Seller & Creator Glossary

New to selling online? The words can be confusing. This glossary explains the most common seller and creator terms in plain English — and links each one to a calculator or guide so you can put it to use.

Base cost (POD): What your print-on-demand supplier charges per item, including printing.; See: Print-on-Demand Profit Calculator, Printify & Printful Profit Calculator, Is Print-on-Demand Profitable?
Break-even point: The number of sales where you've earned back what you spent; after it, you start making profit.; See: Break-Even Calculator, What Is a Break-Even Point?
Conversion rate: The share of visitors who buy, found as orders ÷ visits.; See: Etsy Conversion Calculator, What Is a Good Etsy Conversion Rate?
Cost of goods (COGS): The direct cost to make or buy what you sell, like materials, base cost, and packaging.; See: Profit Margin Calculator, How to Price Handmade Products
Final value fee: The percentage eBay takes from each sale, including the shipping you charge.; See: eBay Fee Calculator, How Much Does eBay Charge?
Fulfillment fee (FBA): Amazon's per-item charge for picking, packing, and shipping your product.; See: Amazon FBA Profit Calculator, How Much Does Amazon FBA Cost?
Marketplace facilitator: A platform (like Etsy) that collects and pays sales tax for you automatically.; See: Etsy Sales Tax Calculator, Do Etsy Sellers Need to Collect Sales Tax?
Markup: Your profit as a percentage of your cost (different from margin).; See: Profit Margin Calculator, What Is a Good Profit Margin?
Net profit: What you actually keep after all costs and fees.; See: Profit Margin Calculator
Overhead: Costs not tied to a single item, like tools, software, or studio space.; See: Shopify Profit Calculator, How to Price Handmade Products
Payment processing fee: The fee a payment provider takes per sale, often around 2.9% + $0.30.; See: Etsy Fee Calculator, How Much Does Etsy Charge?
Platform fee: A cut the selling platform takes, like Redbubble's platform fee by account tier.; See: Redbubble Profit Calculator, Is Redbubble Still Profitable?
Profit margin: Your profit as a percentage of the selling price.; See: Profit Margin Calculator, What Is a Good Profit Margin?
Referral fee: Amazon's commission on each sale, usually around 15%.; See: Amazon FBA Profit Calculator, How Much Does Amazon FBA Cost?
Return on investment (ROI): How much profit you make compared to what you spent; key for judging ads.; See: Etsy Ads ROI Calculator, Are Etsy Ads Worth It?
Royalties: What Amazon KDP pays you per book sold, after its share and printing cost.; See: KDP Royalty Calculator, How KDP Royalties Work
Sales tax: A tax added to a sale, set by the buyer's location; on Etsy it's handled for you.; See: Etsy Sales Tax Calculator, Do Etsy Sellers Need to Collect Sales Tax?
Transaction fee: A fee the marketplace charges per sale, like Etsy's roughly 6.5%.; See: Etsy Fee Calculator, How Much Does Etsy Charge?
Wholesale price: The lower price you charge shops that resell your product, usually about half of retail.; See: Handmade Pricing Calculator, How to Price Handmade Products