Where can I find out about eBay service outages?

Question: Where can I find out about eBay service outages?

Answer: eBay maintains two announcement boards with system and website information that is relevant to all users. The first of these, the General Announcements Board, covers the most major of technical and website issues, but also makes business announcements—new initiatives and programs, eBay successes and major events, leadership and board changes, acquisitions, and other similar types of news. To reach the General Announcements Board, follow these steps:

1. Visit the eBay front page at http://www.ebay.com or find the navigation bar across the top of any eBay page.
   
   
2. Click on Community to visit the eBay community hub.
   
   
3. Find the "News" box on the bottom half of the community hub page. In it, click on the "See all Announcements" link near the bottom of the "Annoumcements" section to view the General Annoucements Board.
   
   
4. You can revisit the board at any time by visiting http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml.

The second eBay announcement board of importance is the System Announcements Board, where the status of the eBay website is constantly updated for eBay members. Information on partial site outages, maintenance, glitches, and other minor problems that may affect some eBay members are listed here, often with solutions. If you are having trouble accessing your auction listings or a listing on which you plan to bid, this is the first place to check. To reach the System Announcements Board, follow these steps:

1. Visit the eBay front page at http://www.ebay.com or find the navigation bar across the top of any eBay page.
   
   
2. Click on Community to visit the eBay community hub.
   
   
3. Find the "News" box on the bottom half of the community hub page. In it, click on the "See all System Announcements" link near the bottom of the "Annoumcements" section to view the System Annoucements Board.
   
   
4. You can revisit the board at any time by visiting http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml.

If you are a heavy eBay user, bookmark these pages and check them often to see how eBay policies and website issues may affect you, and the steps eBay has offered to correct any issues that you may experience.