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Are Stealth accounts basically useless now with the new (MC010) ID verifications?
 

Just got off the phone with eBay. They want me to fax in copies of ID and utilities. The rep I spoke to, without me asking specifically said that because my account is new (1 month +) they want to make sure I am who I say I am. He also said this is standard now with all new seller accounts. "We may let you sell a little bit, but we like to get you verified as soon as possible to get it out of the way"

What I know so far.

1. These restrictions have very little to do with what you are selling. I made about 8 bucks selling ebooks (in the correct category) with 11 feedbacks. There is nothing high risk about a 99 cent auction! I personally like to build feedback before I start selling. It's not necessary, but if I got suspended for making 8 bucks, imagine what will happen if you are making hundreds on a new account!

2. My account has not been linked or have any similarities to a previous account. Fully stealthed with verified PP. They basically want to pressure all new sellers. When are you no longer new? could be 3mo's, 8mo's... No one other than eBay knows what they consider a tenured member. As far as I'm concerned this "one month and your good to go" stuff is all crap!

3. They did not ask me any identifying questions. The rep simply said they needed the faxed info. Why? Without a credit/background check, they have no way of finding out who I really am. The "questions" that were being asked are usually all false. They just want to see if you pick a answer that they know is false so they can nail you.

Workarounds: I have fooled PP on numerous occasions with bogus ID's and utilities, but not everyone has the skill needed to create these documents so usually the advice here would be to move on and start a new, but whats the use when you're gonna get hit with the same problem immediately? This is a major blow for those planning to start new stealth accounts. What are we suppose do now?

Hmm. Good post. I too would like more input.

It's probably the fact that you're selling ebooks on a fairly new account which is looked at as feedback manipulation. I do the same thing but am aware of the risk. Try selling something different like get a box of whole sale dvds or used ones from a pawn shop.

I got one of these yesterday as well on a new seller account. I started selling on another new account a week ago though and it was fine. I'd say it's not on every new seller account.

I actually deliver my ebooks on CD's, and I don't state "ebooks" in my description. I've been doing so for years. If eBay didn't like my auctions they would have just took them down. As far as feedback manipulation. Rubbish. Buying 4 or 5 1 cent auctions is one day is one thing. Listing them is another. I've had some sell for 1 cent and some have sold for up to 4 bucks, so it's actually not cheap for everyone because I can't control the final price of an auction. You also can't force anyone to leave you feedback so where is the actual manipulation? Again, too many of us are caught up with myths instead of the facts.

I was told the same thing, with no questions just that I needed to fax them the required documents. Under 30 days old the account was, although I am still playing with a way around it that seems to be working but need more time to confirm and have told a few others about it as well which I need to take data on if it worked for them or not.

Few things that are important:

1. ip must match the area of the address, at least 20 miles close to it.

2. You should have a good working phone number, no vumber or any service like that, a land line, pre-paid cell phone is a must now, everytime I played the the phone number it was hit with this limitation.

3. You need to make sure you have buyers feedback, and yes it is important to at least have a month or more as a member, if its not its getting hit with this. I was told the same exact thing as the op said when it comes to new accounts.

4.Once you get a fee for a listing your hit with this limitation on a new account.

5. It does matter what your selling.

We need to discuss this issue more, keep this post updated people. Also those who I pm'd back with my method please put it to use and let me know if it works.

1. Why was my title changed!???
-I didn't use any foul language or make a unclear title.

2. Why is this moved to subscriber section?
-I intended for everyone to see this info, it's very important that everyone understand what eBay is up to not just subscribers.

-Why is there no link for the moved topic? I thought it was deleted.

What if you list through Auctiva? Listing wouldn't go through?

I have 10 ebooks up for sale right now but its on a 3 month old account and I also purchased a few ebooks to start. I never even use accounts less than 30 days old. I still have not been hit with one of these limitations.

