What you can get after scanning a QR code on a product

A QR code on a product usually leads to one of five things: product information, a warranty or purchase registration, an authenticity check, a loyalty reward, or a digital collectible. The label next to the code gives you a strong hint, and the page you land on tells you for sure.

Same squares, very different destinations

A QR code is only a way of printing a link. Everything you see after the scan is served by the brand's website or one of its services. That's why the code on a tin of paint and the code on a bag of chips look identical but lead somewhere completely different. If you're curious about the mechanics, see how QR codes on products work. This article is about what's waiting on the other side.

1. Product information

The most common case. Brands use the page for everything that didn't fit on the label:

• detailed instructions or an assembly video;
• ingredients, allergens and storage tips;
• recipes and serving ideas (think of a pasta maker suggesting tonight's dinner);
• certificates, origin details and safety documents.

These codes are usually static: one link printed on every package. Scan them as often as you like; nothing gets "used up."

2. Warranty and purchase registration

Electronics and tool makers often let you register your purchase through a QR code. You enter the date and the store, and the brand keeps the record for service or reminders. Some codes open a support form with the model number already filled in.

One thing to watch: registration usually asks for contact details. Only enter them on a site whose address you recognize as the brand's.

3. Product authentication

For products that are often counterfeited, the code may lead to a verification page. These are almost always unique codes, one per package. The server checks its records and tells you whether the code exists and whether it has already been checked many times from different places.

If a verification page says the code was used before, but you bought the item sealed, raise it with the seller or the brand.

4. Loyalty rewards and promotions

A code can be part of a QR loyalty program or a campaign:

• collect points for a purchase;
• unlock a discount on your next order;
• enter a prize draw or complete a set;
• open bonus content, such as a game level or an exclusive recipe.

These can be shared or unique codes. When a reward is meant to be claimed once per package, the code is unique and won't work a second time.

5. A digital collectible

Here the code doesn't give you points or a coupon but a digital item that lives in your personal collection. Each one has its own attributes, and collecting them scratches the same itch as trading cards or figurines, except the collection is kept in your account on a website. How this bridges a physical product and an online collection is explained in connecting physical products to digital collections.

How to tell what kind of code it is

A few clues help before and right after you scan:

Being asked to sign in or sign up is normal for rewards and collectibles, since the result has to belong to someone. Being asked for your card number or your email password is not. Stop there and read our guide to QR code safety.

How Crypto Sticker does it

The Cryptoscope QR code on partner products is the fifth type: it leads to a collectible sticker. The code is unique and works once:

1. Scan it and check that the link goes to cryptosticker.org.
2. Sign in or create an account.
3. The sticker lands in your personal collection.

Every sticker has a unique serial number, a series (Genesis, Next or Evolution), a faction (Solars or Hearts) and a level. Each one also has a public passport page in the registry showing its number, attributes, status and history. Two stickers of the same series and the same level, one Solars and one Hearts, owned by the same person, form a pair, and that pair moves up to the next level; the rules are on the levels page. You can keep a sticker or pass it on to another member through gifts.

The rule that applies to every one-time code applies here too: don't photograph or post the code until you've activated it yourself. Whoever scans first gets the sticker. After activation, the link stops working.

If nothing happens after the scan

• "This code has already been used." For a one-time code, someone activated it. If it wasn't you, contact the seller.
• The page won't load. Check your connection and try again later.
• It opens an unfamiliar site. Don't enter anything. Someone may have stuck a different code over the original.
• It asks you to install an app from an unknown source. Decline, and look for the brand's official app in your phone's app store instead.

The short version

Behind a product QR code you may find a manual, a registration form, an authenticity check, a reward or a collectible. The label beside the code and the address in your camera preview almost always tell you which. Shared codes can be scanned any number of times; unique, one-time codes are best activated right away and kept private until you do.