Whether you’re buying or selling things on eBay, there’s quite a bit of information you need to keep track of regarding your transactions. eBay tries to make this easy for you by using a system of symbols that serve as informational shortcuts. But what do they all mean?
There are three general classes of symbols on eBay: listing symbols, transaction symbols, and feedback symbols. Most can be found in the “Activity” section of “My eBay,” where you manage all of your purchases and sales. Other icons can be found directly inside listings.
This article will briefly explain what each of these symbols means, so you can always be in the know about what’s going on with your eBay transactions. We’ll tell you about:
Read on to learn more about what the symbols you see on eBay mean.
eBay listing icons
These icons provide information about items currently for sale, or ones that were put up for sale but didn’t sell. They can also give you a bit of insight into who is selling the items.
Listing format icons
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 Auction-style listing | The item is up for auction, so buyers will usually have to bid on it in order to win the right to purchase it. There are some exceptions, though. |
 Fixed price listing | The item is being sold at a fixed price, so buyers don't have to outbid each other in an auction to buy it. There is sometimes the possibility of haggling over the price, though. |
 Buy It Now available | A buyer can immediately purchase this item at the stated price. This option is almost always found on fixed price listings, but it can also sometimes be found on auction-style listings. This allows someone to buy an item up for auction at a fixed price before people start bidding on it. |
 Best Offer available | A fixed price listing can sometimes have the "Best Offer" option, meaning buyers can haggle over the price of the item by sending offers to the seller to buy the item at a price they think is fair. The seller can accept an offer, reject it, or respond with a counter-offer. |
 Classified Ad | The item is being advertised on eBay in the format of a classified advertisement. This means the seller and buyer have to contact each other directly and arrange to have the item delivered, and paid for, in person. |
Item status icons
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 Item ending soon | The item's listing is about to expire, which means the item will soon be sold and/or taken off eBay. If you're a buyer and are following that item, be sure to make your auction bid soon, or - if it's a fixed price listing - buy now before you miss out! |
 Shipping discount available | The seller is offering a discount on the shipping charges for this item if the same buyer purchases something else from them at the same time (or shortly thereafter). This is known as "combined shipping". |
 Seller accepts PayPal | The seller is willing to let the buyer pay for the item with their PayPal account balance. |
 Seller donates to charity | The seller will donate a portion of the final sale price of this item to a charity of their choosing. |
 Outbid in auction | If you see this icon beside an auction-style listing that you've bid on, it means your maximum bid wasn't high enough to be the top bid. If there's still time left in the auction, you'd better place a higher bid if you want that item! |
 Second Chance Offer | The seller of an item in an auction is giving one of the bidders the chance to buy the item for the amount of their last bid. This can happen when the reserve price for the item is not met, the winning bidder doesn't pay for the item, or the seller has more than one of the item for sale. |
 Similar items for sale | The seller of an item (possibly you!) has items for sale that they have designated as similar to the one you're looking at. Maybe that means you can find a fixed price item you like better than the current item, or there are other options available if you don't end up winning the current item in an auction. |
 Seller is not selling similar items | This is the only item of its kind that this specific seller (which may be you!) is selling. If you're a buyer, you may want to pick it up or make a bid for it - you may have a tough time finding something comparable later! |
 Relisted item | This indicates an item that you (or its seller, if that's not you) tried to sell previously, but didn't get anyone to buy it before the listing expired. However, the listing has been renewed, so the item is back on the market! |
 Item has not been relisted | This indicates an item that didn't sell on eBay before its listing expired, and hasn't had its listing renewed yet. If you're the seller, it's up to you if - and when - you want to put it back up for sale. |
Seller status icons
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 eBay member profile | Click on this symbol to see an eBay user's profile. |
 eBay Store | This symbol denotes that a user has an eBay Store. Click on this symbol to visit the Store. |
 Top-Rated seller | This symbol is displayed on the listings of a seller who has sold a significant number and combined value of items, consistently provided tracking information for orders, and limited the number of orders that are shipped late or have unresolved issues. They also often get positive feedback and high detailed seller ratings on a regular basis. |
 Top-Rated Plus seller | The seller not only fulfills all of the requirements for being a "Top-Rated" seller, but they also have very generous return policies and very short item handling times. In other words, they are probably someone great to do business with! |
eBay transaction icons
These icons tell you what has (and hasn’t) been accomplished in the processes of the buyer paying for the item and the seller delivering the item.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 Checkout complete | The buyer of an item has completed the checkout process, meaning that they've made an electronic payment to a seller immediately after buying an item. If you're selling on eBay, this feature is enabled by default, though you can disable it if you wish. |
 Checkout incomplete | A buyer has added an item to their checkout cart, but hasn't completed the purchase and payment yet. Usually, this means they are looking around for other items to buy at the same time. |
