Glossary
eBay dropshipping glossary
Fee, seller-level and dropshipping terms, one or two sentences each, with links to the related tool and guide where useful.
39 terms
A
- Amazon Business
- Amazon's business account. Prime's personal-use terms don't cover resale; use a Business account for commercial purchases and tax exemption.
- Guide: How Amazon → eBay dropshipping works (2026)
- ASIN
- Amazon's 10-character identifier for every product (for example B0C7BKZ883). It appears in the product page URL; the safest way to identify an item in dropshipping.
- Tool: Profit Calculator
B
- Below Standard
- eBay's lowest seller level, given when defect, late shipment or case rates exceed the thresholds. Adds 6% to the final value fee and lowers ranking.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
- Best Offer
- An option that lets buyers offer less than the listed price. In dropshipping, set automatic accept and decline thresholds so you never go below break-even.
- Break-even price
- The sale price at which profit is exactly zero: after eBay fees and supply cost nothing is left either way. Selling below it is a loss.
- Tool: Break-even & Target Price Finder
C
- Card cashback
- The percentage your credit card returns on Amazon purchases (for example Prime Visa 5%). It lowers the supply cost; a separate field in the calculator.
- Tool: Profit Calculator
- Currency conversion fee
- 3% of the amount you receive when eBay converts a payment into another currency.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
D
- Defect rate
- Seller-initiated cancellations and cases closed without seller resolution as a share of transactions. At most 0.5% for Top Rated; an out-of-stock cancellation is a defect.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
- Dispute fee
- The $20 eBay charges when a payment dispute the buyer opens through their bank is decided against the seller. Tracking and proof of delivery are the best defence.
- Dropshipping
- Selling without inventory: when an item sells on eBay you order it from the supplier (here Amazon) straight to the buyer's address. eBay sets rules for this model; see the guide.
- Guide: How Amazon → eBay dropshipping works (2026)
E
- eBay category
- The product group a listing sits in. It sets the final value fee rate: most categories 13.6%, books and music 15.3%, electronics 9.35% with a store. A wrong category costs fees and visibility.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
- eBay International Shipping (EIS)
- The program where you ship to eBay's US hub and eBay handles international transport and customs. When used, the international fee does not apply.
- eBay managed payments
- The system where eBay takes the buyer's payment and pays you after deducting fees. Payment processing is part of the final value fee; there is no separate PayPal fee.
F
- Final value fee (FVF)
- eBay's main fee when a sale happens: a percentage of the buyer's total (item + shipping + tax), 13.6% in most categories or 12.7% with a store, plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order. Payment processing is included.
- Tool: eBay Fee CalculatorGuide: eBay fees explained (2026): the beginner's guide
- Free listing allowance
- The number of listings you can post each month without an insertion fee: 250 without a store, Basic 1,000, Premium 10,000, Anchor 25,000, Enterprise 100,000. Every listing above it is charged.
- Tool: Store Plan Calculator
G
- GTC (Good 'Til Cancelled)
- The duration of fixed-price listings: they stay live until you end them and renew every 30 days. Each renewal uses the free allowance again; above it, an insertion fee is charged every month.
H
- Handling time
- The maximum time between the order and entering the tracking number; not the delivery time. Same day or 1 business day for Top Rated Plus.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
I
- INAD (Item Not As Described)
- A return request where the buyer says the item is not as described. Return shipping falls on the seller and it carries case risk; an accurate description is the best protection.
- Insertion fee
- The cost of listing. 250 fixed-price listings are free each month; above that $0.35 per listing (store plans give more allowance and lower fees). Charged even if the item never sells.
- Tool: Store Plan Calculator
- International fee
- An extra 1.65% on the total when the buyer's address is outside the US and eBay International Shipping is not used.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
L
- Late shipment rate
- The share of orders not handed to the carrier (or without a tracking scan) within the handling time. At most 3% for Top Rated.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
- Listing
- The sales page you publish on eBay: title (up to 80 characters), photos, category, price, shipping and return policy. The free allowance is counted in listings.
