eBay Dropshipping Glossary

US tax form sent to sellers earning >$600/year on eBay. Since 2024, eBay reports all earnings to IRS.

Cheaper but slower (30-60 days). Risky for eBay where buyers expect <30 day delivery.

Tracked shipping from China, typically 15-30 days to UK/US. Always tracked, generally reliable. Most common dropshipping shipping method.

Buying products from Amazon at retail price and reselling on eBay at a markup. Works because eBay buyers often don't comparison shop on Amazon.

1-2 day free delivery service. Key for dropshipping — your buyer gets fast shipping while you pay no shipping cost.

Average monthly revenue per customer. Used to compare plan values.

Amazon Standard Identification Number. Unique 10-character code for every Amazon product. UnicornDS uses ASINs to track variants and pricing.

The featured offer on an Amazon product page (the 'Add to Cart' seller). For dropshipping, you only source from Buy Box winners for reliability.

Fee paid by the BUYER (not seller) on UK private sales. Tiered by item value. Seller still receives 100% of listed price.

eBay's search algorithm. Ranks listings based on title relevance, seller performance, conversion rate, and price competitiveness. UnicornDS AI titles are optimized for Cassini.

AliExpress's weekly promo (Mondays). Free shipping + discounts on selected products. Great for sourcing.

What you paid the supplier for the item, plus shipping cost to you. Direct cost of each unit sold.

% of listing views that turn into sales. eBay average is 1-3%. Above 5% is excellent.

Your monthly subscription cost ÷ number of listings created. UnicornDS Starter = £29.99 ÷ 500 = £0.06 per listing.

Selling to buyers in different countries. UnicornDS supports UK→US, UK→DE, UK→FR, UK→AU, UK→CA international.

Percentage of orders with issues (cancellations, late shipments, cases). Must stay below 2% to avoid being marked Below Standard.

UK courier offering same-day, next-day, and economy services. Common for UK-to-UK dropshipping with quick fulfilment.

Selling products you don't hold. When a buyer orders, you forward the order to a supplier who ships directly to the buyer.

Each manual step that slows down listing or fulfilling. UnicornDS removes friction with bulk listing, auto-order, address auto-fill.

Faster tracked shipping from China to US/UK (10-20 days). No longer available to all destinations but still common for US buyers.

Amazon stores and ships the product. FBA items have faster delivery and fewer cancellations — safer for dropshipping.

Third-party seller ships directly. Often slower and less reliable than FBA. Avoid for dropshipping where possible.

% of buyers who leave positive feedback. Industry average 20-40%. Higher feedback = more Cassini ranking signal.

The main eBay commission, charged when an item sells. Currently 12.8% for most UK categories, lower for electronics and vehicle parts.

(Revenue − Costs) ÷ Revenue. Excludes platform fees. Useful for comparing products before fees.

A fixed-price listing format that renews automatically every 30 days. Each renewal counts as a new listing against your free monthly allowance.

Manually processing orders one by one. The thing UnicornDS automates away.

Days between sale and dispatch. eBay measures from sale time. Dropshippers should set 2-3 day handling to allow supplier processing.

Since 2024, eBay reports UK seller earnings to HMRC once you cross 30 sales OR £1,700/year. Don't try to hide it.

The fee charged to list an item. UK private sellers get 1,000 free listings per month. Above that, £0.35 per listing.

Structured product details (brand, model, colour, size, etc.) that help eBay categorise and rank your listing. More specifics = better Cassini ranking.

% of orders dispatched late (after the handling time you promised). Must stay <3% to remain Top Rated.

An eBay buyer protection case opened against you when the buyer claims item not received or significantly not as described. Resolve fast to protect your seller metrics.

Multi-Variation SKU. A single listing with multiple options like size or colour. Each variation has its own SKU. UnicornDS Empire includes an MSKU builder.

Selling on multiple platforms (eBay + Etsy + Amazon). Diversifies risk if one platform suspends you.

Profit after ALL costs and fees, divided by revenue. The only margin that matters for your bank account.

A focused category you sell in (e.g. 'gaming mice' instead of 'all electronics'). Niching helps build expertise and repeat buyers.

How fast a product sells. Sale velocity is the #1 Cassini ranking factor — listings that sell rank higher.

Tool for finding products to dropship. UnicornDS Product Hunter scans Amazon by keyword with VERO check, stock check, and demand score.

Net profit divided by number of orders. Most successful dropshippers target £3-10 per order.

Paid eBay ads. You set an ad rate (e.g. 3-5%). eBay charges only when someone clicks your ad and buys. Useful for new sellers without sales history.

% of orders refunded. Industry average 3-5%. Above 8% damages your seller standing.

0.35% fee on every UK sale, introduced April 2024 to cover eBay's regulatory compliance costs.

Tool that auto-adjusts your listing price based on competitor changes or supplier price updates.

Net Profit ÷ Total Investment. For dropshipping, usually 50-200% per order. Higher than retail because you don't tie up capital in stock.

Tracked UK delivery service. Tracked 24 = next day, Tracked 48 = 2-3 days. Cheap but reliable for small items under 2kg.

US self-employment income form. Where you deduct eBay fees, shipping, COGS to lower your taxable profit.

HMRC list of items with reduced or zero VAT (children's clothes, books, food). Important if you sell these categories.

eBay's performance scorecard. Above Standard, Top Rated, or Below Standard. Top Rated Sellers get 10% off the FVF.

Unique identifier for each product variation. Critical for tracking which supplier variant to order when a buyer purchases.

Tool that verifies supplier inventory before you list or fulfil. Prevents the worst case: selling something you can't ship.

Adding tracking number to the order on eBay. Required within handling time to count as 'on time'.

eBay's highest seller tier. Requires <0.5% defect rate, <3% late shipments, >100 transactions/year, >£1,000 sales/year. Gives 10% FVF discount.

Total revenue. Used for tax thresholds (VAT in UK at £85K). Not the same as profit.

The profit math on a single sale. If unit economics don't work, scaling makes it worse, not better.

Each AliExpress variation has a unique skuId. UnicornDS captures this for accurate auto-ordering of the exact variation your buyer chose.

20% UK sales tax. You must register if turnover >£85K/year. eBay charges 20% VAT on top of all fees (reclaimable if VAT registered).

Currently £85,000/year UK turnover. Cross this and you must register for VAT within 30 days.

eBay's program that protects brand IP. 3,629 brands currently restricted. Listing them = instant suspension. UnicornDS auto-checks every listing.