UCC Renewal Fee?

Uniform Code Council Renewal Fee - New Policy

[jbinbpt]

Have I been asleep and missed something? Did the UCC announce they were going to collect $150.00 or more from every business or are they just sending out bills?

[mivox]

The UCC (thanks to a quick web search) is a group that deals with UPC product scanning codes? Why do you need a membership? Are you required to be a member to get UPC codes for products or something?

[jbinbpt]

Yes... You apply for an ID number. They want A fee to maintain your number.

<snip>

[edited by: Woz at 12:19 am (utc) on Jan. 8, 2003]
[edit reason] per TOS#10 [/edit]

[Woz]

I would say that this is an issue you would have to take up with the people in question.

That being said, they days of the "Totally Free Internet" are way over as people realise that maintaining a website incurrs costs just the same as any other business activity. So I am not surprised by the fees you mention. The question is whether the benifit derived by membership outweighs any costs involved, an answer only you can supply.

Onya
Woz

[mivox]

UPC codes (bar codes) are pretty much required to sell a product in any major retail outlet in the US... so it's not really a "free internet" issue.

I gotta say though, I'd expect a prettier website from such an influential organization... heheheh.

[jbinbpt]

I have no objection to a yearly fee to maintain my number. It just took me by surprise, I guess I expected more people to be surprised about it.
I don't know what the membership numbers of the UCC are. It will be a very good year for them if they collect $150 from everyone.

[mivox]

Well, I know a lot of people around WebmasterWorld make their living selling other people's products, so it may not apply to very many of our members...

I had to go do some research to even figure out what you were talking about, because I'd never heard of them. ;)

[Woz]

>not really a "free internet" issue

True, although the point I was making is the now dated misconception that everything on the net is free, even when it is not free offline.

Still, perhaps this is more an issue of forwarning members when there is a financial change to a site, which is something we can all be aware of as online marketeers.

Onya
Woz