eBay Listing Tool almost impossible to use with VPN

[thekulamoa]

I use a VPN service for all my internet use. For most sites, it works just fine, for eBay however, it makes the listing tool break. Almost every time I go to list something, it starts out working, but navigating away from the page (e.g. opening a new tab to any other page on eBay) comes up with an error page. Using tools inside the listing tool - description input, postage calculator, etc - does work at all while it's like this.

The only way out of it is either to turn the VPN off completely, or switching servers two or three times during listing. If I make the mistake of not changing the server when it's bugging out, pressing 'List It' will create an endless loading screen, and I have to start all over or salvage what I can from my drafts. I feel that all internet users have the right to privacy and thus the right to use a VPN, and should never be forced, whether intentionally or through the site being completely unoptimized for VPN use, to disable their VPN.

This has turned the already straining, stressful chore of navigating the convoluted new listing tool into a completely time draining, awful experience.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any way out of it, aside from disabling the VPN? Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. It's possible that it's an issue with my browser, but I only started experiencing this issue in the past few months. The number of captchas I have to navigate through have also skyrocketed, probably due to the VPN. I know the company is awful at listening to feedback and changing things that help sellers out, so maybe it's pointless complaining about this. But along with the endless Captchas that eBay insists I do just to go to pages like my feedback score, this site MIGHT just drive me totally insane soon. 😵

[dbfolks166mt]

     It's been a long time since I have seen a posting about the use of VPN's and eBay. VPN's have two major functions the first of which is to mask your IP address so it is impossible to identify your physical location or the device you are using and the second is to encrypt  the data packets. Both are desired and effective security measures for the user. Unfortunately they are also a favorite tool for scammers and hackers. 

     A lot of countries and an increasing number of organizations and internet service providers (ISPs) are banning the use of VPN's to prevent users from circumventing censorship and/or hiding their online activity. At one time I remember seeing postings on this forum where eBay had suspended accounts because they believed there were security issues. Those issues were probably caused by the use of a VPN. 

[robbie31415]

I'd be careful with VPNs on eBay.

Recently had a nice customer who uses one and after the transaction. I received notification that eBay cancelled it. And that if I have shipped I should intercept it.

I ignored eBay and shipped. I had talked to the person before and they were friendly. Plus it wasn't an expensive item. Like 30 bucks. If it turned out to be fraud eBay would have to cover me with seller protection anyways.

I noticed their account was NARU.

Anyways about about 5 days later their account was no longer NARU and they gave me positive feedback.

They told me that eBay NARU them because of VPN use.

Unless you are paying for a dedicated IP, you use IPs that 1000s of others use and if they get flagged you can get your account linked to them.

[thekulamoa]

This is a little bit off-topic, but I'd highly recommend downloading the addon 'Terms of Service; Didn't Read', and then checking the rating on NordVPN's site. To save you the trouble, I'll just say that the TOS gets a 'D' rating and even includes a stipulation that says they can sell your personal data, and use it for marketing purposes. Often companies that spend as much money on advertising as they do have to do so because their service isn't quite what they make it out to be. Mozilla VPN and ProtonVPN both get an 'A' rating on their TOS (Proton includes an end-to-end encrypted email service and backup drive too, for around the same price as Nord charges for JUST their VPN).

I have no affiliation with any of these companies, though I've been using Proton's services for a while and really like them. Just thought I'd share.

(BTW I use Firefox)

Spoiler

Oh, if you're wondering what rating the site we're on right now gets, it's an 'E'. The worst possible rating.

[luckythewinner]

The only way out of it is either to turn the VPN off completely

Or maybe you just need a better VPN.

Is your VPN blocking the first-party cookies used by eBay?

[rosszonebricks]

I've used a VPN for 10 years.  ZERO problems with eBay.  (Other than extra CAPTCHAs).

I've listed, printed labels, updated marketing, you name it, all while on VPN.

Maybe reasons why I don't have issues:

• I never change countries with the VPN.
• My 'simulated' location is usually near my real-world location.

[broto_64]

No VPN's allowed here, Ebay frowns upon their use.
End of story.

[thekulamoa]

@bimm_corpAll good suggestions, thank you!

