New seller - very likely to get banned very soon

[ngyuming1981]

I found this forum through Google search and here is my story:

I have been a Ebay buyer for over 10 years but I rarely sell/buy anything on Ebay. In the past couple of months, I have started to do some retail arbitrage to earned some lunch money. Received around 100% positive feedbacks and am happy about selling on Ebay. During this period I am totally unaware of the Ebay dashboard thing and I have cancelled 2 orders and received a 1-star for late shipment (i.e. 3 defects).

I then learned about liquidation.com and started buying 1 lot of returned consumer electronics to resell on Ebay. Most of the items looked good upon arrival. I have turned on the devices to make sure they worked and then listed on Ebay as used items.

Sold around 20 items in a week but another week later I'm starting to receiving return requests from buyers saying the items were not functional for various other reasons that I have not tested.

Anyway by the time I am writing this email I have got 7 defects in total (and I don't know how many more will show up).

I'd appreciate if you guys could help answer some of my questions:

(1) Once I reach 8 defects on seller dashboard, how much time will I have to sell the remaining of my inventories before I'll get banned?
(2) Is there a slight chance that I might not get banned given that I'm selling around 70-100 items over the past years?
(3) My wife has another Ebay account but we shared the same IP and same desktop PC. Will her account be suspended too if (or once) my account get banned?
(4) Given that I only sell stuff on Ebay for lunch money. Would you guys recommend me getting the eBay Stealth ebook, and create back-up account to continue my business? or is it easier to just switch over to Amazon?

Thank you!

[MM78]

Welcome.....

Just an FYI, When you buy Electronics and they are "Store Returns" it's basically like having a giant red light that says "Broken". They weren't returned because they worked perfectly.

(1) Once I reach 8 defects on seller dashboard, how much time will I have to sell the remaining of my inventories before I'll get banned?

Never reached 8 defects but I'm sure you would be on borrowed time.

(2) Is there a slight chance that I might not get banned given that I'm selling around 70-100 items over the past years?

Depends on Ebay's System.

(3) My wife has another Ebay account but we shared the same IP and same desktop PC. Will her account be suspended too if (or once) my account get banned?

There's no definitive answer, No one can really give you a precise answer on this one, It can go either way....one thing is for sure, any ebay account used on the same PC, IP are 100% linked and at this point anything is possible.

(4) Given that I only sell stuff on Ebay for lunch money. Would you guys recommend me getting the eBay Stealth ebook, and create back-up account to continue my business? or is it easier to just switch over to Amazon?

eBay Stealth is for anyone...from small time to big time sellers. Now that you have found Aspkin.com I would recommend getting the ebook to start and learn as much as possible. Learn the way of Stealth and make as many accounts as you can (successfully). Amazon is a whole different beast but there's nothing saying you can't do both. I will recommend you not sell anymore store return electronics on Amazon....If you think Ebay is bad, Amazon is less tolerable when it comes to defects.

[jeffweico]

The first problem here is electronics. Profit margins are notoriously low on new items and used items, unless fully tested, are a crapshoot.

The second problem is liquidation.com - it is not good for electronics. Store returns normally have problems. Otherwise, they wouldn't be returned. Something like apparel might be different. Buyers return apparel for all kinds of reasons and any defects will show up before you actually sell the item.

I would make a couple of stealth accounts. I would also try selling some small, low dollar value, low-risk items on eBay to boost my ratings a bit. It may or may not be too late to save the account, but it is worth TRYING. You have nothing to lose.

[MM78]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

I would also try selling some small, low dollar value, low-risk items on eBay to boost my ratings a bit. It may or may not be too late to save the account, but it is worth TRYING. You have nothing to lose.

Forgot to mention this, this is very important OP. If you do make stealth accounts....you gotta go slow, sell low risk items, build up the accounts....and stay away from electronics for a while or until you find something that you know is 100% working perfectly.

[rsot]

Welcome to the forums OP - listen to MM78; all the best with stealth

[ngyuming1981]

Thank you for the prompt responses guys! Any idea what the selling limit is if I were to start a new stealth account?

The reason why I have selected electronics is because it's usually small in size (and light) and I don't need to rent a warehouse to store the items. If I were to start all over with the new stealth account, do you guys think something like returned Iphone case will work? I mean it will be low profit, high competition but I'm only expecting a little bit more lunch money... and I should should receiving a lot fewer defects since I was able to examine the cases??

[MM78]

Originally Posted by ngyuming1981

Thank you for the prompt responses guys! Any idea what the selling limit is if I were to start a new stealth account?

Limits? 5/$5,00 - 10/$1,000 - 50/$5,000 - 100/$5,000 - 1,000/$25,000...etc.

If I were to start all over with the new stealth account, do you guys think something like returned Iphone case will work?

Iphone Cases on a brand new Account.....is like playing Russian Roulette with the account. You need to start out with less riskier items.

[jeffweico]

Selling limits can start at 5 items and $500 per month or they could be higher. But the increase pretty quickly as long as you ship quickly, use tracking and don't get any negative feedbacks.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by ngyuming1981

Thank you for the prompt responses guys! Any idea what the selling limit is if I were to start a new stealth account?

The reason why I have selected electronics is because it's usually small in size (and light) and I don't need to rent a warehouse to store the items. If I were to start all over with the new stealth account, do you guys think something like returned Iphone case will work? I mean it will be low profit, high competition but I'm only expecting a little bit more lunch money... and I should should receiving a lot fewer defects since I was able to examine the cases??

Change what you want to eat for lunch money then.

All you are doing so far is trying to sell risky items that will buy caviar & you are still eating noodles.

In other words, your business plan needs to be changed.

[ngyuming1981]

Thanks again guys! Can you guys give me a few example of the lower risk items that you guys are referring to?

I mean I have been doing retail arbitrage for a couple of months without any issues (i.e. clearance from retail store and reselling it on Ebay). Would those items be considered low risk?

[MM78]

Originally Posted by ngyuming1981

Thanks again guys! Can you guys give me a few example of the lower risk items that you guys are referring to?

Office supplies, books, "USED" Movies (New Movies can be a problem), Stuff around your house you don't want/need anymore, Shoes....

I mean I have been doing retail arbitrage for a couple of months without any issues (i.e. clearance from retail store and reselling it on Ebay).

The thing is that things have changed from 10 years ago....These days ebay is paranoid about certain items.

Would those items be considered low risk?

You gotta be more specific as to what type of items....

[ngyuming1981]

Originally Posted by MM78

Office supplies, books, "USED" Movies (New Movies can be a problem), Stuff around your house you don't want/need anymore, Shoes....

The thing is that things have changed from 10 years ago....These days ebay is paranoid about certain items.


You gotta be more specific as to what type of items....

Thanks again for your response! It can be anything as long as I can buy it lower than the Ebay completed price... but seems like USED X1/PS4 games should be a great way to start my stealth account right?

Let's say I start over with the stealth account (and select other products other than electronics to sell), do you guys think sending messages telling the buyer to pm me on Ebay instead of directly filing for a return will help control the defect problem? Will sending messages like that bring me into more trouble?

Thanks!