Setting up listings on new online marketplaces can be confusing at the best of times, especially when unknown acronyms are thrown into the mix. To try and make life a little bit easier, we’ve put together this extensive list of acronyms used throughout eBay – including the products, listings and advertising.
eBay is a must-have for a successful e-commerce strategy, with over 189 million users worldwide and approximately 19 million Brits shopping on eBay each and every month! Its worldwide presence definitely makes it one of the top marketplaces that brands need to be on.
Acronyms / Terminology
Product Identifiers
EAN
European Article Number – standard barcode for products in Europe to help identify each individual product
GTIN
Global Trade Item Numbers – these are numbers exclusively used in barcodes and can be used to look up product information in a database
ISBN
Standard Book Number – this is the standard 13-digit product identifying number used by publishers, booksellers, libraries or internet retailers
MPN
Manufacturer Part Number – this is the identification number for a particular part of a product
PN
Part Number
SKU
Stock Keeping Units – vendors use SKUs for internal purposes for product identification and categorisation
UPC
Universal Product Code – the standard barcode for products in the United States
eBay Listings
These acronyms can be found on listings, front and backend, as well as when people are talking about eBay listings
BIN
Buy It Now – these listings are showcased with the ‘Buy it now’ icon and gives the buyers the opportunity to buy it straight away, bypassing the auction function of eBay. There are 4 types of BIN options on eBay, find out more here
DSR
Detailed Seller Rating – in addition to leaving a general rating on listings, buyers can leave detailed seller ratings 60 days after a transaction
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
FB
Feedback – eBays equivalent of product reviews
FVF
Final Value Fee – when an item sells on eBay, you pay 10% of the final transaction value, including taxes and postage, which is what eBay calls the Final Value Fee
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language – the longfrom version of this acronym doesn’t necessarily help you to understand what it means or does if you are not familiar with coding, however, it does appear on an eBay listing. This section allows a seller to add more information to their listings, with just plain text or using HTML, a coded template, to create a stylish piece of content
NARU
Not a Registered User – this is also known as a suspended user
P&P
Postage and packaging – tends to be followed by the price of shipping or after the word ‘free’!
eBay Advertising
ACoS
Advertising Cost of Sale – this figure is used to measure the success of advertising campaigns and shows the percentage of ad spend versus revenue from advertising
CPA
Cost Per Action – an advertising measurement of how much is costs per action taken on an advertisement
CPC
Cost Per Click – how much it costs for someone to click on your advertisement
DSP
Demand Side Platform – a digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad and data exchanges through one interface
eAAT
eBay Advanced Audience Technology – eBays cook-less, targeting advertising technology that allows for more data-driven results (find out more here)
PPC
Pay Per Click – also known as CPC, is a method that websites use to bill based on the number of times a visitor clicks on an advertisement
ROAS
Return on Advertising Spend – this metric allows advertisers to understand the amount of revenue earned from the advertising
ROI
Return on Investment – ROI = (net profit/cost of investment) x 100. This calculates the amount of profit compared to spend
Describing Products
These are acronyms widely used by individual sellers on eBay. Rarely used by brands or companies selling everyday products but still worth knowing if you want to become an eBay expert!
COA
Certificate of Authenticity – this is the documentation that certifies the genuineness of a product, mainly used for items such as autographs or paintings
DOA
Dead on Arrival – when an item arrived broken when it is received
EUC
Excellent Used Condition – an item on sale that has been used but in excellent condition
FC – Fine Condition
G
Good Condition – this seems more like a letter than an acronym but can be used to describe the condition of a listing as ‘Good’
GU – Gently Used
HTF, OOP
Hard to Find, Out of Print – this acronym stands out to collectors, showcasing items that are hard to come by on the market. Tend to be used for printed content such as books or magazines which are no longer available
LTD – Limited Edition
MIB
Mint in Box – the item is in mint condition in the original box
MIMB
Mint in Mint Box – the box and the item inside are in mint condition with the box never opened, as if it has just left the factory
MIP – Mint in Packaging
MNB – Mint No Box
MOC
Mint on Card – the product is mounted on its original display card with the original fastenings, all in mint condition
MOMC – Mint on Mint Card
MONMC – Mint on Near Mint Card
MWBT – Mint with Both Tags
MWMT – Mint with Mint Tags
NBW – Never Been Worn
NC – No Cover
NM – Near Mint Condition
NRFB
Never Removed from Box – this means the box has never been opened but it may not be in mint condition
NOS
New Old Stock – for products that are new but have been stocked for a long time or out of season
NR
No Reserve Price – eBay bidders are always on the lookout for a bargain therefore this acronym is high on their radar. A reserve price is made by the seller as a set price for the auction to begin at. If this price isn’t met, the item doesn’t sell. No reserve price means people can bid as much or as little as they wish
NWOB – New Without Box
NWT
New with Tags – this is mainly used for clothing and apparel showcasing items that are new with labels still attached from the manufacturer
NWOT
New Without Tags – similar to NWT but the opposite!
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer – for an item that is fully equipped, but is missing the original box, owner’s manual, or instructions
OOAK – One of a Kind!
SCR – Scratched
S/O – Sold Out
Sig – Signature
have we missed anything?
We hope this list helps you wrap your head around the terminology used on eBay. If there is anything that we have missed, please let us know on Twitter so we can make sure this list is as complete as possible!
If you need help setting up on eBay, let us know and we’ll help you to AMPlify your sales today!
