eBay shoppers were frustrated last week when they received error messages when trying to locate their favorite sellers through saved bookmarks. Internet users often use their browser's "bookmark" or "favorites" feature to save pages, and eBay members use bookmarks to call up preferred eBay sellers and Stores.

eBay merchants who learned of the problem were concerned that buyers would be unable to find them during the prime holiday shopping period. When trying to access bookmarked pages, eBay users were taken instead to a screen that said "Input-Error." The message read in part, "If you're using an old bookmark, you may need to rebookmark it due to recent changes to protect your privacy. We are aware of the problem and are working tirelessly to resolve it as quickly as possible."

eBay announced the problem on its Board last Wednesday. The company requested users refrain from using old bookmarks, and instead use the "Search" tab on the navigation bar at the top of any eBay page to find the seller. eBay suggested users then store the page using the "Favorites" tab in their "My eBay" section of the site. Users can click the "Add New Seller/Store" link from the "My Favorite Sellers/Stores" area.

eBay members can only save up to 15 "favorite" sellers, however, and users must be signed in to eBay in order to access their "My eBay" page. eBay recently required members to be signed in when viewing completed auction data (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m12/i12/s01).

Another forthcoming change that could cause havoc with users' bookmarks is the new sign-in URL. eBay said it will change sign-in pages for all parts of its sites due to security issues (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m11/i18/s02).