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Amazon Selling Glossary for Arbitrage and FBA Sellers

This glossary explains the terms and slang you hear across retail arbitrage, online arbitrage, and FBA selling. Each entry is a short, plain definition so a new seller can follow a conversation, a sourcing video, or a listing without guessing what a word means. Where a fee is mentioned, check Amazon's current fees because rates change.

Sourcing

• Retail Arbitrage (RA) - buying an item from a physical store and reselling it for a profit on Amazon.
• Online Arbitrage (OA) - buying an item from one online store and reselling it on Amazon for a profit.
• Arbitrage - the general practice of buying low in one place and selling higher in another.
• Reverse Sourcing - starting from a product that already sells well on Amazon, then finding a supplier who has it cheaper.
• BOLO - short for "be on the lookout," a shared tip about a specific product worth buying to resell.
• Private Label - creating your own brand on a product and selling it under that brand name.
• Wholesale - buying products in bulk directly from a brand or distributor to resell.
• Liquidation - buying overstock or returned goods in bulk, usually at a steep discount, to resell.
• Rollback - a temporary price reduction at a retailer, often a signal of a possible arbitrage deal.
• Clearance - a store markdown on items being cleared out, a common source of arbitrage stock.

Fulfillment and Shipping

• FBA - Fulfillment by Amazon, where you send inventory to Amazon and they store, pack, and ship it.
• FBM / Merchant Fulfilled - Fulfillment by Merchant, where you store the product and ship each order yourself.
• Fulfillment Center - an Amazon warehouse that stores your FBA inventory and ships it to buyers.
• Inbound Shipping - the process of sending your inventory into an Amazon fulfillment center.
• Prep Center - a third-party service that receives, labels, packs, and ships your inventory into Amazon for you.

Cross-Border and Customs (Selling From Overseas)

• Zonos - a cross-border platform that handles duties and customs when you ship into the US; how it is set up affects whether a shipment gets charged duty.
• HS Code - the customs classification number for a product that tells customs what it is and what duty rate applies; the wrong code can trigger duty a product should not owe.
• Pre-Alert - declaring a shipment and its duties to customs before the box arrives, so it is treated correctly on entry.
• CP Form - the customs declaration that ships with a post-office parcel, where the product and its HS code are recorded.
• Zero-Rated / Zero-Duty - a product that carries no import duty under the current tariff classification.
• Tariff - the duty charged on an imported product, which on the current post-office workflow is paid up front before shipping.

Account and Fees

• Seller Central - the Amazon dashboard where you manage listings, inventory, orders, and account settings.
• Amazon Seller App - the mobile app sellers use to scan products, check prices, and manage listings.
• Amazon Buyer App - the standard shopping app that customers use to browse and buy on Amazon.
• Individual Account - a seller plan with no monthly fee that charges a per-item fee on each sale; check Amazon's current fees.
• Professional Account - a seller plan with a flat monthly fee instead of a per-item fee; check Amazon's current fees.
• UPC - Universal Product Code, the barcode number that identifies a physical product.
• ASIN - Amazon Standard Identification Number, the code Amazon uses to identify each product page.
• SKU - Stock Keeping Unit, your own internal code for tracking a specific product in inventory.
• Listing - the product page on Amazon where an item is offered for sale.
• Buy Box - the featured offer on a listing that a customer buys when they click "Add to Cart."
• Prime Badge - the Prime label on an offer that signals fast, eligible shipping to customers.
• Gated Category - a category or brand that requires Amazon approval before you can sell in it.
• Ungating - the process of getting Amazon approval to sell in a restricted category or brand.
• Referral Fee - a percentage of each sale that Amazon charges as a selling fee; check Amazon's current fees.
• Pick and Pack Fee - the FBA fee for picking, packing, and preparing an order for shipment; check Amazon's current fees.
• FBA Fees - the combined storage and fulfillment charges Amazon applies to FBA orders; check Amazon's current fees.
• Tax Exemption - a status that lets you buy inventory without paying sales tax because you plan to resell it.
• Resale Certificate - a document that proves you are buying goods to resell, used to claim tax exemption.
• Business License - a permit that allows you to operate a business legally in your area.
• EIN - Employer Identification Number, a tax ID number the IRS assigns to a business.
• Sole Proprietor vs C Corp - two business structures, one owned and taxed as an individual and one set up as a separate corporate entity.

Strategy and Slang

• Keepa - a tool and browser extension that tracks Amazon price and sales history over time.
• Sales Rank - Best Sellers Rank, a number showing how well a product sells in its category, where lower sells faster.
• Replenishable (Replens) - a product you can buy and sell repeatedly because it restocks reliably.
• Wash Rinse Repeat - reselling the same proven product again and again for steady income.
• Inch Deep Mile Wide - selling small quantities of many different products instead of large quantities of a few.
• Feed the Beast - keeping inventory flowing into Amazon so your account stays active and sales continue.
• Paralysis by Analysis - overthinking a decision so much that you never take action.
• Average Selling Price (ASP) - the typical price a product sells for on Amazon, used to estimate profit.