Jack has brought up some questions and I wanted to go into detail about them for everyone here.
1) If you're using dial-up, do you think aol is still a big help in this, or would you might as well just use your existing ISP?
I am on a DSL line which coneects to a router then to my computers. I use AOL 9.0 VR to login to ebay and paypal and this throws out the AOL IP.
When you are in AOL you can go to
WhatismyIP and it will tell you the IP you are sitting on, usually it is a VA IP. This does not raise flags as ebay knows people use AOL to connect to the internet BUT some will say that there are scripts that can read the unlying IP address which is your home IP. I have not found this to be true and even when I changed a password on an account, I got an email from Ebay stating a change was made and from what IP it came from.. the IP listed was AOL not my home IP.
You can also use
YouHide or
Freeproxyserver to connect to ebay, mind you though that you do not have control over which IP you will be coming from. With YouHide you can select not to have cookies (but they are needed to login to ebay) or not to have scripts run.
I use them when I want to browse for things or check up on auctions that I am running.
2) Does this include Google Checkout too? Which merchant accounts are you talking about here, and which do you recommend?
Since Ebay forces you to either have your own merchant account or use Paypal when you try and list an item, You can select to use your own merchant account if you do not want to use paypal. By doing this you can list in your auctions that you take visa/mastercard, discover etc etc and list in the auction that you take them thru online services, some of which you can list in your auction like bidpay. Check ebays list of who they allow for your to mention. Google checkout is not one of them, you can read the threads here about that or google it to see the rivalry.
But that does not mean in your end of auction email that you send to the buyer that you can not offer it as well as others like
Alertpay
I use and offer the following services BidPay, Alertpay, PP and my own merchant account. My merchant account is with First Data which was obtained thru
cardservices International
3) How do you find the addresses? Do you work for the usps? Please point to where I too can find this data. Also, can you recycle the same phone number without ebay noticing, or have you just been lucky with one single account that you haven't needed to get a new one? For the purposes of linking accounts (ebay to paypal) could you use your real name and then a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ (but real) address and then link them and that would work? If you've read my other threads, you know why I need this, as ebay needs a linked account to do buy it now on newer accounts (under 10 fb) and international trade.
First, I do not work for the poorly run and over priced USPS. How do I get addresses for my accounts it is really simple and there are mutliple ways to get them and even have some payback fun with them. Okay here are a couple of ways to do this....
1) Go to
Google Maps, now type in your real address and click search. You will see that they bring up your address and also you will see all the streets in your surronding area. Just zoom in if you need a closer look.
You can also find the street names in an area that you want to use for ebay for example. Go to google maps and type in Detroit, Michigan Zoom all the way in and now you have street names, now at the top click the link that says "find businesses" and type in gas station or pizza or food store.
For this we will type in "pizza" and whola on the left hand side you have physical addresses with zip codes that you can use.
2) Drive around your area and write down the names of the streets.
Now for the fun addresses or as I call them MofoAddresses. These are the addresses that are provided to you by buyers or sellers. If you hate a seller or a buyer stiffed you on a chargeback you have his/her info. Use that information to create an account, you can add apt 1 if you would like or leave it as is. Ebay allows for multiple accounts with the same address, but will suspend all of them if wrong doing is done by one.... do you see what I am getting at. The goal with these is not so much to make money but to use them as a way to get the original buyer/seller kicked by association... HA HA LOL Fun Stuff.....
About the phone numbers, you can get a phone number in any area you want thru
PrivatePhone or you can get a number associated to the address you used when you got you AOL account thru
AimPhone
So for the example we used with google and pizza, Once you have the physical address and they will also provide you with the business telephone number you can go to private phone and sign up using the info given and selecting the correct area code for that area.
With private phone and aimphone they are free, you can upgrade for a monthly fee to make outgoing calls if you want but they suit the purpose of what they are needed for. Also to keep them free they must be used at least once in a month. This is fine as all you have to do is pull out your list of numbers and call them all on 1 day to keep them active or you can go to craigslist and post an ad as a lonely lady needing to talk to someone and give the number. Thay will call the number for you, no cost to you.
As far as using your Real name with a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ address, If your real name was suspended before and you are going to use a your real name again with an addy say in your general area, this might work for awhile but then you might get caught up and suspended again. If you want to use your real name put a variation on it. For example, If your name is Richard use Dick or Rich. You can add Sr. Jr. or II
Now for international trade you really do not have to worry that much if your concern is say checks or money orders, Unless you are using western union which they ask for ID when you go pick up your money.
As to how to get around the verifying info if your account is limited by paypal... well other than them asking for a SS# you can provide them with whatever they want. They want a phone bill or utility bill... no problem... scan your phone bill then use editing software to change the name and address on the bill. Black out information that they do not need to see such as account # or the telephone numbers you called. Remember if you are using a addy in your area, they most likely use the same companies for electric or phone as you. Paypal can call the companies but the companies will not give out any personal information due to privacy only with a court order will they do so..
4) Using paypal effectively with bad info....Here are the steps I use to create the account, verify the account, double verify the account and begin getting cash.
a) Open an account with the info you used with ebay
b) add a VCC to the account
c) add a bank account to the account (free 9 cents)
d) use the EXP with the VCC to get double verified.
e) after about 15 days start taking money in slowly, small amounts. Let that Verified member feedback number grow for completed transaction. Paypal like Ebay uses that number as a way of trusting you.
f) over time you can let the payments to you get bigger and bigger. Don't go from taking $6 payments to a $100's within... LOL
Now on the off chance paypal limits you - If a customer pays then refund them so the money does not sit in the account. Explain to them that currently you can not take paypal thru that account, send them an invoice thru another account but DO NOT reference the auction number, their ebay id or your ebay id. Just state the product or what whatever you want but be sure to tell the buyer that the invoice is coming from "so and so" with the subject of "whatever" they will pay if they want the item especially since if you offer to take money orders as your only other option.
5) With a new account you won't have the high number of verified transactions. It's not a super big deal, but I feel it may help the customer to feel more secure doing business with you, if the number of completed transactions is high. Do you know what I'm talking about, and have you ever noticed it making a difference?
Honestly, that number means squat to a buyer, it means more to paypal. The customer is so brainwashed that they are protected with paying with paypal that they do not even bother to look. This is how I think of it "as a buyer" with using paypal. I send the payment using my CC as the source, if the package does not come and paypal does not get me my refund... chargeback here I come. Also, before someone states paypals new policy on chargebacks, that policy can just collect dust as it is not legally binding. In the long run, paypal is the merchant processor and they use their merchant account to process the payments. Therefore they are repsonsible for the item to be delivered, that is why when you do a chargeback, you get your money and PP gets stuck holding the bag if the seller ducks out on the account. Paypal is an open source for abuse and in reality they can not protect themselves if someone wanted to beat them up.
