I'm seeing many descriptions in spanish lately
I'm seeing many, but not all, descriptions lately in spanish . I began seeing this just recently with many sellers I've bought from for years. Ebay's item page and the item specifics is all in english still. I've checked on 2 browsers and it's the same. So is this the sellers posting in spanish or some kind of glitch with ebay?
Below are 2 links where I see this. Curious if you see what I'm seeing?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267189911562
https://www.ebay.com/itm/167372389366
29 comments
dran8871
·1 year agoOne final throught....
Both times I could recal - this issue seems to have started AFTER I clicked on a google search result of an item meant to be displayed to spanish-speaking countries (.es version of the url/site).
Both. Times. So decided to investigate....
I created a quick virtual machine and guest account.
Google search something... click the shopping results (of google)... find an ebay result for something that - although listed by a US seller is "optimized by eBay" for Mexico-sourced searches and click that link. You will especially see ES/MX results (from Google) if you are on VPN networks from time-to-time (as I am) that google "ties" you to as "this person MIGHT want to see things for sale in Mexico".
Takes you to the spanish version of ebay (everything is in Spanish, including the description). Okay, no big deal - right?
Now go BACK to the US version of the website (manuallly enter www.ebay.com into your browser URL directly). Everything changes back to english - links, menus, buttons, etc. EXCEPT THE DESCRIPTION. It stays stuck in Spanish.
I have not tried this in other languages/regions... but for Spanish/Mexico this is the case.
If you get brought to an ebay listing via a google search result to the spanish-description-version of that item, it will lock all product descriptions into Spanish even after you return to the US based site.
eBay - if you are still watching this post, this is the "test case" that triggers the issue (for me at least). This procedure will reproduce the issue. If you DO fix this, can someone please post here on the forums that it is resolved? As of right now, I am no longer going to click on any more eBay search results EVER AGAIN from Google.
Also a side note... AliXpre55 has a similar bug where anytime you visit a Google search result meant to be seen from another country... it switches your entire account to that country/language/currency as well. Except with Ali, you can switch it back easily from the dropdown - you do not get locked in.
The back-end developers seem to have issues handling the URL structures and what session variables get set/reset based on such.
-Dean
dran8871
·1 year agoAnd just like that. Once again - the same exact thing happened.
Last time I had this issue and got on these forums to complain - the isuse "resolved itself" a few hours later.
I literally changed NOTHING. But re-visiting an item that was previously in Spanish, is now [back] in English this morning. On all browsers.
Same thing happened last time - I got on the forums and complained and a few hours later the problem magically went away. All descriptions stuck in spanish for well over a month now and just like that - the problem goes away after getting on these forums.
Somebody at eBay *is* reading these posts. And.. somebody at eBay is following up with the issues when WE make it known this issue is clearly on their end.
Once can be a coincidence. Twice?
** doing the famous Biden C'mon maaaaan **
dran8871
·1 year agoI feel your pain.
This started happening to me around 2024 and I can not get rid of the issue.
This is a PROBLEM WITH eBAY and it does not matter what your browser settings are, what the language setting is, etc.
Entire page is in english. Title, buttons, etc. But the sellers description is in SPANISH. Anyone else who visits the link will see the normal ENGLISH description. Even going to the link of sellers who are friends (send me the link to their items for sale) - who they personally SHOW ME ON THEIR PC is in English... shows SPANISH on ALL of my own computers when I am logged in.
Nowhere in my account do I have spanish set as a language. Yet eBay is converting all the descriptions to spanish.
I posted about this myself a year or so ago and it magically was fixed for a couple months... then came back.
So yeah - you are not alone, eBay has an issue with this.
dran8871
·1 year agoEBAY - FIX YOUR BROKEN GARBAGE.
This is among the many reasons I buy almost exclusively from Amazon. Slow buggy website.
Seriously.
It is NOT my addresses. It is NOT my language setting (yes, my country of residence is set to US). It is NOT my browser (multiple browsers on multiple computers have the same problem).
Same links to the same items - when viewed by ANYBODY ELSE - show english. I see pure spanish.
Fix it already... please. Or 2025 will be the year I finally close my eBay account.
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@campanaelia,
After reading what some others have suggested I looked closely at the English / Spanish links you posted yesterday. The item numbers are different. though both take me to the same listing.
