Questions and answers

A system that gives every exclusive garment, accessory and pair of shoes its own ID code, and records its journey from the factory, to a store, to the person who bought it. Anyone can check a code to see whether the item is genuine.

It starts with PIC and has five groups, for example PIC-7K2M-Q9XD-4HTA-WR3P-B. The last character is a check character, so a typing mistake is caught straight away. The code is printed on the tag next to a QR code that opens the verify page.

No. Anyone can check a code on the verify page, or by scanning the QR code on the tag. Accounts are for brands and their stores.

Exclusive clothing, accessories and footwear, items where a buyer wants to be sure the product is real and where a brand wants to protect its name.

A QR code can be photographed, so ProdID-Check does not rely on the code alone. It also shows the item’s status. If a new item shows as already sold, or as held by a different store from the one you are standing in, treat it as a warning and ask the store or the brand.

It confirms that the code is in our records and was registered by the brand shown. It is information, not a guarantee, so always check that the code on the tag, the product and the brand all match.

Check for typing mistakes first, especially similar letters and numbers. If the code is correct and still not recognised, treat the item with caution and ask the brand or the store you bought it from.

The brand, a store or the owner has reported the item. A reported item is frozen: it cannot be sold or transferred, and the page shows a warning. Do not buy it, and contact the brand.

A private code, given at the till and printed on your receipt. It is shown once and proves you are the owner. You need it to sell the item on, or to report it stolen. Keep it safe. If you lose it, the store that sold the item can issue a new one.

Open the verify page, check the code, open the ownership transfer section, and enter the handover code with the new owner’s name. Ownership passes to them. Your old code stops working and they get a fresh one.

Use the report section on the verify page with your handover code. The item is frozen at once, so nobody can sell it or take over its ownership, and anyone checking the code sees the warning. Only the brand can lift a report made by a brand or store; you can lift your own.

After five wrong attempts on one item, the item is locked and flagged, so nobody can move it. This protects the owner against guessing. Ask the store that sold it, or the brand, to reset it. They will give you a new handover code.

The buyer chooses at the time of sale. Their name is shown on the product’s public page either in full or masked, such as J*** H***. Contact details are never shown. The brand and the store that sold the item can see what was recorded at the sale.

Brands pay a once-off onboarding fee of R150 and then R150 a month on the Starter plan, which covers up to 500 new items a month. Bigger brands pay R350 once-off and R350 a month for up to 5,000 new items a month. Pay for a year up front and the onboarding fee is waived on both plans. Shoppers and owners never pay to check an item. Prices are in rand and Hintsa Unlimited is not registered for VAT.

Contact us. We verify the brand, set up its account, and help it get started. Brands are onboarded by us, so no one can sign up as someone else’s brand.

You register each item on the Register tab, which creates its ID code and QR code. You then print a label from the same page, in a standard size, an inner-tag size or your own size, or download it as a PNG or PDF to open in your label printer’s own software. If your printer can’t print QR codes, tick “Code only (no QR)” to print just the ID code, for a box sticker or a sheet of paper.

Yes. The Website tab gives you a badge, in a light and a dark version, ready to paste into your site. Shoppers who click it land on the verify page with your brand name at the top.

Yes. Create an integration key on the Integrations tab and your developer can connect your systems, so scans update the records with nobody retyping.

You add each store to your account. You dispatch items to it, and the store scans them in. From then on the record shows which store holds each item.

It is frozen everywhere, and you see it on your Reports tab. Only you can clear a report made by a store or by you, so a stolen item can’t slip through.

Yes. Admins add team members with their own roles on the Team tab. Admins can reset a teammate’s forgotten password.

Open Dispatch and use the Scan station. Choose the store, then scan each item with a USB or Bluetooth scanner. When the box is done, send them all in one go. Each item moves to that store’s record.

Yes. The app opens on a Check a product screen. Type the code or tap the camera button to scan it. You don’t need to sign in. Brands and stores sign in to do their work.

Open Receive, or the Scan station, and scan the tag. The item moves into the store’s stock. A store can only receive items the brand dispatched to it.

A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner works with the Scan station, with nothing to install. You can also use the Android app, or a phone camera on supported browsers.

Yes, on a Windows till computer. Install the till helper. When a tag is scanned with the USB scanner, ProdID-Check opens on the sale form for that tag. Stores with a developer can instead connect their till system with an integration key.

Scan the tag, enter the buyer’s name and, if they wish, a phone number or email. The buyer must agree to their name being recorded. The system then gives you the handover code to print on the receipt.

Yes. On the Customers tab, search by the name recorded at the sale. You can see their purchase, check their ID, and report the item from the Reports tab if it was stolen.

A store admin can reset a teammate’s password on the Team tab, and the brand’s admin can reset a store admin’s. The person gets a temporary password to replace at their next sign-in. If an admin is locked out and no one else can reset it, contact us.

Account details for brand and store staff, product records, and buyer or owner names with optional contact details recorded at a sale or transfer. Our Privacy policy has the full list.

No. We do not sell it or use it for advertising.

Passwords and integration keys are stored only in scrambled form, sign-in sessions expire, access is limited by role, and buyers decide whether the public sees their full name or a masked one.

Open the check page and press “Report it”. Choose what is wrong, add a photo and, if you like, your location, and send it. It goes to the brand. You don’t need an account and we don’t ask for your name.

Email info@prodidcheck.co.za. Under POPIA you may ask to see, correct or delete your personal information, and we will respond.