Hi everyone
I thought spend an hour or so and post some further updates since my multiple suspensions of nearly 4 months ago
Hopefully I can provide some experiences of the past 100 days, for those who need to refresh about my circumstances
Please read my previous post from earlier last month first
http://www.aspkin.com/forums/ebay-su...s-updates.html
All the info below is based on ebay.co.uk and paypal.co.uk
* EXPERIENCE
First and foremost, I would like to say with great pride that in the past 8 weeks since my last update
I have not lost ANY eBay ID or PayPal at all and am now actively selling on a further x5 IDs that have now range in feedback from of 20+ to 300+
Still ALL on 100% positive and the earliest formed IDs now worthy of power seller status (I have declined this offer from eBay however
Now for me to achieve this I must be doing something right, and I know I would not be in this position had it not been for this forum and the advice on this forum
I have to reiterate from my previous post that knowledge is the key thing to get about suspensions
This forum, now I have fully researched what is out there has been by far the most compressive, informed and lastly accurate out there
There is so much conflicting info on other sites that if followed would get you suspended, info posted entirely on point of view as opposed to actually experience
So for newly suspended folk, READ READ and READ some more. Take a sicky from work and spend a day or two reading everything
* IP ADDRESS
I think I can safely conclude say with about 95% degree of certainty that the KEY reason for eBay suspensions occurring is due to IP related issues
Note and print off in big RED lettered print off the IP address you are logged to your PC now you are suspended
This is the IP address you never want to see again and never want to visit eBay or PayPal again on that same IP address
If this is ever linked to your new selling ID this may no suspend you immediately but certainly give a major connection to the old you. I could strongly be game over
If this BANNED IP is displayed like a glowing beacon in front of your PC/laptop you know to avoid it, even set it as your PCs wallpaper !!
I have adopted the practice that was posted on this forum (very helpful and useful), of creating a windows user ID for each eBay ID you use and logging these in notepad files
Every time I go online
Now I have kept these IP logs, I have found that patterns begin to emerge when changing your IP via broadband, you will be assigned same IPs quite often or 90% the same with last few digits different
When using dial up I have found IP address to be very diverse and often totally different
CookieMonster and cCleaner are used periodically when switching IDs and have provided very useful
Using cookie you will be very surprised how many cookies you find for their site on place that are not even eBay !
Look out for the lucky9 cookie and how often it occurs!!
Using notepad and opening your IP log, before you go anywhere near eBay or PayPal check your IP address
IP Burger - What is my IP Address? Find Your IP Address! or
WhatIsMyIP.com
and check it is not the banned IP you have been assigned
Then use Ctrl + F to search out your log to see if you have used this IP before
Although I am probably on eBay a great deal more than most, in the past 60 days I have been assigned my banned IP address on x9 occasions out of over 1,000+
visits logging in online.
Now this is not much of a chance less than 1% - but do you really want to take that risk it ? Your hard work lost
Giving eBay the rope to make the noose to hang you
I have stopped checking eBay when returning form a night out at the pub to - just in case I let my standards slip. Amazing how keen you are after a few beers to see how much you have sold while lording it up in the local
!!! lol
Lastly, I conclude I don’t think IP is the ONLY reason that leads to suspension but is one of the key reasons for sure
* FEEDBACK
Purchasing 1p feedback eBooks to build is a definite way to raise suspicion of you as both a seller and buyer
This is stated on this site and many others
Steer clear and don’t do it
* SELLING LIMITS
Firstly, I have concluded that limits on listing do occur for some but not for others, but I have not experienced ANY form of limitation or item removal on
ANY ID of the x20 or so I now have active selling
I have NOT been able to conclude what is a SAFE or BORDERLINE amount to list before raising suspicion
On a new ID as a test I listed x100+ items on a zero feedback ID at item value of £4.99
The auctions survived fine
Other IDs I have had high tag items £200+ and limited listing to x10 items when under 30 days
The auctions survived fine
I have sold items at 1p start that I would take a loss on to build feedback to 10+ and sell them all via 2nd chance
The auctions survived fine
So conclusions I can draw I could very well be the NATURE/TYPE of item you list
HIGH RISK = electronic/sat nav/mobiles/laptop/pcs/designer clothes/1p eBooks etc
LOW RISK = postcards/craft supplies/photographs/CDs/DVDs etc
I do not sell what would be deemed as high risk items so probably why I have not lost any ID or items been removed
Just use some common sense and dont leave yourself out on the limb for them to have reasont o take your auctions out
* Your nominated eBay address
eBay as it has developed are now making more use of traditional marketing techniques, like direct mailing and TV adverts.
