Glossary
eBay selling, in plain English.
The terms you meet in Seller Hub, fee statements and eBay’s policies, explained in a sentence or two.
A
- ACOSadvertising cost of sale
- Ad fees divided by the sales the ads are credited with, as a percentage. Lower means each pound of sales cost less in advertising.Promoted Listings fees
B
- Below Standard
- eBay’s lowest seller level, given when a seller’s defect, case or late-shipment measures cross eBay’s thresholds. It brings higher final value fees and less prominent listings.eBay seller standards
- Business policies
- Reusable payment, postage and returns settings you apply to many listings at once, instead of setting them listing by listing.
- Buy It Nowfixed price
- A listing with a set price that buyers can pay straight away, rather than bidding in an auction.
C
- CaseMoney Back Guarantee case
- When a buyer asks eBay to step in on a return or an item-not-received request the seller hasn’t resolved. A case closed without the seller resolving it counts against seller standards.Orders, returns & cases
- Cost per clickpriority campaign
- A Promoted Listings campaign type where you pay for each click on your ad, within a daily budget, whether or not the buyer goes on to buy.Advertising
- Cost per salegeneral campaign
- A Promoted Listings campaign type where you pay your chosen ad rate only when a buyer clicks the ad and then buys the item within eBay’s attribution window.Promoted Listings fees
D
- Defect ratetransaction defect rate
- The share of a seller’s transactions with a defect, such as an order cancelled for being out of stock or a case closed without seller resolution, over eBay’s evaluation period.eBay seller standards
- Dropshipping
- Selling an item that a supplier ships straight to your buyer. eBay allows it from wholesale suppliers, but not buying from another retailer or marketplace to ship to your buyer.Dropshipping on eBay
E
- ePIDeBay product ID
- The identifier of a product in eBay’s catalogue. Matching a listing to the right ePID fills in its details and groups it with other sellers of the same product.Listings
F
- Final value fee
- The percentage eBay charges on the total amount of a sale, including postage, when an item sells. The rate depends on the category, the seller type and any shop subscription, and a per-order fee is added.Fee and profit calculator
G
- GTINbarcode, EAN, UPC, ISBN
- The global trade item number printed as a product’s barcode. eBay uses it to identify products and match listings to its catalogue.
H
- Handling timedispatch time
- The number of working days you promise to dispatch an order in after the buyer pays. Missing it counts towards late shipments.
I
- Item not receivedINR
- A request a buyer opens when an order hasn’t arrived. Left unresolved, it can become a case.Orders, returns & cases
- Item specifics
- Structured details for a listing, such as brand, size, colour and material, chosen from the values eBay allows in each category. Buyers filter searches by them.Listings
L
- Late shipment rate
- The share of orders dispatched or delivered after the time the seller promised. It’s one of eBay’s seller standards measures.eBay seller standards
M
- MPNmanufacturer part number
- The number a manufacturer gives a product. With the brand, it identifies a product that has no barcode.
N
- Not as describedSNAD, INAD
- A return reason for an item that differs from its listing: wrong size, different colour, damaged or missing parts. It’s treated as the seller’s responsibility.
P
- Payout
- A transfer of your eBay earnings to your bank account, after fees and any refunds have been taken off.Profit & profit plan
- Promoted Listings
- eBay’s advertising programme, which shows your listings in more prominent places in exchange for an ad fee, charged per sale or per click depending on the campaign.Advertising
R
- Repricer
- A tool that changes your prices automatically in response to other sellers of the same product, within limits you set.Repricer
- ROASreturn on ad spend
- Sales credited to ads divided by what the ads cost. A ROAS of 10 means every £1 of ad fees came with £10 of sales.Promoted Listings fees
S
- Seller Hub
- eBay’s own dashboard for sellers, where orders, listings, performance and marketing tools live.
T
- Top Rated Seller
- eBay’s highest seller level, for sellers with low defect and late-shipment rates and enough sales. It can bring fee discounts and more prominent listings, depending on the site.eBay seller standards
V
- VeROVerified Rights Owner programme
- eBay’s programme that lets brands and other rights owners report listings that infringe their trade marks, copyrights or designs. Reported listings are removed.Avoiding takedowns
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