How to Read This Glossary
Live selling has grown its own vocabulary faster than any single dictionary has kept up with, borrowed partly from traditional auctions, partly from the trading-card hobby, and partly invented fresh by whichever platform popularized a given format first. A term that means one specific thing on a card-breaking show can mean something adjacent, or nothing at all, on a general live-selling platform, which is exactly why a buyer or new seller searching for what a term actually means often comes up with conflicting answers.
This glossary groups terms by what they describe — show formats and auction mechanics, card breaks, grading and condition, card-specific jargon, buyer protection, checkout and money, and general reseller shorthand — rather than forcing everything into one alphabetical list where a checkout acronym sits next to a grading term with nothing in common. Each entry is defined the way it’s actually used in the live-selling and collectibles community today, checked against current usage rather than assumed from how a term sounds.
| Term |
What it means |
| Live selling |
Selling conducted on a live video stream, where a host presents inventory in real time and closes sales through an auction, a buy-it-now claim, or a similar in-stream mechanic |
| Show |
A single scheduled livestream session during which a seller presents and sells inventory |
| Live auction |
The classic live-selling format: a host sets a starting bid, buyers compete against each other, and the highest bid when time runs out wins |
| Sudden death auction |
An auction format where no extra time is added once the clock hits zero — the highest bid placed before time expires wins outright, with no extension for a late bid |
| Buy It Now (BIN) |
A fixed price a buyer can pay immediately to secure an item, with no bidding involved |
| Claim sale |
A first-come, first-served format where the first buyer to type a specific word in the live chat secures the item at a stated price |
| Flash sale |
A steeply discounted buy-it-now item offered for a very short window, sometimes only seconds, during a live show |
| BIN shop |
A seller’s always-on storefront of fixed-price listings a buyer can purchase outside of any live show |
| Private show |
A livestream not surfaced publicly, typically used to test setup, shipping configuration, or a new format before running it live |
| Giveaway |
A free item a host offers during a show, open to enter at no cost |
| Sweepstakes (“sweeps”) |
A prize drawing that must let anyone enter for free — requiring payment or a purchase to enter turns a sweepstakes into an illegal lottery in most jurisdictions |
| Haul |
A batch of inventory a seller has just sourced — from an estate sale, thrift run, auction, or storage unit — and is preparing to sell |
Card Breaks
| Term |
What it means |
| Case break |
An event where a seller opens a full case of sealed product live, with buyers who purchased a spot in advance receiving whatever comes out of their spot |
| Personal break |
A break where a buyer purchases an entire box or case for themselves alone, rather than splitting spots with other buyers |
| Random Team Break (RTB) |
A break format where every spot costs the same and teams or players are assigned to buyers at random once the break starts |
| PYT (Pick Your Team) |
A break format, sometimes called “Pick Your Spot,” where buyers choose and pay for a specific team or player in advance; popular teams typically cost more than lower-demand ones, since pricing reflects expected value rather than a single flat rate |
| Hit Draft |
A break format that guarantees each participant a notable card (“hit”): spots are randomized for draft order, and buyers pick their card from what was pulled, in that order |
| Razz |
A raffle-style break: more entries are sold than there are spots in the actual break, and a randomizer selects which entries win a spot once the break is full |
| Rip |
Slang for opening a pack or box of cards on camera |
| Sealed product / wax |
Cards still in their original, unopened factory packaging |
| Hobby box |
A box of sealed product sold through hobby-shop distribution, generally carrying better odds at valuable inserts than a retail box |
| Mystery box |
A lot sold with no manifest and no contents disclosed in advance, so a buyer is relying entirely on the seller’s word about category and value |
Grading and Condition
| Term |
What it means |
| Slab |
A card that has been professionally graded and sealed inside a tamper-resistant plastic holder |
| Raw |
A card that has never been sent to a grading company — no certified grade, no slab |
| Grading company |
An independent third party — PSA, Beckett Grading Services (BGS), and SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation) are the three most recognized — that authenticates a card and assigns it a numerical condition grade |
| Certification number (cert #) |
