Inkfrog Data in listing

[nodeal]

I use Inkfrog to manage my listings. I recently had many, many accounts shut down and I am trying to get to the bottom of it.

I went to one of my eBay listings and right clicked on the listing page, then clicked inspect (mac's version of view page source). I did a search and found this embedded:

<div id="inkfrog_crosspromo_top"></div>
<div id="inkfrog_crosspromo_top"></div>
<div id="inkfrog_crosspromo_bottom"></div>

Now mind you there are no InkFrog promotions in the listing, and I have thoroughly searched through my settings on Inkfrog to make sure there is nothing set to add in a promo or share data with eBay or anything of the sort.

Anybody else who uses Inkfrog seeing this? And think it could be a problem?

[Play]

That embedded code means nothing - with regards to your issue.

It just means you've used Inkfrog to list/edit your items. eBay would already know your using Inkfrog the minute you get a token to link your inkfrog account to eBay.

Since inkfrog is fairly commonly used by users here, and there isn't and outrage at the moment, I would focus on other factors that may have linked your accounts together.

Tell us how you operate your accounts, VM, user accounts, portable browsers etc., and we can troubleshoot with you to find out what caused the issue.

[nodeal]

Originally Posted by Play

That embedded code means nothing - with regards to your issue.

It just means you've used Inkfrog to list/edit your items. eBay would already know your using Inkfrog the minute you get a token to link your inkfrog account to eBay.

Since inkfrog is fairly commonly used by users here, and there isn't and outrage at the moment, I would focus on other factors that may have linked your accounts together.

Tell us how you operate your accounts, VM, user accounts, portable browsers etc., and we can troubleshoot with you to find out what caused the issue.

Thanks for the response.

I use VMs, hot spots for IP, and run off of a macbook. I have eliminated the hardware I use as the issue because I work with a partner and his accounts got shut down the same time. Maybe I am looking at this the wrong way, but It seems unlikely two different individuals would get shut down at the same time if it were a problem relating to VMs/hotspots/computer.

That being said, I am narrowing it down to possibly the brands of item, but 3 different brands across my accounts got shut down at the same time. Granted some of these brands were mixed with each other (2 diff brands on same account), but even accounts with just one brand got suspended.

Also strange: I sell clothing, and ONLY the men's clothing got shut down. Accounts that just had The women's clothing were left alone, even though it was the same brand as the men's.

I have also considered the fact that I have similar pictures, listing descriptions, and titles. I do use a data eraser for the pictures, but nonetheless the pictures are very similar across different accounts.

Last night I took an account i hadn't used in a while, deleted data on the pictures, changed description and title, BUT did relist from the same inkfrog template. The next day I was suspended.

Also as a side note, my listings are not being simply taken down. I am being SUSPENDED, permanently.

Any input would be appreciated so ai can overcome this hurdle. Thank you!

[Play]

Also strange: I sell clothing, and ONLY the men's clothing got shut down. Accounts that just had The women's clothing were left alone, even though it was the same brand as the men's.

If all your accounts were running under ONE inkfrog account, and your saying multiple accounts went down, i.e. not all, so some are still up, then clearly inkfrog isn't the concern. So that can be ruled out (unless you were not using them all under one inkfrog account).

Whenever accounts are linked, when one goes down, the rest fall like dominoes. Those that didn't fall, are not as "strongly" linked. Note I say "strongly" which means they could still be softly linked through other means, though not suspended.

[nodeal]

Originally Posted by Play

If all your accounts were running under ONE inkfrog account, and your saying multiple accounts went down, i.e. not all, so some are still up, then clearly inkfrog isn't the concern. So that can be ruled out (unless you were not using them all under one inkfrog account).

Whenever accounts are linked, when one goes down, the rest fall like dominoes. Those that didn't fall, are not as "strongly" linked. Note I say "strongly" which means they could still be softly linked through other means, though not suspended.

Yes I see what you are saying.

