Sign-in to Contact Seller, or Leave Feedback... even when already signed in... is this new?

[cheerindigo]

About the same time as the sign-in redirect scare happened over the past week, I noticed eBay now asks for me to sign in when I choose to Contact Seller from an item page (not at first, only after the saying 'no' to the suggested answers and asking for actual contact).   Even though I'm already signed in, and can bid and buy with no problem.  Also, I just noticed, it requires sign-in for leaving feedback.

I don't remember either one of these requiring an extra sign-in step, but especially the Contact Seller, which was a simple thing last time I tried it (only a few weeks ago).

Does this happen for everyone?  Is it new?  Has it been discussed elsewhere?  Thanks for any personal experience or insight you can offer.  I mainly want to make sure it's not some malware trying to get me to sign in so it can grab my sign-in info.

[mudshark61369]

@cheerindigo,

if you are worried about the login message being a redirect. Save the item to your watch list, then log off the site and back on again.  That way if the message was real you should be able to send the message securely. 

As to why the message was received, it could be if you use more than one device to access ebay, or if you do it from several locations (IP) addesses.  Using different browsers may trip ebay's security bots as well. If you use Chrome, it often causes conflicts with ebay's programs.  Try another browser.

[cheerindigo]

I appreciate your reply, but I'm not sure why no-one is willing to simply answer my question, instead of posing hypothethicals... no, I don't use more than one device or from several IP addresses or browsers or Chrome.  And nothing has changed with my set-up.

Again, the question was: do others experience a request to sign in those cases also, even when already signed-in?

I don't see how logging off and on again would change anything, maybe you're misunderstanding what is happening.  It's already asking me to re-sign-in even though I'm signed in.  At this point, I don't feel safe signing in at all anyway, until I reassure myself that things are as they should be.  Part of that will come from feedback from others about how eBay is responding to them in the same circumstance.

[cherry*fizz]

I haven't contacted a seller but I did leave some feedback yesterday and I did not have to sign in again. If it matters I was cycling through my 3 selling IDs so I had just signed in to the account I was using to leave feedback about 3 screens prior to leaving it. 

I just tested the contact seller by looking up one of my listings on a selling ID and sending myself a question. I did not have to sign in for that either. Again if it matters I signed into this ID this morning after cycling through my selling IDs, been signed in for a couple of hours. 

[cheerindigo]

Thanks, that's odd.  I wonder if it matters how long it's been since you've last signed in, maybe it requires it every so often (I just leave mine signed in).  And yet, it doesn't ask me to sign in again to bid, which it seems like it would, if it's asking for it for Contact Seller and Leave Feedback.

Also, FWIW, you can test the Contact Seller on a random item from someone else, just don't follow through at the very end.

[pburn]

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@cheerindigo wrote:

Thanks, that's odd.  I wonder if it matters how long it's been since you've last signed in, maybe it requires it every so often (I just leave mine signed in).  And yet, it doesn't ask me to sign in again to bid, which it seems like it would, if it's asking for it for Contact Seller and Leave Feedback.

Also, FWIW, you can test the Contact Seller on a random item from someone else, just don't follow through at the very end.

---

I haven't experienced any of the issues you've described. 

Salient points:

• I'm using the pc version with an Acer laptop, Windows 10 and a Chrome browser.
• I stay signed all the time, too, and only have to sign in again if I've cleared my cookies between visits. 
• I visit the site quite frequently, so I can't speak to what happens after not visiting for, say, a month.
• I've left feedback very recently and did not have to sign in a second time.
• I've contacted a seller very recently and did not  have to sign in a second time.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but perhaps another member can be--like @berserkerplanet. He's the resident guru . . .

[pburn]

I see @berserkerplanet replied to you about a different issue on the "Virus Threat Message" on the Technical board yesterday, so perhaps you're already familiar with his expertise . . .

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Virus-threat-message/m-p/29207240#M51360

[berserkerplanet]

I don't have to sign in to contact seller either (at least so far), but as I mentioned elsewhere, sign ins pop up for a lot of other eBay actions randomly where they did not in the past such (create shipping label, view or change some eBay site settings, list an item, sometimes loading seller hub pages, etc).

There isn't much rhyme or reason to it since I can add items to the cart or bid on auctions without ever having to re-sign in, so it isn't just money or settings related criteria.

