Starting again

[trav]

In the past with all my ebay accounts they have always shut me down after a month of 2 of selling and requested more info, such as ID, invoices, tax ids, etc.

Does anybody have any advice or real life experience on how to pass these with a stealth account?

That is my biggest worry in starting a stealth account.

[GreenBean]

Why did your other accounts get closed?

What are you considering doing differently if you start again?

If you are going to repeat the bad habits that's silly imo.

[FrancisK]

There isn't any way to get around them really, you just have to deal with them. The Stealth Book works, you just have to be smart and don't take risks. If you are an upstanding member of ebay/paypal they will have no reason to shut you down, don't give them a reason to.

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish, if you want to be legitimate you have to play their game and do things right. If you're just going for a quick cash grab well then you have to deal with limitations and prepare for them.

[trav]

This is my living. I have been selling for years and do a lot of volume every month. A glitch in there system kept me below standard for about 6 months even though I wasn't. They finally fixed it, but I am too much on the radar now and I just want to start fresh. I have the book but it doesn't address it when ebay contacts you requesting more info. I want to do it as ligit as possible.

I would set it up in a business. I have well over 5 digit feedback right now so I am not a noob and need some help moving to a new account. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[FrancisK]

Originally Posted by teamtrav

This is my living. I have been selling for years and do a lot of volume every month. A glitch in there system kept me below standard for about 6 months even though I wasn't. They finally fixed it, but I am too much on the radar now and I just want to start fresh. I have the book but it doesn't address it when ebay contacts you requesting more info. I want to do it as ligit as possible.

I would set it up in a business. I have well over 5 digit feedback right now so I am not a noob and need some help moving to a new account. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I understand that but what are you asking for specifically? If you are legit then you have nothing worry about, when ebay/paypal ask questions you can refer to your business info and accountant.

How did a "glitch" keep you below standard for 6 months?

What put you on "the radar"?

I understand people wanting to keep things private but the things you are saying don't add up. What do you need help with specifically if you are not a "noob"? It doesn't make sense that you would simply abandon your "5 digit" feedback account unless there was something wrong. Being on "the radar" isn't a problem unless you're doing something wrong.

Help us help you!

[trav]

Let me reword what I am saying.

I just know that it is ebays standard practice to temporarily suspend your account if you are a high volume seller so they can verify stuff by requesting more stuff.

Has anybody had any experiences with this. It happened to me when I first started about 4 years ago with 2 of my accounts. The admitted that I didn't do anything wrong, but that they just wanted to verify things.

That is all I am asking. It wasn't that I was selling something bad or anything. I am legit. The rest is a long story. The admitted the error and I have recorded phone calls with them saying that I shouldn't have below standard during that time and kept shutting me down every month and I would have to appeal to the office of the president to get it fixed. Every month they would just say that it is something in the system and they have no way of changing it on their end. Finally I found a guy to fix it. I lost thousands of dollars because of it. My account did go below standard at the beginning of the year and it was my fault but it was by .01%. I fixed the issue. I just grew too quick. The problem is that it didn't ever put me back above standard until I called them day after day and sent emails and proved to them I knew what I was talking about.

[FrancisK]

Originally Posted by teamtrav

Let me reword what I am saying.

I just know that it is ebays standard practice to temporarily suspend your account if you are a high volume seller so they can verify stuff by requesting more stuff.

Has anybody had any experiences with this. It happened to me when I first started about 4 years ago with 2 of my accounts. The admitted that I didn't do anything wrong, but that they just wanted to verify things.

That is all I am asking. It wasn't that I was selling something bad or anything. I am legit. The rest is a long story. The admitted the error and I have recorded phone calls with them saying that I shouldn't have below standard during that time and kept shutting me down every month and I would have to appeal to the office of the president to get it fixed. Every month they would just say that it is something in the system and they have no way of changing it on their end. Finally I found a guy to fix it. I lost thousands of dollars because of it. My account did go below standard at the beginning of the year and it was my fault but it was by .01%. I fixed the issue. I just grew too quick. The problem is that it didn't ever put me back above standard until I called them day after day and sent emails and proved to them I knew what I was talking about.

That's not true, I don't agree with that at all. They don't randomly limit you, they limit you because you triggered something. You have to keep in mind their whole perspective is to protect themselves. If you are a new seller and start doing huge numbers they have good reason to limit you, they don't know if you're some out of the country scammer. If by chance you are then they have to cover everyones purchases and lose money. But if you're not as you claim then you have nothing to worry about, just provide them the necessary info and move on.

You're kinda answering your own question. You obviously know they will limit you and ask questions if you start out too fast so the answer would be to start slow and build gradually, that way you are just another new seller instead of someone they would examine closer.


Still what you're saying doesn't make sense, why would you want to abandon an active 4 year old "5 digit feedback" account unless something else is going on. Also it's pretty difficult to drop below standard on ebay especially if you are high volume as you say, you have to have some pretty bad business practices going on. You might want to look into that first.

