Glossary of Auction and Related Terms

Here you will find definitions for all of the jargon used on eBay and other Online auction sites. If you can’t find a word or definition your looking for, or if you know of a word I left out please send me an email and let me know. Begin ebay Glossary:

Anything Points - Ebay bonus points that can be used to pay for items or seller fees. Each point is worth $0.01.

Auction - A sale of property, in which the item goes to the highest bidder.

Auction Format - The type of auction it is: Standard auction, Fixed price, or Ad format.

Auction Listing - Is the page you view when looking at the item online.

Auction Sniper - A person who uses a program to place bids at the last second just before the auction ends in hopes of getting the item for a ultra low price. See Auction Sniping

Backend Selling - When you include sales material with your items that you ship out to winning bidders, in hopes that they will buy what your advertising. Think about your credit card bills for a good example.

Bid Cancellation - This is when the seller cancels a buyers bid on their item.

Bidpay - Now known as Western Union Auction Payments is a company that allows buyers to buy a money order online and have it sent to the seller.

Bid Retraction - When a buyer bids on an item and then asks for ebay to remove his/her bid.

Buy it Now - Is a feature allowing the seller to set a price the bidder can purchase the item at immediately and skip the normal auction process. This option disappears once a bid has been placed.

Category - Is where you list your auction. What category you list your auction in depends on the item your selling. EBay has thousands of different categories for different products.

COD - Is a form of payment and means Cash On Delivery. Meaning you pay for the item when you receive it.

Deadbeat Bidder - Also know as a non-paying bidder. These are people who won an auction but never paid for their item.

Dropshipper - (see Dropshipping) A company that will ship an item directly to your customer.

Dropshipping - Is where the seller never touches the product he sells. The seller works with a dropship company and when he sells an item, he turns around and pays the dropship company for the item and they ship it directly to the buyer. Whatever money left over is the sellers to keep. This can be very profitable when done properly.

Dutch Auction - Is just like a standard auction except the seller is selling more than one of the item and the winning bidder has the option of buying as many of the item as they want for the winning bid price.

Ebay - Online Auction company. 12th most popular website in the world. Visit eBay.

Ebay Motors - This is where you can buy and sell all types of vehicles, parts and accessories.

Ebay Stores - Sellers have an option of creating their own unique eBay store, where they get their own store front and access to tons of special features. eBay charges these sellers a monthly fee for their stores. Learn more about eBay Stores.

Ebook - Is an electronic book. The book is in a digital format and is read through your computer or PDA.

Escrow - Is a payment option where the buyer sends their payment to a neutral third party, who holds the payment until the buyer receives their item, and then they send the payment to the seller. This is usually used for high-end items like cars or expensive jewelry.

eZine - Is a magazine or newsletter that is published in an electronic format such as email for online delivery.

Feedback - Is a eBay system where buyers and sellers rate each others legitimacy and professionalism. There are three types of feedback: Positive. Negative and Neutral.

Final Value Credit - A seller can request a final value credit if someone wins one of their auctions, but does not pay. In this case eBay will refund the final value Fee.

Final Value Fee - This is the fee you pay when your item is sold. Based on the winning bid.

Fixed Price Auction - Allows buyers to purchase your item at a price you set. There is no bidding.

Half.com - An eBay website that allows you to buy tons of products at preset prices. Visit Half.com.

Hit Counter - Counts the number of times a web page has been viewed and displays that number for you to see.

HTML - Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the language of the internet. It is the code used to make websites

Insurance - on auction sites it is usually referring to shipping insurance to safe guard your item while being shipped to you.

Item Number - Each auction listing is assigned a unique number to distinguish it for all other auction listings.

Listing Fee - This is the fee that you are charged for each auction you list on eBay.

MO - Money Order

My eBay - Each buyer and seller has their very own My eBay that keeps track of what they have bid on, what they are selling, what they sold, what they are watching, and saves all of their individual preferences.

PayPal - Is a company that allows buyers and sellers to send and receive money instantly online. Visit PayPal.

Power Seller - An eBay seller that sells $10,000 or more a month on a continual basis and maintain a 98% feedback rating.

Private Auction - Is an auction where the bidders usernames are hidden, so that someone looking at the listing will not know who bidders are.

Proxy Bidding - This is where you tell eBay the max your willing to spend on a particular item and ebay will then bid on your behalf every time you are out bid, and will do so until the price goes above your max.

Reseller - A person or company who buys products at wholesale and then resells the product for profit.

Reserve Price - Sellers can offer their item at very low price to get people to look at it, but they protect them selves by setting a reserve price. If the bids do not go above their reserve price then the seller is not obligated to sell the item, however they can if they wish.

Second Chance Offer - If you have more than one of a particular item that you are selling, after the auction ends you can send an offer to the 2nd place bidder who did not win and offer them the same item at their highest bid price.

Safe Harbor - Is eBays safety and protection resource center.

Selling Manager - Is a program that you can purchase from ebay that will help you organize and track your auctions.

Sniping - Bidding at the last moment before an auction closes, in hopes of getting the item at a cheap price.

Square Trade - Is a third party company that endorses sellers who are professional and meet square-trades standards for online selling.

Turbo Lister - An auction-listing program that will make it easier for you to list multiple auctions at one time.

Ubid - Is a Online Auction website. Ubid is not affiliated with eBay in any way.

UPS - United Parcel Service. UPS is a mail/package shipping company.

URL - Stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is a standardized way of locating websites on the internet. Every website has their own unique URL. For example the URL for Auction Essentials is: www.auction-essentials.com.

USPS - United States Post Office

Wholesale - The sale of products at a steeply discounted price, usually for resale.

Wholesaler - A company who sells products at wholesale prices to resellers.