May have an opportunity to buy a colleague's (very) aged eBay account

iphone_seller · #1 07-12-2017

2002 eBay account potentially available for me to buy - not anyone else I promise, this is not an advertisement - wish I did have an aged account like that for me. I have actually already purchased an account on here today, and a VPN service - so I am getting my teeth into the process. But my hope is, like most of you, to have several accounts to fall back on.

Is there a resource on here that guides one through how to successfully complete a "buying an eBay account from a friend etc" transaction. As in not buying from an account vendor, but more the man on the street, friends, relatives, colleagues etc.

Can I just buy their eBay account, not Paypal? And then attach their eBay account to a different PayPal account.

What information do I need from them, after buying it?

How do I ensure the account is completely disassociated from the previous owner of the account.

The account was active and selling (mostly cheap CDs and DVDs in quite large quantities) up until about 6 months ago. I presume eBay cases could then not be opened on the account as 60 days have passed after the eBay sales? PayPal cases can be though, but I do not want the PP account. Or do i? lol

Would appreciate some guidance if poss on the process.

Thx as always, brilliant advice so far in my early days on the site.

JamesNorth101 · #2 07-12-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by iphone_seller

Can I just buy their eBay account, not Paypal? And then attach their eBay account to a different PayPal account.

While you can do that it is very risk

Its best to get the eBay & the PayPal goes with the eBay

iphone_seller · #3 07-12-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesNorth101

While you can do that it is very risk

Its best to get the eBay & the PayPal goes with the eBay

I presumed buying their PayPal would be a no go for them, as it would be like I would be able buy things in their name with their banks attached etc.

Its a colleague I am in discussion with, not somebody who is familiar with this world. Think of him as a regular joe.

Also he is a colleague not a friend friend so not one of those where I can temporarily have access to his bank etc.

How would you guys approach this scenario?

JamesNorth101 · #4 07-12-2017

I just wouldn't get the account personally

MM78 · #5 07-12-2017

Walk away, make your own accounts.

iphone_seller · #6 07-12-2017

Appreciate the advice! Wow I thought the reaction would be to get such an account by any means possible lol.

Is there no way I can make this work?

Would seem a shame, the guy is retiring from eBay entirely.

Bunneh · #7 07-12-2017

it is not wise to buy a ebay without the paypal attached to it,

if he ever gets his original paypal closed it will cause risk to your account and same goes if you got the new paypal you used closed.

You also have no idea if there is already issues with that paypal account, and if there was, your ebay is pretty much useless, because once your paypal is gone, so is the ebay account.

JamesNorth101 · #8 07-12-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by iphone_seller

Is there no way I can make this work?

Not without the original PayPal. Its just set up to have issues later on otherwise

iphone_seller · #9 07-12-2017

Gotcha, yep probably is not a "go" this from the sounds of it - lets assume though there are currently no underlying issues with either his Paypal and eBay account. They are both rock solid.

What way would you go about buying both the eBay and PayPal accounts?

Pretty sure he would not want to leave his bank account/s attached to his PayPal. Would it be a case of removing those links?

Like I say just throwing out hypotheticals here

jakobrockz · #10 07-12-2017

I assume his PayPal is verified with either an EIN or SSN too so I would just walk away or you're gonna have some messy tax issues in the future

JamesNorth101 · #11 07-12-2017

We don't have things like that in the UK

jakobrockz · #12 07-12-2017

Completely disregarded the user's flag. Thanks for pointing that out.

Ignore what I said

iphone_seller · #13 07-12-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakobrockz

Completely disregarded the user's flag. Thanks for pointing that out.

Ignore what I said

Haha no worries.

Bunneh · #14 07-12-2017

i doubt he would want to give you his real id should you need it getting limited for selling iphones.

iphone_seller · #15 07-12-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesNorth101

Not without the original PayPal. Its just set up to have issues later on otherwise

What type of issues could arise may I ask?

Unlinking his current PP from the eBay account, attaching a different PP account to the eBay account I mean.

Chargebacks would go to the old PP account that he would have.

I get the message from you not having both the original eBay and PP would be a bad idea but nobody has said why this is? (Again from a me inheriting just his eBay account POV)

iphone_seller · #16 07-13-2017

OK so looks like this may be getting closer - taking on just his eBay not his PP. The idea of historic chargebacks etc puts me off the PP massively.

