. What are product IDs or GTINs?.
  3. Sell on Amazon. Understanding ASINs: Your guide to Amazon’s product identification system.

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