English item number 286421622319
epid=235203726&itmmeta=01JQ80ZCX B86Q14DTADC8D8PCX&hash=item42b...
Spanish item number 286421631238
epid=243845170&itmmeta=01JQ80ZCX B6CZRR0PBRKMAF9F5&hash=item42b...
The epid= numbers are different as are the numbers after CX B86Q Eng. B6CZ Span. Those things make me wonder if they are coding for the listing to appear in two languages. I know nothing about that stuff and the only board member I know of who seems to understand things like that is @eburtonlab
Hopefully he'll see that I tagged him and can help us.
I also wonder if some sellers located in Ca. other states with a large Hispanic population, Ca. Tx. ... use an option to post in Spanish and/or on the Mexican site, that we are not aware of.
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@mudshark61369,
I don't think that's the explanation, because I still see all those descriptions in Englilsh, even with the same epid #, and all the rest of the code in the URL, as @campanaelia posted.
I also tried swapping the epid numbers in the links for those two listings, with no change. I still don't see any Spanish.
Those two auctions have both ended, so now the links redirect to the product page for those items. I had to add the &nordt=true code to stop it from redirecting (nordt means no redirect).
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@lacemaker3,
I too saw that both item numbers went to the same listing and were in English. I assumed that was because they had ended, but couldn't understand why one or the other would revert if it had been in Spanish.
"Those two auctions have both ended, so now the links redirect to the product page for those items. I had to add the &nordt=true code to stop it from redirecting (nordt means no redirect)".
Thanks for that info but I still have no idea of what it means. I'm not sure I want to anyway.
ittybitnot
·1 year ago@campanaelia
FWIW checking all three of the item number links, I see NONE of them in Spanish. Now, that is not to say I have NEVER seen it happen, because I have observed it in the past. It is often the same when I am presented with "advertisements" for products, vacations, Disney World etc. appearing in Spanish. I just wrote it off to "residing in S. FL" LOL, and the occurrences didn't persist.
I use a PC, WIN10 Pro, and Chrome.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoI found your problem. (i think) YMMV
Convert English to Spanish
Hopefully this resolves your issues.
campanaelia
OP1 year agoHuh, I don't understand the point of that link? But seriously is there a setting that would fix this issue? I am not fluent in spanish.
krazzykats
·1 year agoHow to Change Google Chrome Default Language: Mobile & PC
This is a WikiHow link to change the default language in Chrome.
I do not use Chrome, but hopefully it will solve the issue.
campanaelia
OP1 year agoAll my browsers have the default language in english, I am only seeing the spanish on ebay descriptions, no where else.
krazzykats
·1 year agoHave you been on or visited any pages in Spanish lately?
campanaelia
OP1 year agoNot that I recall, but sometimes when I google a product it will show the title in spanish on google but it usually opens in english if I click on it
krazzykats
·1 year agoAnd you scanned your device for any nasties?
Maybe it has something to do with the tariffs, I don't know, just making wild guesses...ðŸ˜
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@campanaelia,
All of the links you have posted were cleaned up; by that I mean that they ended after the item number, and only included the minimal information to define the webpage URL. But is that how the links looked when you landed on them the first time, and found the descriptions in Spanish?
Most of the time, eBay URLs include a lot of hash; additional text added on to the end of the URL that records a lot of encrypted information. This can include some of the history by which you reached that page. If you found the page through a search-engine link, then the hash can also include embedded information that relates to the original user on the search engine who encountered that page, and resulted in the page being crawled and entered into the search engine's database.
I think that the presence of that hash, which can apparently including language settings carried over from the original user that presented them with a partially translated page, is what causes you to see the partial translation as well.
If you continue to see the partial translation after you clean up the link and remove the hash, that could be caused because your browser is using a cached page (recorded from your first view of the page) to speed up page loading instead of waiting. At the risk of suggesting the obvious, it is possible that clearing your cache could help, if this is what is causing the problem.
However, I think there might be another way to try to clear the issue. Try opening one of the cleaned-up links, that has nothing in the URL after the item number. Presumably, you will still see the Spanish description. Then, do a hard refresh, and reload a fresh copy of the entire page. Theoretically, I think this should let you see the description as the seller posted it, without the unnecessary translation. If so, that would confirm what is happening.
