The Meaning of C2C: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the meaning of the abbreviation C2C? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the acronym C2C, including its definition, usage, and more!

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

What does the acronym C2C mean?

According to Cyber Definitions, Investopedia, and United Opt, the term C2C is a shorthand that can either mean customer to customer or corporate to corporate (corp to corp). Customer to customer refers to a business model where two customers can trade with each other in an online environment such as Etsy, eBay or Craigslist. These are usually either auctions or classified advertisements. This slang term is used frequently when discussing these sorts of online auctions on the internet. Often, a company profits off of C2C business by collecting fees for facilitating the sale. An online auction site will often involve online interaction and simple conversations to facilitate bargaining and payment. A C2C platform has more potential customers as an online store or on e-commerce platforms than a brick and mortar store. These often let people pay with Paypal, a secure form of payment, or credit cards, but without the intermediaries. Buyers enjoy a C2C market because they can negotiate their prices and determine the quality of the products before purchasing. People usually find things to buy via search engines. Wholesalers, sellers, and vendors might have smaller margins on C2C websites but more opportunities for customers. Customers might benefit from the competition for products, or have the advantage of finding items that are hard to find in person. These exist in contract to B2C businesses, which stand for business to customer transactions, or B2B which stands for business to business.

There are a few different C2C sites that have risen in popularity over the years. First, there is Craigslist. Craigslist provides a platform that allows people to participate in  buying, selling, and trading products and also posts monthly classified ads, such as employment opportunities or property listings. Etsy is another online platform. This platform allows sellers to create their custom website and market their products to consumers. They also provide guidance and tools for growing your business at every stage of company development. They even have an app that helps to manage orders, listings, and customer queries efficiently. Finally, the next most popular site includes eBday which has both fixed-price items and auction items. The fixed price items are simply purchased, which auction items require people to place a bid on the different items. The  C2C market is projected to grow in the future because it eliminates a middle man and is very cost effective for companies. This may have a lack of quality control or payment guarantees and people are more likely to get scammed, but many sites have fail safes built into the website.

Corp to corp is a type of employment in which one corporation such as an LLC hires another corporation and pays the salaries of those employees for the work of another corporation. To work under a C2C style of business, the employee must have an S-corp or LLC. Then, they are given the same benefits as the full-time employees on payroll. There are different pros and cons for C2C positions. Some benefits are that you will not have to do tax paperwork for your employees, you get the opportunity to hire people. You are in theory self employed without paying self-employment tax, you receive government benefits and employee benefits. These might include health insurance, a retirement plan, sick leaves, medicare, and more. People in a C2C position include consultants, independent contractors, and more.  These employees might be hired through staffing or recruitment agencies.  However, these W2 employee types might not have the job security as a full time employee. This is the trade off for job security, and you may have to fill out your own tax form for IRS social security tax, have different legal responsibilities or legal liability for your employment taxes, for a different corp relationship when it comes to payroll taxes. 

According to The Free Dictionary, C2C has many other potential different meanings than customer to customer. These similar acronyms are still valid, but are used less frequently. If you do decide to use one of these alternate definitions, make sure that you provide the reader or listener with the proper context so that they can infer the correct meaning. When in doubt, use the full form of one of these similar terms rather than the shorthand.

  •  Concept to Customer
  •  Coast to Coast (walk)
  •  Cloud to Coast
  •  Capacity to Change (various organizations)
  •  Cash-To-Cash Cycle
  •  Chance to Choose (various organizations)
  •  Car to Car
  •  Carrier to Carrier Telecom (Netherlands)
  •  Cam to Cam (webcam)
  •  Colleague to Colleague (Kansas and Missouri; education)
  •  Client to Client
  •  Consumer to Consumer
  •  Caveman to Cosmos (gaming)
  •  Classroom to Classroom (various locations)
  •  Campus to Career (various schools)
  •  Care to Chat
  •  City 2 City (Singtel)
  •  Click to Call
  •  Cost to Company
  •  Couples 2 Couples
  •  Call to Consciousness (band)
  •  Consumer-to-Consumer (commerce)
  •  Cadet 2nd Class
  •  Car-to-Car (automotive technology)
  •  Courage to Care
  •  Containers to Clinics (Dover, MA)
  •  Check to Check (money transfer)
  •  Chance to Change (various organizations)
  •  Crude to Customer (energy value chain)
  •  Corner to Corner (Crochet)
  •  Community to Community (Association; Bellingham, WA)
  •  Cradle to Cradle (product design sustainability concept)
  •  Company-to-Company
  •  College to Corporate
  •  Command and Control Constellation
  •  Cheek to Cheek (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga album)
  •  Coil to Can (aluminum can manufacturing)
  •  Contract to Contract (employment)
  •  Connect to Community
  •  Computer to Computer
  •  Carrier to Carrier
  •  Center to Center
  •  Chip-to-Chip (computer chip design)
  •  Corp to Corp

Overall, C2C means either customer to customer or corporation to corporation. This abbreviation has many different meanings.

Sources:

  1. C2C – What does C2C stand for? | The Free Dictionary 
  2. What Is C2c And W2 And Types Of Positions In Usa W2 Vs C2c | United Opt 
  3. C2C | What Does C2C Mean? | Cyber Definitions 
  4. Customer to Customer (C2C) Definition | InvestopediaÂ