What Is【Amazon ASIN Number】And How To Get One? 🤔

So you’ve decided to set up an online eCommerce store, that’s fantastic. But as you’re learning how to set things up, the term ‘Amazon ASIN number’ keeps popping up everywhere. What are ASIN numbers? How do you get these ASIN numbers? These are all the questions we’re going to be answering today and much more. 

what is amazon asin

Let’s start with our foundation first. 

What is an Amazon ASIN Number? 

ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number and is a unique set of 10 digit numbers assigned to every Amazon item. Think of it as a name for an item in a catalog full of millions, if not billions of items. 

An ASIN is automatically generated when you upload a new item to your Amazon store. For books, the ASIN is the same as their ISBN, as each book has a unique one. As for other products, you’ll need to either create a new ASIN or use an existing one. We’ll elaborate on this later. 

Now keep in mind that these Amazon ASINs are only limited to that particular marketplace. Other national Amazon sites may provide a different number for the same product, so don’t get confused by that. 

Also, side note, if you don’t use your Amazon ASINs correctly, chances are you’ll be violating Amazon’s terms and conditions, which may even cause you to lose your rights of selling on the platform. Amazon ASINs are critical to the smooth operation of the eCommerce giant, so it makes sense why they have strict rules on this.

amazon policy for duplicate asin number

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the importance of ASINs!

Why are Amazon ASIN numbers so important?

ASINs are not just random string of numbers that is assigned to your product. They have many uses and are so crucial that you could lose the right to sell on Amazon if you misuse them. 

What do we mean when we say misusing ASINs? Well, if you try to upload a product that already exists in your store, Amazon could penalize you for this and can take away your rights temporarily or permanently. 

To ensure you’re not creating duplicate products in your eCommerce store, all you need to do is upload the ASINs of all your products in bulk and run them through your database. 

You can also use third-party tools to make this task easier. However, before investing in any Amazon ASIN tools, do check if you need one at all. Ask yourself, how often do I upload new products? How many products do I have in total? If you can remember which products have already been uploaded and can easily manage them, then you don’t need a tool at all.

Amazon ASINs are one of the main reasons search results on Amazon are always relevant. You can even search for a product by typing in its ASIN, and the results will return the exact thing you’re looking for. 

searching products with amazon asin

Now that you’re familiar with Amazon ASINs and their importance let’s see how you can acquire them.

How to get Amazon ASIN numbers?

You don’t always need to create an ASIN for every product you add to your store. 

There are two types of products you’ll be adding to your shop, some will be unique to your brand, and the others will already be items that your competitors sell. 

So if another seller already has the exact product you want to sell, you won’t need to generate a new ASIN. You can simply use the other seller’s ASIN number and use it for your product. 

However, if you have a new product in the market that nobody is already selling, you will need to generate a unique code while adding it to your store.

For now, let’s see where you can find existing Amazon ASIN numbers! 

How to find Amazon ASINs?

Let’s see how, or rather, where you can look for the correct Amazon ASIN of a product. 

where to find amazon asin
  1. The URL of the Amazon product listing.
  2. The product details of the product listing.
  3. Specific ASIN lookup tools.

These are pretty clear places to look for your desired ASIN numbers, and they’re even labeled, so identifying them shouldn’t be a problem.

How to create unique Amazon ASINs: 4 Methods!

If you’re adding an item that is completely new to Amazon, then you need to create a new ASIN for it. Since we already know that Amazon takes its ASINs very seriously, be absolutely sure that your product is 100% unique on Amazon before creating an ASIN or you could be fined for it.

Once you’ve done your research and are sure your product doesn’t exist on Amazon, it’s now time to create an ASIN with GTINs.

GTIN is short for Global Trade Item Number. If you’re outsourcing from a brand or manufacturer, you need to ask them to provide you with one. If you’re the original creator of the product, then you need to register it with GS1 US for UPCs or USD ISBN agency for ISBNs (for US sellers).

There are 4 ways you can create Amazon ASIN:

4 ways to create amazon asin

Once you have the GTIN, you can simply go to Amazon’s ‘add a product’ tool and fill in all the relevant information. Once your product listing is set up and approved, you can then start selling your product!

Benefit of creating a new Amazon ASIN

Amazon is a highly competitive marketplace with hundreds of thousands of sellers from all over the world. You’ll find that a single product is being sold by many sellers which means there is tough competition and an unofficial race of who gets to convert their target audience first, right?

However, creating a new ASIN means that a product doesn’t exist on Amazon, that’s why you had to create one in the first place! Since you’ll be the ONLY vendor selling the product, you will virtually have zero competition. At least on Amazon. You’ll be the only vendor available to your target audience, which means you’ll be getting a tonne of sales!

Amazon ASIN creation limit

Unfortunately, there is a limit to how many new ASINs you can create in a week. This limit is set by Amazon and is different for every seller. It mostly depends on your sales history, how often you add a product to your shop, and your overall performance in general.

amazon creation limit

So if you’re a new Amazon seller, you need to prioritize which products you want to put on sale first. Create product listings that you know will perform well to give you a good headstart. Since the ASIN creation limit is different for every seller, we can’t tell you the exact number that you will be allowed. So choose your products wisely.

In the meantime, you can keep your other products ready to go. For example, create a good Amazon SEO-driven headline, descriptions, etc. You can read all about how to optimize your Amazon product listings here.

Wrapping it up

Having an Amazon ASIN number and a correct one at that is critical to your success as a vendor on Amazon. Use it right, and they help you get your products in front of customers. But if you don’t, then you might have to face some consequences, so be careful! They also play a part in optimizing Amazon’s search results. 

We hope this article gives you a clear understanding of what Amazon ASIN numbers are and where you can get them.

Best of luck with starting your eCommerce business on Amazon!

Suggested read: 5 Tips to be a Profitable Amazon Individual Seller 

Frequently Asked Questions

ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number and is a unique set of 10 digit numbers assigned to every Amazon item.
Amazon ASINs are used by the ecommerce giant to diffrentiate between different prouducts it has in the database. ASINs are always unique to the product and is a must-have for any product listing. Wrong use of ASINs could cause the seller to be penalized by Amazon.
You can get the Amazon ASIN for a product in:
  • The URL of the Amazon product listing.
  • The product details of the product listing.
  • Specific ASIN lookup tools.