Another missing feature on this forum
Summary: Participants discussed frustrations with the forum's handling of old threads, suggesting automatic closures for outdated discussions. tobaccocardyahoo expressed annoyance at reviving old threads, while stuff4divas and others shared experiences with reporting without results. dhbookds suspected automated postings by a seller's AI, mentioning spam from a listing program. The conversation highlighted challenges in following thread flow and understanding forum changes, with several participants noting difficulties with new discussions and adjusting to updated features. Concerns about moderator activities and AI's role in the forum management were also voiced.
I am getting very tired of seeing necrothreads revived and reading and writing responses to long gone posters.
Add to the missing features on this forum, the automatic closure of threads with signs of old age and dementia.
And add to the list of mod functions, manual closure of reported threads.
bennotbill
·1 month ago · Editedtobaccocardyahoo said
"I am getting very tired of seeing necrothreads revived and reading and writing responses to long gone posters."
One good reason for that is it's probably this forums fault/design.
When I look at the top where it says "Related discussions", the three examples are usually old threads. On one thread I noticed the "Related discussions" were 2-5 years old.
dhbookds
·1 month agoBetter half pointed this out.............note dates on "related discussions" on the right. So ebay is making it easy/encouraging the old threads to be pulled up.......
lacemaker3
·1 month ago · Edited@tobaccocardyahoo , Here's an example of a necro thread. It was started a year ago, and the latest reply was just an hour ago (as of about 9:45 EDT 7/12/2026).
https://community.ebay.com/forum/buying-57914/topic/usps-ground-advantage-with-no-tracking-number-170672/
However, I think it has now been locked, presumably it must have been reported as old.
I don't see any way to reply to that thread any more. There is no blue Comment button, and no Reply link on any of the comments. Or is that just me? Can anyone else post on that thread at this point?
redmodelt
·1 month agolacemaker3
·1 month ago · EditedThanks, @redmodelt , I missed that. It's definitely locked then.
grann-4629
·1 month agoThere are no mods here ... it's all AI.
lacemaker3
·1 month ago · Edited@grann-4629 , yes, there are mods here.
For example: mod-xarain https://community.ebay.com/u/mvw4zz/#/discussions has made 3 posts, one warning about a heated discussion, and 2 closing old threads.
Also, mod-paul also posted on this thread to close it, but their board profile is set to private https://community.ebay.com/u/mnbj36/ so it gets the "Page not found" error message.
https://community.ebay.com/forum/selling-57920/topic/time-away-feature-465468/?focus_post=1786028
There are a bunch of other mod accounts as well.
grann-4629
·1 month agoHow do you know they are real humans ... AI is tricky and can imitate a human when writing something or answering a question?
Not a conspiracy theory, just a strong 'suspicion' based on the increasing use of AI by eBay and comments made by others who are 'more in the know' than I am, and comments made by the forum owners when outlining the new forum referencing the use of AI here.
lakefor94
·1 month agoI have been thru worse. I will take it.
muddylas
·1 month ago · Edited@tobaccocardyahoo Actually, I would love to see a full list of Mod "Function Guidelines" in this new forum and the degree of infractions before "appropriate" action is taken.
"POOF" the thread is gone, "your reply is / not) approved", etc..............
nyr134
·1 month agoLike @mtgraves7984 , I am really having trouble following the flow of comments. They are not sequential here. In the old format, if I looked at posts 1 through 8 on Tuesday, then when I next look on Wednesday, I was automatically taken to post 9 where I left off. Now on Wednesday I am taken back to the top and I struggle to see what’s new and what I have already read. It’s not an inviting space.
grann-4629
·1 month agoYeah ... too hard to follow any thread here and when you find yourself disagreeing with yourself in the same thread it's time to treat it as a place to just visit every now and then.
shado-x
·1 month ago · EditedI'm sick of getting emails telling me I have a "notification". We were able to disable that on the previous software.
participatrophy
·1 month agoMouseover your username → View profile → Updates
grann-4629
·1 month agoYou still use a mouse?
participatrophy
·1 month agoOnly when I want to get anything done 😉
redmodelt
·1 month agoEven with my laptop I use a mouse.
grann-4629
·1 month agoI thought with the touch screen technology, nobody uses a mouse or rollerball any more ... stuck in the 90's? 😎
roccotacodad54
·1 month agoNot stuck i n the 90's just don't like touchscreens all that much. I only have to clean my monitor screen once every now and then instead of fingerprints all the time.
Actually I miss my big old KDS monitor with the glass screen. Way easier to clean.............
gurlcat
·1 month ago@tobaccocardyahoo Even on the khoros forums the old thread closures were not automatic. They had to be either reported by a member or simply noticed by a mod scanning the feed.
It took extra long for a reported old thread (or even policy-violating comments) to get looked at and addressed by a mod in the wee hours of the night and on weekends.
I'm not yet sure whether it's the same here. For one thing, I don't see a bell notification when an old thread gets closed, like I did on the khoros forum. So it's kind of like the ole 'If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it" kind of thing.
I would say make a careful note of a specific thread the next time you report one as old, like write down the name of it, take a screenshot or something, and see how long it takes before it's no longer in the feed.
mtgraves7984
·1 month agoWell... you're better off than I am. I can't even understand how to follow the threads since it changed. I keep trying...
gurlcat
·1 month ago · EditedIt's like this:
(EDIT: &^%$^ damn it!! -Indents don't actually SHOW when we try to write them in posts, UGH!)
Sally says some stuffBob replies to Sally
Lisa also replies to Sally
Frank replies to Lisa
NEVER MIND!
I think one thing that makes it harder HERE than other places that use the threaded style is how pale the connecting line is. You can see it more clearly on Reddit for example. Like here's the r/ebay group. See that light gray line connecting reply-to-reply? It's pale but not as pale as the one here. I wish they would darken it, but right now I'm just so grateful they finally got PM's working.
dhbookds
·1 month agotake a look at who brings old threads back up...... If the topics are anything that can be "better" handled by 3D Seller listing program, a Posting id replies with that information couched in agreements of the problem stated. Some are replies to current posts, more than a few have brought old posts......one 4 yrs old. I've got a list of 8 IDs that have each posted more than 4 replies each in the last wk or so. No other type of posts. Since 3D is known for their AI, I've wondered if they have system to find/answer on applicable posts.
I sent the info to Devin on the 6th, never gotten an acknowledgement or reply.
dhbookds
·1 month agoHere's one on Seller's tool board..........last reply, a yr ago....except for the 3 d poster
https://community.ebay.com/forum/seller-tools-57919/topic/anybody-used-sellerskillscom-for-ebay-rip-off-of-sellbrite-but-much-better-they-have-gone-dark-147318/
gurlcat
·1 month agoWhat is a "3D" poster?
dhbookds
·1 month agoa poster that is touting the 3d listing program........
gurlcat
·1 month agoOMG. What is "the 3D listing program"???
participatrophy
·1 month ago3DSellers is the name of it. It's not even a proper program, just another cloud webapp platform thing. Bot farm has been spamming the boards with AI slop since like the 5th I think. Nothing seems to have come of the few I reported either. All laughably obvious ads meant to sound casual and genuine. There's something sad and almost kinda gross about it.
gurlcat
·1 month agoAh thank you, that does sound gross.
stuff4divas
·1 month ago · Editedagree, i clicked on the 'report' button for a few that were 3 yrs old, but don't know if they were removed or locked or ignored
tobaccocardyahoo
OP1 month agoI've done that with no visible effect.