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Amazon Standard Identification Number

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"ASIN" redirects here. For other uses, see ASIN (disambiguation).

An Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is a 10-character alphanumeric unique identifier assigned by Amazon.com and its partners for product identification within the Amazon organization.[1] They were originated in 1996 by Rebecca Allen, an Amazon software engineer, when it became clear that Amazon was going to sell products other than books. The 10-character format of the ASIN was adopted so that Amazon databases and software, which were designed to expect a 10-character ISBN field, would not have to be changed to accommodate the new identification format.[2]


Usage and structure

Each product sold on Amazon.com is given a unique ASIN. For books with a 10-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN), the ASIN and the ISBN are the same.[3] The Kindle edition of a book will not use its ISBN as the ASIN, although the electronic version of a book may have its own ISBN. The ASIN forms part of the URL of a product detail page on Amazon's website.[4]

If one knows the ASIN of any product on Amazon, one can access its Amazon page easily by appending it (adding it to the very end) of the following URL:

http://amzn.com/[ASIN]

Note that the above is not a valid URL; a correct ASIN must be inserted at the location of the [ASIN] placeholder.

References

  1. ^ "Amazon.ca Help: Product Identifiers". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  2. ^ Allen, Rebecca. "The Story behind ASINs". Invent Like an Owner. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  3. ^ "FAQ: ISBN-13 for Amazon Associates". Affiliate-Program.Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Find a Product's ASIN - Amazon Hacks [Book]". www.oreilly.com. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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