E-Commerce Glossary: Amazon, Etsy, LLC Terms

Terminology

Cross-Border E-Commerce Glossary

The terms you'll meet across Amazon, Etsy, logistics, US company setup and advertising — plain one-line definitions with links to in-depth guides.

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon): The model where you send inventory to Amazon's warehouse and Amazon handles everything from order to return, earning the product the Prime badge.learn more
FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant): The model where the seller ships orders themselves (own stock or a 3PL); preferred for personalized or oversized products.learn more
ACOS: Advertising Cost of Sales — ad spend divided by ad revenue. 25% ACOS means $4 of ad revenue per $1 spent.learn more
TACOS: Total ACOS — ad spend divided by total revenue (organic included). Measures ad impact on the whole business; more strategic than ACOS.learn more
Brand Registry: Amazon's brand registration program; requires a registered trademark and unlocks A+ content, a brand Store, video ads and listing protection.learn more
A+ Content: Enhanced content adding visual modules, brand story and comparison tables to the product page, lifting conversion. Requires Brand Registry.learn more
Buy Box: The seller listing that wins the 'Add to Cart' button. When multiple sellers offer the same product, most sales go to whoever holds the Buy Box.
ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number — the unique 10-character ID Amazon assigns to each product.
Vine Program: Amazon's program that gives products to selected reviewers to earn new listings their first honest reviews. Requires Brand Registry.

Etsy Ads: Etsy's on-platform advertising system with a daily budget; promotes listings across search and category pages.learn more
Offsite Ads: Etsy's program that advertises your products off-platform (Google, social) and charges a fee on sales attributed to those ads.
Star Seller: A badge for shops meeting fast-reply, on-time-dispatch and tracking metrics, adding visibility and trust.
Artisan Tax Exemption (Turkey): A Turkey-specific rule letting home-based makers sell without a company, with a 4% withholding on bank deposits.learn more

ETGB (Turkey): Turkey's simplified e-commerce customs declaration for shipments under 300 kg / €15,000, which also creates a VAT-refund right.learn more
Micro-Export: Export of low-value/small shipments via simplified customs (ETGB) — the de-facto standard shipping method for cross-border e-commerce.learn more
Dimensional Weight: A parcel's volumetric weight (L×W×H / 5000); price is charged on the greater of actual and dimensional weight.learn more
DDP / DAP: Delivery terms: under DDP the seller pays duties/taxes (buyer gets no surprise), under DAP that burden falls on the buyer.learn more
3PL: Third-Party Logistics — an external provider that handles warehousing, packing and fulfillment on your behalf.
IOSS / OSS (EU VAT): The EU system for collecting VAT at the point of sale on low-value imports and reporting it in one return; spares the buyer a surprise at the door.

LLC: Limited Liability Company — the entity cross-border sellers most often form in the US, offering limited liability and a flexible tax structure.learn more
EIN: Employer Identification Number — a US company's tax ID with the IRS; needed for banking, Amazon and payments, and obtainable without an SSN.learn more
ITIN: Individual Taxpayer Identification Number — a personal US tax ID. Different from an EIN, and not required to get one.learn more
Form 5472: The mandatory annual information return a foreign-owned single-member US LLC files with the IRS; penalties start at $25,000.learn more
Franchise Tax: An annual flat tax some states levy; $300 for a Delaware LLC, while Wyoming instead charges a ~$60 annual report fee.learn more
Registered Agent: The mandatory agent that receives official mail in the LLC's state; for non-residents it's an annual subscription service.
Sales Tax / Nexus: US state sales tax and the physical/economic connection (nexus) that triggers it. On Amazon FBA, marketplace-facilitator laws shift most of it onto Amazon.

ROAS: Return on Ad Spend — ad revenue divided by spend. 4 ROAS means $4 revenue per $1 spent; it measures revenue, not profit.learn more
POAS: Profit on Ad Spend — ad profit divided by spend. A truer target than ROAS; the same ROAS can lose money on a low-margin product.learn more
PPC: Pay Per Click — advertising billed per click (Amazon Sponsored Ads, Google Ads); the main visibility engine in e-commerce.learn more
Conversion Rate: The share of visitors who buy. The most direct signal of listing/page quality — and the ceiling on ad efficiency.
AOV (Average Order Value): Average Order Value — the mean spend per order. Raised via upsells, bundles and free-shipping thresholds; directly affects ad profitability.

Cross-Border E-Commerce: Selling online to consumers abroad — via Amazon, Etsy or your own store; producing in local currency and earning in foreign currency.learn more
Private Label: Selling a manufacturer's product under your own brand. The most common brand-building model on Amazon; differentiation comes from brand and content.
D2C / DTC: Direct-to-Consumer — a brand selling straight to the end customer (usually via its own store), keeping margin and customer data in-house.learn more
UGC: User-Generated Content — authentic, user-style content. The highest-converting format in Meta and TikTok ads.learn more
MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity — the smallest order a supplier accepts; directly shapes your first-batch capital plan.
Omnichannel: Running the same brand across Amazon, Etsy, your own store and other marketplaces together; the ideal end state for most brands.learn more

A free 30-minute call about your market, your product and the first 90 days. No pitch — just a clear roadmap.