eBay ‘Lingo’ – What are they?

Sometimes, you may not understand what eBayers are talking about. It is due to the fact that several terminologies used are hard to understand and not everyone is expected to be familiar with them, unless someone tells you their meanings. The following are commonly used jargons. There is no need for memorization since most of them are hardly ever used.

Words

Bid – The highest price for a certain item that you are willing to pay is shown.
Dutch – 2 or more similar items are available in an auction.
Feedback – Good or bad comments given by other eBayers.
Mint – In great condition.
Non-paying bidder – Someone who bid and won in the auction, but did not purchase the item.
PayPal – An electronic way of making payments which is accepted by many sellers.
Rare – Utilized and neglected on eBay, thus turned out to be completely worthless.
Reserve – A minimal cost of a certain item that is acceptable to the seller.
Shill bid – A false bid made by an eBay seller in the goal of raising his/her auction’s worth.
Snail Mail – A post that is really slow when compared to electronic mail.
Sniping – A last-minute bidding to make sure that no one outbids you.

Abbreviations

AUD – Australian currency known as Australian Dollar.
BIN – Stands for Buy It Now. An auction that has a fixed price.
BNWT – Stands for Brand New With Tags. A product with a tag still attached and was never used.
BW – Stands for Black and White and are utilized for pictures, films and more.
CONUS – Stands for Continental United States. Sellers use this in case they do not wish to send anything to Hawaii or Alaska.
EUR – A currency known as Euro.
FC – A kind of postage considered to be First-class.
GBP – A currency known as Great British Pounds.
HTF – Stands for Hard to Find. Not really as neglected as the ‘rare’ one, but is nearly going there.
NIB – Stands for New in Box. A product which was never opened in its box.
NR – Stands for No Reserve. A product without a reserve price that sellers can set.
OB – Stands for Original Box. A product which was or was not opened, but still has the original box.
PM – Stands for Priority Mail.
PP – Stands for Parcel Post.
SH – Stands for Shipping and Handling. Postage fees that a buyer must pay.
USD – A currency known as United States Dollars.
VGC – Stands for Very Good Condition and is considered to be almost ‘mint’.

There are a lot more eBay jargons, but it cannot be covered here anymore. In case you encountered a strange lingo, type the word in the search engine and put ‘eBay’ next to it. You may be able to see that somebody has made an effort to explain that particular word in detail.

It is better if you can understand someone else’s jargon, but refrain from making use of it unless it is necessary, like not enough space in the product’s title. Most shoppers are not veteran eBayers and they might back off if you put tons of strange terminologies in your auction.