| Do you have trouble sometimes | | | | BW: Black and White. Used for films, |
| understanding when people talk about | | | | photos etc. |
| eBay? Don't worry, some of the jargon is | | | | CONUS: Continental United States. |
| really obscure, and you can't be | | | | Generally used by sellers who don't want |
| expected to understand it until | | | | to post things to Alaska or Hawaii. |
| someone's told you what it means. Here's | | | | EUR: Euro. Currency. |
| a little list of some of the most useful | | | | FC: First Class. Type of postage. |
| lingo to know, but you don't need to | | | | GBP: Great British Pounds. Currency. |
| memorize it - even the most common | | | | HTF: Hard To Find. Not quite as abused |
| jargon is only used relatively rarely. | | | | as 'rare', but getting there. |
| Words. | | | | NIB: New in Box. Never opened, still in |
| Bid: telling eBay's system the maximum | | | | its original box. |
| price you are prepared to pay for an | | | | NR: No Reserve. An item where the seller |
| item. | | | | has not set a reserve price. |
| Dutch: an auction where more than one of | | | | OB: Original Box. An item that has its |
| an item is available. | | | | original box (but might have been |
| Feedback: positive or negative comments | | | | opened). |
| left about other users on eBay. | | | | PM: Priority Mail. |
| Mint: in perfect condition. | | | | PP: Parcel Post. |
| Non-paying bidder: a bidder who wins an | | | | SH: Shipping and Handling. The fees the |
| auction but does not then go on to buy | | | | buyer will pay you for postage. |
| the item. | | | | USD: United States Dollars. Currency. |
| PayPal: an electronic payment method | | | | VGC: Very Good Condition. Not mint, but |
| accepted by most sellers. | | | | close. |
| Rare: used and abused on eBay, now | | | | The chances are that you'll find more |
| entirely meaningless. | | | | specific jargon related to whatever |
| Reserve: the minimum price the seller | | | | you're selling, but it'd be an |
| will accept for the item. | | | | impossible task to cover it all here. If |
| Shill bid: a fake bid placed by a seller | | | | you can't figure one out from your |
| trying to drive up their auction's | | | | knowledge of the subject, then type the |
| price. | | | | term into a search engine, followed by |
| Snail Mail: the post, which is obviously | | | | the word 'ebay'. The chances are that |
| very slow compared to email. | | | | someone, somewhere will have seen fit to |
| Sniping: bidding at the last second to | | | | explain it. |
| win the item before anyone else can | | | | While it's good to be able to understand |
| outbid you. | | | | others' jargon, avoid using it unless |
| Abbreviations. | | | | you really need to (for example, if you |
| AUD: Australian Dollar. Currency. | | | | run out of space in an item's title). |
| BIN: Buy it Now. A fixed price auction. | | | | Many people on eBay are not experienced |
| BNWT: Brand New With Tags. An item that | | | | buyers and you will lose them if you |
| has never been used and still has its | | | | write a load of gobbledegook all over |
| original tags. | | | | your auction. |