Is the website being sluggish for anyone else?
I'm encountering painfully slow page uploads, doesn't matter whether it's in my account or public-facing pages, in fact I first noticed it while doing some shopping late last night. Probably a coincidence but I happen to remember it was soon after I watched 1:59 AM turn into 3:00 AM.
I've cleared my cookie/site data, even restarted my computer. And I'm not seeing sluggishness on any other websites, just eBay.
Anybody else?
EDIT: Oh now it's doing THIS. I literally cannot get to my own feedback page! 🤣
28 comments
gurlcat
OP6 months agoHa it's always fun finding one of the 'locals' out in the wild. Here's a Reddit post, with the answer being given by our own @eburtonlab -unsurprisingly.
jonathanbrightlight
·6 months ago@gurlcat Thanks for the update! I would not have thought of that, and now I can suggest other users check that if they report a similar issue!
gurlcat
OP6 months ago@jonathanbrightlight I swear I don't remember eBay having trouble with ABP but again it must be something I learned far enough back that I just don't remember it anymore. For many years it was the only blocker I used, until maybe 2 years ago(?) when Youtube finally beefed up their anti-block software too much for ABP to block commercials. After only a couple days of that hell, I went to Reddit and learned about UBO, which so far is still stronger than Youtube's, but only if you DON'T have ABP on there too.
Anyway I can feel myself getting extremely boring, sorry. 🤣 But yeah, maybe just add "play around with any ad blockers you have" to the tool belt of help offerings.
gurlcat
OP6 months agoOMG I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!
@books_n_more I don't know why this didn't occur to me even after seeing your reply, but just now I got a fuzzy memory from a few days ago, when I looked away from the screen for a while, and when I looked back, my AdBlock Plus window was open, like this:
Like I had probably accidentally opened it by barely touching the trackpad with the cursor on the icon or something. Now, I actually use 2 different ad-blockers; this one and uBlock Origin, but not both on every site (one or the other causes problems on this or that site). I couldn't recall any problem with either blocker on eBay, and thinking I must have accidentally switched ABP 'off' at the same time that I opened that window, I just switched it back on. It happened very fast while I was distracted; I don't even remember if eBay was my current open tab, but now I'm pretty sure it was, AND apparently eBay must be one of the sites I realized couldn't handle ABP long ago, long enough to forget.
Anyway sorry if all that's confusing and pointless. Long story short: I decided to try switching it OFF just now, and it totally worked, fast page uploads again! I even double-checked by turning it back on again, and sure enough, slowpoke nightmare.
So anyway, thanks everybody for the help, and maybe this will help somebody else as well. uBlock Origin causes no trouble on eBay, but AdBlock Plus definitely bogs it down!
jonathanbrightlight
·6 months ago@gurlcat
There's a number of possible causes that could still be local to your machine or network, even if other pages work well. I'd probably start by clearing your site data for ebay.com in Firefox. That should be as simple as clicking the lock icon next to the website address and choosing the option to "Clear cookies and site data" (just make sure you have the username and password, since it'll force you to log in again after doing that).
gurlcat
OP6 months agoYes this was the first thing I tried. It usually works wonders but not this time.
jonathanbrightlight
·6 months agoGotcha. The only other thing I've run into that caused slow page loading that could be different across sites is DNS issues. Are you familiar with DNS and how to change which DNS servers your computer is using? There's a number of public, free DNS services you could switch to (even if temporarily) to see if that helps.
lacemaker3
·6 months ago@gurlcat,
I was having problems with pages loading slow, and freezing, for quite a while now. Months.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I started to get error messages from my system settings, warning that my SSD (solid state drive, like a hard drive, it's my C: drive) is becoming "unreliable". I think that's the word that is in the messages. Running slow and freezing are the symptoms that are mentioned in the warning and when I researched it online.
So I started to take it easy on my laptop, hoping to keep it from getting worse or failing completely. I have started to put it to sleep when I am not using it, rather than leaving it on and running all the time. Also, I don't carry it around with me anymore, it stays on my desk. So it doesn't get vibrations or knocked around in my backpack. I also did a full backup to an external hard drive, so I won't lose any data or files if it crashes.
Since I started that, I haven't experienced the slow page loading or pages freezing.
I have gotten a replacement SSD, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet.