I appreciate the vibes I am getting is that it may not be a good idea to take one not both (although still not sure why) but hypothetically if this was you and you were set on taking over somebody's eBay account only, what would you ask from them after your purchase of the account?

Would presume I would need him at his end (on his IP) to unlink his PayPal first maybe link mine to his whilst he is there? Change his registered eBay email address to a fresh one I give him etc? Change his phone number?

Then once he has done all that, perhaps not at the same time - I would be following the usual stealth rules otherwise, use a Fresh IP when logging into it at my end, not change the name or password.

Again I understand creating a stealth account is the cleaner more sure way of going about this (which I am doing) but just putting yourselves in this scenario what would you ask for and in what order from the account seller?, who again has absolutely no knowledge of this stealth world (the importance of IP addresses cookies etc etc.)

Thanks again

Bunneh · #17 07-13-2017

if you take ONLY the ebay account you have still the same amount of risk.

If he gets his original paypal closed or has a negative balance from any claim, your paypal that you add will get affected to.

the original ebay and paypal account are LINKED forever and whatever will happen to those two accounts, will affect any new paypal you link to the ebay.

If he has a limitation in the future ( so will you)
if he gets closed ( so will you)
if he gets closed owing paypal money ( that will be your problem to)

If you make a new paypal account, it will also look highly suspicious if his original paypal was in John Smith and you make yours in Steve Jobs name.

I am sure if you use his REAL info to make a new paypal it could also not end well, as if you ever get closed owing money or anything else, the debt collecter or worse.. goes after him not you.

iphone_seller · #18 07-13-2017

Understood thanks, so the main aspect is the effects something bad happening to either of our accounts is the crux here and that then being impactful on each other.

I just rang PayPal there under the guise of I was thinking of taking on a friend's eBay business account. Am I allowed to do this from a PayPal POV.

They said yes its absolutely fine, just unlink the PayPal account from the eBay account, and add your own to that.

But I get what you are saying in light of the long term feasibility of doing this, if something kicks off with his original accounts etc, a lot of trust would need to be involved.

arktech · #19 07-13-2017

ask your self this. would you sell an ebay and or a paypal account to a none friend ?

iphone_seller · #20 07-13-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by arktech

ask your self this. would you sell an ebay and or a paypal account to a none friend ?

Guessing you mean as a seller of your personal account you would fear the new owner would do some damage to it and therefore you? Fair point.

To paint a picture however this is an elderly chap I am buying from, retiring. No intention whatsoever to trade on eBay anymore. Their account is outstanding probably one of the best I have ever seen. It is again from 2002, no ID changes in that time - their feedback score is over 160,000 with 5.0 DSRs across the board - a couple of negatives in the past 12 months, against 4000+ positives. They delt mostly in DVDs so if something really did kick off with a past sale I would be fine just refunding his buyer myself - but 60 days have past since his last sale so hopefully nothing drastic is looming. And chargebacks would again go to his PP account that he would keep.

I myself on the other hand have had the same account for 11 years, immaculate feedback and standing up until last week, and I am just wanting to continue where I left off tbh, in buying his account and using it.

So in terms of the credibility of who is selling it and who is buying it I would like to think we are both in safe territory here. The guy himself said he thinks its a shame to let his old account go to waste.

So he has nothing to lose really (if we are to accept both parties are bona fide!) - if we do get caught out by eBay as he is retiring anyway he loses nothing - and I have nothing to lose either except the payment I would give him for the account, which to be honest is very modest.

Can anyone at least give me broad strokes as to what they would do if you were of my mindset and were going to run with this. I.e. pay him, then:

step 1, get the old owner of the account on their own IP address unlink their PayPal

step 2, get them to change the registered email address to one I provide them with

step 3, under usual stealth rules I can then begin logging into their account, on a fresh user account on a new IP address. Start building up cookies etc on that log in.

etc

rsot · #21 07-13-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by iphone_seller

I just rang PayPal there under the guise of I was thinking of taking on a friend's eBay business account. Am I allowed to do this from a PayPal POV.

They said yes its absolutely fine, just unlink the PayPal account from the eBay account, and add your own to that.

Don't think for a second that PP agents are knowledgeable about the security flags internal to PP/eb - lot of them are just saying things to end calls...

iphone_seller · #22 07-13-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsot

Don't think for a second that PP agents are knowledgeable about the security flags internal to PP/eb - lot of them are just saying things to end calls...

Yeah good point, I was through to limitations though, possibly a more relevant department than their first line CS agents. See what you're saying though