lets see how long can i keep this account

[sowhat]

hi everyone! very happy i found this site! im new to this site, but NOT new to ebay. been a member with them since 1999 and have recently just started having major problems with them.

anyway, down to business...

obviously my goal is to avoid being suspended again from this point forward.

so i read the entire eBay Stealth page, read how to clean my computer, read all 50 billion posts everyone wrote, read the stealth ebook, and now im reading all the threads in all the forums here. this is my first post.

sounds to me like with a little practice and patience you can master the “stealth” techniques. its sort of like playing the game from the outside. rather than on the inside, having to give up a bunch of personal info to eb/pp which they dont even need.

it seemed like a lot of people here were really struggling with the concept of why/how they were getting suspended right after opening a new account and having to constantly open new accounts over and over. i think most werent realizing that once you get suspended, the rules change. unable to go back to doing business as usual on ebay. i.e., you wouldn’t rob a bank and then casually walk around town. you would totally be disguised. all of your freedom would hinge on how well you were able to conceal your real self. hiding would become your entire focus. it seems like it’s the same concept here. before suspension, your focus was just making money, now the focus has shifted to keeping your account. money is no longer the first priority. strategy (hiding) is the priority. if you were let go yesterday and you are back up today selling the same items with similar details with a new account, then yes, it IS totally obvious its YOU AGAIN! that wouldnt be a good strategy and that's not hiding. that's being out in the open. and you get dinged again. i know when people get kicked off they lose money, and everyone wants to get back on asap and pick up where they left off, but i that is really the wrong frame of mind. if you concentrate on KEEPING the account, (by following all the rules on this site and in the ebook every single day), the money will just automatically come because you arent making any decisions or actions that come from greed (like posting 100 items the first day cause you want your money), instead you are making decisions that come from "what is in the best interest of this account right now" and that makes you more cautious. it may seem like a lot more work to always watch your step, but that's how you keep the haters off your a** and make the real money.

the suspension just means STEP YOUR GAME UP. if you lost $1000 after being suspended, you basically just paid $1000 to get on to the next level


with all that said, i was wondering how long has anyone been able to maintain their stealth account? i have not yet heard anyone mention that here. it would be cool if there was something like a ”chronicling” of one of these accounts. or a stealth account "in action". i will be starting my account this weekend, after proper preparation and making sure all of my ducks are in a row of course. im anxious to see how long i can keep it and how well i am able to defend myself against ebays tricks! should also help others here who may also be starting a new account as well. ive been on ebay a long time and i understand how they do business and i have confidence these techniques will work. i obviously wont be giving out too many details about the account on this thread, but you can pm me if you would like to know anything. i will post back regularly to advise how things are going with the account. here are the basic criteria i will be using when opening my account:

1. the goal is to keep the account for as long as possible
2. im starting with one account. i don’t want to bite off more than i can chew.
3. this account is used to practice and observe before i move on to more accounts
4. its for selling only
5. i will let it age for a while before doing any activity


this should be fun!

[aspkin]

Sounds like you're ready to get started. As long as you're doing everything that's stated in eBay Stealth and in the forums, and you take things slowly at first you should be fine. Let me know if you have any questions, pm me if you do, and I'll try to help out.

Good luck!

[2001kx]

i usually keep mine 1 - 2 years selling VERO.

[sowhat]

Hi! Sorry I've been out of the loop, I've been busy for the last week or so with work. I will send an update on my new ebay account shortly. One small thing to note is that my account is up and open and has been for almost 2 weeks. It is sitting just as a buyer account. No credit card on file as of yet. So far so good. The real test will be when I list items next week.

2001kx - thanks for the info. That's good to hear. That gives me an idea of what I can possibly grow to using my "new" accounts.

I will post another update next week(end) once my items are listed.

[sowhat]

Update:

- My account is up, open and running

- I’m using dial up. I check that the dial up phone number is the same every time for this account BEFORE dialing a connection. I IMMEDIATELY check the ip address each time after connecting BEFORE I log into ebay or paypal. Document it and compare it to the other ip’s I’ve already used. So far I have not had the same ip address. I’m also using Firefox and deleting cookies when I log off. I also created a gmail email address for this account.