If your entire problem is based on having a low rating then just create a new account under the same info as your old one and then go back to the original when everything is cleared, or of course just stay on the new one. But I'm sure you have some explanation as to why you can't do that.

[sammybabe]

Lets face facts..

In UK we have trading standards.
Ebay themselves have to act to standards.i.e as trading standards would.
Now if you own a shop in the high street or market stall.
Mr trading standards comes along and wants to see your legit(comes along with other bodies,council etc)
Now in my mind how the hell can you be a total f**e doing that on the high street and get away with it???????
Ebay are only doing the same as these guys.If they smell a rat(and i dont care what is being sold,it can be an old washing up bowl for all i care)they will and can ask for relevant documentation.
This is just common practices to ensure safe buying enviroments.
So not always are people doing something wrong.i.e selling ****.
sometimes and most of the time ebay/paypal are just working along normal guidelines.

[rsot]

Submit your documentation to fulfill the request and you should be ok. Make backup stealth account and build rep with them.

[trav]

Don't they ask for personal ID though? Won't they just link the accounts?

[rsot]

Is the account in your real name?

[trav]

Originally Posted by rsot

Is the account in your real name?

My current one is. I haven't started a stealth one yet. That is why I ask. Just don't know how they handle that stuff any more. I am afraid if I set it up as an LLC or something they will still want to see my personal ID. It has been a long time since I have had to jump through their hoops like that before so I don't know how it is now with new accounts.

I have to be able to do a fair amount of volume just to stay afloat. I suppose I could set up a bunch of accounts to spread the sales out on, but that will be a huge pain to track the sales from all the paypal accounts and what not. I would rather just start fresh with one new account maybe 2 or 3 at the most and try to build those back up to the volume I am at now. I don't really want to use friends or families names like the book suggests. I would rather put it in a business name. However, I know they usually make you have an individual attached to it as well.

[trav]

Does anybody have any experience with this? Do you always have to provide personal details as well or can you just provide business details?

Also, can't they just link it back to you personally any way by checking the state records for Articles of Incorporation for a Corp. and Articles of Organization for LLC in the public records?

[trav]

Do you have to be ID verified to sell on ebay? It has been a long time since I have registered an account

[GreenBean]

Have just managed to have a quick read of your posts. Few comments to help.

Notice you say this is full time for you.

Therefore you would need to start off as well as you can.

You could consider correctly creating a LLC. The business name is what ebay/paypal want.
If your own personal details are banned, you might consider having your spouse as a director of the LLC.

I would not think, nor should you consider that one account will be the choice of doing a large volume of selling. Can't recall what items you are selling but if paypal is involved, its limitations are to be expected.
Some of the account sellers here have options with their accounts that might work for work. (that's pretty private stuff & I would suggest discussing that by pm). There are some pre-Nov 2007 accounts that might mean you do not need paypal. That's an option.

These are just a few tidbits for you. I will post more.

If you went the LLC route, the paperwork of that lets ebay know who you are.

You have to appreciate that you can not risk those glitches you had last round with ebay.
Sure they may have been at fault. But their conduct has the potential to damage your account.

[mercurial333]

Make 20 accounts now , keep operating under your own account until the others grow.

6 Months from now, you will have at least 15 fully operational accounts to choose from.

Choose one and ride along until the show ends, then you'll have 14 more to choose from.

[trav]

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

Have just managed to have a quick read of your posts. Few comments to help.

Notice you say this is full time for you.

Therefore you would need to start off as well as you can.

You could consider correctly creating a LLC. The business name is what ebay/paypal want.
If your own personal details are banned, you might consider having your spouse as a director of the LLC.

I would not think, nor should you consider that one account will be the choice of doing a large volume of selling. Can't recall what items you are selling but if paypal is involved, its limitations are to be expected.
Some of the account sellers here have options with their accounts that might work for work. (that's pretty private stuff & I would suggest discussing that by pm). There are some pre-Nov 2007 accounts that might mean you do not need paypal. That's an option.

These are just a few tidbits for you. I will post more.

If you went the LLC route, the paperwork of that lets ebay know who you are.

You have to appreciate that you can not risk those glitches you had last round with ebay.
Sure they may have been at fault. But their conduct has the potential to damage your account.

Thanks for the points. I appreciate you taking the time. I haven't had any trouble with paypal, so I should be good there. My current company is an S-Corp and ebay still has my personal info. Is an LLC any better for this? I am pretty savvy when it comes to creating companies. I have done several S-Corps. I haven't messed with and LLC yet, but I know they are pretty similar to set up.

Does ebay ask for your Social with an LLC though? I will probably try to set up a couple, but do you pretty much have to have multiple LLCs to do this?

[trav]

Originally Posted by mercurial333

Make 20 accounts now , keep operating under your own account until the others grow.

6 Months from now, you will have at least 15 fully operational accounts to choose from.

Choose one and ride along until the show ends, then you'll have 14 more to choose from.

I have thought about doing this. How do you handle all the different names though? Do you get real SSN and stuff or what?

I want to do it as legit as possible. This is my full time gig.