Forum

IP linking - your experience?
 

Many forum members talk about how each stealth account needs a different IP, but is this really necessary? In my past year of stealth, I’ve shared IPs across tons of accounts, and only once were all my accounts IP linked. These accounts were all selling the same items, and funny enough, one of my accounts was spared because it had transitioned into a different category (despite having sold the same items as the other accounts very recently).


Besides this incident, the other MANY accounts I had never got IP linked, despite them too selling the SAME items on the SAME IP.

I recently purchased a bunch of VPNs from 24vc, and am looking at selling in some new categories. What I am thinking of is to share one IP across 2 accounts, as long as the accounts sell in different categories and have different user details/account management practices. E.g., 2 accounts share xx.yy.z.z as IP, but different details, cookies, and items sold (e.g. electronics on one, pets on the other).

What is everyone's personal experience with this?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

If you are not worried about IP linking....this thread is really pointless really. What purpose would it serve for us to tell you some of us may have been linked via IP? Just a lot of back and forth which will lead to nowhere. If you are happy with your setup then keep it going.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Mostly I'm wondering what factors played a role in the restriction, or whether their claim was that IP alone was enough to trigger the restriction. More to the point, I'm wondering whether the same items were sold on the IP linked accounts.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

About 1.5 years ago, I had my primary legit account fall below standard and my selling limits were extremely low. I then needed money badly and decided to sell my macbook. So I created a new account with same info; got new limits and sold my item successfully. To this day, my accounts haven't been officially linked..Both are now power-sellers.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Did any oft these accounts get suspended yet?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Yes, but I'm fairly certain IP was not one of the reasons. Most of these accounts fell during the holidays where I got way too ahead of myself, but they all fell at different times (whereas my IP linked accounts all fell within an hour or so). However, I do still have other accounts from this time period that are still using that dingy old IP that are still alive and very well today.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

well, if you want to play around with your accounts and you don't mind them getting nuked one day, then feel free to do what you want.

Most of us I think would want more stability and peace of mind that we have done all the right things to stay afloat.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

The wider problem is some people don't read the Stealth Guide carefully or follow directions to the T.

It's kind of like a recipe. Some cooks will improvise, experiment, throw in some extra ingredient, or change. At the end of the day it's NOT as intended.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Avoid IP overlapping OP

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Here is my experience from 2 weeks ago.

Got a Dedicated IP from purevpn (they are known to reuse their IPs). Started the account and was suspended about 1 day later because they had linked me to an account of some random dude who was suspended before and sold super mario stuff. This linkage was 100% because of the IP and nothing else.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

I use IPBURGER along with Viscosity as the client and never had any issues which are ip related.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Bummer... wonder if it would've made a difference if you were sharing an IP with the other guy and his account was clean.

(to clarify my OP, I'm referring to running a fresh IP between two accounts)

Thank you for sharing your story.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

They will tell you all this information?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Yes, they will tell you the name of the account you were linked to. Then I checked out his feedback and figured out what he sold.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Gotcha.......

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Kirkland, you should just try it.... I know you'll get nuked soon or later, but sometimes it's best for you to experience this yourself since you seem to be determined to do what you want to do.

Either way, I'm sure you know how to operate better and we're here always

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

I don't know why so many posters are quick to assume that I'm so hardheaded and "will do whatever I want no matter what". The point of this thread was really to ask for people's firsthand experiences - I do know what the best practices are otherwise. SaiJin, may I ask, have your own accounts ever fallen due to IP linking?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Less to do with you than all the other 'genius' posters, I think.

IP linking can get you burned, but there are other factors involved. IP's are all in a pool and most have been used before, so there's really no such thing as a 'fresh IP'.

But IP in conjunction with other elemental data points can definitely link you.

I know they've linked accounts of mine based on 'similarities in the pattern of account usage', so go figure.

They collect an immense amount of data points every time you log on. IP will factor in there somewhere, and who knows exactly where the bot's thresholds are, but is definitely a factor.

