Every day, millions of people make purchases, but at the same time, a rare person turns their attention to the barcode, which has already become a familiar attribute of the product label. What information is encrypted in the digits of this code?
Instructions
Step 1
Pay attention to the first two or three digits of the barcode, they indicate the country of the product manufacturer. For example, if the product is manufactured in Russia, the first digits will be 460; if in Turkey - 869, in Ukraine - 482, etc. For detailed tables of codes and the respective country of origin, refer to the websites dedicated to this issue.
Step 2
Look at the next four or five digits of the barcode, they contain encrypted information about the manufacturer of the item. They are used by firms making wholesale purchases of the product.
Step 3
Consider the next five digits in the barcode. They provide information about the name of the product, its consumer properties, size, weight, color. This information is more needed for bulk purchases made by large firms than for a retail buyer.
Step 4
Pay attention to the last digit of the barcode. This is a check digit that is used to monitor that the scanner reads the strokes correctly. If after the check digit you see a ">" sign in the product encoding, it means that this product is manufactured under license.
Step 5
Determine the authenticity of the product. To do this, you need to check: whether the check digit specified in the code matches that obtained in the course of a certain calculation algorithm. Follow these steps:
1. Add numbers in even places in the barcode;
2. Multiply the resulting amount by 3;
3. Add the numbers in odd places without a check digit;
4. Add the numbers obtained in points 2 and 3;
5. Discard tens in the resulting number;
6. From 10, subtract the number that you got in step 5;
7. Compare the received number in paragraph 6 with the control number in the barcode - if they do not match, the product is fake.
Step 6
Use computer programs to check the validity of the barcode. With the help of them, you can also get information about the country from which the goods were imported. Such programs work online and are presented on various Internet sites dedicated to this problem.
