eBay Glossary

About Me page A page created by an eBay member that gives information about the eBay user to the community.  Useful for reassuring sellers as to your position as a reputable seller and building your brand on eBay.

Announcement Board Where eBay informs the community about changes to the site.  This can be found at https://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/newtoebay/news_announcements.html

Answer Centre A part of the eBay site where you can pose an eBay-related question and receive an answer fiom other eBayers.

Auction Style listing The basic, most common way to sell an item on eBay. This format lets sellers list an item for sale, collect bids for a fixed length of time, and sell the item to the highest bidder. For more information on buying formats

Auction with Buy It Now An auction with a Buy It Now option. The Buy It Now option disappears when the frrst bid is placed.

eBay Auction The traditional eBay selling format, where members bid against each other and the highes bidder wins the item.  It should be noted that unlike off line auctions which continue until the last bid is placed, eBay auctions have a hard close.  The paradigm whereby the winner pays an increment over the underbidder is known as a second price auction.

Best Offer An eBay feature allowing, a buyer can make you an offer lower than the item’s Buy it Now price. It’s up to the seller to decide whether to accept the offer or reject it.

Bid increments The steps by which bids increase.

BNIB – Brand new in box

BNWT – Brand new with tags 

Buy It Now (BIN) Items listed in the core eBay listings which can be purchased instantly at a fixed price without bidding.  Also called fixed price.

Category Listings
The set of categories by which items are organized on eBay, such as Antiques, Books, Computers, Sporting Goods, etc. Sellers can choose which category best fits an item to ensure maximum exposure for the listing

Channel Advisor A leading auction management software provider.  See www.channeladvisor.com

Community The collective term for all the members of eBay.

Community Boards Chat boards provided by eBay so that the members of the community can interact with one another and with eBay staff.

Core Listings.  The main eBay marketplace featuring auctions and fixed price items. 

Dutch auction A multiple item auction format.

eBay Checkout The  process through which  a buyer passes when purchasing an that enables them to pay  the seller and pass on their contact details.

eBay Express An eBay marketplace where consisting of only fixed price items from business sellers.

eBay My World A eBay page that aggregates a member’s eBay content such as reviews, guides and feedback in on place.

eBay Shop An ecommerce shop within eBay.  A seller’s eBay shop will show all their items on one webpage (e.g. https://stores.ebay.co.uk/auctioning4u) including core listing and shop inventory listings

Escrow An intermediary service where money and items are exchanged through a third party. The money and the goods aren’t released until both parties are satisfied.

Feedback Reviews left by eBay members about and for other members.  Feedback can be positive, negative or neutral

Feedback 2.0 A new system that aims to make feedback on  eBay more useful by providing more information about despatch times and description accuracy.

Final Value Fee (FVF) The commission that sellers pay to eBay fo  a successful sale, based on a percentage of the final price achieved. see here for eBay fees

Gallery A listing enhancement that allows buyers to see a thumbnail image of an item on the listings page.

Google Adwords.  Google’s advertising service that allows you to display adverts when specific searches are performed on the Google search engine

Google Adsense A service that enables you to incorporate Google Ads into your website and get a share of the revenue when someone clicks on an ad.

Guides  Where eBay members write and share their expertise on a topic or category.

Insertion fees  The fees for placing an item for sale on eBay.  Also called listing fees

Item Description The written description that a seller give an item.

Item Specifics Information about an item (such as size, brand or condition) that a seller can choose when listing an item that allows buyers to locate it using the Product Finder.

Item Title A 55 character title which given to each eBay item.  Searching the for keywords in this title is the main method for find eBay items.

Keyword spamming The practice of including irrelevant keywords in titles and listings to attract searchers.  This practise is banned by eBay.

Listing An advert on eBay.

Listing Designer Template A service offered by eBay on the Sell Your Item form that allows sellers to make their listings more attractive.  That is the theory anyway.

Listing Enhancement A paid-for option to make your listing more prominent in Listings pages or improve its presentation.

Listing Fees The fees for placing an item for sale on eBay.

Listings pages Pages where the items that match a buyer’s Search or Browse requirements are displayed.

Marketplace Research An advanced eBay service that provides information about the eBay marketplace and what people are buying and searching for.

Markdown Manager An eBay Shops function that allows sellers to reduce items and hold sales.

Member Profile A detailed record of a member’s feedback and ID history and history on eBay.

My eBay A personalised page on eBay which gives a snapshot of account information and allows members to perform common tasks

NARU Not A Registered User

Negative feedback An unfavourable review of another eBay member after a trade.  Adds -1 to your feedback score

Neutral feedback A neither favourable nor untavour,lblereview of another member.  Adds 0 to yoru feedback score but effects the feedback percentage.

Non Paying bidder Someone who bids on an item but doesn’t pay 

PayPal eBay’s perferred online payment method.  Unsurprisingly it is owned by eBay.  See www.paypal.co.uk for more details

Positive feedback A favourable review of an eBay member.  Adds +1 to the feedback score

Powerseller A seller recognised by eBay for making a significant number of sales and maintaining high standards of conduct.

Pre-filled Item Information A service for sellers that provides catalogue information and stock images if you enter a barcode or EAN. Only available in certain categories.

Product Finder The tool that a buyer uses on listings pages to sort items by item specifics assigned to them by sellers, such as brand, size and conditioll.

Proxy bidding eBay’s automatics bidding system thatbids on your behalf up to your maximum.

Pulse An information service that allows buyers and sellers to see what the most popular search terms are by category.

Reserve Price A price that can be added to a listing by the seller that means they can have a low Starting Price to encourage bidding but don’t have to sell unless the Reserve Price is met. The Reserve Price is not revealed to bidders.

Scheduled Listings The option to start a listing at a specified time and not just when the listing is created.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) The process of making your website attractive to search engines.

Second Chance Offer A service for sellers that allows you to offer items to underbidders at their highest bid.

Sell Your Item form (SIF) The oilline form where you enter informatio  about your item so that eBay can build your listing.

Seller Information Box A section on the View Item page that summarises a selling member’s details.

Selling Manager An free eBay auction management tool

Selling Manager Pro A more advanced eBay auction management tool

Store Inventory Format  A selling format that eBay Store sellers can use to list items in their Store for a fixed price. Store Inventory items do not appear in regular browse and search item lists on eBay. However, they have a lower Insertion Fee and longer listing durations.  This format is available only if the seller has an eBay Store.

Shill bidding When a seller bids up their own item to inflate  the price, prohibited on eRay.

Sniping Bidding in the final seconds of listing.

Spoof emails Emails Emails that aim to get eBayers to reveal their personal details which are then used fraudulently.

Starting Price The price bidding starts at on a listing.

Subtitle A listing enhancement that allows a seller to add a second line of detail to an Item Title.

Turbo Lister An oftline program that eBay provides to help  sellers create listings in bulk and upload them without using the Sell Your Item form.

Underbidder The buyer who made the bid below the winning bid, and so did not win.

View Item page An eBay listing or advert.

Watch List A buyer can add an item to their Watch List and the item will be stored in My eBay so it can be easily referenced.