Yeah that's the problem. I'm going to ask them again but I send them an example like the picture here and they gave me that.thats sounds like a bar code not the consoles serial number
Did you ever find an answer to this? I have one that came with 8.1J, but I'm not sure if they made another batch or something with a higher firmware. It's risky, as I can't send it back if it's too high..
I'm still trying to settle this since I really want a Japanese New 3DS rather than an American one.