 /  /  Item is paid for | All of these symbols indicate that a buyer has paid for an item. They'll just vary depending on the currency of the country in which you're using eBay. |
 Seller received electronic payment | If not using the checkout process, this icon will appear when the seller has received electronic payment for an item (i.e. through PayPal, credit card, etc.). |
 PayPal payment pending | The buyer has paid for their purchase through PayPal, but the seller hasn't claimed the payment yet. Or, maybe the payment just hasn't quite gone through yet. |
 Item is partially paid for | The buyer has made a partial payment toward their item, but has yet to pay the full balance. Again, this usually occurs if the buyer hasn't used the checkout process to pay for their item in full. |
 Item has not been paid for | The buyer has not made any payments toward their item. If that's you, you should probably hurry up and pay... you don't want to keep the seller waiting! Or, if you're the seller in this scenario, consider following the instructions here. |
 Buyer requests total | A buyer has requested that the seller provide them with the total sale price of an item or order. This usually happens when the seller has indicated that they are offering some sort of discount (usually in shipping) on the sale, but this isn't reflected on the checkout page (or the checkout process isn't being used at all). |
 Seller has refunded buyer | The buyer has received a refund from the seller after returning an item because it wasn't as described in the listing, arrived damaged, or was missing parts. If an item is returned for any other reason, the buyer may not be able to get a refund for shipping charges or restocking fees. |
 Final value fee | This indicates the amount of the total sale price of an item that eBay takes as a commission. |
 Item has shipped | The seller has put the item in transit. They may indicate this by providing tracking information for the package, or simply marking it as shipped. |
 Item has not been shipped | The item is not yet on its way to the buyer, at least as far as eBay knows. The seller may not have dropped it off at a shipping outlet yet, or they may have forgotten to upload its tracking information or mark it as shipped (even if they have already sent it off). |
eBay feedback icons
These icons keep track of whether or not buyers and sellers have sent each other ratings concerning how they felt a particular deal went. They also indicate whether each party had a positive, neutral, or negative experience.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 You left feedback | This icon appears on a listing when you have sent a rating and comments to the other person involved in the deal. The color of the star reflects your own user feedback score (which we'll talk about in the next section). |
 You have not left feedback | If you see this greyed-out icon on a listing, it means that you haven't sent a rating or comments to the person on the other end of the deal. If you're buying on eBay, you should probably do so, or else the seller won't know whether they dealt fairly or not! |
 You got feedback | This icon appears on a listing when the other person involved in the deal has sent you feedback (again, we'll explain below what the colour of the star says about their feedback score). What kind of feedback it is, we'll explain below. |
 /  You got positive feedback | Either of these icons denotes you received positive feedback for a transaction, which increases your feedback score by 1. If you're a seller, that probably means the buyer was very satisfied with the item they got and the customer service you provided. And if you're a buyer, it probably means the seller decided to reward you for your fair dealings or continued patronage! |
 /  You got neutral feedback | If you're a seller and see either of these symbols on a listing, it means the buyer gave you neutral feedback. Your feedback score is unaffected by this rating, but it still means the buyer wasn't fully satisfied with their purchase. Try talking to the buyer and seeing if you can work something out to make them happy, and they may rewrite their feedback to give you a positive rating. |
 /  You got negative feedback | Seeing either of these icons on a listing as a seller means that the buyer was very unhappy with the deal, and gave you negative feedback. This decreases your feedback score by 1. Like with neutral feedback, you should try to get in touch with the buyer and see what you can do to make things right. If you're able to satisfy your customer, they may change their feedback to neutral or positive. |
 /  You haven't received feedback | This icon beside a listing means the other party hasn't given you feedback for that listing yet. |
What do the eBay stars mean?
The stars that appear beside eBay users’ feedback scores, or when you have given or received feedback, simply indicate how high a user’s feedback score is (i.e. their number of positive ratings minus their number of negative ratings). Scores that reach certain tiers are awarded different-colored stars.
Below is a list of the different colors of stars available on eBay, and what level of feedback score is required to earn them.
| Star Color | Feedback Score |
|---|---|
 Yellow star | 10 to 49 |
 Blue star | 50 to 99 |
 Turquoise star | 100 to 499 |
 Purple star | 500 to 999 |
 Red star | 1000 to 4999 |
 Green star | 5000 to 9999 |
 Yellow shooting star | 10,000 to 24,999 |
 Turquoise shooting star | 25,000 to 49,999 |
 Purple shooting star | 50,000 to 99,999 |
 Red shooting star | 100,000 to 499,999 |
 Green shooting star | 500,000 to 999,999 |
 Silver shooting star | 1,000,000 or higher |
If you need simple, no-frills references for any of this, there are web pages on eBay.com itself that list the major icons in “My eBay”, the stars and their required feedback scores, and other icons you’ll sometimes see on listings (or when you search for them). Otherwise, we hope that this will serve as an informative guide to helping you make sense of the different icons and symbols you may see on eBay. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, good luck in all your eBay endeavors!
