What Exactly Is "An Error"?

By the time you get ten replies you'll probably have ten slightly different answers. In my opinion, errors are unintentional. Varieties are repeated. There is such a thing as a Variety/Error, but it has to be exactly the same on each coin.

A coin struck multiple times.
Yes with one small exception, several collector coins are deliberately struck multiple times.

A coin struck on the wrong planchet.
Yes that is an error.

A doubled die (like 1955, or 1972 cents).
No this is OT an error coin, it is a die variety. The DIE is an error, the coins are not.

Is a blank planchet an error?
No, it is exactly what it is supposed to be. It just shouldn't have gotten out.

Is a grease filled strike an error?
I would say yes, because every one is a little different, even from the same die pair.

Is a strike through a foreign object an error?
Yes, because once again they are all different.

Is a coin with "trails" an error?
No, the trails are a result of cleaing/polishing of the die. It would be a die stage.

Is a clipped planchet an error?
Yes, either a clipped planchet or a coin struck on a clipped planchet.

Is a die break (crack) an error?
No, it is a die stage. (Ever coin is a variety, the product of a given pair of dies. If the dies crack or break they are still the same dies and the same variety, just a later die stage.)

So, probably more than half of ebay listings with "error" in the title are not actually errors?

302132051215
201712133719
282247330784

and, LOL....
252625960291

It is from a die, but I wouldn't call it a variety. The event that made this is not from a hubbing issue, or a mint mark punching issue. More like a die gouge or some event that created that on the die. If the die were polished, it could come off the die. While a variety is set deeper into the die.

Also for search purposes, they may include variety and error because someone may search using one term or the other.

if only I could have some luck like that nice coin.

The title of an ebay listing is not a description of the item (there is a large space provided for that). The title is a series of words that gives a good idea of what the item is while putting in enough key words that people searching will find that particular item.

Another parallel example is using the term "wheat penny." True, they are cents not pennies but people search for pennies far more than cents, so not putting penny in the title would be costing you potential buyers.

But there is a line where someone is purposefully misleading in the title. For example, using the phrase "key date" for every cent no matter the date on the end of a "shotgun" roll for sale.

So while errors and varieties are different things, to most folks and as noted ebay itself, there are just errors. Thus my opinion is that you should put a variety coin in the category "errors," and use the word "error" in the title if you wish, while keeping the description as accurate as possible to the item at hand.