Some questions left after reading eBay Stealth

dario · #1 11-24-2009

I’ve read the eBay Stealth EBook and a lot on the forum! There are still some questions I could not find an answer on.

I am suspended with 20 accounts (MC081 CIT NOTICE and MC004 FPA#) and have 12 left. I think my suspension is caused by the fact I have made 15 accounts in a few weeks. I am not going to verify them with eBay because I used several names. Also I don’t think eBay is waiting for me to verify so many accounts without getting suspicious. I decided to make a few Stealth accounts and leave the other 12 account to rest in the hope they will survive (2 of them are business accounts and some are totally verified).

1) I always paid the eBay fees through bank transfer for all my accounts (this is not PayPal account, just to pay fees for all of them). Can I still use this bank account to pay eBay fees for suspended accounts or do they also use this information to link accounts?

2) If I can use it; can I write the bill number in the description? When I paid through bank transfer I also have to mention my eBayaccountID (a long number xxxxxxxxxxEUR). To get this number I have to login at my suspended accounts. The payment warnings eBay send me never has this numbers on it, only a bill number. Can I make the payment with this bill number instead of eBayaccountID which they use to scan payments?

3) Can I use PayPal again when I go to the bank and let my bankcard and creditcard be replaced in case of lost/stolen? so I get new cards with new numbers and valid date but on the same person

4) Is the information for a bank transfer I send to my buyers also linkable?

5) Which phone verification (VoIP) can I use in the Netherlands? Are all safe to use?

6) Which gift cards are recommended for the Netherlands? I have read that some of these cards may or might not work

7) Because these are very important selling months I am hoping continue soon again. Therefore I was also looking at the accounts for sale. Will eBay get suspicious since I am in the Netherlands (different IP). I am looking for European accounts but only see USA accounts for sale

Thank you very much!!

oompaloompa · #2 11-24-2009

OK, You are accused of abusing ebay -

there are no euro accounts for sale here, but I suggest you make your own anyway,

your accounts are getting linked somehow, are you keeping LSO, cookies, ip seperate? what about all other details, address, phone, banks, cards..what about auctions are they similar, what about pictures?

dario · #3 11-24-2009

Hi!

Thank you for your reply!

The ones I have left are not linked to the suspended ones by Paypal and phonenumber but all linked by IP and (flash)cookies. Maybe some with address like my business ebayaccounts (business address = my home address).

The suspended accounts have (besides IP and cookies) similar PayPal account, address and phonenumber (for selling verification and with the registered address).

I always use pictures 1x but they are all made with the same camera. All accounts sold the same type of product but not all accounts where selling the same time (4-5 accounts selling 1-2 items each week and no longer then a couple of weeks)

dario · #4 11-24-2009

# 6 is answered. There are no gift cards in the Netherlands. So the number of stealth account will be limited to the amount of bank accounts I have available. I have never reported a bank card as 'lost' but if I do, will this (linked!!) bank account be available again for ebay?

oompaloompa · #5 11-24-2009

no cannot use same bank account again....

ip is not an issue in Europe so much when managing it from your own country eg Holland, but the account must be created in the country of address. Can you get over the border to somewhere else and create an account. I did this and manage it from UK, no problems...no VPN....

You say all accounts are linked somehow, ok, just keep them for buying etc or even better never touch them again..but play with them on a seperate users to your new accounts...for selling start again, new users screens/check ip, is different on each login etc

or even easier, make a Holland account and use an international giftcard for set up of account (cannot be used for fees), have you tried to pm member lakeman on this forum, he supplies cards, maybe he can help? and pictures, make each background different and strip date using exif downlaod from pictures, make sure they are never lonked to same download address. Everything seperate. Good luck

dario · #6 11-25-2009

Hi oompaloompa,

Thank you for your help!

You mean I can not go to my bank and say my cards are lost to get new ones?

I can make accounts in Belgium, Germany and Austria (during vacation). How did you do this with phone verification and the phone number with the registered address? Can I use a '⊗⊗⊗⊗' International phone number at the registered address and for selling verification a Dutch (Voip) number?

I will leave my old accounts alone for a few months and start very carefully with one of them (new user screen, different IP etc)

I never accept PayPal as payment option but its required to add one to a Dutch ebay account. I will pm member lakeman about this! Do you know what I can do with the bank information I give to buyers for the bank transfer?

