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Follow Me As I Go Into Stealth Mode. -A Fresh Start.
 

PART I: What's Up Doc?

So I am limited on eBay and my Paypal is pretty far into the red because of a very large refund that I could not cover. The refund in question was a very expensive item that I have to drop-ship to the customer, so what had happened is once the order came in, I sent an order for the product. When the client decided that they no longer wanted the product and I had already spent the money, I was screwed. It could also have something to do with the fact that the product in question was a popular (and I suppose often counterfeited) product. Either way, the refund and circumstances completely destroyed both of my accounts and I have abandoned them. I will now start my new life in witness protection AKA: eBay Stealth.

eBay is a BIG part of my income and I can't afford to loose it. I am also damn good at it. If eBay and PP didn't have so many rules, I would be making bank every day, but limits are limits, and dickheaded (<--- apparently spell check recognizes that word) customers will ask for refunds that they shouldn't be asking for.

So, I intend to get back in the game using the techniques that I know and a few that I picked up from eBay Stealth. I am starting with basically nothing, so this may help newbs a bit. I also hope some of you pros will follow my progress and give me pointers along the way. This thread could grow into something that will help everyone.

Here Goes:

PART II: Creating My First Stealth Account

COOKIES: First of all, I use Firefox exclusively. I am clearing cookies before I log into any seller account that I have. I use the standard "clear recent history" method to clear HTML cookies and using the Firefox extension, "Better Privacy", LSO cookies are cleared every time I exit Firefox.

IP: I have not invested any money in an attempt to change my IP for a few reasons. 1.) I am trying to budget my money in an attempt to find the cheapest way of going stealth because I plan to create multiple accounts in the future. 2.) I live in a city and I want my IP to match my address as closely as possible. 3.) I live in a city and there is free WIFI everywhere! A fresh IP comes with a cup of coffee and a bagel.

So in short, for my first account, I am using a local Panera Bread and for future accounts, I will use other open networks. I have not and never will log into my account(s) from a different IP than the one I set up the account(s) with.

NAME & REGISTRATION: I first picked a name that I liked and that I could remember. I then used whitepages(.com) to search for someone under that name in the area. This is where I got my "person profile" from. I also used the correct age (whitepages shows age) and other info so that the info checks out, even though nobody but the FBI would investigate something so deeply. The only thing that I changed is the phone #.

PHONE #. I know there are forwarding services out there, but I didn't use one. I just got a simple prepaid phone from the 711. I have not yet verified this number with eBay & PP because I have yet to run into eBay and Paypal's verification, but it is there for when I start selling.

The phone is registered to me. It is not a stealth phone, but I don't think that should be a problem because again, finding out who the phone belongs to would take some detective work that I am sure eBay/PP will not be doing.

CREDIT CARD / BANK ACCOUNT: I registered a simple prepaid card (with direct deposit) in my own name to use with this eBay/PP account. As far as I know, eBay and Paypal only check the numbers. When I added direct deposit to PP, it didn't even ask for the name on the account. It only asked for the account # and routing #. So I think I should be good on that. Also, when eBay asks about seller fees, I plan to use paypal, not my CC, so the actual CC numbers shouldn't even come into play.

PAYMENT: I plan on actually using paypal somewhat (up to the $500 limit). Any amount that I cannot withdraw, I will use to pay my suppliers and buy stuff on eBay. I also have a merchant account with MoneyBookers that I will be using as a paypal alternative. The PP is set up with the exact same info as eBay (from the same IP) and obviously, the MoneyBookers is legit.

I also have all of this information written down. From passwords to age to secret questions. Should I ever get a call, I will have all of the account info in front of me.

PART III: The Current State of Affairs

eBay: 4 days old / PP: 10 days old / $ 210 in Paypal

Now because these accounts are so new, I have yet to fully verify them. I have $200 starter cash waiting to be "claimed" in my new PP account. This comes from a sale made through email. I will claim it as soon as PP's "two small deposits" hit my account and I can verify my Paypal. I will also list my first item on eBay once my Paypal is good to go.

ON eBAY: Though my account has been registered, I have not verified anything on it because I don't believe that the verification starts until I try to sell something, but everything is ready (I think).

THE CREDIT CARD: At the moment, the credit card is at $0.00. This means that I cannot add it to eBay or verify with any other site. The solution is to wait to verify with PP and then transfer a small amount of my $200 start up cash to the card. I can then use it to verify, but also, once my PP is verified, I will be using it to pay my eBay fees. Hopefully I will not even be forced to use the card with eBay (or paypal other than direct deposit).

PART IV: F*CK eBAY

OTHER SITES: eBay is a pain and though I definitely wish to go as far as I can with stealth accounts, I am not relying on eBay/PP alone for my business. I have already created an eCrater store selling just a few items (for testing). 1 product already sold through Google Checkout, so I won't discount the site.

