Opening a new Etsy shop

[kenk85]

Just some quick background history. I've sold on etsy for a few years without any issues. I had some person issues this summer and had some late items ship out. Customers weren't happy, refunds and the items were given to have customers change feedback, didn't happen. I ended up with a handful of bad feedbacks out of almost 200 that was left. My shop was suspended due to an unpaid bill (bill was due during the personal issues over the summer) so cases were not able to be created. I had three customers that contacted etsy. Since these weren't showing as open cases and I was not able to check email during the personal issues, etsy suspended my shop.

I NEED to open a new one now that I'm ready to sell again. It was a huge source of income for our family. Everything is handmade and all my customers were happy until this past summer. I spent almost two months trying to get this all straightened out with etsy, refunding almost all my orders per etsy's suggestion and then was told after I refunded near $300 so that I could get my account turned back on, it looked bad that I refunded 10 customers and I did not provide screen shots of the refunds issued by paypal... so that was another reason I was closed down.

I'm a little confused about how to go about this so that my account doesn't get flagged and closed.

Please tell me if any of this is wrong, I'm missing something or if these steps aren't in the right order.

I have a new paypal account with my personal information, it's a business account. New business name but same personal name as my previous paypal and of course it's a new email since its' a new paypal account.

New email (same as the paypal) already as well.

Will open new bank account under my mothers name (last name was never my last name because of an adoption/custody thing) so that I have a new account number and routing number. Have not done this yet.

Will get a p.o. box since my mother lives 30 minutes away and I would like to get any returned packages to me and not to her.

Will get a new IP address (I'm on a laptop so I'm completely overwhelmed on how to do this correctly.)

Will get a new windows user account (COMPLETELY confused and overwhelmed by this!!).

We just so happen to be getting a new phone early next week so I will not log onto the new etsy account from our old phone, only the new one and I will not log onto the old one from the new phone.

I will be sewing new items, not selling any of my previous made items, taking all new photos, different way of descriptions so I don't sound like the same person...

Is this all correct? I can not afford to mess it up because I need to order hang tags as well as clothing labels with my shop name. If it's flagged and closed, I'm out the money for those items.

Also, how do taxes play into all this? I make about 12k a year, usually not more and usually not less than 9k. It's not a lot compared to others but I have filed before. Will this affect my parents when it's income tax time?

Thank you so much in advance for the advice. I'm not very computer savy and all this etsy stuff could have been avoided if I had known you can take screen shots with your computer.

[rsot]

For taxes, speak to a financial professional - beyond scope of forum.

Welcome to the forums by the way - take the time to read through posts - learn stealth - it's the place to be

[jeffweico]

Generally speaking, stealth techniques WILL work for ETSY, with the additional caveat that if your items were totally unique, you COULD get linked that way. It sounds like you have that covered, though.

Also, it is always a BAD IDEA to involve friends or relatives regarding stealth accounts. Search the forums for the stories of relationships gone south over accounts gone wrong.

As for taxes, you COULD have your mother file and pay the taxes on any income received, but that COULD BE A BAD IDEA and as to how to set that up it depends on a lot of factors. RSOT is correct in stating that tax issues are best left to a professional tax advisor. Nobody on this forum is a tax expert, and even if we were, we don't know enough about your personal situation, or your mother's situation, to give you correct information.

Sometimes people take this as us not wanting to be helpful, but that is not the case. We are erring on the side of caution, as things could go wrong very easily if the CORRECT advice is not given. For example, someone could ask the same question you just did. We say OK, have your mother file this form and that form. But we didn't know your mother was receiving social security disability payments. She files the form and loses her benefits. That is an example of how these things can go wrong, so PLEASE ask a tax professional. Many of them will charge very little for this advice, like $50 or $100. If you routinely use someone to file your taxes each year, they may even give you their advice for free.

[kenk85]

I completely understand on the tax question.

I'm still having trouble with some other things. My IP address. I can not get it to change at all. I've tried the cmd, it says media disconnected, gives me the same IP address every time. My provider says I don't have a Static IP but even when I leave my modem and router unplugged for hours, it still gives me the same IP. Any help on this?

We are just going to purchase a new laptop and start fresh with that but need a new IP address.

As for my mom, she is the ONLY person that I would ever do that with. Never mix business with pleasure or family in 99.9% of cases but With my mom it will be fine. I'm not out to scam anyone, sell things I shouldn't be selling, I just want my business back. This is why I'm very overwhelmed with doing this correctly so that I can keep direct checkout. I can only use her information once and if I mess it up, I don't feel comfortable using anyone else I know personally. 9/10 of my customers used direct checkout and my business doubled once I started offering it. I really don't want to lose it.

[kenk85]

I finally got my IP address to change! I had to log into my router settings online and change the mac address by one number. FINALLY!

[rsot]

Originally Posted by kenk85

I finally got my IP address to change! I had to log into my router settings online and change the mac address by one number. FINALLY!

Congratulations

[GreenBean]

If you are that hot to get back on etsy, you will not involve your folks.

Before you even make an account, go over everything again.

Find out more about being linked even with the methods you outlined.