The unique number printed on a slab, independently searchable on the grading company’s own site to confirm the card, grade, and authenticity |
| Population report (pop report) |
A running count, published by a grading company, of how many copies of a given card have received each specific grade |
| Centering, corners, edges, surface |
The four factors every major grading company evaluates to arrive at a card’s numerical grade |
Card-Specific Terms
| Term |
What it means |
| Rookie card (RC) |
A player’s first officially licensed trading card issued after making a major professional league roster |
| Parallel |
A version of a base-set card that shares the same design but differs in a specific way — border color, material, or printing technique |
| Short print (SP) |
A card printed in smaller quantities than the rest of its set, often reserved for a specific player or variation |
| Super short print (SSP) |
An even more limited version of a short print, printed in smaller numbers still |
| 1/1 (one-of-one) |
A card confirmed to be the only copy of its exact version in existence |
| Relic card |
A card that includes a piece of game-used material, such as a swatch of jersey |
| Autograph (auto) |
A card that includes a player’s signature, either signed directly on the card or on an attached sticker |
| Base card |
The standard, most common card in a set, without a parallel, insert, or serial number attached |
| Insert |
A card inserted into packs at a lower rate than base cards, usually built around its own special design or theme |
| Numbered card |
A card printed in a stated, limited quantity, with its specific print number marked on the card itself (for example, 12 of 99) |
Buyer Protection and Trust
| Term |
What it means |
| Buyer protection |
A platform’s policy covering an order that never arrives, arrives damaged, or doesn’t match what was described, including many platforms’ processes for reporting a suspected counterfeit |
| Counterfeit policy |
A platform’s specific rules and reporting process for items a buyer believes are not authentic |
| Sold as-is |
A listing term meaning the item is sold in its current condition, with no additional guarantee beyond what’s already disclosed |
| Return window |
The time limit, starting from delivery, within which a buyer must report a problem to remain eligible for a refund or return |
| Verified seller |
A seller whose control of the storefronts on their public profile has been independently confirmed, as opposed to a seller simply claiming an account is theirs |
| Comps (comparables) |
Recent sold prices for the same or a closely similar item, used to judge whether a current asking price is reasonable |
Checkout, Shipping, and Money
| Term |
What it means |
| Invoice |
The itemized bill a buyer receives after a show, listing everything won and the total owed |
| Combined shipping |
Multiple items a buyer won bundled into a single shipment to reduce total shipping cost |
| Payout |
The transfer of a seller’s available balance from their platform account to their bank account |
| Early payout |
A status that releases a seller’s earnings before a carrier has confirmed the item was delivered |
| Seller fees |
The commission and payment-processing charges a platform deducts from each completed sale |
| Buy It Now (BIN) |
See “Show Formats and Auction Mechanics” above — the same fixed-price mechanic also appears constantly in checkout and listing contexts |
General Reseller Shorthand
| Term |
What it means |
| OBO (or best offer) |
A listed price the seller will consider negotiating down from, rather than a firm, non-negotiable price |
| NWT (new with tags) |
An item that is unused and still carries its original retail tags |
| NIB (new in box) |
An item that is unused and still in its original retail packaging |
| HTF (hard to find) |
An item, brand, or set that’s genuinely difficult to source, used to signal scarcity to a potential buyer |
| BOLO (be on the lookout) |
A term used among resellers for an item, brand, or category worth watching for while sourcing inventory |
| Sell-through rate (STR) |
The share of a seller’s total inventory that has actually sold, used as a measure of how well inventory is moving |
| Portable reputation |
A seller’s track record and identity carried across every platform they use, rather than reset from scratch on each new one — the specific gap a cross-platform association is built to close |
Where to Go From Here
A term list is only useful up to a point — the platform playbooks in NOSA’s Learning Center walk through how these formats and mechanics actually play out on specific platforms like Whatnot, TikTok Shop, and eBay Live, in far more depth than a single definition can carry. For terms specifically tied to buyer safety and seller standing, NOSA’s Account & Buyer Protection library goes deeper into what a verified badge, a return window, and a buyer-protection claim mean in practice once a real transaction is on the line.