This started around the end of november. It does seem accounts under a month are the ones getting this, some say that it is random situation. Now with Auctiva once you go you generate a token you get this limitation on Ebay, and I also tried listing with an account that got the token generated and got 2 auctions removed with the account being limited and needing to go through i.d verify

I think Ebay and PayPal may have been reading too much around forums, so every new account must be "stealth" in their eyes..unless proven otherwise. It was matter of time before they would start doing this. Well, we got to go back to drawing board now....

They are getting to many unpaid sellers fee's, Paypal accounts being left negative etc..

Just make accounts, build feedback over a month or so, post up auctions slow. A few accounts will get past it. They cant do this to everyone who wants to sell on the site, they would be alienating to many people something is making these accounts get hit and we need to just figure out what causes it.

They probably go by statistics, most people probably start off selling used junk then gradualy move up to selling new stuff as they gain experience. So to start off on a new account with professional looking listings selling brand new merchandise that might be a sign to ebay that you've already been around for awhile.

I have no idea what everyone is going on about with this type of verification. I honestly 100% think it is because you guys are selling Ebooks. I have opened many accounts and sold personal stuff and NEVER have been hit with this.

ive never had this happen yet,only similar thing was on one account after 2 months of selling(account was over 6 months old) they wanted to verify me to raise limitis but it wasnt an MC010,i thought it was weird cuz on all my other accounts,ive havent had this, if they do this to all new accounts(which i doubt) itd be the end of stealth accounts unless you can photoshop a bunch of stuff and it will pass..has anyone done that yet and had success?

yeah, they cant do it to evey single new seller account, but it was said from a reps mouth that it will but you know that dont know ****. Any how it must be what you sell, how you sell it and when, also the account activity. Just take is slow....

Just think like someone who's just starting out on ebay, what would you sell? I started out selling a bunch of junk around the house, then moved on to garage sales, craigslist, then a few months later I started buying ebooks over 100 in one weekend, got my feedback around 150 then I started dropshipping boxsets from dhgate like crazy, was taking $500 a day out with my paypal debit card, did that for a week and that was the end of my first real ebay account.

I posted 6 auctions on a brand new account tonight and it has been about 3 hours so far and no limitation. I posted a shirt and a few single dvds. Not box sets. I waited about a week after creating the account before placing any auctions on it. I haven't used the account for anything till posting the auctions tonight. I placed them through Auctiva. Although the Ebay account isn't ID verified I am using a Paypal account that has a SSN# verified on it. I wonder if that will make a difference. I am employing all the stealth techniques on the Ebay account. Guess time will tell if this account will get hit or not

fyi...not just ebooks that are trouble

http://www.aspkin.com/forums/ebay-su...tml#post126627

So in other words you are using someones SS number? There is no way it could be "fully" stealth if it has a SS number attached to it, as there are no such thing as a stealth SS number...

Im not using someone's SSN#. I just created one when I registered the account and it worked. I have done this several times before with good luck. There is a way to do it if you know how to find it. And I am not talking about stealing somebodys identity!

I tried that once to but the ones I think you're talking about usually don't have a file or any history with it, just a random computer generated number, so they would still require more info.

yeah, I did that also. They take it but when your limited you will be asked again for it.

Some tips that I have found are:

1. Add a pre paid credit card to ebay also as a back up way to pay for fee's not just Paypal for that.

2. Post up classifieds first which your not going to get a fee charged on the account, once you get a fee on the account your flagged as selling but if you post up a classified its free and allows you to count as a seller who listed an item, let it run its duration and post another, then try an item.

3. Have a active land line to a real address is possible, this is one of the main reasons for i.d verification, or pre paid cell phone. Do not use Vumber, or other phone forwarding services.