Chrome:
Quick hard refresh can be done by using the following shortcut keys:
Windows/Linux:
Firefox:
Quick hard refresh can be done by using the following shortcut keys:
Windows/Linux:
Microsoft Edge:
Quick hard refresh can be done by using the following shortcut keys:
This is just a theory at this point. I can't test it, because I don't see the translated description.
campanaelia
OP1 year ago@lacemaker3
I finally got around to trying what you said and nothing has worked. Most descriptions are in spanish still. I cleared the ebay cookies and tried the hard reset as you suggested. I've tried on all 3 browsers installed and tried 2 different user id's.
Since the ebay page is set to english the browser translators do not work which would make it easier. But to have to copy and paste every description into google translate is too time consuming. This just started in the last week or so. Many of my saved sellers that I know are in english are in spanish now.
Below Are 2 links I didn't clean from the same seller, One is in english, one is in spanish. What makes them different?
Link in english:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/286421622319?epid=235203726&itmmeta=01JQ80ZCXB86Q14DTADC8D8PCX&hash=item42b00f1e2f%3Ag%3Aj%7E8AAeSwbUln2seI&LH_Auction=1
Link in spanish:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/286421631238?epid=243845170&itmmeta=01JQ80ZCXB6CZRR0PBRKMAF9F5&hash=item42b00f4106%3Ag%3A31cAAeSwGeRn2siZ&LH_Auction=1
lacemaker3
·1 year agoOK, it isn't because of the hash code then. Sorry, I can't reproduce this issue at my end. I am seeing English descriptions on both of those listings you just posted.
eBay seems to think you're in a Spanish-speaking country/region. I have seen some other posts where this seems to have happened, but I don't recall anyone figuring out what was really going on.
I recall one OP who was advised to try using a different network to log in, like at the library or something, instead of at his house. That seemed to work, and if so, that suggests that it may be related to your ISP.
FYI, in FireFox (and Edge, I think) I can just highlight text that is in another language, and then right click. One of the options is "Translate to English". So that's a good way to get a translation without having to copy and paste, or open a different tab or app. If it says "Translate to Spanish", click it anyway, you can change the destination language once the popup window is open. If you do that a number of times, eventually it will default to English.
Here's what I see for one you said was in Spanish, even with the hash code in the URL:
campanaelia
OP1 year agoI installed 2 different FF translation apps tonight, simple and immersive. Neither one worked so I deleted them. I honestly never saw so many glitches, what ever can go wrong, goes wrong at ebay.
ed8108
·1 year agoI don't speak Spanish ,perhaps I should learn , & avoid the possibility of being suspected of being a racist by some people
campanaelia
OP1 year agoHere is another item from a US seller that I see the description in spanish. Are you see the spanish description too? The rest of the page and title are in english
https://www.ebay.com/itm/187055244086
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoI don't see what you are talking about. Try a different browser.
campanaelia
OP1 year agoI've tried edge, chrome, and FF, they all show the pages the same as the screenshot in my OP. Here's another screenshot, different item
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoIt is something on your end. Here is the screenshot of the link you posted. I don't know if clearing your cache will help or not but worth a try.
campanaelia
OP1 year agook, thanks, that's all I wanted to verify. It's weird because it's only the decription part that's spanish, I would think it would be all or nothing in another language. I'll try rebooting my laptop tomorrow, it's prolly been more than a week since I have
krazzykats
·1 year agoI select the text then right click, select more... and use the "translate to English" from the Edge browser drop down.
campanaelia
OP1 year agoI always use firefox for ebay but just checked what you suggested on edge but since the ebay page is in english already that option does not translate the spanish.
I was mainly asking if you open the 2 links in my OP, do other users see the description in spanish also or is it just me.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoI see listings in many languages , if it isn't one I can speak or at least read, I use Google Translate.
I also use Google Translate to leave feedback for overseas customers in their own language because I think it is polite.
Dinna fash yersel'.
campanaelia
OP1 year agoYes, I'm very familiar with using google translate, but that is more time consuming too.
And normally when I use firefox I am given the option to translate the page on the address bar, but since the ebay page is in english already that option is not there. The spanish I'm seeing is only the sellers description as seen in my screenshot in my OP.
I thought it's weird because they are US sellers on the .com site I've bought from over the years many times and were always in english until recently.
I was mainly asking if you open the 2 links in my OP, do other users see the description in spanish also or is it just me.