Create and use barcodes without setting up inventory

[djdaizee]

I have a small online business and I sell items via live sales to regular customers. I do 3 to 5 shows a week and have 20+ regulars and a few new folks each week as my business is growing. 

I move small ticket items ($4 and under) very quickly so setting up the inventory feature really doesn’t make sense to me. I want to make barcodes for my various price points. $1, $2, $2.50, $3 etc and scan them directly into my customers invoice during the live show so I don’t have to spend an entire day tallying up their weekly bins. 

Is this possible? Is there an add in or app that I can use? Thanks in advance for your input!

[Candlestore · Accepted solution]

@djdaizee ;

Do you need to keep track of the items for your inventory?  If not you could make barcodes based on Price.

I have a few barcodes like that.  

Item is 'Price as Marked' I do not enter a Stock Quantity for these items.

Variations of $1.... $2  etc.  I give the variations a SKU of 1.00, 2.00, 5.99 etc  Do not use a $ sign in the SKU because Square will read "$" as "4".  Square does not read characters that need a SHIFT to type it in or capital letters.

Then to print out barcodes you can use a free barcode generator or use a spreadsheet like Excel, Google Sheets etc and change the Font to a barcode or QR font and a Square Ipad can read these barcodes you created.

The only thing you need to test before making a bunch of them is the size and spacing for the barcode you create.  If you use the online barcode creators and they generate a picture, and you resize the picture it can effect barcode readability.  If you choose a spreadsheet based font and make it too small or stretch the barcode the spacing also changes and can make them unreadable by a scanner.  So print one and test it!   

Use barcode fonts 39, 128 or even QR..... those I know work but you can try other types if your barcode reader works with Square AND can read other barcodes.  I use the Aztec 2D barcode so my barcodes can be all about the same size, from 3/8" to 5/16" Square on my labels or up to 1" square on my Cases of an item.  My scanner reads Aztec code but the Ipad in Square Stand does not read the Aztec code but does read Codes 39 and 128 along with QR codes.

Here is a link to the differences in barcodes including how many characters they can have.

comprehensive-guide-to-1d-and-2d-barcodes/ 

Square Limits SKU to 40 Characters and QuickBooks limits a SKU to 30 characters if I remember correctly.

Depending on how your scanning the items you could make a print out of your Barcodes with a text under it of the items and just scan the print out and not each item.

Below is what I have by my register for some items that did not have barcodes or they fell off to help speed up lines at Christmas.

When you scan the $2.99 barcode it actual reads "2.99"  

You could do this with different Pricing bottom row actuall has my one Priced item at $2.99

[djdaizee]

YES! This is exactly what I want to do! Thank you soooo much!

[djdaizee]

What kind of barcode scanner do I need that will plug into Square?

[Candlestore]

@djdaizee ;

I use Zebra 2D barcode scanners, with the Square stand  1 is a usb corded model and the other is usb to a base then wireless from handset to the base.

this is the wireless one from the base to handset:

Zebra--DS6878-SR 

this is the one I use in white to match the Square Stand:

Zebra-DS2208-SR 

You can use either a Bluetooth or a usb scanner depending on what device you are using.

Here is what Square recommends for compatibility:

hardware-compatibility-by-device