- I created a separate user account on my computer for this account.

- My ebay, paypal and credit (gift) card are all registered with the same ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name, address, phone, credit card, etc. The only real thing is my bank account number on paypal.

- I couldn’t find a free local number remotely close to my area code/ip address/ ⊗⊗⊗⊗ address using any of the services mentioned on the forum. So I went with gizmo. It was the cheapest and they have an enormous amount of area codes/phone numbers. $12 you get to keep the number for 3 months or $36 to keep for a year. It also has voicemail. There is no need to forward calls to any other phone in order to punch in ebays pin numbers, the program has a dial pad that you use with your mouse. If you do forward the calls you will have to put money on your gizmo account. Call the number BEFORE giving it to ebay to make sure it works. I can give more info on gizmo if you want to pm me. (I don’t know how this works with pp since I read that pp likes a landline.)

- When I attempted to sell my first item, I got to the end of the listing and it told me to add either paypal, credit card or a bank account to pay my ebay fees. I added the credit card that has the same ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name that I also put on the ebay & paypal accounts.

- After I submitted the credit card, it immediately asked to call me.

- It called my gizmo number and asked me a question (I don’t remember what) then it said to press 5, and I think it asked me to press some other number. I did it all on the gizmo dial pad. I passed the ebay phone verify and was automatically allowed to sell right after.

- Now my ebay account is verified.

- I waited about 3 - 4 days before I started to sell. In the meantime, I opened the paypal account and added my real bank account number. Then added the same ⊗⊗⊗⊗ credit card I used on ebay. I got the two deposits in my bank account and put them into paypal. I also upgraded my account to a premier account. Now I am paypal verified.

- I created the auctiva account and got the token. Then made some listings to put on ebay.

- I currently have 7 items up and each of them for a 5 day auction. These are my first 7 listings on this account. I’m super paranoid and untrusting of ebay and paypal right now, so I’m taking it slow. I will list more when these are done and I actually have the money from the sale in my personal bank account. Then I will know its safe to proceed.

More later once the auction is over…

[sowhat]

Update!

Since I last logged on here’s what has happened…

1. My first round of auctions (stated above) on my new stealth account ended just fine. I was paid by the buyers, the money went from my Paypal account into my bank account without any problems.

2. I got VERO’d on one item so I didn’t sell on that account for about 2-3 weeks.

3. I put up more items last week and a few have ended and I have gotten paid for those items through Paypal and spent the money with no problems.

4. Although I’ve been listing items everyday since last week without any problems, I’m only listing 2 a day. Slowly working my way up over the next few weeks/months.

5. While I’m building this first account up, I also opened a second stealth account a few days ago to begin to spread out my inventory over a few accounts.

6. I posted my first listings on this second account yesterday and so far so good. I was able to sell by adding Paypal as my payment source and the phone verification.

7. I used the toll free central for the free phone number for 30 days without a credit card method mentioned in the forums and it worked great. It didn’t work for me using firefox or ie, but it worked in aol.

8. I keep my email open all day long so I can see when I get an ebay related email. When I do, I log into my other user account on my computer, disconnect my high speed and use a dial up. Record the date I went in and the ip number. It’s VERY ANNOYING to have to unplug the phone and plug in the dial up, but I guess that’s just how it is. Surprisingly, the dial up isn’t that slow.


So now I have two stealth accounts up and running and it is a little extra work to keep everything organized, but it's going smoothly and it seems to be worth it cause I’m making money again!!

CAUTION!!

DO NOT MULTITASK WHILE WORKING WITH YOUR STEALTH ACCOUNT. IT NEEDS YOUR FULL ATTENTION TO AVOID MAKING A RETARDED MISTAKE

More later.

[sowhat]

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven’t been on or posted anything in a while. I’ve been very busy with my stealth accounts! YAY!

Here are the latest updates:

1. I am now running two stealth accounts and both are selling high demand low priced items. I started building them up slowly. It actually didn’t take that long to build them up cause people started buying quickly so that allowed me an excuse to list a few more items each week. But I am still keeping only about 30-50 items up at one time. Haven’t had any problems from ebay or ppal. My auctions end everyday, and I withdrawal the money from ppal EVERYDAY to my bank account to avoid them trying to take any away from me. So everyday I start with $0 in my ppal account.

