An Overview of eBay Home Page Links
At the very bottom of the eBay home page is an unassuming group of links providing ways to get to some seriously handy pages. Here are some brief explanations of what you can expect to find at the other end of those eBay links:
Feedback Forum: This link takes you to one of the most important spots on eBay. The Feedback Forum is where you can place feedback, respond to feedback left for you, and find out whether you’ve forgotten to place feedback on a transaction — all in one friendly location.
Downloads: A link to eBay-supplied software and toolbars.
Gift certificates & Gift Cards: Send an eBay gift certificate for any special occasion. You can print it yourself, or eBay will send it to any e-mail address you provide. The gift certificate is good for any item on the site, as long as the seller accepts PayPal.
Jobs: Click here if you want to work for eBay instead of through eBay.
Affiliates: If you have your own Web site and want to make a few bucks, click this link. If you sign up for the program and put a link to eBay on your Web page, eBay pays you for new users who sign up directly from your Web site (plus other bonuses). Click the link for the current details.
Developers: If you develop software and would like to design some to use with eBay, you can join the developers’ network.
The eBay Shop: This link enables you to browse and buy eBay merchandise from the eBay company store.
eBay Mobile: eBay’s mobile service for cell phones, eBay Mobile, is designed just for small screens. Stay connected to eBay from your mobile phone browser.
About eBay: Click this link to find out about eBay the company and to get its press releases, company overview, and stock information. You can also find out about eBay community activities and charities — and even apply for a job with eBay.
Announcements: Visit the General Announcements Board when you want to know about any late-breaking news.
Security Center: This link takes you to a page where concerns about fraud and safety are addressed.
Policies: This is a good place to visit to brush up on the site’s policies and guidelines.
Government Relations: Get active in the politics of online selling and buying. Join groups, send letters to congresspeople, and make a difference!
Site map: Here’s a second link to the eBay site map (the other link is above the navigation bar).
Help: For some reason, eBay felt the need to put another help link at the bottom of the home page. Save yourself some scrolling and use the link on the navigation bar!
On other eBay pages, the bottom navigation bar looks a little different. It often includes even more links so that you can cruise the site quickly without using the navigation bar.

eBay Glossary
About Me page
A page that an eBay member creates to tell other eBay members about them and their eBay business.

eBay Glossary
announcement boards
Online pages where eBay posts information about new features, promotions, and policy changes, as well as information about system problems and general announcements.

eBay Glossary
AOL; America Online
An Internet service and media company that provides a semi-closed online community for millions of subscribers.

eBay Glossary
B2B; business-to-business
A type of transaction where the buyer has a resale number and purchases merchandise from another business.

eBay Glossary
bid cancellation
The cancellation of a bid by the seller during an eBay auction.

eBay Glossary
bidder
An eBay member who bids on an auction item. Each bid enters that bidder into a binding contract.

eBay Glossary
blog; blogging
Short for weblog; a Web site chronicle that is regularly updated by an individual or group.

eBay Glossary
browser
A software program, usually free, that lets your computer download content from the Internet.

eBay Glossary
Business account
A PayPal account that allows an eBay seller to accept credit or debit card payments from customers. It offers controlled multi-user access so that multiple employees can serve customers, and it gives the seller unlimited use of eBay Tools and Merchant Services.

eBay Glossary
Buy It Now
An optional eBay feature that allows a buyer to immediately purchase an item at a set price before the auction ends.

eBay Glossary
buySAFE
A program that enables eBay sellers to present a credibility seal and financially protect their online auction transactions with surety bonds.

eBay Glossary
chargeback
The withdrawal of money from a seller’s account by a payment service or merchant account after a transaction has occurred. This can happen when a buyer disputes the sale.

eBay Glossary
chat room
An online area where eBay members can communicate directly with each other.

eBay Glossary
comma-delimited
A way to format table or database information, in which commas separate what would be different columns, that allows data to be transferred from one application to another.

eBay Glossary
cookie
A data packet sent from an Internet server to your browser; a cookie is used to identify the user and track their activities on the server.

eBay Glossary
discussion boards
Online pages where eBay members can post messages, ask questions, share tips, and communicate with other eBay members.

eBay Glossary
DNS; domain name system
The system that is used to track and regulate domain names and addresses on the Internet.

eBay Glossary
dpi; dots per inch
A measure of resolution often used for a computer screen or printer.

eBay Glossary
drop-ship service
A business that stocks merchandise and sells the merchandise to a reseller, but ships it directly to the customer.

eBay Glossary
DSL; Digital Subscriber Line
A method of transferring digital data to allow high-speed Internet access over phone lines.

eBay Glossary
DSR; Detailed Seller Ratings
A ratings system that allows an eBay buyer to rate a seller based on the accuracy of the item description, quality of communication, shipping speed, and shipping and handling charges.

eBay Glossary
Dutch auction
A multiple-item auction in which the seller can list as many identical items as they’d like, and bidders can bid on as many items as they’d like. The final item price is set by the lowest successful bid at the time the auction closes.

eBay Glossary
eBay Groups
A group of eBay buyers and sellers who have a common interest.

eBay Glossary
eBay Store
An eBay page that displays all of the items offered by an individual store seller.

eBay Glossary
eBay Time
The official eBay time of day, based on the eBay headquarters location in San Jose, California, in the United States; eBay time is the same as the Pacific Time Zone.

eBay Glossary
eCheck; electronic funds transfer
A computer-based system that allows users to conduct financial transactions electronically.

eBay Glossary
EOA; end-of-auction e-mail
An e-mail notice that eBay sends out to the buyer and seller when an auction has ended.

