eBay account restricted and then unrestricted...
Ok so I had 2 eBay accounts that I used. One was mine, one was my mums. I made my eBay account about 6 years ago and my mums about 3 years ago. On both of them I sold mostly old items, clothes etc. Then I started buying items in bulk (sunglasses, phone cases etc) and sold them on my own account. After one person complained about an item I sent them eBay restricted me from selling in the clothes/accessories section but I could still sell other things that weren't in that category. At the time I didn't really sell anything other than clothes/accessories so thats when I started using my mums account and for years I continued to sell every now and again. eBay wasn't my full time job I run 2 other online businesses which is my source of income but I used eBay to mainly sell old things. Anyways my mums account ended up getting restricted for life for a very minor issue. Basically a buyer bidded on a few of my items and I had to cancel them all which led eBay to think I was cancelling them for my own reasons which wasn't true.
So because I still wanted to continue to sell clothes/accessories (I sell a lot of vintage items) I decided to try and make another eBay under a different name, address, phone number, email etc but I didn't read the forums first and realise you really need to change everything and I used the same paypal and was caught out because they linked it to my mums restricted account.
Ok so I have a couple of questions: When I made the new account I used a different address to the one my mums account had. I used my office address, but since that account got restricted for being linked will the new address I used on that also be unable to be used again? Will they still link it? And also do I really need to get a new computer for my stealth accounts or will changing the IP and deleting cookies and everything be enough? Lastly, do people sell stealth accounts that already have some positive feedback? Because I really don't want to have to start from scratch with the low listing allowance and holding of payments eBay love to do when you are new.
I still have my original eBay account up and running though which is confusing as my original eBay account has the exact same address/phone number as my mums account. Last week they restricted my account because they said it was linked and I just went on the eBay live chat and told them it was my mums account and that my account was made way before hers and they just said ok thats fine and unrestricted it which I was really shocked about as I've never heard of that happening before. So the past 2 weeks I have started selling again on my own account. I have been selling in the electronic category which have really been selling well and I've made quite a bit from it. But I have been having non stop trouble with eBay since starting to sell again, twice in the past week they thought I had been hacked so removed my listings and deleted all my orders and emailed all my customers telling them I was hacked and not to message me as it wasn't me. Anyways I went through all that trouble then finally got it back to normal to wake up the next day to my account being temporarily restricted from selling until I can provide more information. So they asked me to send them proof of identity, a bank statement and my suppliers information and an invoice from my supplier. I have sent that all to them and I'm just waiting to hear back now. I have been informed by the person I spoke to from ebay that they aren't doing this because of any fraudulent behaviour its just to check I have the items I'm selling since I have been selling a lot. I have a bad feeling about it though as I just think because of it being linked to my mums account they are going to realise that again when they check my info and ban me for life.
So Im just preparing for the worst now and hoping to get some stealth accounts. I haven't bought the e-book yet but I plan to. I just had a couple questions about stealth accounts, I know you make up all new details etc but what if something like that were to happen with your stealth account. Where they require more information to confirm its you. Then what do you do? Paypal have also done that a few times with me in the past. How do you go about that?
So sorry for you having to read all that but its a long story. I really do want to continue to sell on eBay as I've realised the past few weeks how much you really can make from eBay if you know what to sell. I am also considering selling on Amazon but I have heard negative reviews about that too but we will see. I will keep you updated if I do get my account restricted. I should hear back by Monday I think.
Thanks,
Beth |