I don't know if your problem is the same as mine, but it's possible. You could try shutting your computer down when you're not using it, and not carrying it around if it's a laptop. See if that helps at all. Make sure your backup is up to date, and do backups regularly.
gurlcat
OP6 months ago@lacemaker3 But were you having the slow loading/freezing on other sites or just eBay? I'm having no issues anywhere but here.
I do have a really old Macbook. Never take it anywhere so it's in fine physical shape, but I don't reboot it very often. This is not the time/place to bring up a big question but I am always afraid to ask anyway: what people mean when they say "do a backup." I have an iCloud account so I think(?) some things are automatically backed up there, but I don't know what all.
EDIT: 'nother thing I suddenly feel stupid asking, but when you say you put it to sleep when you're not using it, what do you mean? I remember way back when I had a desktop I would put it in sleep mode, and there was even a key on the keyboard just for that. But I've never seen that on any of the several laptops I've had. I always assumed closing all browsers/files/etc and simply folding the screen down puts a laptop to 'sleep.' Am I wrong?
lacemaker3
·6 months ago@gurlcat, it was mostly on eBay but then I was mostly on eBay at the time. So that was where I was going to notice it, right? When it was worst, I did notice it on other sites as well.
I would suggest that you either shut your macbook down or put it to sleep, for a while every day. Let it cool down and stop working for several hours at least, when you can. Overnight if possible. Computers, especially older ones, can get very hot inside and the heat is not good for the electronics if it gets very high.
Try doing this once, and see if it helps with the slow page loading. It did for me, so I have kept on putting it to sleep overnight. That's not a full reboot, but it works. I haven't gotten the error message for several days now, and pages are loading quickly.
The error message I was getting would report the internal temperature, although it was not really high enough to be an issue. The computer expert I consulted said the message is a warning of future problems, but the specifics indicated that it was not failing yet. She said the SSD could be replaced, and that I should look for a replacement, so I did.
My laptop is running WIN-11, so it's a completely different operating system to a macbook. You may not get the same kind of message because it is generated by the operating system. I have no experience with a mac since I had an Apple back in the early 1990's (that was before laptops). But, the electronics in a macbook will be very similar, and the potential failure modes as well.
You can backup to the cloud, but if you're not actively doing it, then it may be out of date. Using an external drive is more secure, and you will always have access to it. You probably don't need more than a 1 or 2 TB (terabyte) drive, and they're fairly cheap these days. 2 TB is 2,000 GB (gigabytes). Check the capacity of your main hard drive, and how much of it you're using, to figure out how much space you need. An older macbook might have 256GB or 512GB capacity, and the external drive should be at least double the capacity. (FYI, if your drive is almost full, that can make the computer run slow as well.)
Here's the information from Apple on how to do a backup: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102307
Basically, you just use a USB cable to plug the external drive into a USB port on your macbook. Then you will have a folder for the external drive, just like you can open a folder on the internal drive to see your files. I'm sorry, I don't know exactly how macbooks are organized, but I think this should all be pretty similar, although some of the terms may be different.
Open the main folder with all your documents, files and pictures, and copy it into a folder on the external drive called "Backup 2026-03-xx" with the date of the backup in the folder name. It will take a while to copy everything, figure a couple of hours. You can still use the computer to do other things while it is copying.
You should do backups regularly. If your system crashes, you can restore all your files and documents up to the date of your last backup, so you would only lose your most recent stuff that hasn't been backed up yet. So you decide what schedule makes sense for you. Maybe once a week? Or after a big listing or photographing session, so you don't lose your pictures and descriptions?
Take care of the external drive and keep it in a safe, secure place. Don't move it while it is active, and always be sure to stop the drive before you unplug the USB cable. If you disconnect it while it is running, it can corrupt the data or physically damage the disc. A hard drive literally has a disc inside that spins, so you can hear it working and feel it vibrating. Stop the drive and wait for it to wind down and stop vibrating before you disconnect it or move it.
As for putting it to sleep, basically, it shuts the computer down, but it maintains your current session in the background, so when you start it up again, it goes back to where you were, with all your windows and browsers open that were open when you put it to sleep. If you shut it down or restart it, then it starts up again with a brand new session with no windows or browsers open.
