What if the product details appear to match perfectly but the UPC is different in my Eye Spy or Scavenger Hunt Job?

This is actually a common occurrence, and this is why these jobs are a bit more challenging. Please do not assume it is the same product if the photo matches or if a store employee scans it and tells you that it is the same.

Sometimes multiple manufacturing companies will produce the same products, resulting in different UPC codes for the same item that may look identical.

The correct UPC code may also be on a rare, limited edition, or newer version of the item that hasn't yet reached most stores. The UPC could also be a regional variation that is only available at certain stores but not others. 

The manufacturer might have changed the packaging ever so slightly, removing one sentence or adding another, or they may have modified the packaging materials, resulting in a new UPC code for each change that was made.

For these kinds of reasons, we need to make sure the product matches the listed code exactly in order to pass along the data to our clients for them to issue payment to us and then for us to issue payment to you!

Additionally, if the UPC is the same on the shelf tag but different on the product, we are still unable to approve the job.

It is only a match if the UPC code matches what is printed on the product packaging!

A Real Life Case Study: 

A helpful example of this is seen in a kombucha product that two different agents found. 

One agent located this product in which the UPC code did not match the requested UPC code. However, another agent found the same kombucha item with the requested UPC code.

Requested UPC: 011110123701

The photo above is a match!

The UPC in the photo below is slightly off, but looks like the exact same product.

However, upon closer inspection, the correct bottle has an added sentence "For More Product Info..." and this small difference in the text on the bottle resulted in a new UPC code for this version of the label.

Sometimes these differences are not visually apparent, so this is why it is not beneficial to assume that the product is correct but the UPC is “wrong.”