^ Question. Do you gain feedback with Classified Ads? I've been doing eBay for years and never listed or purchased from Classifieds. Is there a eBay link that explains how it works? Also for those who have spoofed documents, does eBay make it a problem if you scratch out things like your DL number on a ID or account numbers on a statement? If so how easy is it for them to ID you using your DL number?

no feedbacks are built but it allows you to post something up with bypasses getting charged, it sort of passes you to list because your now a seller who listed something instead of trying to get charged for a listing when new your zapped.

I think it may be random
 

I created 2 stealth accounts with the exact same information..They both share the same paypal..I listed the same exact item on both accounts.On one account they asked me to contact them and when I did they asked for id and utility bill.On the other account the item ended in 3 days and I haven't had a problem with it yet.Its been over a month.

Have you continued to sell on this account?

yup..i was still selling which is weird..it should have been suspended since it can be linked to the other suspended account

As I stated before, my PS skills are near professional, but this is not a solution for everyone. It is also clear that EBOOKS are not an issue if you actually ship them off. If my listings were the issue they would have used that as the excuse to keep my suspension permanent. As for now I will give this account a little time to cool off, and start with buyer feedback first on my other accounts to see if I get pinched. Hope this info helped someone.

what is PS skill?

^^ PS is Photoshop

These limtations are radom and depend on what you sale! i had 2 out of 5 accounts get hit with this id verfiy i was selling dvds thats what trigged the flag then when the employee reviewed my account they wanted to verfiy this and that. Its best to use real address's when makeing stelth account cause the employee checks all this when u get flaged. Cause the employees finger is on the trigger and there looking for any excuess to shoot. like if address dosent match or if your selling something that is obvisely ⊗⊗⊗⊗ and so on.

Isn't that a direct contradiction? If it depends on what you sell then it is not random. lol What proof do you have to support your theory? I have created ID's and began selling ebooks the next day without any problems. eBay is not smart enough to kill two birds with one stone. If you have shady listings you will get pinched for it. You are basically saying that eBay is asking for proof of ID because they know people with shady listings will fail. That's ridiculous. :pound:

I also believe that the main problem is ebooks, they get your account scrutinised more heavily. I no longer bother with them. If I want to nurture and build a good solid account in my honest opinion ebooks are a waste of time and the financial rewards are not enticing enough to risk losing an ebay (and Paypal) account.

There are some good tips about selling "junk" and low priced "normal" items to build feedback without falling into the precarious traps of "potential feedback manipulation"

Some may think that selling crap for a while and you are good to go is not good advice. But I do this with every new account and it hadnt let me down yet.

I sell 50-100 bits of "tat" to built feedback before starting to sell "properly"

Its the best and only way in my opinion to have an account that survives for a longer period.

To each his/her own I say, but selling junk items is a financial risk. Why spend money on a account that's not legit? Why stock up on garbage when your PP account can be limited, or your eBay ID may need to be verified at any given time? Then add the fact that a LOT of people just do not leave feedback. Total waste of time IMO. Stealth accounts are not designed to last long lol... If they do, great, but you should be expecting the worse at all times, and making as much money as you can while you have them.

Yes this issue is very serious!! This basicly gets rid of everyone! Its best to start thinking alternate option now instead of ebay. The way this is going we all soon be gone unless you can PS then there might still be hope. Other than that im still not done yet to throw in the towel.

I have had past stealth accounts where either ebay or PP ask for a ID and bill to be faxed and I doctored up a id and bill to match the stealth info and sent it off and they accept all the time.

I have never had they reject any of them.

lol you miss the point. What i mean by "junk" items if If you sell a load of low priced bits and pieces you will build feedback, not receive Paypal 21 days holds (in most cases)

and built up your ebay account slowly. I always go through my house and find all manner of bits that I can sell for a few pounds and its always the way i start a new ebay account.

on the other hand ebooks will cause problems.

New trick for I.d verify. When you create and register an account go and make another one identical but on a different IP and user account on your computer but just also make sure another phone Number is used. Only one will get limited.

eBooks now = FLAG
Selling DVD's = FLAG

This situation has been confirmed totally fixable though.