Do I need a company prefix or is it enough to buy a GTIN number?

I am going to sell only one product. I already bought a GTIN for $30 on GS1. Then I tried making a barcode on the GS1 site and it asked for my company prefix, which is $250. Expensive!

On the homepage they make it seem like as a small biz you don’t need a company prefix.

Can I just make bar codes with the 12 digit GTIN and not create a company prefix?

Thanks for your help!!