Chatroom Board

In June of 2011 eBay announced that it would be closing it’s “chat boards” in the near future. They didn’t announce a date, and the announcement was hard to find, so many people doubted that it would actually happen. However, a few people were concerned that eBay would shut down the chat boards without notice, as they did in several countries, and then they’d have no way to find each other. Friendships built over many years of posting on the eBay boards would be lost.

The discussion rooms that eBay was providing as a replacement were topical and the new format did not make it easy to hold a continuing conversation. The format they had been using, which was not “threaded” and the posts listed with the most recent at the top, had fallen out of vogue. It just wasn’t done that way any more — at least that was the response that they received when they begged eBay to keep the chat boards alive.

These “Chatroom Boards” (see the links in the sidebar) are a result of the scramble that occurred in response to eBay’s vague announcement. On July 1, 2011, the Book Board Chat went “live” and many from the eBay boards started signing up. Some of the other eBay chat boards took notice and requested a similar site for themselves. At the end of July 2011 the Glass Chatroom Board was born, and was quickly followed by the Pottery Chatroom Board, the Antiques Chatroom Board, the Jewelry Chatroom Board, and the Advertising Collectibles Chatroom Board.

Eventually the dreaded day arrived. In October of 2011 eBay finally closed their chat boards. Some people were caught off guard by the closure, but most were prepared for it and they flocked to the alternative locations they had prepared. Some went to Facebook, some moved to eBay’s private chat rooms, others joined alternative chat websites, and many moved here, to the “Chatroom Boards”, where the format was familiar and so were the people. These “boards” have allowed their conversations to continue, and they will exist as long as they are needed.

If you’d like to join in the conversation then visit the boards and sign up. Newcomers are welcome, and appreciated. If you just want to hang out in the rafters and listen in, you are welcome to do that too. Many of our members still sell on eBay and other auction sites, so if you ask a question, you’re likely to receive a well-informed response.

Come on in…