I also plan to sell on ebid.net and Overstock. This I will start as soon as I have money released via verification w/ PP for ebid and on the credit card to verify my account details with overstock. I also have a Amazon seller account, but due to their 14 day payout period, I will not be listing with them until I have raised a decent amount of working capital.

OTHER MERCHANT ACCOUNTS: I already have MoneyBookers (all that's left is address verification) and Google Checkout as payment options. The good thing about MB is that eventually, I can get an MB Debit Card and use it to draw from my balance. GREAT because I am drop-shipping. With Google, customers feel super safe, but I have to wait 15 days for payout, which sucks because I am drop-shipping.

Problem with both: They don't accept Paypal. Down the road, I plan to get with a merchant solution that offers Paypal to buyers, that don't require me to use it. That will be the ultimate solution I think. Maybe I should apply today so that it is ready when I need it (45 day wait I heard).

FUTURE ACCOUNTS: I obviously plan to create more ebay accounts and expand into other market places once the money starts coming in. I will be using the same method outlined above if it proves effective.

Anyway. That's the story as of today. Hope you follow and help where it's needed.

thank you for that mate defo a good read there....

Nice little write-up about your venture.

The diary of JohnGult...

:ranger::ranger::ranger:

John I would advise that you do not use money in your PP accounts to make purchases from your suppliers if they are from overseas. PP knows that most ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stuff comes from China and while your product may not be ⊗⊗⊗⊗ they will just assume that it is and limit your account.

Thank you
 

I am aware of that and my suppliers are USA based. Whether our not their product(s) are from overseas or not;... I am sure they could be, but I don't really care.
The items may cost a little bit more this way, but much of the risk is done away with. That and the product is drop-shipped for me. MUCH less work involved.
As long as my customers are happy and a USA based return address is used, I am happy.

john,
are you sure to put that lot of money in your fresh paypal account?
paypal is strict with large amount in the first month period

Should Be Fine.
 

The money in the account is not money that I "put in" there. It is money from a sale that I set up through eMail. I just have to claim it.

UPDATE!! 10/20/10: 6:15

Those "two small deposits" have STILL not gone through as of this morning and I set it up THURSDAY! (last week) This means that I STILL can't use my PP account! This is not good at all. I need to fill that guys order or he is going to cancel it. All I can do is email him today and rest assured knowing that he knows that I have not accepted his money yet, so it's not like I am "taking the money and running".

This PP situation is really going to determine when I can "get going" because I can't be waiting for money to clear with a merchant account before drop shipping items. I need PP for that.

GOOGLE CHECKOUT: That order that I was talking about from GC was made on 10/15/10 was paid out to me on 10/19/2010. It seems that the 14 day wait period did not apply in this case. I'm not sure what to make of this, but if this is normal, I could rely on Google checkout for all of my orders. I would just ad like a 4 day "handling time" and make up for it with a discount or something. Has anyone else been paid out early?

NEW BANK ACCOUNT?: I may need to get another bank account I guess. I can't wait any longer for a deposit that has clearly gone wrong somehow. Will adding a new one so shortly after adding the first raise flags? Also: the name on my PP does NOT match my bank account. Could this be the problem?

eBid & Overstock. I added some money to one of my Greendots and I am thinking of using it to start on eBid and Overstock. Will having a different name on my account and credit card raise flags with these two companies?


That's all so far. I will bring updates as the day goes on because I have a lot to do. Please help me with the questions because at the moment, this is kind of a big deal for me.

Any new updates??? This seemed interesting.:bump:

In for updates. I also am doing something very similiar. Just going to be selling cell phones. And no drop shipping

Wow long post! haha

Good luck!!!

This is something that's been bugging me...
If pay pal knows the chinese stuff is ⊗⊗⊗⊗, and shuts down people buying the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stuff from china, then why does pay pal allow the chinese to use pay pal to sell their ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stuff?

You would think pay pal would refuse to allow china to use their service for these products...:noidea:

So any new updates from this story?

The pp deposits should show up within 2 business days or less, if you have online bank statements.

This is really interesting to me please update as soon as you can im wondering why you have not received the paypal deposits yet strange.....

John.. You state that you are damn good at selling on eBay, yet as a dropshipper you should know that anything can happen when it comes to customers! Why would you not cover yourself and keep a float of cash so that if a customer did buy from you and changed their mind you could refund them instantly and send the item back to your dropshipper for your own refund to be processed?

It should be a lesson learnt and I'm not trying to pee on your parade but that was an extremely silly mistake to make.. This isn't a post having a go at you, it's hopefully a bit of constructive advice, if it doesn't help you it may help someone else.

Good luck,

Em.