Could VMs fix the first suspension issue ?

[ronny209]

hey everyone,
do you think that ebay has no clue to figure out if you are using a VM or not ??
i have seen in some threads that ebay can see if you are operating in Vm, so im really confused now.
thanks

[Lans]

Where did you get that idea from?
Nope, they cannot see that you are using a Virtual Machine, but that depends also on how you set-up the VM in the first place. VM for me is complicated for beginners, adding/creating new user accounts in windows is still the best at the moment.

[ronny209]

Originally Posted by Lans

Where did you get that idea from?
Nope, they cannot see that you are using a Virtual Machine, but that depends also on how you set-up the VM in the first place. VM for me is complicated for beginners, adding/creating new user accounts in windows is still the best at the moment.

Well there exist people who say its exposed but anyways i would like to give it a try. Do you have a certain process in order to set up a good solid vm ??

[bjammin]

You have to be careful what you consider facts on a forum. There are a lot of dumbasses that come on here and post their opinion without doing research nor even try to eliminate and replace aspects of how they create an account or list their first item. Some have been here a long time and even have a high post count. And that def makes it hard to know what to trust and what to dismiss.

Originally Posted by Lans

Where did you get that idea from?
Nope, they cannot see that you are using a Virtual Machine, but that depends also on how you set-up the VM in the first place. VM for me is complicated for beginners, adding/creating new user accounts in windows is still the best at the moment.

This post here is sound advice. I also use user accounts for creating accounts. I do not use VMware. And I do not believe ebay is using browser fingerprinting for tracking accounts. I have been a verified account seller here for over 5 years, and if they were using browser fingerprinting, I would have been done a long time ago. Some users here over complicate things and walk around with tinfoil hats.

[Lans]

Originally Posted by ronny209

Well there exist people who say its exposed but anyways i would like to give it a try. Do you have a certain process in order to set up a good solid vm ??

I do not use VM, sorry i cannot help you.

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by ronny209

hey everyone,
do you think that ebay has no clue to figure out if you are using a VM or not ??
i have seen in some threads that ebay can see if you are operating in Vm, so im really confused now.
thanks

Yes, eBay or any other simple website that has time on their hands to write a simple script (think JavaScript) can tell if you're using a VM.

The methods to detect if your visitor is using a VM is just too numerous to mention. I'll skip the technical bit for now, but if you need to know, I'll be happy to come back and post it.

On the other hand, I think your question is missing a critical half; and that is: Does eBay collect this information or do they care at all?


I'm going to speculate here and just say I do not think so especially with regards to the latter.

We run about 100 VMs on one machine, most of these VMs have aged eBay accounts with high turnover. They've been alright so far.


Another thing you might want to consider is that there are loads of 'big companies' on eBay and amazon who are indeed outsourcing customer support to other countries. One of the cheapest and secure ways to achieve this is by using docker containers, of course! They're affordable and safe enough. You can bind login credentials to chrome and containerize it into a small desktop application ready to go.

Your staffs can be halfway around the world yet you can deliver them a super-light image in minutes. As these are VM based and most certainly in heavy use on eBay, Amazon and a million other places; I'd think eBay or anyone else would be crazy to target them now or anytime soon. VMs are here to stay.


I guess what gets folks suspended using a VM is not the use of the VM itself, its what they do or don't do inside of it.

If you're going to use a VM, make good sure you hone it until it is entirely dissimilar from any other VM you have created - but that's only step one. Also, make sure you don't link yourself when creating and operating your eBay accounts.

[Bigblackdog]

Definitely that

[Bigblackdog]

There is no such thing as a first suspension issue - period - fact - sort yourselves out!!!!!

[ronny209]

Originally Posted by Bigblackdog

There is no such thing as a first suspension issue - period - fact - sort yourselves out!!!!!

in other words, you just need to do everything right and unsuspected then everything will run smoothly.

[HolaAmigo]

Originally Posted by Bigblackdog

There is no such thing as a first suspension issue - period - fact - sort yourselves out!!!!!

I don't follow. Are you saying that it's NOT normal for a new account to get suspended? I got the impression from some other posters that a ban was apparently par for the course and calling in would get it removed. Is that true?

[ronny209]

Originally Posted by Pandoras_box

Yes, eBay or any other simple website that has time on their hands to write a simple script (think JavaScript) can tell if you're using a VM.

The methods to detect if your visitor is using a VM is just too numerous to mention. I'll skip the technical bit for now, but if you need to know, I'll be happy to come back and post it.

On the other hand, I think your question is missing a critical half; and that is: Does eBay collect this information or do they care at all?


I'm going to speculate here and just say I do not think so especially with regards to the latter.

We run about 100 VMs on one machine, most of these VMs have aged eBay accounts with high turnover. They've been alright so far.


Another thing you might want to consider is that there are loads of 'big companies' on eBay and amazon who are indeed outsourcing customer support to other countries. One of the cheapest and secure ways to achieve this is by using docker containers, of course! They're affordable and safe enough. You can bind login credentials to chrome and containerize it into a small desktop application ready to go.

Your staffs can be halfway around the world yet you can deliver them a super-light image in minutes. As these are VM based and most certainly in heavy use on eBay, Amazon and a million other places; I'd think eBay or anyone else would be crazy to target them now or anytime soon. VMs are here to stay.


I guess what gets folks suspended using a VM is not the use of the VM itself, its what they do or don't do inside of it.

If you're going to use a VM, make good sure you hone it until it is entirely dissimilar from any other VM you have created - but that's only step one. Also, make sure you don't link yourself when creating and operating your eBay accounts.

such a valuable and good reply, o thank you.
I think it has fully answered my question and provided me with exactly what i was looking for.

[HolaAmigo]

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Of course it's not true.

Go trawl the main ebay forums and see if the issue is discussed there as it is here. (I'll save you wasting your time, it isn't)

Interesting. The only thing I could surmise then is that eBay is using some kind of scoring system to assess the risk of each account based on the information provided (probably using Lexis to run identities) and also probably looking at the quality of the data provided (are you using a prepaid, etc), and the combination of the two results in an unfavorable risk score...

Perhaps they're even going as far as to buy information from cellcos and email providers (even if it's simple stuff like when a Gmail was made and they can already see when a cellphone was activated through Lexis)

What are your thoughts on this theory?