Yes, most laptops will either go to sleep or shut down if you close the screen down onto the keyboard, that's usually the default setting. But with a Windows machine you can choose what you want it to do and when, by changing the settings. Sometimes they are set to go to sleep after so many minutes of inactivity, in order to save the battery. And if you use the mouse to go to Start > Power, then you can choose from: Lock, Sleep, Shut down or Restart. So I do Start > Power > Sleep to put mine to sleep.
The process is similar for a mac. Google AI says:
"Yes, Macs are designed to go to sleep to save energy while remaining on, allowing for an instant wake-up compared to a full shutdown. Users can trigger sleep via the Apple menu, by closing a laptop lid, or automatically through inactivity settings. It is generally recommended to use sleep instead of shutting down daily."
sreu3058
·6 months agoI came here because I am experiencing the lag time between ending a listing and it showing in inactive - same thing that happened February 28, when the listing *poofs into the twilight zone and I have that mild panic annoying thought ‘oh crud is it deleted do I have to redo this dumb listing ‘
books_n_more
·6 months agoI have noticed it can be slow on a laptop if ad-block is turned on.
dirk12955
·6 months agoLate yesterday and last evening the site was slow and glitchy
considerably more so than normal.
Pages slow to load and problems switching from
one account to another.
Everything seems back to normal this AM.
meme6253
·6 months agoI wish I could reply in slow motion.
simply-the-best-for-you
·6 months agoNo problems here & I was on & off all night & same today. Likely your provider, as many of them advertise much faster rates than people actually clock them at. I'm on the dreaded Century Link, but I have fiber, so it's all instantaneous here & was all night.
gurlcat
OP6 months agoIf it was my provider, wouldn't I have more trouble with things like Youtube videos buffering, etc. Like things that take more bandwidth than simple page uploads? eBay is the only website acting up for me.
toomuchstuffagain35
·6 months agoI haven't been having any issues with ebay on Chrome (except for the now and then Chrome/ebay not talking to each other glitch) but it's been painfully slow using ebay on FireFox for a while now.
gurlcat
OP6 months agoInteresting, I AM on Firefox but this just started night-before-last. I use my other eBay account exclusively on Safari, partly just so I don't have to log out/in between the two. Anyway I just checked and it's fast/smooth over there, awesome but that's the account I use only for buying.
roccotacodad54
·6 months agoThe advice on external hard drive backup by lacemaker3 is very good advice. I learned the hard way after losing everything once.
I even put the install exes. for software on mine to make it easy to reinstall if one gets glitchy and I want to uninstall and reinstall it.
I keep all my photos on one, just drag n drop from phone plugged into a different port. I keep all my music files on another. I just plug it into a USB port and bluetooth to whatever source. If the internet goes down for some unforseeable reason I still have access to all my stuff..........................................
simply-the-best-for-you
·6 months agoYeah, it should affect most things when it's your provider, more or less, there's load to be considered as well, but in general, yes. The one you selected as Best Answer though, I have used Ad Block for years & eBay has been instantaneous for me during the time period you cited, so I doubt very much Ad Block is causing a slow down, though of course it may depend on which ad block product you use.
ETA: Oops, hadn't read to the end, but I can tell you I use AdBlock Plus & eBay runs instantaneously for me, but again, I'm on fiber, so if you're on a slower method, perhaps then Adblock Plus may slow you down. On Win 11, Chrome with it, for many years, it has never slowed me down.
gurlcat
OP6 months agoYes AdBlock and AdBlock Plus are totally separate products.
simply-the-best-for-you
·6 months agoI wasn't aware. MIne is the free version of AdBlock Plus. What's the difference? I would have thought simply an earlier version.
gurlcat
OP6 months agoI see various comparisons on Google.
itsjustasprain
·6 months agoI cannot see the whole context of that screenshot - but was it maybe trying to show only feedback for prior sales of THAT item?
roccotacodad54
·6 months agoNo problems here either with slow loading etc.
shire123
·6 months agoNope. Normal speed here in Wisconsin
12345jamesstamps
·6 months agoI was bidding on my iPhone last night before the one hour ahead.
Didn't see anything wrong but the spring forward one hour last night does disrupts 'auctions'.
With the 3 time zones...everything was moving up one hour...including your auctions.
I hope you past forward one hour today...😆
gurlcat
OP6 months agoWell the thing is, Daylight Savings Time is fully complete now, but I'm still having the slow page loading.
EDIT: Also the U.S. has 4 time zones, not 3. 😉