eBay Glossary
Escrow.com
eBay’s official escrow service; this is an online service that offers protection to buyers with transactions over $2,000, which is the upper limit for PayPal buyer protection.

eBay Glossary
feedback
A rating from a buyer or a seller, made after a transaction. The rating can be positive, negative, or neutral, and can include a short comment. Ratings are used to determine an eBay member’s Feedback Scores.

eBay Glossary
Feedback Star
A colored star indicating that an eBay seller has a particular Feedback Score. For example, a yellow star means that the seller has 10-49 Feedback points.

eBay Glossary
Final Value Fee; FVF
The fee that eBay charges to the seller when a listing ends. It is based on the sale price or the closing bid. The fee is not charged to items that didn’t have any bids or to items that didn’t meet the reserve price set by the seller.

eBay Glossary
fixed-price listing; fixed-sale price
An item listing where an eBay member can buy the item at a set price without auction-style bidding.

eBay Glossary
FTP; file transfer protocol
A standard protocol that allows users to exchange files over a network.

eBay Glossary
ID verified
An icon indicating that the identity of an eBay seller has been confirmed in order to give buyers a measure of security.

eBay Glossary
Member Profile
A profile created by an eBay member. The member has a password and user ID to access their My eBay page; they can track what they are buying and selling, leave feedback, and update their profile.

eBay Glossary
My eBay page
A collection of Web pages held together with links that gives an eBay member complete control of everything they are doing on eBay. The My eBay page contains My Summary, All Buying, All Selling, My Messages, All Favorites, and My Account pages.

eBay Glossary
My Summary page
A page that gives an eBay member a snapshot of their current eBay business.

eBay Glossary
My World page
A personalized eBay page containing an eBay member’s favorites, photo, feedback, a guestbook, a short biography, and their eBay interests.

eBay Glossary
PayPal Buyer Protection
A PayPal program that covers up to the full purchase price and shipping charges for buyers who use PayPal on qualified listings. Sellers must meet certain requirements for their listings to qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection. These protected items have a Buy Safely icon in the Meet the Seller section on the View Item page.

eBay Glossary
Picture Manager
An eBay subscription service that enables users to upload and manage the pictures for all of their listings. Presently, new users cannot subscribe to this service, as it is being discontinued. Existing subscribers can use it until January 2010.

eBay Glossary
PowerSeller
An eBay seller who has maintained a 98% positive Feedback Score. This is an experienced, high-volume eBay seller who provides a high level of service to buyers.

eBay Glossary
Premier account
An eBay account for members who have a high volume of transactions and need to accept payments via credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal debit cards.

eBay Glossary
private auction
A listing where the bidders’ user IDs are hidden from other bidders. Sellers can use this feature when they think that potential bidders may not want their user ID made known.

eBay Glossary
QuickBooks
Small business accounting software developed by Intuit.

eBay Glossary
Quicken
Personal finance accounting software developed by Intuit.

eBay Glossary
reserve price
The secret lowest price that an eBay seller is willing to sell an item for.

eBay Glossary
sales tax number
The number that a seller uses when they file a sales tax statement with their state.

eBay Glossary
Second Chance Offer
An offer by a seller to a non-winning bidder to purchase an eBay item after the winning bidder has not paid for the item, or the seller has more than one of the item. A seller can propose a Second Chance Offer when the listing ends, and up to 60 days after the listing ends.

eBay Glossary
Selling Manager Pro
An eBay selling tool that allows a user to automatically list and relist their items; track inventory; automate payments; monitor shipping status; create bulk item listings; send bulk feedback and e-mails; and create profit and loss reports.

eBay Glossary
shill bidding
A bidding technique that artificially raises an item’s price to increase the desirability and final price of the item. eBay prohibits shill bidding.

eBay Glossary
sniping
The fine art of outbidding competition in the very last seconds of an eBay auction without leaving them enough time to place a defensive bid.

eBay Glossary
spam
Online slang for harassing, offensive, or useless-but-widely-distributed messages or advertisements.

eBay Glossary
spreadsheet program
A computer program used mainly for accounting, in which figures arranged in the rows and columns of a grid can be manipulated and used in calculations.

eBay Glossary
SquareTrade
A provider of warranties for consumer appliances and electronics. The company is located online at www.squaretrade.com.

eBay Glossary
state resale license
A license that identifies a seller as being in business. When you want to purchase goods from a wholesaler within your state, you must produce this number (thereby certifying your legitimacy as a seller) so the dealer can sell you the merchandise without charging you sales tax.

eBay Glossary
tab-delimited file
A file in which pieces of data are separated tabs. This file type can be opened in either a spreadsheet or word-processing program.

eBay Glossary
thread
A group of linked Internet messages that share a common subject.

eBay Glossary
Trading Assistant
Also referred to as a consignment seller; this is an eBay member who sells other people’s merchandise for a fee.

eBay Glossary
Trust & Safety
The eBay department that focuses on protecting eBay buyers and sellers from members who abuse the system. It issues warnings and policy changes, and in some cases, it cancels the memberships of system abusers.

eBay Glossary
Turbo Lister
An eBay tool that allows sellers to easily create and compile multiple listings on their computer and then upload the listings to eBay.

eBay Glossary
uptime
The span of time a Web hosting company’s servers stay operational without going down and denying access to their users’ sites.

eBay Glossary
user ID
A name that identifies an eBay member to other eBay users.

eBay Glossary
Wi-Fi; Wireless Fidelity
Technical standards that allow wireless transmission of data over a computer network.

eBay Glossary
wildcard
Used in a search, a character that matches any character or sequence of characters.

eBay Glossary
WYSIWYG; what you see is what you get
Technology that enables a computer display to accurately represent the final printed output.