posted on March 9, 2001 07:34:02 AM
Once again Honesty counters are down for the count. You won't find this info on the AB, but if you had any plans of listing auctions with Honesty Counters, you might want to re-think that?
posted on March 9, 2001 07:45:19 AM
I noticed that, too. I use Honesty just for the free counters (I use the invisible counter) and can't the Honesty website to load up. However, I use free AuctionSubmit software to put my auctions together, which is done offline and don't have any problems with it. It's very similar to AuctionWatch as far as how the auctions can be developed (including templates), except that it's FREE. I wouldn't recommend it for the larger seller who likes to have auctions uploaded ahead of time (you have to click "upload" at the moment you want the auctions to be sent to eBay) and there are no post-auction features. I have my own ISP webspace for image hosting.
posted on March 9, 2001 07:51:13 AM
Regarding Honesty counters, I have used them, it seems like for years, but counters are not a requirement for my auctions, so if they go down, naturally it isn't any biggie to me. All my pictures are hosted on my own account sites.
BUT, the last time I posted on eBay, on both Sunday and Monday, I found that 3 or 4 auctions in both posting segments, even though I have the box for a hidden counter on the eBay listing page checked, 3 or 4 auctions out of both posting segments didn't pick up the counter. I had to manually go to Honesty and add the counter.
I think in the future, I'll just add all my counters at once via Honesty, since I am having continual problems with I use the eBay/Honesty check box.
posted on March 9, 2001 07:58:27 AM
When I first started I used Honesty to list and their counters. But there was so much down time I gave up on the listing, and just kept the counters. I've always done invisible counters and despite the problems I like the refresh feature, and that it adds up the hits, and money totals and is much more current than my AW counters. But lately they (H) seem to be having more problems especially on Friday's it's like they can't get their maintenance done on time.
posted on March 9, 2001 08:47:20 AMbut counters are not a requirement for my auctions, so if they go down, naturally it isn't any biggie to me
Umm, perhaps I should have been more clear in my initial post?
If you use Honesty Counters, and their site goes down, your auction pages will stall, no matter where your pictures are hosted.
I was also told today by a friend that she's had numerous complaints from WebTV users that said the Honesty counter was causing the page to lock up.
I was using Honesty back in the days when Scott would email his users directly when there was a problem. IMO since Andale & eBay got their hands in the pie, Honesty's service has gone down hill.
My advice, forget about the counters, or find a more reliable site to use for counters.
posted on March 9, 2001 08:53:48 AM
Oh! Well that's no good!
I use invisible ones, but I think I will look around...hmmm...
I know counters are kind of touchy. Maybe I will do without.
Kindalike for Lent!
(NO OFFENSE ANYONE!)
posted on March 9, 2001 10:14:24 AM
reddeer, I think you were perfectly clear in your initial post. Sorry I went off-topic. I realize that Honesty does more than just counters nowdays. But that's all I'm going to use them for (and I can live without counters, but it's a nice little luxury).
I think any time you are depending on an online site for service of any kind there is going to be some down-time sooner or later, whether it's AuctionWatch, Honesty, or even eBay itself. That's why I'm going with AuctionSubmit and why I have left AuctionWatch (except for its forums; I like these! Unless they start charging for access...).
posted on March 9, 2001 10:28:59 AM
This just in ..................
Thank you for your email. The Andale site is currently unavailable. We have had some Networking issues causing the site to be intermittently unavailable. Our Operations team is hard at work trying to resolve the matter ASAP.
Below is a list of services that are impacted: 1. Andale Auction Management services (www.andale.com)... 2. Honesty
services (www.honesty.com)... 3. Honesty and Andale Images on eBay listings... 4. Counters on eBay listings... 5. eBay
Manage counter page... The un-availability is intermittent. We should be up and running shortly. I apologize for the
inconvenience and thank you greatly for your patience. If I can be of more assistance, please let me know.... Thank you,
Andale Account Manager
posted on March 9, 2001 10:39:39 AM
Hi Red-Deer ... I used to use Honesty Counters, but finally gave up on them as they were down more often then not. (And I have always hosted my own photos; I certainly would never rely on places like Auction Watch or Honesty or eBay for picture hosting). Anyway, I switched to Rubylane counters. I can't remember a time when they were ever down. And I like the fact that I can add the code right into my template and don't have to go to their site to activate them....
posted on March 9, 2001 10:40:54 AM
Thanks reddeer! I just checked all my auctions that I posted last night and they were all stalled! I use Honesty both for image hosting and counters. I couldnt understand why I didnt have any bids this morning when I checked (these particular items have always had bids on Friday morning after posting them on Thursday night).
