The eBay × AliExpress glossary.
Every raw field, status value, and carrier code that actually drives a tracking decision — what it means, and what it hides. No marketing fluff, just the definitions.
Order & tracking status
Awaiting Dispatch
The order is confirmed but AliExpress has not yet handed it to a carrier. A brand-new order and a stuck-for-two-weeks order both start here — which is why it needs splitting into sub-cases rather than treated as one bucket.
Shipped
AliExpress returns a dozen different raw tracking-status strings once a parcel moves (in transit, out for delivery, arrived, departed, collected, and more). All of them collapse to one "Shipped" state — the buyer only needs to know it is on the way.
Delivered
The carrier confirms arrival. This is not the end of the story — a delivered order can still be refunded afterward, so a "Delivered" status still needs its own refund check rather than being treated as fully settled.
Leaving Origin Country
An intermediate milestone: the parcel has cleared the seller's country and customs, but has not yet reached the buyer's local last-mile carrier.
Cancelled & Refunded
A binary catch-all covering any cancellation or refund outcome. Terminal — once an order lands here, it should stop being re-checked on every sync.
Delivery Delayed-Msg sent
The carrier reported a delay against the estimated delivery date. Flagging this distinctly (rather than leaving it as "Shipped") is what lets a seller proactively message the buyer before they open an Item Not Received case.
Expired
The order timed out — the buyer-protection window lapsed with no delivery confirmation and no tracking movement. Detected from AliExpress's end_reason field (see below), not from tracking status alone.
Refund & dispute signals
order_status
AliExpress's top-level order lifecycle field (e.g. WAIT_BUYER_ACCEPT_GOODS, FINISH). Describes the ORDER, not the shipment — that's a separate field (logistics_status, below).
logistics_status
A separate AliExpress field describing the SHIPMENT's state (e.g. BUYER_ACCEPT_GOODS, DELIVERED). Confusing order_status and logistics_status is a common source of tracking bugs — they answer different questions.
issue_status
Flags an open dispute or issue on the order. Checked alongside gmt_refund and end_reason because a refund can be in progress before order_status itself changes.
gmt_refund / gmt_refund_payment_finish
The timestamp AliExpress stamps once a refund actually completes. The single strongest refund signal available — but not sufficient alone, since some refunds never touch this field and only show up in issue_status or end_reason instead.
end_reason
A terminal-state reason code on a child order. Context matters enormously: values like BUYER_ACCEPT_GOODS or AUTO_FINISH mean a normal successful completion, while SYSTEM_OVERTIME_CLOSE or BUYER_PAY_GOODS_OVERTIME mean the order expired. Treating "any end_reason" as a cancellation is a real bug pattern — it isn't one.
BUYER_ACCEPT_GOODS
A logistics_status value that reads like "delivered and the buyer is happy" — but it only confirms delivery, not satisfaction. A refund can still land on an order carrying this status.
FINISH
The order_status value for a fully completed AliExpress order. Combined with a delivered logistics_status, this is the "safe to trust as delivered" signal — unless gmt_refund is also set.
Dispute hold (eBay Finances)
A DISPUTE-type debit transaction on eBay's Finances ledger that claws back a settled sale's payout while eBay investigates a claim (an INR case, a payment dispute, a risk flag). Shows up as a real, temporary drop in an order's net earning — distinct from a sale that simply hasn't settled yet.
Carrier & tracking ID
H06R4A prefix
AliExpress tracking IDs starting with H06R4A are delivered by Evri (formerly Hermes) for UK last-mile delivery.
JJD prefix
Tracking IDs starting with JJD are delivered by Yodel in the UK, typically handed off from AliExpress Selection Premium or Cainiao.
GB suffix
A tracking ID ending in GB (Royal Mail's own tracked-parcel format, e.g. matching GV…GB) means Royal Mail is the last-mile carrier.
Cainiao
AliExpress's own logistics network. Usually the FIRST leg of a shipment's journey, before handoff to a local last-mile courier such as Evri or Yodel for final delivery.
carrier_name (AliExpress field)
AliExpress's own carrier_name field usually reports a shipping SERVICE (e.g. "AliExpress Standard", "Selection Premium"), not the courier that actually delivers the parcel. The tracking-ID prefix is the reliable signal — carrier_name on its own is not.
eBay API & fees
eBay Finances API
The API that returns a seller's TRUE net earning — sale amount minus selling fees minus ad fees minus any dispute debits. Different from, and more accurate than, the gross price shown by the Fulfillment/Order API.
totalDueSeller / totalFeeBasisAmount / totalMarketplaceFee
Fields available directly on the Fulfillment API's order object. Used as an earnings ESTIMATE fallback for orders whose eBay Finances data hasn't posted yet — not as reliable as the Finances API itself, but better than showing nothing.
AD_FEE
The Promoted Listings advertising charge on a sale. Appears in the eBay Finances ledger as a NON_SALE_CHARGE transaction, separate from the standard selling fee — and can post before the SALE transaction itself settles.
Late Shipment Rate (LSR)
An eBay seller-performance metric that penalizes late or missing tracking uploads. High LSR quietly throttles listing visibility — accurate, on-time tracking is the cheapest way to protect it.
AliExpress order ID formats
Compound AE Order ID
When one eBay sale requires multiple AliExpress orders (a multi-item purchase, a split shipment), the two AE order IDs are written together as "ID1 / ID2". Naive single-ID parsing silently drops the second order.
16-digit vs 19-digit AE Order ID
AliExpress order IDs come in two lengths, and the tracking/detail API responses differ slightly between them. Handling only one format silently drops orders in the other.
Every definition on this page reflects real eBay Finances / Fulfillment API and AliExpress Open Platform behavior as implemented in Fetch Order Tracking — not a generic dictionary. If you're building your own tracker, these are the fields worth checking first.
Stop mapping these fields by hand.
Fetch Order Tracking already resolves every term on this page — automatically, into your Google Sheet.
Start free trial →