I'm thinking it may be a cache issue. Clearing my cache (I don't clear my history, just site data and cache) has seemingly helped, though it's arbitrarily worked some days, only to break again the next. Some kind of info or preference eBay is retaining may be causing the listing tool to break. This may even be an issue with sellers that don't use VPNs, who knows. Considering the site is a patchwork of spaghetti code at this point, it would probably be hard for even the tech team to discern exactly what's going on. Will test a few things out over the next few days or weeks and post an update.

[bitbeat]

I don't use a VPN and the error message pops up arbitrarily.

It is incredibly annoying and making listing quickly nearly impossible.

[brightlightbookseller]

I've actually suggested that a time or two, and it often turns out to be the case, though browser or computer issues can cause that too.

[thekulamoa · Accepted solution]

OK, as promised, here's an update, as I finally got it to work (for now).

What did NOT work: clearing my cache, logging out, changing VPN (this works sometimes but only temporarily), using a different browser, tweaking settings in about:config, and several other solutions.

What DID work: Changing my DNS settings from 'custom' to 'default'. Finally, by changing the DNS settings, there's no more broken pages or lost listings when I go to list something.

I do not log off, clear my cache/cookies, or clear my history. None of these things helps, they aren't necessary, and they only cause more inconvenience.

I'm using Waterfox, a fork of Firefox, so these settings should work on regular Firefox as well. I can't speak on how this would work with Chromium browsers (if you use Chrome, switch to Firefox or a Firefox fork...Chrome is going to stop allowing adblockers soon, and has other security/privacy issues since they're a corporation - Mozilla is a nonprofit). To be clear, changing the DNS settings means compromising security a little bit, but it does work perfectly fine with the default DNS settings. I didn't have to change my VPN in any way, and all ProtonVPN servers appear to work with eBay. The frustrating thing is that I have not experienced this issue with any other site, so it seems to be yet another issue inherent to eBay. Either way, hopefully this solution helps someone out!

[dekyffe]

Yes indeed...been like this for eons.....eBay really needs to keep up with the times.....they charge enough for their services.....they need to get with it instead of changing all their rules. 

[dekyffe]

Further more to my earlier post I for got to mention that I signed up in 2004.....there were no VPN's then,,,,,they know who I am.....but they keep making me jump through the hoops to sign in, got to other pages ETC.

[iamcara]

Most VPNs have a split tunneling tool with which you can exclude certain programs from using the VPN. You could do this and use a separate excluded browser for eBay.

I would check to see what protocol you are using in your VPN settings, switch it around and see what works for you. It's possible that OpenVPN will work better for some things and WireGuard will work better for other things.

It's true that some listing tools will malfunction on a VPN. Sometimes they will work with a VPN on, and not work with it off. It's a bit confusing.

Also just keep in mind, using a VPN can lock you out of your eBay account for suspicious activity, so you better be prepared to answer those obscure questions about people that your family members have met 10 years ago to get your account unlocked, lol.

Most VPN IP addresses are banned on a lot of sites, because kids use these IPs to harass people. This can cause your accounts to get banned on many sites that you visit.

In many cases simply logging into an account while traveling can get you locked out of many sites.

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@thekulamoa wrote:

I use a VPN service for all my internet use. For most sites, it works just fine, for eBay however, it makes the listing tool break. Almost every time I go to list something, it starts out working, but navigating away from the page (e.g. opening a new tab to any other page on eBay) comes up with an error page. Using tools inside the listing tool - description input, postage calculator, etc - does work at all while it's like this.

The only way out of it is either to turn the VPN off completely, or switching servers two or three times during listing. If I make the mistake of not changing the server when it's bugging out, pressing 'List It' will create an endless loading screen, and I have to start all over or salvage what I can from my drafts. I feel that all internet users have the right to privacy and thus the right to use a VPN, and should never be forced, whether intentionally or through the site being completely unoptimized for VPN use, to disable their VPN.

This has turned the already straining, stressful chore of navigating the convoluted new listing tool into a completely time draining, awful experience.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any way out of it, aside from disabling the VPN? Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. It's possible that it's an issue with my browser, but I only started experiencing this issue in the past few months. The number of captchas I have to navigate through have also skyrocketed, probably due to the VPN. I know the company is awful at listening to feedback and changing things that help sellers out, so maybe it's pointless complaining about this. But along with the endless Captchas that eBay insists I do just to go to pages like my feedback score, this site MIGHT just drive me totally insane soon. 😵

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