HOW is the use of a VPS server detected?

skcin7 · #1 09-29-2014

Just started a new stealth account. New bank account, debit card, phone number, email, user account, address, everything. Connected to eBay through a SOCKS5 proxy connected to a VPS server (that I have full control over) with a Dedicated IP address. Yes I know it is not recommended to use VPS but I tried anyway. A little over 8 hours after making the account I got hit with MC999 - account suspended indefinitely.

I'm fairly certain, but not positive, that my use of VPS is what raised security concerns that banned the account. This VPS server I have had for years. It has its own Dedicated IP, I have full access to the server, so I don't see how it makes any difference if I connect to eBay through this VPS server, or from a new IP address I get by changing the MAC address/modem (as suggested in the eBook), or from Johnny's house down the street.

My question is not whether or not it's safe to use VPS or VPN - I know that these are discouraged. My question is HOW and WHY can it possibly make a difference to eBay, as long as it's a new and clean IP address.

My only guess is that eBay keeps a list of IP address ranges that are likely to be associated with a VPS server, and that my server matched, so my IP was dirty from the moment I started, but this is just a guess. Can anybody weigh in on this?

Any help appreciated. Cheers!

plumsake2 · #2 09-29-2014

The MC999 indefinite suspension means they had some hard evidence linking you to a suspended user. It's not necessarily a bad idea to run an account via VPS, but you're correct in thinking that ebay can suspend entire IP ranges belonging to a particular VPS server if they suspect abuse.

For example, a lot of people were abusing Amazon's free VPS servers for who knows how long and finally, earlier this year ebay wiped out nearly all accounts ran on Amazon VPSs.

What country are you in and which ebay platform are you using?

JamesNorth101 · #3 09-29-2014

Which country is the in RE to?

123 · #4 09-29-2014

Hi, my post from another thread should help explain some of your questions. Most likely you just got unlucky and used a bad service provider that gave you an ip that was already suspended/limited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 123

The truth is a lot of people on this forum have a misguided hatred towards VPNs and using them for stealth. The reality of the matter is that if you support the use of VPS for stealth than you should feel the same way towards VPNs. Because in the big picture there’s really no difference between the two, at least in the context of using it for amazon/ebay purposes.

I think the reason that most people on this forum denounce VPNs, is because a few people tried them for stealth and had a bad experience with them and thus it became a trend for everyone to just follow along and state that they don’t work. So why do some VPNs not work, you may ask? Well that’s pretty simple its simply because people do not know how to search for nor use the proper VPN provider, and thus they end up picking one of the biggest providers available from the first page of google that only gives shared ips, and gives their thousands of members the same ips. And then people wonder why they got limited… Its simple you used an ip that someone else already used for ebay and got banned on, does that mean VPN is bad? NO! It simply means you used a banned ip, any banned ip will obviously get you limited whether VPN or not.

The reason people on this forum ended up supporting the concept that VPS work so well, is because before the need of using it for stealth, most people use VPS to host a website etc not for casually browsing the web. Unlike VPNs which are mainly used for browsing the web. So what does that mean, it means it is probably easier to find a VPS provider and get an IP that is not limited since most people who use VPS are not using it for browsing the web. So does that make VPS better than VPN? Absolutely not, it just means you better know what your looking for and use the right company when searching for a VPN provider. Again, I’m not trying to say VPN is the best solution for everyone, it depends on your preferences and needs. But for me personally, I’ve used VPN for every single one of my accounts for many years without a problem and absolutely love what it does for me, and facilitates a lot of things for me. So again I’m not promoting that everyone starts using VPNs, I’m simply letting people know that this concept that VPNs don’t work is not true at all. And if your looking for a IP solution, than you should do research and figure out what works best for you, not what works best for everyone else.

Lisa2012 · #5 09-29-2014

sent you a PM Thanks in advance

skcin7 · #6 10-01-2014

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. I'm located in USA and I'm trying to sell again on eBay US.

If MC999 means the account is linked to a suspended user, maybe I messed up my stealth somehow in another way (even though I thought my stealth was perfect, maybe it wasn't).

The VPS server is set up through a company called DigitalOcean. You can do an IP address lookup, and see that the IP is associated with that company.