Thank you very much!!

oompaloompa · #7 11-25-2009

Its so difficult to answer exactly because each country will have different difficulties
Your questions
1/Can you set up a merchant account for your Dutch buyers, to accept credit cards
2/phone Number must match country, and ideally do verifcation in that country, as Ive heard it sometimes doesnt work if you do it from somewhere else.
3/Yes, you could get a new card from bank, sure, Ive done that when it got lost for real, and you get a different number from last one.

At the time I made them there was no phone verification, it has changed now in those particular countries, I dont know about Austria and Germany, I dont speak those languages, so never tried them. You you can get round it with a virtual number, number doesnt have to be exact address match for making seller account but it must be in same country, ideally do the verifcation, in same country, and then dont clear cookies on each user after that and if you are lucky you wont have to do verification again . For paypal, location verification, you need to have exact match on number or letter goes out. Some of my addresses are real accessible, some are not, so I keep some low selling, so I dont cross the receiving limit, in Europe alot of things sell higher than in UK...I did it as an experiment originally and its worked out really well...

As for bank, again I use a visa to withdraw one set, that dont have bank attached and I have one with a national bank of that country..but that is because I have a real address there..

Again, no idea about Austria, Germany, there are several country sites that accept visa withdrawal, fanc a hoiday in Luxembourg? if not you may need a bank - that may be a problem....I cannot see how Germany is an easier site for you than NL though..my opinion is that a foreign site is harder than your own site to sort details for.

You can use your real bank cards sometimes, as there are reports that they often dont do avs and they will work, but for real stealth account you should ideally use vcc, but one that you have physically proof of is best, ie you can print off a statement of some kind, like a voucher or giftcard or entropay... think about it, you get limited and they ask for a copy of your card or statement..if youve put your real card in, you will have to mess with your real card statement and edit it, but if you have a giftcard or online vcc, you can do printout of it with whatever stealth name you like, its already done...I was asked for a picture of my card showing number and name on a limitation once!!!

I have some warnings, just because I have been able to do this doesnt mean you can for many reasons, I suggest you stick to NL accounts and try just one foreign account if you want, on vacation and see if it is ok, you may find an obstacle with it. Also a vcc like lakemans is good but if they need proof if you are limited of card eg. printout, you havent got one, a temporary vcc seller, will not reveal which bank generates the cards, all they give you is a card number and expiry date and 3 digit code and thats it, it is good for a few days only..

Hope this helps

dario · #8 11-26-2009

Thank you very much! I am going to make my first stealth accounts. For phone verification I am going to use budgetphone. They give numbers which matches my location within Holland. The right Voip service is also difficult in the Netherlands because of some telecom laws. I think its a good tip for all other Dutch members on the forum who are looking for a good Voip supplier. (costs 10 euro/number/year)

Do you perhaps know if the information for a bank transfer also link accounts? (after an auctions ends the winner gets an email from ebay where they can click on 'next step' to see the bank details (IBAN/BIC) for making the payment. I used a lot of different bank accounts. When they are linked I think the only option is to open a new bank account at another bank if I don't want to use creditcards..

Thank you again for your good help (also on other topics!).

oompaloompa · #9 11-26-2009

So you have decided to stick with NL, good choice!

well there are scenarios where if you have multiple ebays , at some point there may be a dispute etc and the emails may find their way to ebay, and they may see that one bank account/merchant account has been used on other accounts and link you, unlikely but possible. Best to keep one bank or one merchant account for one ebay and dont mix them around.

PS. is it me or are Dutch buyers really tight, especially for postage, only they ask for a refund on postage if they paid like 5p over what it costs!!

dario · #10 11-26-2009

Yes I am going to stick with NL! :-)

Buyers get the information for a bank wire transfer from eBays invoice. (when I choice bank transfer as payment option all information needs to be put in before getting it on ebay)

Most of the Dutch buyers are really tight! How lower the price how harder the Dutch buyer is in my experience. They always try to have it cheaper. Sending them an understanding email and let them see that the little handling is very fair and even does not cover the actual costs helped me but there are always a few buyers who still feel the need to put a note in their fb. German buyers are great also buyers from Italy but most of the Italian buyer do not speak 1 word English. (Yahoo babel Fish helped me for the basics)

Hottest_eBay_Goddess · #11 11-27-2009

I wanted to point out you can always buy gift cards from someone else too.