Issues completing saved drafts

[tesstoys]

Several of my saved drafts are setting an error message (There was an Error) when I click on the RESUME DRAFT message.  When I click on OK, it just goes back to the Drafts page. 

I am assuming this is the latest glitch from ebay but just wanted to be sure. 

[jmpn4joy]

I have been having this problem too.  Never an issue before but right now I have 4 drafts that I cannot complete because they just error when I attempt to open them.  Would love some insight

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@tesstoys 

@jmpn4joy 

How old are your drafts? Really old? Limit is 3 months(90 days) before they expire. They may have been also adversely affected by recent update specifics tinkering done by eBay. If you do have drafts that you plan on using down the road, you can always open and close to restart the meter on them.

-Lotz

[tesstoys]

No these were only 1 week old...and I can't even get into them to fix item specifics, if that was the problem. 

[tesstoys · Accepted solution]

I actually just found a work around.  If I create a copy then I can get into the draft to finish it.  So weird. 

[tesstoys]

@jmpn4joy  I was just able to find a work around.  If you copy the draft, then the copy should work for you to be able to finish and list.  

[heathersthriftyfinds09]

That workaround isn't working anymore.   I have over 400 drafts (and I do keep them under 30 days so they aren't old) and they vary from old listings (complete with photo's) & newly created (title & price only).  I can access & make copies of my old (complete) drafts but the newly created (title only) will not allow access or copies. 

When I hit "resume draft"

"Looks like something's wrong. Please try again."

and when I try to copy:

"Something went wrong. Please try again."

Luckily it's just my incomplete drafts doing this so I don't have to hunt down & reload photo's but now I'm worried about making new drafts & have to spend time recreating 200 I already started 😞

[carlqsportscards]

I also get the "something went wrong" when I try to copy a draft. But if I just X out the box and then refresh, the copies are there.

Last week I also got error messages when I tried to list about half of my drafts. Lots of wasted time.

Last night I didn't have that part of the problem. Progress I guess?

[rarefirst]

still happening...novembe 16th. advised a ticket has been opened...no change.

[design2k]

Have same issue, have tried two days and different drafts; using Safari - will try chrome and if it reacts differently will add comment.

[dandan66]

Experiencing same exact problem w/ my account.... 3 saved drafts that are only one week old from creation, will not give me the option to "copy" and will only return an error message "Looks like something's wrong. Please try again" with an OK button.  Clicking "OK" button just sends me back to a home page, etc.   Any helps?   Called and reported 2x only to find out that the first two reps. did not even submit an IT ticket for help, both promised a call back and never did.  Third rep. assured me ticket is created... have yet to speak with a USA rep.   Thanks in advance for any helps from any direction.   DP

[rimtrim]

Same problem here. It only seems to happen with drafts that were created by doing a "Sell Similar" on a sold listing that has since expired out of the database. I sometimes do this as a workaround to hold onto a listing longer because I expect to list a similar/same item in the future. The "create a copy" method used to work for me as well, but it stopped working recently.

[rimtrim]

I found a new workaround that seems to work for me. This problem seems to happen when the draft was created from a sold listing ("Sell Similar") and the sold listing then expires from the database after 90 days. It's like some connection is maintained between the draft and the original listing, which is then broken when the listing expires.

My workaround is: when originally creating the draft, immediately create a copy, and delete the original draft. This seems to "detach" the copied draft from the original listing, so the draft still works after the listing expires.

For me, the root problem here is that eBay doesn't give us any way to export and save our old listings, particularly the eBay Motors Parts Compatibility data, which can be very time-consuming to create. Therefore, I have to mess around with drafts to extend the life of my expired listings. If I could dump my whole listings to a flat file and save them locally until I need them again in the future, that would be much better than anything I'm currently doing with drafts.

[bisbeeracing]

So, this thread was started 5 months ago & I've been fighting with making my drafts work during all this time with varying degrees of success. Today: No Drafts can be copied at all.

I always resist calling (or being called) by CS as that usually only adds to the time I've already wasted trying to get something to work. I tell CS the gist of the issues I've been having for weeks/months & he say's "I'll create a ticket" - which is one step worse than the "Known Issue" thing but basically the same.

Q: Is this an issue that does not effect all users? Browser issue? I'm on Firefox 86.0.1 Latest.

Like rimtrim I sell in Motors & fitment compatibility is a key aspect of listings, (One ebay Highly Encourages) but completely impossible to create from scratch listing by listing. (fitment is not saved in templates)

In the past, I have been able to create copy, get error message, refresh - But not today.

I spent hours creating several new drafts 1-1/2 weeks ago, and those will not open all all.

A couple I tried that were created in Jan, opened fine. ????

Last weeks work-around was to "sell similar" from an active listing, strip out info & save as a draft - That works, but again, Today you can't copy it.

Q: Is the reason ebay is not addressing this is because Large Sellers use 3rd party Listing services and don't experience this issue?  We may never know, as I don't think they take time to post here - But I'd really like to know...

I feel this must be the case, as since ebay is a 2+ bil company, they clearly have the resources

to fix this in 5 Months.

Today, with the time involved to create listings with extensive work-arounds, it's just not worth it.

Tomorrow, if it's same issues, maybe look in to listing software - which equals less margin yet.

I feel like this is a prime example of where ebays priorities lie regarding small, independent sellers.

I am certainly open to being corrected regarding this assumption based upon all the info above from small sellers over the past 5 months.

[acordabove]

Same issue here! I cannot copy any of my drafts for some time now with no resolution in sight. I've tried multiple browsers and turned off any browser plug-ins/adblockers to see if that works...still no luck. The error message that shows "Something went wrong. Please try again." is not very helpful at all.

Not sure what to do here at this point! I have tons of items to list and no quick way to do it...apart from 3rd party listing software...sigh!

eBay PLEASE HELP!!!