Amazon Standard Identification Number
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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]
Usage and structure
ASINs were once unique worldwide, but global marketing has changed so that ASINs are only guaranteed unique within particular marketplaces. Accordingly, the same product may have several ASINs, and different national sites may use a different ASIN for the same product. In general, ASINs are unlikely to be different between the country sites, especially if they are for a class of product where the ASIN is based on an externally defined and internationally consistent identifier, such as ISBN for books.
Each product sold on Amazon.com is given a unique ASIN. For books with 10-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN), the ASIN and the ISBN are the same.[2] 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. In most cases, it is possible to convert an ASIN to obtain a corresponding EAN code, also known as an International Article Number.[3]
ASINs are also used for other items available from Amazon.com (and subsidiaries), such as businesses in the yellow pages (on A9.com) and OpenSearch feeds.
References
- ^ "Amazon.ca Help: Product Identifiers". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "FAQ: ISBN-13 for Amazon Associates". Affiliate-Program.Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "ASIN to EAN converter". erwinmayer.com.