In the past month I have rec’d eBay information in the post for suspended IDs ! wow
You therefore need to be careful where you choose your nominated address as if the worst happens and the person living at your chosen ‘ghost address’ chooses to send back the mail it could be game over for the ID
Royal Mail will also return mail that is classed as undeliverable (ie you made up a house number that doesn’t exist)
You are best using an address of a recently sold property, but what I have found is just use the newspaper,
Flats to rent London, jobs in London, flatshare, free classified ads UK or
Roommates Finder - 190,000 Roommate ads with EasyRoommate - FREE service to find a student property of 4-6 bedrooms. As the household will be transient and young (ie not wise to the ways of the world) they would more likely bin the post as opposed to returning it to send
If you want to do things by the book, set up a full royal mail PO box address
* GoogleCheckout
.............hhhhmmmmmmmmm, mixed opinions of this service
In the last x3 months I have set up three separate GoogleCheckouts and linked them to different cards/bank accounts
However IP has caused me to loose two :( (same IP used for both accounts)
I know, I know what I hear you's are saying.......
but it is another bit of experience learned that has not been mentioned on the forums here
My initial (real details) GoogleCheckout is still live and active and linked to my business account
Processing time for payments is great and daily
On the downside, I have incurred the customer service side of GoogleCheckout and have to say it is actually worse than PayPal!
incredible to believe I know!
The two I lost, had about £600 trade on one and £800 trade on the other.
I only knew I was suspended from using GoogleCheckout when I could not log into it
Weird I thought, whys that?
Well a couple of emails back and forth, and the conclusion I get from Google is you have been suspended for breaching 'terms and conditions'
Not even an email and no phone support at all
The last nail in the coffins was after about 10 days the £200 I was expecting to arrive in my bank from one GoogleCheckout account did not show
and the £120 did not show in the other bank account.
More emails to Google to see out what was happening and I am told all buyers have been refunded to their credit card!
WONDERFUL !!!! £320 light and the items already mailed out
Now this business practice actually make PayPal look professional!!
Fortunately I have been able to contact the buyers and get them to pay, via separate PayPal invoice
But bear in mind you need to have a good knowledge as you do not get access to you account to see as to who has paid and who has not !!
So be warned!!!!................. all not PERFECT with Google and this is the first something like this has been mentioned on these pages
As a payment provider I am sure it will develop its new processes and better customer service but it is far from perfect
The admin associated with GoogleCheckout was far from ideal but I found, the best way was to wait for the 'End of Auction' email from eBay
and it held all the info you could copy and paste across to GoogleCheckout
I changed the auto email from eBay to says words to the effect of you will receive a SEPERATE payment invoice from my credit card provider 24 hours
If you were selling on various IDs I would suggest a Business style name instead of your ACTUAL name
As then ONE GoogleCheckout account would suffice for MANY eBay selling IDs
i.e. mega seller, exclusive seller, AFC Trading, ACME Sellers Inc
I am still keen to continue to use GoogleCheckout but I will impose a payment limit of £30 - GC is fine over £30 but do you fancy sending out x20 email for items
for £2.99 each?
I don’t !
Lastly, having a Google checkout account is a payment option is a good as gives Joe Public the option to accept credit cards and can also enhance your auction and get you extra bidders/buyers
if you add a visa/MasterCard logo in it
* Bank Accounts
I have found getting a new bank account here in the UK very easy, all you require is BASIC account, not a full current account
This is because a credit search is often not under taken as you can be found by your presence on the voter/electoral role that is linked to
Experian and Equifax’s credit systems, other verification method is presence in phone book (OSIS listed)
I have checked my credit files for searches and the of the x4 new bank accounts I have set up, only x1 is recorded as a credit search (this was Halifax cash card account)
I have successfully opened new bank accounts with
Abbey, Lloyds/TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and ALL did not record a credit search against my file
Too many credit searches, in a short space of time is often seen at detrimental to your overall score
With ALL these BASIC bank accounts above you can have online banking and the account is fine to accept PayPal payments
The account you choose to tag to your PayPal MUST accept Direct Debit (DD) - this is ESSENTIAL or the micro deposits wont show
Savings Accounts (i.e. ING direct or Sainsbury’s online savers) CANNOT be used with PayPal as I tried and the deposits did not show and were refunded to PayPal
end result, PayPal account limited
* AOL 9.0
This works but I found the amount of cookies and just how crap AOL is. I also found that it was time dependant and speeds would vary terribly
One time took x25 mins to list x1 item !
Better change your IP of the router or use unlimited dial up for eBay access
* Auctiva
After getting my head around its working it has been fine for me - a lot faster than eBay to
For your STOCK products that are static and don’t change, list via auctiva and scheduled for a HOT spot selling time
Sign your eBay account up to seller manager pro and then use assigned automation for them to re list for you
Also set you feedback to reciprocate, i.e. when someone leaves FB for you the system the leaves it for them
Another admin/time saving
* Listing the SAME items as you did prior to SUSPENSION
One selling ID that I lost was one selling customer made items of stars of film and music
I changed the ad totally, rephoto'ed every item, amended start price by a few pence, amended postage amount by a few pence,
redone titles, added a 1/3 new titles to the range to muddy the eBay water
Now I have the same range of over 500+ items as I did before and all are fine and selling well with Xmas coming
This same process has been applied to my other selling IDs without any suspensions occurring to
Well that’s al that springs to mine and hopefully gives hope and inspiration who have incurred the wrath of the bay of E!
Will post another update next month folks
All the best for Xmas
PAULUSS