EAN (International Article Number)

An EAN, which originally stood for European Article Number, but has since been changed to International Article Number (because of its wide acceptance across countries), is a numerical identifier that is integrated into a barcode. It is a thirteen-digit code and is a larger scope procedure of the more familiar UPC system used in the United States and other countries.

An EAN number is given to retail products and can be found either on the outer packaging of a product or the back cover of a book. As with the UPC code, the EAN number is the entire number that appears below the barcode of an item including the number to the farthest left of the bars. Sellers can learn more about obtaining a unique identifier by reading the page Adding UPCs, EANs and ISBNs for Your Products.