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First Amazon Stealth Account
 

Going to get the ball rolling on my first Amazon Stealth Account after getting suspended. Read through the guide and forums and seemed to have made up my mind on a setup.

Going to purchase a new Laptop
Going to use a Mobile Hotspot (either from my phone or a dongle)
Going to use a UPS Box as the address so it comes with a street address
Registering a new EIN under new business name
Verifying with a AVS VCC

I have been torn between the new laptop/mobile hotspot setup vs using a VPS/VPN. It seems that for a long term solution, investing in a new laptop and hotspot is more reliable and secure than relying on a 3rd party service to host me.

If anyone has any tips, please let me know. If this account does get suspended, will they still give me the funds I earned in 90 days? I am only going to be using FBA for all sales, should I worry about selling too much too fast? (maybe only send partial inventory at a time)

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

ABSOLUTELY! I always recommend a USB stick or a mobile hotspot over a VPS or VPN if at all possible. They ARE more stable, in my experience.

That is not to say that a VPN or a VPS cannot work, THEY DO, but I just prefer my local connections.

Do you think there would be any issue if I started off with a VPS then switched to mobile hotspot? As long as all the IPs haven't been used before on other accounts.

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

I wouldn't switch. If you have a VPS for the first account, Amazon is seeing the remote PC/Server you are logging into. If you wanted to use a mobile hotspot, why not use it for a second account?

Switching from the VPS will look like not only an IP change, but cookies changes, machine changes, etc. It will throw up red flags.

The smarter option is to leave it as-is and use the mobile hotspot for a second stealth account.

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

Also keep in mind unless your old PC is just old and slow then theres really no need for a new laptop unless you want to upgrade of course. Cause you can accomplish the same result by making a new user account or better yet using VMware

As for hotspot vs VPN/VPS its really a matter of preference, I prefer the VPN route because then I dont have to log ips and worry about if I'm reusing an old ip etc especially when your managing multiple accounts and can always dedicated one static ip to each account that doesnt change no matter where in the world i am

I was just thinking since I don't know if this VPS service will be up forever. Maybe few years down the road something happens if I get that far, I wouldn't want to lose the account just because the VPS went down and I couldn't switch over to anything.

Is Amazon able to detect that you are using a VPN/VPS? Would it be against their TOS?

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

That DOES happen, especially with the $5 per month wonders.

When it happens, it sucks because you have to scramble to find a new VPS with an available IP address in the same area as your former provider. Usually, they are in areas that have LARGE DATA CENTERS, so that DOES make it a bit easier. Then you have to set up everything as if it were new and then enter the account details. I have NEVER lost an account because of it, but it is a HUGE PAIN IN THE CHA-CHA!

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

I did my best to find a reliable host, paying around $20 a month. Started up the account with UPS box I paid for 3 months, a tracphone, and new EIN. I really hope nothing goes wrong. A lot of money would go to waste. There are zero ties to my old account.

I am just concerned how I am going to work with FBA. Should I limit the amount of items that I send them so I don't sell too much? I was selling around $30k a month with my legitimate account. I was hoping I would eventually be able to get back to that.

Re: First Amazon Stealth Account
 

FBA is not recommended to start on stealth accounts.

If your account gets deleted, they steal/destroy your inventory.