Transparency Codes for 3PLs and Prep Centers

By Todd Welch, founder of T-Code Manager. Published October 11, 2026.

If you apply Transparency codes for other brands, the job is to put the right brand's code on the right unit, use each code once and be able to prove it later. The codes belong to the brand. You're holding them for your client.

That's true whether you run a 3PL, a prep center or a factory that labels product for several brand customers.

Where your codes come from

The brand owner enrolls its products in Transparency and orders codes from Amazon. Your team gets those codes from the brand, usually in one of three ways:

Code files. The brand downloads codes from its Transparency account and sends you the files.
API access. The brand authorizes an API client so codes for its products can be pulled from Amazon as they're needed.
Pre-labeled units. The units show up already labeled, and your job is to keep them that way.

The options depend on the brand's Transparency account, so ask each client which method they use and who on their side can order more codes. When a client runs short, you're the one waiting.

What goes wrong in multi-client work

Mixing clients. Codes are issued to a brand for specific products. A code from one brand's batch on another brand's unit is a code on the wrong product, and that's the kind of mistake Transparency exists to catch.
Duplicates. Each code is for one unit. Two stations printing from the same file will put one code on two units.
Running out mid-job. A pallet is half labeled and the client's codes are gone.
No paper trail. A client asks which codes went on which shipment, and nobody can say.
One shared spreadsheet. Everyone can see every client's codes, and nothing stops a mistake.

What a good setup looks like

Each client's products and codes live in their own space.
A code is marked used the moment it's printed, not at the end of the day.
Stock is tracked per product, with an alert before it runs out.
Every print job is logged: who printed it, when, for which product and which shipment.
Clients can see their own code inventory without seeing anyone else's.

Manufacturers and suppliers

Factories and suppliers that label for several brands have the same problem at a different point in the chain. Codes go on during production or at pack-out, often across many SKUs per brand in one day. The same rules apply: keep brands apart, mark codes used at print time and keep a record each brand can trust.

How T-Code Manager handles multi-client work

The Warehouse / 3PL plan is built for this. It's $199 a month with unlimited ASINs and unlimited users.

Multi-client management. Each client gets its own products and code inventory, and your team switches between clients in the app.
Scan to print. Scan a product, enter a quantity and print 1" x 1", 1.25" x 2.25" Dymo or 2" x 1" labels. Codes are marked used when the label file is created.
Client share links. Give a brand a read-only view of its code inventory, with an optional password.
Client reports. See usage by client.
Alerts and history. Low-stock emails before a client runs out, plus a full history of every print job and every code dispensed.

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