2. It may already be posted in the forums, but I’ve come to realize ebay does not like you revising listings (even if you truly did make a mistake you need to correct). Here is what I noticed:

- Whenever I made a revision from this page:



they requested a phone verification and I had to put in the pin number before I could make the revisions.

- Whenever I made a revision from this page (inside your "my ebay account":



I did not get a phone call request, I was able to make the revisions I wanted.

Does anyone know if you open an ebay account and you post all your auctions through Auctiva and never through the ebay listing page if ebay asks for a phone call? Just wondering.

2. Now that I feel like I’m getting the hang of things, I’ve been opening emails from ebay in my gmail account from buyers who ask me questions while connected to my high speed internet. Instead of dialing up and logging into ebay to answer them. So far no problems with doing this. I open those emails in my gmail account since gmail doesn’t open images and I can avoid ebay putting those little spy thingys on my computer. I respond to the buyer by clicking “reply” on my email and my response goes back to the buyers email address. I do NOT hit the yellow “respond” button on the ebay email (which doesn’t show up anyway cause there are no images in gmail). Then the buyer just responds back to my email address and we talk safely back and forth. I have been pretty lucky in this area that all my buyers have not blocked their email addresses when sending me a message.

3. I had a buyer ask to send me a money order for an item. I have no idea why I said, "ok". There was absolutely no way I could turn my ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name on ebay into anything that remotely resembled my real name. So I have a money order for a really small amount on my desk and no clue what to do with it. I was thinking of just endorsing the back with the name on the m/o and then my name underneath and deposit into my bank through the ATM. I’ve done this before with checks without a problem. Just wondering if I should attempt it again. I will search the forums for an answer.

That’s it!

Everything is running smoothly. About a month and a half after being kicked off ebay I am back up and selling where I was before!!

I will let you know if anything else happens.

[sowhat]

Oh! And how could I have forgotten the best part!

I got a 21 day hold on a $6 payment from ppal!!!! YES I SAID SIX DOLLARS!

They said the only way to get the money was to wait 21 days, or the buyer had to leave positive feedback and like 2 other options I could chose from. I just emailed the buyer and told them ppal was holding their $6 payment and to please leave me positive feedback. She did and my $6 was released.

[sowhat]

Hahaha, thanks Modee!

[Stealth Man]

I think alot of it does have to do with the vero item and how much and how many. I sell wallets, VERO wallets, it seems everytime I go over 8 in one month there will be a take down. I had got stuck with with about 100(wallets) the 1st time I was busted(before I knew about this site and the Stealth Book) and used some friends as guenni pigs(and to move the wallets while I learned from them). I personally have had only 1 take down with zero suspension. Auctive is great for your auctions. Usually get posted to ebay right away instead of a 24 review Ive noticed. I am using about 30 accts and sell only 8 items a month(on each 1). sometimes 2 a week sometime 8 in one shot. But like you said start slow. I usually sell some junk form the 99 cent store etc. to get over 5 feedbacks.

I did a ring central number today routed to my yahoo phone in. Worked great. Keep going to google and they offer a free trail with NO CREDIT CARD for 30days. If I use a different "user id" and ip you can keep getting the free offer. Ive learned alot with the help of aspkin and Ive got info. And a few others around here. I guess I should start tech support like modee. But if Im making money on ebay why would I????

[sowhat]

Still going strong!

I still have the same three stealth accounts I started with last summer. Havent had any problems. One account got suspended due to nonpayment. Once I made the payment I was automatically reinstated a few mins after payment was made.

[ebaystefi]

Impressive thread, thanks for the info!

[sowhat]

Hi everyone!

I’m glad to be back on the site! I’ve been so busy with work, ebay, school, etc. I haven’t had a chance to really be too involved here. Here are my updates:

1. To date, I have opened 3 stealth accounts since last July/August, haven't had any problems. All three are still up and running. I was always paranoid that an account could go down at any time, so I created a bunch of back ups, followed the stealth ebook instructions exactly, and took very careful notes. Tedious, but worth the peace of mind.

