Learning the Jargon on eBay - Or Avoid it Like the Plague!

If new abbreviations arriving daily throw you into a panic, or you have trouble understanding text message lingo, then you might have even bigger problems understanding all the jargon going round on eBay.

In practice most jargon has a pretty obvious definition or can easily be clarified on eBay, such as ‘NR’ – No Reserve; ‘BIN’ – Buy It Now’; ‘GBP’ - Great British Pound. Jargon that isn’t obvious will quickly become clear in your first few weeks on eBay.

For any that still confuses you, find the meaning by keying ‘ebay jargon’ or ‘ebay lingo’ into any main search engine.

This list should help you understand most common eBay jargon:

BNIB – Brand New in Box
MIB – Mint in Box
NWT – New With Tags
NWOT – New Without Tags
OOP – Out of Print
NPB – Non-Paying Bidder
FB – Feedback
BW – Black and White
S & H – Shipping and Handling
USD – United States Dollars
NBW – Never Been Worn
OB – Original Box

Like many people, I hate abbreviations, I positively balk at new lingo that only the originator understands, though in reality I’ve never felt disadvantaged or threatened as buyer or seller when a new ‘word’ enters eBay’s unwritten dictionary. That’s because few sellers use unfamiliar abbreviations or contractions and even fewer use words no one but themselves understands.

Obviously it isn’t wise to use uncommon abbreviations in your eBay listing, especially in the title, except where surplus space permits. Nevertheless, abbreviations are tempting, primarily to newcomers who consider them perfect for forcing into the title to generate lots of traffic from eBay’s search engines.

But who in their right minds would search eBay for: “Shirt BNIB, BW, NBW, 100% FB”.

The only viable search engine friendly word in that title is ‘shirt’, the rest would be better discarded and replace with something like: “Man’s Striped 1960s B&W Pop Art Carnaby Street London” Did you recognise the first title as representing a rare piece of early pop music memorabilia?

So think long and hard, and always think twice about using any abbreviations in your title or listing, or you could end up confusing and alienating potential bidders and seriously reducing your products’ resale value.