For those people that are new to the ball card hobby, some of the hobby lingo or acronyms used can be confusing. Card collectors use a lot of acronyms when describing their collection or what they are selling. Here is a list of some of the most common acronyms and hobby lingo used in our hobby. Full disclosure, as I surf around social media, and the internet, if I see some lingo that I am not familiar with, I will copy it and add it to this list… so, yes I may have copied and pasted some of these from other sources and websites… So, if your definition looks familiar… Thanks! 🙂
If you know of some lingo or acronyms, add them in the comments and I will add them to this list!
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Hobby Lingo and Acronyms
| ACEO – Art Card, Editions & Originals. In our hobby, some people make their own cards… when you see this, they are called ACEO cards. |
| B/S/T – Buy/Sell/Trade |
| BGS – Beckett Grading Services, one of the more popular card grading companies |
| BIN – Buy It Now |
| BMWT – Bubble Mailer with Tracking |
| DP – Draft Pick |
| ERR – Error Card |
| ESE – eBay Standard Envelope |
| F&F – Friends & Family, payment method via Paypal. Use F&F or also sometimes seen as FF at your own risk. |
| FS – For Sale |
| FT – For Trade |
| G&S – Goods & Services, a payment method via Paypal with purchase protection |
| HOF – Hall of Fame |
| ISO – In Search Of |
| LCS – Local card store/shop |
| NNO – No Number |
| NNOF – No Name On Front |
| OBO – Or Best Offer |
| OC – Off Center |
| PC – Personal Collection |
| POP – Population, How many cards exist with the same grade from the same grading company. |
| PSA – Professional Sports Authenticator. The most popular grading company. |
| PWE – Plain White Envelope |
| QTY – Quantity |
| RC – Rookie Card |
| RP – Reprint |
| RPA – Rookie Patch Autograph card |
| SP – Short Print |
| SSP – Super Short Print |
| TTM – Through The Mail: referring to autograph requests from current or former players that you get through the mail. |
| TV – Trade Value |
| UER – Uncorrected Error Card. |
| USP – Ultra Short Print, the new designation for SSSP from Topps |
| WTB – Want To Buy |