2. Currently I’m only using one of the stealth accounts (risky right! lol) and letting the other two rest. I opened this account last August and has been going strong. Here are the things that happened along the way with this account:

– For some odd reason I had a lot of people requesting refunds via paypal on this account (I didn’t have this problem on my other two stealth accounts and I’m selling the same thing on all three accounts, oh well). It seemed like I was always in a paypal dispute with this account. About 6 times during the time I’ve had it. Luckily I won all of them and didn’t have to refund anyone’s money.


– Another strange thing is, despite the many paypal disputes, I have been able to maintain 100% positive feedback on this account! I have NO idea how this is possible considering all the disputes. I will give you my theory below here:

For some reason, I was getting the impression that all buyers may not know that sellers cannot leave them negative feedback. I know ebay tells the buyer when they go to leave feedback, but I don’t think everyone has caught on. Feel free to challenge this, but this is my observation: on my stealth account #1, as soon as someone paid, I would automatically leave them fb. Then occasionally I would get hit with a negative a week later with a stupid comment like, “slow shipping”. It seemed like after I left the positive, the door was left open for the buyer to leave me whatever the heck they wanted. Then on my stealth account #2 (the one I’m currently using now), I experimented, only the buyers who gave me fb, got a fb in return. Everyone else who didn’t leave me fb, didn’t get crap. When I started doing this on all 3 accounts, all of the negative fb stopped. This also includes all the buyers who opened paypal disputes and lost. I thought for sure they would retaliate. I was suspecting that the buyer who doesn’t get a fb may be wondering why I’m giving it to some and not others. Maybe they think the seller still has some kind of leverage and causes the buyer to hesitate with a negative? Who knows. I’ve been doing this since last Oct, I sell about 20 – 120 items a month with all three accounts combined. Not sure how this would work with someone selling hundreds of items, but if it seems like your getting negatives, try leaving fb only for those you leave you one and see what happens.

4. Just last week I got a few of my listings removed! I couldn’t believe it! Ebay said I violated the rules, but didn’t state exactly what rules I violated in the email. I’m not selling VERO items. I guess that was a slap on the wrist cause the account didn’t get suspended. I had completely forgot that the Stealth Book said if something gets pulled, NOT to sell on that account for 2 weeks. I had already relisted one of the items again the next day and thought I’d probably blown it, but so far so good. I just didn’t list a bunch of extra stuff and I’m only keeping a few things up for now.

5. The Christmas season was horrible for me. I swear I only made like 2 sales for November. Then from Dec 26th to Feb 1st was really good, and now its kinda slow again. Due to this, I’m moving on to sell something else once I get the inventory later this summer. Is anyone else experiencing ultra low sales? I’ve been on ebay since 1999, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this bad.

[NO ID]

Welcome back - schools out

Using one ebay account is not risky - I would say you are limiting your selling, which is ok. Its good to always have backups in use or resting.

Great job winning those disputes - I just hate it when they try...Seems like they had no solid reason for the refund so they felt compelled to give you a positive anyway??

Yeah its really risky to relist after a takedown - Many of us has been lucky doing that, but that would have been a good time to dust off the other accounts.

[sowhat]

Your right, I'm definitely limiting the income potential by only running one account. Maybe that's why it seems like my sales are down

That's why this forum is good, other people can point out things you aren't seeing. I'm gonna get the other ones active again this week. :D

Thanks!

[BeeThrifty]

I have had 2 buyer only accounts suspended. I just opened another following the rules. Anyone have any experience with this?

[ANTIQUES1]

Originally Posted by NO ID

Welcome back - schools out

Using one ebay account is not risky - I would say you are limiting your selling, which is ok. Its good to always have backups in use or resting.

Great job winning those disputes - I just hate it when they try...Seems like they had no solid reason for the refund so they felt compelled to give you a positive anyway??

Yeah its really risky to relist after a takedown - Many of us has been lucky doing that, but that would have been a good time to dust off the other accounts.