What particular actions result in having to sign in again seem to differ for everyone.

[cheerindigo]

Thanks!  That's the kind of feedback I was looking for.

It may just be chance that it happened for the first time for me right when the redirect virus flag issue came up, but it's enough to make me very wary.  Some seem to have never had to sign-in again though, so it makes me wonder what makes you and I different (for at least some of the actions that require it).

You say "where they did not in the past"... can I ask how long ago that started happening for you?

Is there another existing thread you know of where this has been discussed?

Thanks again, feedback like this is invaluable when you're trying to troubleshoot something!

[cheerindigo]

Thanks.   So it does seem to vary among users.  My best guess would be (assuming it's a timing thing) that it wouldn't depend on how often a user visits the site, but how long it's been since they last signed-in.   Sort of analogous to the way a bank website will time you out after a certain period of inactivity for security, but with eBay giving you a longer time period.  Otherwise, the different behavior among users is hard to explain.  It shouldn't matter what OS or browser you're using, I wouldn't think.

Hoping for more data points or insights to fill in the picture, but thanks for taking the time to share.

[berserkerplanet]

It was just chance that it popped up with the redirect warning (as were the other coincidences you mentioned there).

In the past for me would have been maybe a year ago? Prior to that logged in was logged in and only sign ins came after some number of days that seemed random and were one time (basically just stayed signed in for x number of days mostly). Then eBay started changing pages and the recurring random signins came with the changes. It's a security measure on eBay's part - probably because of mobile devices (suspect they are might trying to head off man-in-the middle attacks or some other sort of token based exploits) and when certain "important" actions are requested ask for login again (ie: "is that really you and not someone who hijacked your current logged in session somehow?")

sort of relevant but a worse problem
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Ebay-logs-me-out-over-and-over/m-p/29207831

(I can't find any others searching the forums unfortunately. Totally failing signin issues dominate(d), with a few complaining about having to sign in to leave feedback, etc, but can't recall them exactly)

[eburtonlab]

@cheerindigo

eBay made some changes to the sign-in page over the summer, and there was a spate of posts from people having problems with the new page. But there are messages from before that indicating some folks were having to sign in again to leave feedback.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Have-to-log-in-to-leave-feedback/td-p/27649615

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/SIGN-IN-ISSUES/td-p/28757416

A lot of the issues were apparently related to cookies -- either browsers rejecting cookies, or corrupted cookies (some, no doubt, exacerbated by eBay's changes), and problems with password managers not playing well with new sign-in page.

[cheerindigo]

Thanks, I realize chance is a possibility, but it was so many "firsts" all at once at the same time.

I still don't understand the item I'd bought and paid for (but not received yet) being deleted from the site this week, with eBay saying "We had to remove this listing from the site and you're not required to complete the transaction. If you've already sent payment, the sale should process as normal and you don't have anything to worry about."  Looking at other old posts here, it looks like people have gotten similar messages, but with the reason being that the person's account was hijacked.  Did they just stop adding that tidbit, or is something different?  Why so cryptic?  Did the listing maybe contain some malware?  Etc. ... it's getting to be a minefield out there, with few guideposts.  When it seems like several mines have gone off at once, I feel like I can't be too careful, given the downside if someone hijacks my account, or worse.

I do appreciate your input.  I just wish eBay itself was as helpful.

[cheerindigo]

Again, thanks.

It may very well be cookie-related, but why, with as many people having problems as there have been, can't eBay have someone post an official response here explaining what's going on?   And maybe anytime the sign-in page pops up unexpectedly, a short blurb on that same page explaining why (as in "For security, we need you to confirm sign-in since it's been x days and y hours")... something that only eBay would know and confirms that it's coming from and was triggered by eBay.

A pessimistic view of the cookie-clearing solution:  that makes you sign-in anew after the clearing, so the man-in-the-middle gets your sign-in credentials after all, and has no further need to pop up bogus sign-in prompts, so that stops, making you think it was the cookie-clearing, when really it was the forced new sign-in?

If it really is all eBay's design, and intentional, this comment from one of the threads you linked says it all: "I can spend hundreds of dollars without logging in again, but I have to log in again to leave feedback. Someone does not have their priorities straight."

[lady_madonna]

Ebay also makes me sign in again when reporting a listing.