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Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

Looking to start a stealth account with an LLC, anybody have any experience or thoughts?

Thanks

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

For most US eBay/PP users that have been booted. LLC means pretty much nothing, just a formality. It is about getting back on PayPal and being able to get through the 200 transaction 20k threshold with an EIN for the Tax ID. Multiple members on here have done this successfully.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

Tons of advantages of a LLC/Corporation, etc.... Contact your accountant/tax advisor as well as an asset protection attorney.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

For the most part, the only use an LLC has is outside eBay and Paypal. If I had to say one thing, I would not begin an LLC just for eBay Stealth. You never know when your account may go to waste as this is partly a learning process. With Ebay Stealth, you will be creating your own entities / persons anyway. The LLC route is when things start working out for you and you want to get more serious and have more backing with other institutions.

I have a New Mexico LLC through a registered agent, my business address is located in OH. Technically, you could have an A.I. run the company since the owner's information is not publicly available in NM. Each state has different rules regarding LLCs, so you can shop around or get some professional advice to see if it'll work for you. You don't have to register an LLC in the same state you plan to do business with (or where you have your business address) since this will be an online business. However, for some advanced banking and some other things (non-eBay or non-Paypal related) you may require a business license or certificate of good standing. If you pick a good registered agent, they can get these for you too at a reasonable fee..

LLCs do offer asset protection if you know how to use it properly. Some people use LLCs to hide assets from collections/litigation, some people use them separately as a holding company to hold specific items of value (safehouses, real estate, cars, trucks), some people use LLCs to limit liability under their company activities and make things further low risk (hence the term, limited liability company). LLCs open up options; it's up for you to determine whether those are for you. However, eBay/Paypal doesn't really care if you are an LLC and in my experience, they'll treat you the same and maybe only a little better than a normal user. LLC is the best tool if you're paranoid about being sued or if your business contains a certain amount of risk. There are also legal exceptions to these cases, so it's best to check out everything before you jump in.

Do you need an LLC for a better eBay/Paypal experience? No. However, I like banking through my LLC as it legitimizes things and gives me more options. Keeping everything in the same loop makes things easier and manageable.

Good luck.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

I would not use the word
"paranoid" and "lawsuit" together personally PTXCDEXIA. Also I would not use the word "hide" and LLC
Those seem very negative OR shady, although I understand that was not your intention at all.

LLC can also offer extreme tax advantages for many. You can never rule out Trusts and Corps or any entity because every situation is unique. I use LLC, Corps, LLP, and Trusts for all sorts of things. Every situation is different.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

We live in a "litigious society." Ebay is a perfect example of a victim to this. If you have something valuable, you're going to be targeted for whatever reason.

If the owner of the LLC and asset isn't divulged publicly, you're technically hiding it. Depends state to state.
Many people like to use the word protection. In certain cases collections can chase after other items, even other stuff you own if you're incredibly unlucky.
Many companies use this to prevent from losing everything. Some would go out of business if they kept everything under just 1 LLC.
If you had a trucking company which had a serious problem involving one truck, would you want to put every truck on the line?
Under one company or several? What's the smart thing to do? Another trick is leasing equipment between companies..
I'm by no means an expert, but this has been explained to me before and again.

Shady or not. Deal with it. Real world tictacs.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

I think you completely misunderstood and maybe should reread what I said. I was very specifically stating YOU made it sound shady and it is in no way shady. You are talking to someone who uses LLC, Corps, Trusts, LLP, etc...regularly. I personally would not own a single asset in my name excluding a single very leveraged auto and motor cycle and possibly a personal residence in the future, but most likely not then either.

In my opinion, it makes zero sense to have anything in your own name including an ebay account, lol

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

The simple point is about getting past the 20k/200 transactions. Everything other the EIN is formality for your preference outside of eBay/PP. The EIN is the big obstacle for US sellers going this route.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

Basic question, I think I understand all aspects of going "stealth" but if I open an LLC and register on PayPal for a business account and add my EIN, is there a chance I will later be asked to provide my SSN?

Anyone with experience in this, I expect to hit that 20,000 threshold fairly quickly. My current account linked to my name hits over 30k a month, but I want to have more than one now in case things go south in the future.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

@mitanic

paypal reserves the right at any time to ask for SSN if it is not happy with the operation of the account.

However, majority of accounts created correctly AND run correctly can avoid this.

My USA accounts have never had the request for SSN. I manage to operate with EIN based paypal accounts.

Well done for the thinking ahead.... this is the best way to do stealth. Always be ready.
Good Luck
:welcome;

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

@greenbean

Thanks for the quick reply! Cool, I am on my way back to the US tomorrow and going to get all of this setup the right way.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

I just opened an LLC myself. Im in Cali. I use a private VPS to access the account. I opened it and right away added my EIN when it asked. Now for some reason idk why but it also asked for the last 4 digits of SSN and DOB and my home address. Not sure why. I asked a friend of mine who deals with a lot of stealth account and he said that it sometimes happens. But i can simply ignore it and don't worry about it. If i ever hit that 200 mark the EIN is there. Not sure why they are asking for my info like that. It asks for it when loggin in but i can simply skip by going back to paypal.com . Of course i used my real name but used a different address obviously .

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

Does that come up every time you log in or just the one time and you were able to skip it??

If it came up once and now that u added the EIN it shouldn't be still coming up , if they keep asking that means they will want it and could lead to limitation

Or is this something that popped up u were able to pass it and added the EIN and now it is no longer asked for ??

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

No it comes up almost everytime i log in. Not sure why that is. But EIN number was added at the time of registering the account. Every now and then it doesnt appear but most of the time im greeted with that page. Its been over a week since i made it and its not making a requirement. I can just go back to the paypal.com page and it goes away. My friend said it happens on some accounts. But he said i shouldn't worry.

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

hi
i'm getting into US accounts, can you pls. direct me to any link in the forum that shows how to creat a USA account properly with EIN i would really really appericiate your help in this concern.
Thanks!
Regards!

Re: Has anyone have experience with using an LLC stealth account?
 

Did I get it right? If I have ebay/pp based e.g. in CA and attach EIN from NY LLC, it will work, as they only confirm name and number from IRS (not the address etc.), right ?