Ebay (AU) impossible to sign in, stuck in captcha loop

[haicim]

keeps happenning again and again, for months now, and again today once more.

1. enter username and password

2. perform captcha

3. capture succesful

4. return to step 1.

[haicim]

and if I do nothing, it will eventually start working normally in a week or two. there's nothing I can do on my end to make it work at all either. it's not me, it's the site.

[eburtonlab]

@haicim 

Here are some updated recommendations to try if you are encountering sign-in problems or verification problems. This was written for the US site, but I will include the ebay.com.au links after the US links.

How are you signing in? Using a bookmark? If so, you may need to update it.

If you go to the ebay.com page and use the sign-in link it will send you here:

https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn

https://signin.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn

Almost all of the sign-in links I have seen send you to the same page, or an alternate page that looks the same:

https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn2

https://signin.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn2

or possibly this:

https://www.ebay.com/signin/?sgn=reg&siteid=0

https://www.ebay.com.au/signin/?sgn=reg&siteid=0

This older link worked better until recently, but eBay has updated things so that this link now points to the current page at the top link:

https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

https://signin.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

Try each of those links to see if one of these links works better for you if you are having difficulty signing in; if so, bookmark whichever link works best for future use and please follow up to let others know, as many other users are having difficulty signing in recently.

Do not give up immediately if you get a second verification page, in some cases you may need to get through two puzzle sliders or a puzzle plus one or two obfuscated number entries to sign in.

Other things that can interfere with signing in:

Sometimes when eBay changes the sign-in process, it causes problems for some users; sometimes those problems are due to using an old browser or obsolete cookies (though not always). Some users are just annoyed by verification; while others actually get stuck in a loop that just keeps presenting new sign-in pages or new verification pages, or just will not let them sign in at all.

Make sure you are allowing the sign-in page to load completely before attempting to sign in -- users have indicated that attempting to sign in before the page has loaded can cause problems.

Make sure your browser is set to accept cookies. Try another browser or another device, or a private or incognito browser session. If you delete your cookies, you will likely have to sign in and go through strict verification again, but if you have problems with a blocked or corrupt cookie, manually deleting your eBay cookies can help. Some browsers seem to require more verification than others; try signing in and out more than once to see if it requires verification the second time around.

Make sure your browser has javascript enabled:

https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/is-javascript-enabled

VPNs can also cause sign-in issues, so try disabling yours if you use one and are encountering problems.

If you get a verification slider puzzle that has no background, there are three options below the slider -- close the pop-up, reload the pop-up, or try an alternative audio version that requires entering numbers that are read aloud.

If you are able to sign in, to stay signed in there is a "keep me signed in" checkbox on the sign-in page, but there is another checkbox in your account site preferences -- it might be worth checking that setting, or unchecking, saving, rechecking and saving again. That is, if you want to stay signed in and avoid having to go through verification.

If you have multiple accounts and must sign in and out to switch, consider using a dedicated browser for each account to minimize signing in and out. A private or incognito browser session is handy if you just need to check another account without signing out of your current account.

If you have successfully signed in using Google or Facebook before, try that again -- the sign in process using those may have different dependencies and may work better for you. But if you have not signed in using those before make sure you do not accidentally create a new eBay account when you attempt to sign in.

If you get really stuck, try signing in to ebay.ca or ebay.co.uk or using the eBay app on your phone -- that may allow you to do most non-listing or non-selling related activities.

[haicim]

I've done all these things and even additional things, many times, to the point of insanity, trust me 😞
also the .AU site doesn't use the modern verification slider puzzle it uses the older and more highly annoying captcha method that rarely works where you have to perform about 80 interactions with identifying pictures, and this seems to be where the issue happens since after solving that correctly after several minutes of clicking and clicking and clicking and clicking and clicking, it decides to let you in but then immediately redirects to itself and asks me to login again in an endless loop, so there's some bug with my account on ebay's side or something. I changed my password, email, lots of times, and I've changed anything possible that I can on my side but I always end up giving up because it never makes a difference so ultimately I always end up going to the US site, and it works perfectly, but it is super annoying when i have a whole cart full of items and they don't transfer to the US site and have to find them all again. I normally never comment on anything on the internet but it's finally driven me to this point due to how annoying it is. strange thing is if I wait a while, It will always begin to work some time in the near future on it's own regardless of anything I do differently. It seems to be selectively letting people in, but not me.

[eburtonlab]

@haicim 

Back when eBay changed the sign-in pages, I did notice that the sign-in page on the Australian site -- with the username entry above the Facebook and Google buttons rather than to the side as on most other sites -- seemed to cause more problems than other versions. I think that was the only site that I needed to actually have a verification through email in order to sign in at one point.

Unfortunately I think the AU design with the password entry on a separate page is likely coming to other sites in the future.

For the picture grid where you have to identify vehicles or crosswalks -- one particular version of that Captcha replaces the pictures as you select them; in that case, if you start at the top left and keep selecting the same square until it does not contain the target item, you can systematically go through the whole set rather than going back and forth after a new picture loads.

I always end up going to the US site, and it works perfectly, but it is super annoying when i have a whole cart full of items and they don't transfer to the US site and have to find them all again.

One trick for moving between both sites -- from the item page on the Australian site, delete the .au from the ebay.com.au URL and you should wind up looking at the same item page on the US site. If you open up each item in a different browser tab on the .au site, you should be able to add the items to an ebay.com cart relatively quickly that way.

[stoltofthe80s]

Same problem here, browser and iOS apps. 

cant log in to message buyers. It’s very annoying right now with all the international mail slow downs and I’ve been lucky to escape any negative feedback so far due to having frequent communication with buyers.

every few years I return to eBay and there’s always some problem.

[eburtonlab]

@stoltofthe80s 

cant log in to message buyers.

If you can sign in to the US ebay.com site or another country site, you may be able to message your buyers from there.

Unfortunately, for other selling-related functions you will likely have to sign in to whichever site you used to list.

[bygonealley]

If you are on a VPN, log off it to sign in to eBay. 

[imakesugar]

I had the same problem yesterday. Finally I went through the back door and googled eBay Community and some post that I had posted and click the link and I got in. I am afraid to go to my other account which I am not using Currently to see if it is really Fixed. I also put in new passwords and they did not work. I have a text to my sent to my phone that didn’t work. Signing into Facebook worked. Gl 😉 Sugar 

[eburtonlab]

@imakesugar 

I had the same problem yesterday. Finally I went through the back door and googled eBay Community and some post that I had posted and click the link and I got in.

Many users are experiencing difficulty staying signed in to the community pages on various eBay country sites lately, it seems.

See here for some potential workarounds that may or may not help getting you signed back in to the community pages:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Community-Platform-Feedback/What-s-the-deal-with-signing-in-to-this-bo...

[stesze_39]

EBAY CAPCHA LOOP- solved for me anyways. If you recently installed new anti-virus or privacy stand alone software or updated existing one this may work for you also. With the best intentions, security software developers are adding privacy blocking to extensions. This blocking, like the one on my Vypre Privacy Program, can be turned off. Once I did so, after trying dozens of other fixes, allowed Captcha to work as intended. You may want to check if your security software has or has added  this feature in an update. When EBAY finally gets around to developing another verification process I (you)will have to use this solution, assuming it works for you too. Just another cost we incur from web hackers and malicious criminals on the  web. If you know one of these evil **bleep**s drop a dime on them to the FBI. THEY ARE NOT YOUR OR ANYONE's FRIEND.