M
- Markup
- How far the sale price sits above cost: buying at $15 and selling at $25 is a 67% markup, yet the margin after fees is about 30%. They are not the same number.
P
- Per-order fee
- The fixed part of the final value fee: $0.30 when the total is $10 or less, $0.40 above. It inflates the effective rate a lot on cheap items.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
- Profit margin
- Net profit divided by the revenue you receive (item price + buyer shipping). $9.18 profit on a $30 sale = 30.6% margin. Not to be confused with markup.
- Tool: Profit Calculator
- Promoted Listings
- eBay's ad program that boosts a listing. In the general model you pay only when the item sells, at the rate you chose (for example 3%); the 'ad rate' field in the calculator.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
R
- Repricing
- Recomputing the eBay price with the fee model and target margin when the supply price changes. Impossible by hand across hundreds of listings; the core job of automation.
- Resale certificate (tax exemption)
- A document that lets you skip sales tax on items bought for resale; issued by your state, uploaded to Amazon Business. Lowers supply cost by 6–10%.
- Guide: How Amazon → eBay dropshipping works (2026)
- Return policy
- The return window and terms stated on the listing. 30 days or more is a Top Rated Plus requirement; return shipping and the Amazon return are a cost, modelled with the 'return rate' in the calculator.
- Tool: Profit Calculator
- ROI (return on investment)
- Net profit divided by the total cost out of your pocket. $9.18 profit on a $16.05 cost = 57% ROI. It shows how hard your money works; higher than the margin on the same sale.
- Tool: Profit Calculator
S
- Sales tax
- A US consumption tax that varies by state. eBay collects it from the buyer and remits it; it never reaches you but enters the final value fee base. You pay it on Amazon too, unless exempt.
- Tool: eBay Fee Calculator
- SKU
- Your own product code (stock keeping unit). In dropshipping, using the ASIN as the SKU often makes matching easier.
- Stock sync
- Ending the eBay listing when the supplier runs out and reopening it when stock returns. Since an out-of-stock cancellation counts as a defect, it is a precondition for Top Rated.
- Store plan
- eBay's monthly subscription: Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor, Enterprise. It gives more free listings, a lower final value fee from Basic upward, and store tools.
- Tool: Store Plan CalculatorGuide: Which eBay store plan? Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor, Enterprise (2026)
T
- Target margin and target price
- Target margin is the profit percentage you want from a sale (default 15%); target price is the lowest sale price that reaches it. Because fees change with price, it is solved numerically.
- Tool: Break-even & Target Price Finder
- Top Rated Plus
- The badge and 10% discount on the percentage part of the final value fee for a Top Rated seller's listings that offer same-day or 1-business-day handling and 30-day returns.
- Tool: eBay Fee CalculatorGuide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
- Top Rated Seller (TRS)
- eBay's top seller level: at least 100 transactions and $1,000 in 12 months, defect rate at most 0.5%, late shipments at most 3%, on-time tracking at least 95%. Evaluated on the 20th of each month.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
- Tracking number
- The number the carrier assigns to a shipment and eBay validates. Uploading it within handling time is a Top Rated metric; a number that can't be validated doesn't count as on time.
- Guide: How to become an eBay Top Rated Seller and get the 10% fee discount (2026)
V
- VeRO
- eBay's Verified Rights Owner program: brand owners can have listings they consider infringing removed. Repeated removals lead to account restrictions; don't list brands that forbid resale.
- Guide: How Amazon → eBay dropshipping works (2026)
Turn the math into automation
Sellerviva moves products from Amazon to eBay, keeps price and stock updated with this exact fee model, and protects your profit.
- Type an ASIN and pull the supply price from the Amazon pool
- Shipping and other costs pre-filled from your eligibility profile
- Price and stock updated automatically with this fee model