Every account that currently had an active listing in the Men's category under one of 3 brands got shut down. I do have current accounts under Inkfrog that either have a completely different brand listed, or have the same brand listed but in Women's category. Those accounts seem to be unaffected (so far).

Also between my partner and I we have 2 ink frog accounts. Maybe not Ink specifically BUT both of us use Inkfrog, Reply Manager, and Shipstation. That is 3 tokens generated across all of our eBay accounts. Do you think that + selling similar items is enough to cause a link?

[nodeal]

Here are the emails I have been receiving across all accounts. Everything was shut down within the same 2 hours:

"After reviewing your eBay account, recent activity has raised serious security concerns. As a result, we've taken the following action on your account:
- Your eBay account has been suspended indefinitely.
- Item listings have been removed. A list of removed items is available further down in this email.

You won't be able to use eBay in any way. This includes using another existing account or registering a new account. Any outstanding selling fees are due immediately, and any amounts that you haven't previously disputed will be charged to the billing method currently on file.

We've taken this precaution to protect our members while we make sure that the activity doesn't cause harm -- however unintentionally -- to the eBay community."

[pastrami_on_rye]

how old were the accounts that were shut down and how much is "many"?

when you set up ink frog, did you generate the token with a different ip and user account for each eBay name?

[nodeal]

Originally Posted by pastrami_on_rye

how old were the accounts that were shut down and how much is "many"?

when you set up ink frog, did you generate the token with a different ip and user account for each eBay name?

Yes different IP and user / VM for each token.

"Many" as in 30 accounts shut down within the same 2 hours.

The accounts varied in age. Anywhere for 2 months - 2 years.

[pastrami_on_rye]

I see...this concerns me as I just started using inkfrog about a month ago and used the same methods you used to generate tokens for different accounts. I'm running about 25-30 on there as well...The only thing thats different is I don't use any of their templates...

[dallis]

Nobody has reported this before. It's more likely you're bleeding info some other way.

If it's not you, maybe it's your partner who gave it away somehow.

Last night I took an account i hadn't used in a while, deleted data on the pictures, changed description and title, BUT did relist from the same inkfrog template. The next day I was suspended.

So it's obviously something you're doing... usually suspensions like this aren't done by people, they're done by bots.

Do this exactly again and don't list via inkfrog, see if it stays up or goes down. Then report back the results to us, please.

My guess is it will go down again.

[nodeal]

Originally Posted by dallis

Nobody has reported this before. It's more likely you're bleeding info some other way.

If it's not you, maybe it's your partner who gave it away somehow.

Last night I took an account i hadn't used in a while, deleted data on the pictures, changed description and title, BUT did relist from the same inkfrog template. The next day I was suspended.

So it's obviously something you're doing... usually suspensions like this aren't done by people, they're done by bots.

Do this exactly again and don't list via inkfrog, see if it stays up or goes down. Then report back the results to us, please.

My guess is it will go down again.

I waited a couple days, took new pictures and made an entirely new listing (still through InkFrog) and now a few days later everything seems to be okay, knock on wood.

I think with this being said I may be able to eliminate InkFrog as the issue, or maybe it was only a contributing factor. They may have done a sweep on name brands in the category I was selling in, and similarities in pictures / listing descriptions / price / and PERHAPS InkFrog (or maybe even my other tokens i.e. Shipstation, Replymanager) as a contributing identifier.

[StealthLannister]

Originally Posted by nodeal

Yes I see what you are saying.

Every account that currently had an active listing in the Men's category under one of 3 brands got shut down. I do have current accounts under Inkfrog that either have a completely different brand listed, or have the same brand listed but in Women's category. Those accounts seem to be unaffected (so far).

Also between my partner and I we have 2 ink frog accounts. Maybe not Ink specifically BUT both of us use Inkfrog, Reply Manager, and Shipstation. That is 3 tokens generated across all of our eBay accounts. Do you think that + selling similar items is enough to cause a link?

I know it’s an old post, but we’re you able to get to the bottom of this? Which 3rd party software was potentially causing the link?