Well, its back to hosting my own images and doing everything by hand...i'm tired of this crap.
[ edited by bubblewrap on Mar 9, 2001 10:42 AM ]
posted on March 9, 2001 11:03:56 AM
Engelskdansk .... I have a friend who uses rubylane counters & swears by them. I have no idea what I was thinking when I checked off the counter box on the eBay listing page?
posted on March 9, 2001 11:36:09 AM
Hi Reddeer (I guess you are South of me - I'm in Edmonton!). Rubylane doesn't have all the stats that Honesty provides, but they do have the advantage of actually working!
Really, though, a counter is best when it is doing what it is supposed to do, which is to count and not HANG, and those Honest(?) counters thrive on being dysfunctional!
posted on March 9, 2001 12:15:57 PM
If you just want simple, no frills, non-stall counters go with RubyLane. I've used them for 2 years now and have never been disappointed.
They have an easy *html code* you can put in all your ebay listings.
posted on March 9, 2001 12:17:14 PM
Thanks for the tip as that certainly explains the lack of activity.
I went to the section called "add to your description" and used the delete counter. It appears that they are gone, but do you think this solved the stall problem?
You guys are great, I always learn so much, but think I spend way too much time reading!!
posted on March 9, 2001 12:31:45 PM
I tried to do some shopping on eBay this morning and got VERY frustrated. Auctions with Honesty counters would not load all the way, same with Andale.
I guess all of these bells and whistles are necessary for big sellers--but I personally don't stay at an auction waiting for it to load. I also don't buy from Andale and Auctionwatch sellers because I HATE having to go to another site and FILL IN ANOTHER #@%& FORM! I'd much rather just do it via email.
Sorry for the rant--but I was in the mood to shop today and didn't even find anything to put on Watch--let alone bid.
TurkeyLurkey
P.S. Another reason I didn't bid was all of the No personal checks and threats about what was going to happen to me if I didn't obey all of the sellers rules. That's no fun.
posted on March 9, 2001 12:38:32 PM
As a buyer I kind of figured this out about the Honesty counters a while back. I was running across auction after auction that would stall out before the description loaded.
I figured out that if I hit the "stop" button the rest of the page would immediately load, with the exception of the Honesty counter. turkeylurkey, you might try this.
posted on March 9, 2001 12:47:24 PM
reddeer; I wonder if it makes a diference (sp?) in whether you put your counters in at time of listing from E-Bay or through Honesty. I always do the 'multiple e-bay counters' and have never found one of my auctions not loading. I went through a bunch of them this morning after reading this thread and they all loaded fine, or was I just lucky this time.
posted on March 9, 2001 12:56:37 PM
Someone ought to recommend to Honesty that they add height and width tags to their img items, such as (just pulling some numbers out of the air):
I picked "101" as a little ironic joke, as this is really rather fundamental HTML that newbies wouldn't necessarily realize, but that a heavy image server should.
For awhile, though, direct marketers were intentionally serving their images without tags, to make sure the banner ads were the first part of the page to appear. Unfortunately, their servers were too often bogged down, and I think enough sites using those advertisers complained to the point most stopped doing that, but by then, this was one of several reasons I had already started blocking such marketers.
So yes, an <img> item not using width and height markers can bring part or all of the page rendering to a halt if the image server is down, because if the browser doesn't know how large the image is going to be, it does not know where to put the rest of the items on the page, and thus doesn't, unless it finally decides to timeout the image get.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
[ edited by dc9a320 on Mar 9, 2001 01:08 PM ]
