First, thanks for taking the time to read this. I've spent an inordinate amount of time trying to google this issue.

Here's what I'm trying to do: use a physical 2D barcode scanner (not iPhone) as an input device for my MacBook Pro to scan shipping label barcodes into excel and another 3rd party program with a simple text entry field. The data I need to extract from the barcode is the "tracking number," ie. solely the data you would need to track the package the respective shipper's website.

I have purchased a couple of USB / Bluetooth scanners from Amazon that link to MacOS just fine, but when scanning the barcode, the information they output isn't the tracking number. When contacting tech support for these scanners, I've been told that different shippers have prefix or suffix characters in the barcodes and that I would need a very nice/expensive barcode scanner to "process" the information and output correctly. But they can't recommend a scanner that might be so capable.

The price really isn't an issue...I just need a way to scan barcodes from a variety of 3rd party shippers into a text field on MacOS and have the output match the "tracking number."

Any help you could lend would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to label scan my own packages how could I go about doing so?

So we take packages for UPS; usually customers have a full label on the box I can scan in. Sometimes, they just have a QR code. We’ve been sending people to the actual UPS Store with those. Is there anything we can do with it? If we print it and put it on the box, can we take it? When I scanned one with my phone camera it just showed an address, so I would think if it’s on the box we ought to be able to take it but I don’t want to unless I know for sure.

Is there such thing as a a bar code scanner policy for UPS drivers that need to scan the bar code? So I was trying to drop off an Apple trade in package at UPS at the Waipio branch and they couldn’t scan the barcode on the label, then Apple support told me to try a different UPS branch and eventually I went to the Pearl Harbor Navy base branch, and the same thing happened but this time the lady typed in something from the label and accepted the package. I called the Waipio branch to tell them what happened but they said that “it was policy for the drivers to be able to scan the barcode.” Does that policy really exist? If the drivers can’t scan the barcode why don’t they punch in the numbers instead?