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Start
An eBay Business
eBay
Glossary: Learn The “Lingo”
by Jeff Cohen
Do you have trouble sometimes understanding
when people talk about eBay? Don’t worry, some of the jargon
is really obscure, and you can’t be expected to understand
it until someone’s told you what it means. Here’s a little
list of some of the most useful lingo to know, but you don’t
need to memorise it – even the most common jargon is only used
relatively rarely.
Words
Bid: telling eBay’s system the maximum price you are prepared
to pay for an item.
Dutch: an auction where more than one of an item is available.
Feedback: positive or negative comments left about other users
on eBay.
Mint: in perfect condition.
Non-paying bidder: a bidder who wins an auction but does not
then go on to buy the item.
PayPal: an electronic payment method accepted by most sellers.
Rare: used and abused on eBay, now entirely meaningless.
Reserve: the minimum price the seller will accept for the item.
Shill bid: a fake bid placed by a seller trying to drive up
their auction’s price.
Snail Mail: the post, which is obviously very slow compared
to email.
Sniping: bidding at the last second to win the item before
anyone else can outbid you.
Abbreviations
AUD: Australian Dollar. Currency.
BIN: Buy it Now. A fixed price auction.
BNWT: Brand New With Tags. An item that has never been used
and still has its original tags.
BW: Black and White. Used for films, photos etc.
CONUS: Continental United States. Generally used by sellers
who don’t want to post things to Alaska or Hawaii.
EUR: Euro. Currency.
FC: First Class. Type of postage.
GBP: Great British Pounds. Currency.
HTF: Hard To Find. Not quite as abused as ‘rare’, but getting
there.
NIB: New in Box. Never opened, still in its original box.
NR: No Reserve. An item where the seller has not set a reserve
price.
OB: Original Box. An item that has its original box (but might
have been opened).
PM: Priority Mail.
PP: Parcel Post.
SH: Shipping and Handling. The fees the buyer will pay you
for postage.
USD: United States Dollars. Currency.
VGC: Very Good Condition. Not mint, but close.
The chances are that you’ll find more specific jargon related
to whatever you’re selling, but it’d be an impossible task
to cover it all here. If you can’t figure one out from your
knowledge of the subject, then type the term into a search
engine, followed by the word ‘ebay’. The chances are that someone,
somewhere will have seen fit to explain it.
While it’s good to be able to understand others’ jargon, avoid
using it unless you really need to (for example, if you run
out of space in an item’s title). Many people on eBay are not
experienced buyers and you will lose them if you write a load
of gobbledegook all over your auction.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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