Hello all. I have been perusing the threads for hours (took a break for turkey meatloaf dinner, lol).
I don't think my question has been posted yet, so I'll inquire now (my apologies for the length; I'm trying to be thorough).
I am moving soon to a new state. This will be a chance to start over on eBay:
1. New city/state/address
2. New bank/credit card info
3. New computer (so new ISP, cookies, etc)
4. New PayPal account
(btw, my original PayPal account is still active (never even limited) and I use it for purchases daily & non-eBay related payments - lucky?)
5. The only thing that will be the same is my actual name. a. If I move out-of-state and create a new eBay account using new everything except my name, what is the probability that the account will be suspended? b. Is it a good/bad/foolish/okay idea to go that route; OR c. If possible, is it preferable to use a variation of my real name, but for which I have no identification (seeing as I'll have to process paper payments with my bank & withdraw from said bank).
Using a DBA isn’t a good choice for me because:
a) my registered DBA was my latest stealth account handle (so eBay has flagged it as well as my real name)
b) changing my DBA is suicide -- my customers know me well by my real name and DBA -- I even have a website in development that I’ve invested a few thousand into to solidify my business
c) my DBA will also be tied to my primary business banking account (I will have a completely unassociated account for eBay)
Ebay is a good place to shepherd new customers to my website (especially in the website infancy stages) so I definitely want to be back on eBay. I also want to keep my real name to avoid any sense of impropriety if I have to deposit payments that are made out to a name for which I have no state ID (even if it is a variation of my birth name).
However, that may be an option:
I had a long hyphenated first name that caused lots of confusion, so I abbreviated my first name and legally used the abbreviated FIRST-MIDDLE-LAST.
For ex: presume my name was Michael-Christopher Stuart Smith. I became legally (so all my identification reads) Christopher S. Smith. What if I could register with eBay as Michael S. Smith (no longer my name legally, but on my birth certificate).
How could I even do that since I changed my name as soon as I became 18 and have absolutely no identification (other than birth certificate) to claim otherwise (I don’t want to go through the process of changing my name legally again - an arduous task, plus I like my name as it is now).
All comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
DC
Below is a synopsis of my suspension history (for those who think it‘s pertinent):
1. Original “buyer”/“seller” accounts suspended following policy violation mishaps.
2. First “stealth” account created with new financial info and primary street address, same PP account with new email … suspended about a year later (reason: linked) because I used blacklisted address in the “receive payments” field (doh!). [I believe it came to light after a buyer (scammer) complaint about item not received prompted ebay to review my account]
3. Second “stealth” account created with new financial info, new primary address in new city (used a friend’s place to set up “residence”), new Internet connection, new computer, same PP account with new email. Sat on account 6 months and started using it to sell dvds. Sold about 200 dvds in one month and then … suspended (linked again!).
I was perplexed - new city, address, bank and credit card info, new ISP. Then I realized: the suspension occurred right after I tried to connect my PayPal account. So I presume that’s the cause (but mind, I had linked my other stealth account too without detection thru PayPal -- just lucky?).