Users cannot purchase in eBay using Safari; eBay suggests Firefox

We previously reported newly emerging issues with eBay site functionality in Safari. The most prominent issue is one in which Safari users cannot purchase items, receiving the error message: "Your web browser may not be compatible with eBay's checkout. Please try again with Mozilla Firefox."

Dozens of users have now reported this issue. A sample of reports:

• "Same problem here (UK) for the last couple of weeks. I go to pay for an eBay item and Paypal won't let me use Safari. If I change the User Agent (in Develop menu) to an IE etc; then the problem is solved. So annoying, but workable as long as you have the Develop menu enabled in Safari."
• "Didn't have a problem before but now get this message every time I try to buy something on ebay. No option to "press cancel" as suggested by previous comment only "OK" which then takes you to another page."
• "If you simply persist, it forwards you to paypal. I believe the problem is triggered by ebay trying to complete the paypal checkout without going to the paypal site, which is astonishingly slow sometimes."
• "Hey ebay told me the 'browser wasn't supported' but I kept trying and after the 3rd go, just worked."

Per these reports, persistence is key. Keep trying the transaction, and it ay eventually go through.

Meanwhile, eBay technical support representatives are suggesting Firefox. One rep told a MacFixIt reader:

"Unfortunately, we can't guarantee the uninterrupted performance of all our tools, mainly due to the wide variety of different computer and internet setups in use by our members and the problems that conflicting software can generate. As a workaround, I suggest you to temporarily use Mozilla Firefox in order to pay. This browser seems to be the most compatible format for Macintosh users on eBay."

Resources