Think it through: (made up details, of course) lets say the IP is the same, and in the same geographic area, and the computer is a Dell model X13, and it uses a Comcast high speed network servicing around 300K users, an Arris surfboard 5450LDS wifi router with a specific privacy protocol and latency, a 2122XRS wifi modem set to a certain baud speed, a November 2017 version of a specific malware protection, a particular HTML5 protocol, + W10 home version, not yet updated for two update cycles.

The number of people with that specific combination of details and the same IP is probably pretty low.

Add a few other details and among those 300K users bingo! You're busted. IP did you in.

Across the entire state or nation, though, without the same IP, the pool of users with these details may be as many as 50-100K.

Harder to find.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

I usually ask them on livechat why an account was suspended. Some agents offer no info but others have told me the usernames of other accounts I've been linked to or if my paypal has been linked to another banned paypal and once I was even told that the IP I was using was linked to several banned members. You will get the info off some but not others I find. Useful to know!

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

No livechat in the US.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Can you not just login on the .co.uk site and livechat that way?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Just depends on the linking and the offense that got your first account suspended .. I have linked ips to a couple accounts that lasted years .. but u really piss them off and i lost 4 accounts all in the same few mins .. they were burner accounts so nothing lost but yea if you want solid accounts dont over lap ips

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff (still learning), but that starts to dip moreso into the realms of fingerprinting/user canvas stuff, no?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Fingerprinting is far more invasive.

You give out a lot more info than you realize just by connecting to a site.

IP can definitely burn you, particular when coupled with cookies and other tracking info.

That's why we use different IP's and different user accounts.

You can reuse IP's if they're already associated with a specific account, though.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Boy there's a lot going on in this thread. IP's will get you linked even if your not selling "shady" things. Your ip is not that hard to change so just dont link yourself to different account being lazy w/ something so easily changed. JUST DONT. Why go thru the trouble building a stealth account.

People starting out read thru the forum and might see this and think hey I dont have to change my IP according to %^$^#. Shortcuts here= no good :)

Take the time to learn how or just purchase dedicated ip like some of the "geniuses" above stated. Lot of experience and knowledge in posts above us w/ the right info.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Nope, I haven't gotten an account suspended for maybe 10 years or so...
and nope, I never used double the IP. I did make a mistake once or 2x by accident but that's it.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

You mean 'dedicated' IPs that were previously used as opposed to 'fresh' IPs?

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

I keep hearing about calling in and speaking to a rep about a suspended account, when I try to call I input the 6 digit code they give me and a recording says that acct is suspended and cannot be used anymore and doesn't give me an option to talk to someone, almost a brand new account 10%& feedback(50). Dedicated hot spot, new user id, and the paypal is till alive as we speak, been 7 days. So how do I get through the recording and talk to a live person. I have phone number for account. They did not ask for anything, just said "recent activity on your account, yada yada yada"

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Call in using a different phone number I guess, and/or just use the automated responses to be directed to the appropriate department (Trust and Safety I think?). Instead of the code

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

What I meant was this example: User Account A was logged in on EB/PP on 3/01/2018 with IP 175.43.123.122.

If, when you switch IP's on 3/18/2018 to go to an EB, and the IP comes up as 175.43.123.122, you can use that again to log in on User Account A onto the associated EB/PP.

Because it's been used on that User Account and RB/PP before.

If you track your IP in that detail you can do that.

I track them using an Excel spreadsheet by user/EB/PP account and date.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

What items do your normally list on each account? I believe this has made a difference in my opinion.

Re: IP linking - your experience?
 

Don't be confused, they ARE linked, and EB knows it. They just haven't done anything about it yet.

EB, in spite of all their rhetoric, is very loose about duplicate info, and they do very little to punish banned or suspended users from getting back on.

You seem to forget a few years back when they did a sweep and killed 2.5 million accounts overnight.

One day somebody will get their panties in a wad and they'll press a button and it'll all be over for a bunch of people and with sloppy habits.