Question
As of some time yesterday evening Ebay has shut out most Mac users from even signing in to their site! When I try to log in I get a stupid Browser Error about Cookies. I have cookies enabled, have the latest browser possible for my machine, and have no problems anywhere else on the net.
I thought it was just folks like me with dinosaur machines- I am using an ancient iMac with an old operating system. But the ebay discussion boards have postings from people with the later systems and they are having the same problems. IE will simply not work and Netscape freezes because of some security problem. Safari is also affected.
So, if you are short on bidders today it might be because ebay decided at least some of us are unwelcome.
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I have an emachines I bought last year and running XP and IE6 and have been having that problem ALOT. I finally figured out if you UNCHECK the "keep me signed in even if I won't do it for you" box I get less errors.
Not limited to Mac users, it's everybody
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I'm not a Mac user, either, but I've been getting a ton of page errors when trying to check my My eBay pages and even when surfing. A couple of auctions I had to try 5 or 6 times just to view them.
I think eBay's made more 'improvements'.
(Really not funny.)
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I think this is different today. I have not been able to get into ebay any of the times I have tried on either of the browsers I have. The whole day! It says the problem is the browser won't allow cookies but even if I don't check the remember me box, it still won't log me in. I can't view my ebay, I can't bid, I can't even see closed auctions so I can't do research! I am very frustrated. I do have the option to kick my daughter off her computer and use the other machine but that is such a lame answer to a really unnecessary problem.
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I am finally able to get onto ebay thanks to a poster on the ebay boards who recommended another browser. I downloaded Mozilla and that works. What a waste of a day. The list of problems at ebay is horrible since mid Oct. I found so many complaints on the technical board at ebay. The frustration level is very high. Not just with Mac users but with everyone. I guess this is business as usual?
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This all in the midst of their Holiday Campaign...
We got the call today. Nice lady, fun too. But, was likely getting paid by the call cause it was quick. With a follow up email that didn't come!
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eBay says they are optomized for IE, and while that makes sense if you are a small company and want limited sales, it does create problems for anyone else using anything but the latest version of IE.
And as we all well know, sometimes even using an up to date IE browser does not prevent problems. Because eBay is such a huge jumble of code and eccentricities to begin with, and has different functions on different servers, it is not unusual for me to have to sign in several times in a session as I go from bidding to selling, to searching and finally to my account balance, etc.
We used to hear from the million or so WebTV people, and they were bidders on my auctions in the old days, but the browser they used was written off by eBay. WebTV also morphed into MSN TV and their units used a streamlined version of IE and, even so, these customers, too, were in a constant fury over their inablility to use eBay. For the record, no other major site gives MSN TV customers hiccups the way eBay does.
I am now on my iMac G5 using the standard mac Safari browser. I had found that my old iMac with OS 8.6 was unable to function on a good deal of the web and replaced it 10 months ago with this model which uses OSX. In the computer world, it is just something you have to do, willingly or not.
I also use InkFrog for listings and such, and found that my problems with them stopped once I upgraded.
I also think it is important to take all the browser updates, and have other browsers downloaded and ready to use, though I rarely stray from Safari.
I hope the problems correct themselves, as they often do, though it does not hurt to report them as it is the squeaky wheel that gets the tech's attention. While Apple tends to fix things right away, Microsoft puts them in a line up, and fixes things only when enough people are complaiining.
As to how eBay handles problems that users report, I doubt anyone really reads them.
Different cultures.
Larry
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I use IE, and have been having problems with staying signed in lately.
With both a bidding ID and a selling ID, I sign in and out a lot anyway, but eBay keeps logging me out even when I'm supposed to be signed in.
Example:
I sign out with my selling ID, and sign in with my bidding ID.
I place a bid using a bidding ID.
eBay thinks I'm still under my selling ID, so I have to click the "not you?" link and sign in again under my bidding ID.
Then somebody buys something from my store and I need to send an invoice.
So I sign my bidding ID out, and sign in my selling ID.
I click the button on the e-mail to send an invoice.
"You are not the seller." -- even though I'm supposed to be signed in under my selling ID.
Sign out again.
Sign in again under my selling ID.
Finally eBay believes I'm the seller.
Then I need to leave feedback for a buyer, but eBay thinks I need to sign in ... again.
Arrggh!
I doubt I could snipe something even if I wanted to!
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I'm on an iMac G5 (Safari) as well. Have had no problems at all navigating eBay lately.
I Was on an old Mac Centris 650 (25 mhz! OS 8.1 w/Netscape 3.0 java off) up until about 3 months ago. I could get around ebay and even sell okay but the pages had a little different look and some pages would freeze and loaded rather slow.
I was very stubborn about upgrading, but I'm glad I finally did. now that I'm used to the slight differences in the new OSX interface, I actually like it much better. Just a few minor annoyances. I'm actually excited about all the new things I can do and the iMac is very visually appealing. Having the monitor and computer combined into one FLAT unit saves sooo much space. The USB serial bus is also much easier and more efficient than the old SCSI bus too.
I got it on ebay and found that the money I was saving made me able to afford a 20" screen instead of the 17" I thought I would have to buy at the computer store. It took me a few auctions to get it but I was able to procure one (new in box) at the price I was willing to pay. There was no shortage of them to bid on but I did have to compromise a little by buying a first generation unit, giving up some speed (1.8 mhz vs 2.6) and a smaller hard drive (160G vs 260G) to get the bigger screen. The Centris only had 2G! Had I been a little more patient I probably could have got the later model within my budget.
The coolest thing is being able to record my 600+ blues and jazz LP collection into iTunes and having it all on the computer to record CDs, listen to as I work, download to an iPod, etc. It's so wild to think that what would have taken me 10 trips carrying HEAVY boxes totaling 100s of pounds and filling my car, I will soon be able to pop in my shirt pocket and take with me (and listen to) at will.
Sorry to turn the thread into a Mac commercial, carry on!
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Using a Mac G4 - the same one for several years, now. Generally use Mozilla 1.0.7, but have had no problems with Ebay pages with any browser.