i happened to try & look at a category i visit nightly, cameras. Instead no categories appear, just this long winded text (it's more or less the same for every category at the moment)

"Whether you are looking for the newest digital camera or prefer classic 35MM cameras, eBay's Cameras & Photos category has all of the top brands, cameras and accessories available at great prices. eBay also offers camcorders (digital, analog, 8mm, VHS, Hi8), camcorder accessories and camcorder equipment. For the digital camera enthusiasts, eBay has the top Point and Shoot cameras and Digital SLRs cameras - Canon PowerShot, Nikon CoolPix, Sony Cybershot, Kodak EasyShare, Olympus Camedia, Fuji FinePix, Canon Rebel XT, Canon EOS20D, Nikon D50, Nikon D70, and more. Not sure what make you want? Search by brand! eBay has Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Kodak, Leica, Minolta, Mamiya, Hewlett Packard (HP), Hasselblad and others. Upgrade your digital camera or digital SLR with accessories and equipment. Store your digital photographs on a memory card - eBay has a variety of memory cards, flash cards, CompactFlash cards and Memory Sticks available on eBay. Extra camera batteries and chargers are perfect for trips. Take better photographs with a new lens (wideangle, telephoto) or filter (Tiffen, Minolta, Canon). Add an external or speedlight flash to your digital camera or film camera. Or outfit your studio with lighting equipment such as booms, stands, supports, light controls, light meters, and probes. Capture still portraits or landscapes with a tripod or monopod. And protect your camera and equipment with the proper bag, case and strap. Once you've taken the photos, print them with photo printers and scanners."

So i went to the technical forum and apparently the search feature is down too and there a lot of posts about it. I can understand their point of view, being if people can't search for sellers items then potentially they can lose money on the sale. so people are calling for the site to go offline for maintenance or end auctions early & refund their listing fees.

So how trustworthy & safe is e-bay when it comes to things like this? is this common? if someone feels like that lost sales will they get their fees refunded or a free relisting?

p.s. if anyone knows the malouf brothers call them, investment opportunity knocking at their door