NEVER relist an item with the same account after they take it down. That's led to my 2 week suspensions about 5 times (I never learn). Also they have a new semi suspension telling you that you can buy but you cannot sell for x days or weeks. DO NOT appeal the decision or they'll scrutinize the account AND punish you for taking up their time.
I had an account 9 years old never a single negative FB and PERFECT user ratings (I ship same day, include certificates and always take back returns with the most polite email, often paying return shipping). That has bought me some lifetime customers who only buy from me.

Then the mafia attacked, declared every single item I had as non authentic (3 returns in 9 years, come on)! Even declared my jewelry repair services non authentic and took that down, too!

I'm not sure if x number of complaints and they take you down or not. If so, we need to band together to get the people who got us kicked off. Usually you know who it is by their stalking emails. I've got 3 stalkers (I believe it's the same person). I open another account and they email "hello xxx name, how are you, you snuck back on ebay"

I need to mispell and copy other's photo styles (we all have tried and trusted habits that are hard to stop but they pay)! I had the keywords down to a science and would close the highest every time. These jerks keep pics of all of your items and if they pop up on another account, you're had and they tattle on you. Problem is my items are all unique.

I had a ring going for over 800 they took down. These guys cost me 5 grand in a single week the day after I bought my plane ticket to go to asia to buy more inventory, all my listings are taken down. I appeal like an idiot then read online NEVER APPEAL so I call ebay and ask to cancel the appeal and while I'm on the phone BOOM, naru for at least a week they say. This has happened many times but my category has this mafia now who screw with all competition and they now have an inside in ebay. One of them got approved to declare items non authentic which is devastating. I told them "tell me the appraisal company and i'll bring my inventory to them...you name them anywhwere in the US and I'll go" ebay said "we dont' want you selling "this type" of thing anymore, too much risk.

But the mafia can! asses!

Now I need to sell a different product and maybe sneak the other items in maybe a year? I'd sure like that 800 bucks for the one item...damn them!

[oompaloompa]

antiques1 similar thing happended to me, I went to vero office in person, you are right mafia tactics..eCosanostra...

If you are sure of these peoples real details, there are ways of registering as them and taking them down, IF they are fallible, but if they are in with the in-crowd, lost cause..

[sowhat]

Yes, I went ahead and put that account down to rest for awhile and started selling on another one, selling different things.

A few sellers have asked me about the risk of getting a negative feedback when a seller wins a "not as described" dispute. I have won all my disputes and have not gotten any negatives for them. I truly believe it's because the buyer is left completely shocked and then they start fighting with paypal. And they kinda forget about the seller. :D But I still always brace myself because I dont know what the buyer will do.

I was advising to escalate the claim as soon as you get it so you could get your money back faster. I don't know how long paypal will allow the dispute to be open, but ebay gives 90 days to leave fb. If you could avoid escalating the dispute and let it drag out past 90 days, (such as, not responding until the absolute last day you are allowed) you may be able to avoid neg fb. The buyer is gonna be so wrapped up in getting their money, they arent thinking clearly.

NOT TO MENTION:
I AM STILL NOT CONVINCED EVERY BUYER KNOWS THAT SELLERS CANT LEAVE THEM NEGATIVE FEEDBACK!

This is why:

1. If buyers dont even read your auction description before they hand over their hard earned cash to you, there is no way they are reading ebays rules, notices, terms, etc. How many times have you gotten a buyer who bought something from you and started complaining after they got the item because they didnt even read what they were getting.

2. I stopped leaving feedback for the buyer until they leave me a positive, then I leave them one. For some reason that silence on the sellers part may make some buyers think "well if they didnt leave me fb I'm not leaving them one either!" Not realizing that the rules have changed.

Can anyone confirm how long pp will let a claim stay open? I always escalate so I'm not sure.

One other way I was able to avoid a potential neg in the past, was to simply close the ebay account and start selling on another ebay account. I know that sounds bad, but I didnt know what else to do and that was before I found this forum. After 90 days I reopened it and started selling again. If you voluntarily close your account, ebay lets you reopen it within 120 days (i think). If you wait after that, then the account will be closed for good. I guess this is one of those times where its good to have multiple accounts going so you wont be phased if you have to close one for a little while.

[sowhat]

oompa,

VERO has an office????

Where is it?

[OfficialGenius]

Good thread, now let's keep it active!