Classifieds troubleshooting

Something not working in the classifieds? Find your problem below. Error messages are quoted as they appear on screen. If none of these fixes it, email support@undergroundaquarium.com with the listing link and what you saw.

I can't post: it says "Sign in to post"

Posting is free, but you need an account. The form shows "Sign in to post" with Sign in and Create account buttons when you're signed out. An account keeps the site free of spam and lets buyers message you.

Sign in, then go back to Post a free ad. See Creating an account and Signing in and passwords.

If you were signed in but your session ran out while you were filling in the form, you'll see "You need to be signed in to post." when you tap Post it, free. Sign in again in another tab, then come back and submit.

The post form says a field is missing

The form checks these before posting, in this order:

• "Give your listing a title." The Title box is empty. Add a short title (up to 120 characters).
• "Pick a category." Choose one from the Category menu.
• "Choose the area you're posting in." You need both 1 · State and 2 · Closest metro area. The area menu stays greyed out until you pick a state.
• "Enter a valid price, or leave it blank for 'contact for price'." The Price (USD) box has something that isn't a number, or a negative number. Type just the number, like 25 or 12.50, or leave it empty.

Everything else (town, condition, photos, description, phone, email) is optional. See Posting a classified ad.

My area disappeared from the form

Changing the 1 · State menu clears the 2 · Closest metro area if it isn't in the new state. Pick the area again.

The form also remembers the last area you posted in on this browser and fills it in next time. If it filled in the wrong one, just change it. See Choosing your area.

I can't add more photos

Each listing can have up to 8 photos. The label shows your count, like Photos (8/8), and the Add more box disappears when you're at the limit. If you try to add more, you'll see "That's the limit, 8 photos per listing."

If you pick more photos than you have room for, only the first ones that fit are added. Remove a photo with the X in its corner to make room. See Listing photos.

My iPhone photo won't upload

iPhone photos are often HEIC files. The form converts them to JPEG automatically, and you'll see Processing photos… while it works. If a photo still fails, you may see one of these:

• "(file name) is an iPhone HEIC photo this browser can't read." The message suggests setting your iPhone to Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible so new photos upload anywhere, or sharing the photo to yourself first so it comes through as a JPEG.
• "That photo is too large to convert here. Email it to yourself first and it'll arrive as a JPEG." HEIC photos over about 4 MB can't be converted on our side.
• "That photo couldn't be converted. Try a JPG or PNG instead."
• "Please sign in before uploading photos." Your session ran out. Sign in again.

Other photos that can't be read show "(file name) couldn't be processed." Try saving or screenshotting the photo as a JPG or PNG and adding that instead.

Posting failed with an error message

If the upload or save fails partway, you'll see a message starting with:

• "Photo upload failed:" One of your photos couldn't be uploaded. Nothing was posted, so no half-finished listing goes up. Check your connection, remove any unusual files, and try again.
• "Posting failed:" or "Saving failed:" The listing couldn't be saved. The rest of the message explains why.
• "Something went wrong posting your listing." or "Something went wrong saving your changes." A general failure, often a dropped connection.

Your form stays filled in, so you can tap the button again. If it keeps failing, email support@undergroundaquarium.com with the exact message.

I posted, but I can't find my listing

After a successful post you're taken straight to your new listing page. If you can't find it later:

• Give it a minute. Area pages and the nationwide list refresh about every minute. Counts on the Classifieds home and state pages, and the Just posted row, can take a few minutes.
• Check the area. Your ad only appears on the area page you chose. Open My listings to see which area it's in, and tap Edit to change it.
• Check the category pill and search. If a category pill is selected or there's text in the search box on the page, your ad may be filtered out. Tap All and clear the search.
• Check the status. In My listings, each ad has a status tag. Only active ads are visible to buyers.

What do the statuses in My listings mean?

Each listing in My listings shows a status:

• active: live and visible to everyone. You'll see how many days are left.
• draft: not published. Tap Publish to put it live. Drafts mostly came across from the old version of the marketplace.
• sold: you marked it sold (or found). Hidden from buyers. Tap Repost to put it back up.
• expired: its 45 days ran out. Hidden from buyers. Tap Repost to put it back up for another 45 days.
• removed: taken down by our team. Removed listings can't be reposted.

When you open your own listing that isn't live, a banner says it's only visible to you. See My listings.

Why did my listing expire?

Every ad stays up for 45 days from when it's posted or last renewed. After that it's automatically marked expired and comes off the classifieds. There's no email or notification when that happens, so keep an eye on the days left in My listings, which turns amber in the last 7 days and says "expires today" on the final day.

To keep an ad up, tap Renew 45 days any time while it's active. It also moves the ad back to the top of the newest list. To bring back an expired ad, tap Repost. Editing an ad doesn't reset its expiry date. See Editing, renewing and expiry.

My listing was removed

If an ad breaks the listing rules or is reported and our team agrees, it can be removed. A removed ad shows the removed status in My listings and can't be reposted. You can still delete it.

If you think it was removed by mistake, email support@undergroundaquarium.com with the listing title.

A listing link says "page not found"

For buyers, that means the ad isn't live anymore: it was sold, expired, deleted or removed. Only live ads can be opened by other people.

If it's your own ad, sign in with the account that posted it. You can still open your own sold, expired or draft listings, with a note that only you can see them. Deleted listings are gone for good.

I tapped Message and ended up somewhere else

• Sent to the Classifieds page: the listing isn't live anymore, or the seller has messaging turned off for that ad. If the ad showed a phone number or email, use that.
• Sent back to the listing: it's your own ad. You can't message yourself.
• Asked to sign in: messaging needs an account. Sign in, then go back to the listing and tap Message again.
• Sent to an existing conversation: you've already messaged about this ad. You get one conversation per listing.

See Contacting a seller.

My message to a seller won't send

The most common messages:

• "Please sign in to send a message." Sign in and try again.
• "That listing isn't available." The ad went off the market. You can't start a new conversation about it.
• "This poster has messages turned off." Use the seller's phone or email if they shared one.
• "You're sending messages very quickly. Take a short break and try again." Each account can send up to 25 messages in any 10 minutes.
• "That didn't send. Check your connection and try again." Your connection dropped. Your text is still in the box.

More in Messages troubleshooting.

Buyers say they can't reach me

• Buyers message you through the Message button on your listing, which is always on for new listings. Replies land in Messages, and you get an email for each new message.
• Check that the ad is active in My listings. Buyers can't start a conversation about a sold, expired or draft ad.
• If you added a phone number, open your listing to check it. On your own listing, it's shown under "You also chose to show:".
• If someone says they messaged you and you can't see it, check your inbox's Read section too. See Messages troubleshooting.

My listing shows "Contact for price" but I meant to set a price

You left Price (USD) empty when posting. Tap Edit in My listings, enter the price and tap Save changes. Changes go live straight away.

If your ad shows "Free" but you meant to sell it, you picked Free at the top of the form. Edit it, choose For sale and add a price.

My fish listing doesn't show a condition

That's expected. Condition (New, Like new and so on) doesn't apply to live fish, inverts, coral or plants, so the form hides it for those categories and the listing page doesn't show it.

The view count isn't going up when I open my ad

Your own visits never count, and each other visitor counts once per browser visit. Views only count while the ad is live. See Browsing the classifieds.

Near me isn't working

See Finding listings near you. The usual fix is allowing location for the site in your browser, or using Pick your state instead.

Still stuck?

Email support@undergroundaquarium.com with:

• the link to the listing (or its title),
• what you tapped,
• the exact message you saw, and
• whether you're on a phone or computer, and which browser.

See Contact support.