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Suve,
I guess the difference is that Gmail hides it by default without user interaction hence Ebay has no reason to suspect you. And using a paid for service may raise a question mark with as to why this particular user chose this paid service to hide their IP. :suspicious:

I guess the best is to use the IP annonimity of Gmail TOGETHER with the stealth rules of swapping usernames on the pc. This way you can add additional protection to your account in case you log into the wrong email by mistake (in the context of replying to emails directly rather than through the RESPOND button which requires EB login)
:clap:

Hmm, you are right & I take your point on board about the ip being hidden by default on gmail- though I would say that given that ebay has millions of users worldwide, unless ebay were specifically looking out for the fact the ip maybe hidden on purpose on this paid for service which has many other genuine uses & many other features (rather than solely an ip hider email service provision), this issue might not necessarily be at the top of their list of considerations/drawn to their awareness of this & bearing in mind the volume of worldwide ebay user base means ebay are used to seeing a very broad spectrum of email providers etc etc used on ebay accounts & hence this paid for service may not draw an immediate red flag to ebay for this reason.....

can i ask why you want to go to all this trouble ?

Like i said it is much safer just to log into ebay and answer the questions though my messages, take the same amount of time to login and resond as it does gmail.

also
Using a paid email is more professional.

Im not sure paid email makes a difference at the end of the day as in regards to tracking, read the tread and understand why.

i think it was paid email i was tripped up on, saying that it was 10-12-years ago so can't really remeber.

TizWoz....good question.

I was looking at/into anonymous/secure email/browsing services anyhow recently unconnected to this ebay/amazon lark .....I just saw this thread & I thought I'd run this past you guys.

I think the paid email has its place on the professional side & not as some kind of joint enterprise with ebay; that was just a speculative approach on here by me to get gauge the mood on this & whether there were any bodies on here that had any first hand insight on that.

I think if GMail hides ip addresses as has been detailed on this thread, that it does the job it is meant to do in addition to the various links on this thread about being about to log into multiple GMail accounts from one browsers etc etc, then I think in all honestly, that is the best way to go....no need to break what is not broken.:amen:

Tiz,
under normal circumstances you can follow the stealth rules of changing IP/swapping user accounts etc. (this is without a doubt the safest way). BUT imagine you're you are on the go, or any other circumstances where you don't have administrative control over the internet, maybe even overseas. You receive an important question from a buyer, you know that if you don't reply immediately they'll leave negative feedback, what do you do? The easiest way for me will be to just reply directly through Gmail thus not having to login EB. EB receives the reply and forwards it to the buyer's mailbox, everyone's happy and no-one has a clue what IP I am using.

I usually get tons of emails every day. To keep my customers happy, I aim to reply immediately but in the same time I am constantly on the move. I started this thread to get tips on replying without having to constantly worry about your IP (strictly communicating with buyers, and not EB acct maintenance, listing etc which clearly requires to login first)

That explains it.

personally when I'm out of town i have my other half fire up the computer/s and log in through team viewer.

its just like I'm sat at home.

i would careful logging in from other country's, i think eby expect you to actually use the holiday setting when your away.

Suve,
I've tested the different devices I have with Gmail and these are some very important points if you decide to log into several gmail accounts belonging to different stealths:

If you access your Gmail through:
1. Outlook, Thunderbird etc, your IP is VISIBLE when you send an email
2. A browser, your IP is NOT VISIBLE
3. Your Iphone/Ipad(3G or WiFi) email client, your IP is VISIBLE
4. Your Iphone's browser(Safari), your IP is NOT VISIBLE

Bottom line, all your host(pc or smart phone) based email clients will give your IP away. ONLY accessing Gmail via a BROWSER will keep your IP private.

You can aviod your ip been given away from a local mechine buy changing the headers, easiest way is to use some kind of bulk/spam email client for sending you emails, they remove or change header.

just a thought.

Hmm, this got me thinking about using remote access software then....you use team viewer but I am assuming any other decent remote access software will the job just as well, not used one in a while but I do know you have very powerful remote access solutions out here, I am familiar with Symantec pcAnywhere, so that should be good to go for this purpose.

what about android phones

using the gmail app?

Not sure about that but I do know that when you send an email via Gmail's web interface, your IP address is not revealed in the Received: headers BUT using a a device such as the iPhone to send mail via Gmail's SMTP server, your IP address will be revealed every time you send an email from that device.

It will NOT be revealed if you use the internet browser of the device!
It will be revealed if you use the email client on the device!

so am on my android right now

am in my gmail app and i have a ebay message to reply to

can i send straight from the gmail app or do i have to go into my browser,go to gmail,log in and reply that way

feel like i'm lost in the amazon jungle on this thread

way outta my territory:juggle:

The best thing you can do is to send an email from your Gmail application to another email you have. Then log in the other email, open the received message and check the header. You will most probably see the real IP where the mail was sent from.

Then open the internet browser on your device and log in gmail just like you do on your pc. Send another email and check the headers. Your IP will not be there.

P.S. Best way to read the header is from bottom to top.

Yes, you have to go through the browser, but please test it first as per my previous post.

ok bro,thanks

Well I currently use two phones and both have separate ebay account per phone so I respond via email directly, but I only use one phone per account

depending on the phone.

d2 and s2 can change the m.a.c

i only use teamviewer, used it years, but yes any should be fine.

Am I right to say that phones constantly change their IPs? This increases the probability that a particular IP is circulated through so many different phones that a user with a perfectly legitimate account may end up with the IP of someone previously suspended. In this line of thought I wonder if EB will give enough significance to smart phone IPs. Of course, when someone is using broadband (unless they constantly change the MAC or swap routers for different MACs) they will probably have the same IP 99% of the time hence easier to track and easier for EB to link them...

Broadband dynamic i.p's change all the time.

So do most phones.

I.p is not such a missive issue anymore on its own you are not likley to be banned

Tied to something like an email it will

Got a mate that uses Teamviewer & he rates it highly....I am seriously thinking of switching over to GoToMyPC (annual subscription) as this product looks pretty solid to me against most of the remote access solutions that I have been reviewing this afternoon.:pop2: