Dear MCGCS,
Thanks for your reply, so I went out shortly after your message and picked up a USB bar code scanner, not sure what to expect and it worked a treat. Initially I thought I would have to print off all my own barcode labels and in fact found a web site where you could do this for free, however i soon realized that if I open the 'add items' in my express accounts and while the cursor is highlighting the 'item code' and I then scan an existing bar code from a product, that this can be used as the item code and I can then name the item what I want to.
Thanks again.