Where am I going wrong?

[muckingfuppet]

Hi All,

Set up is MacBook laptop with VirtualBoxVM installed, new VM for each machine. Mobile broadband MiFi routers and checking my IP addresses each time. Using firefox with webgl turned off, media.peerconnection.enabled turned off and privacy.resistFingerprinting turned on.

Aging accounts for a few weeks, bidding and watching items. Listing low risk items at first, then gradually building up.

Keep getting suspensions and reactivates that are not reactivated.

Any advice?

[rsot]

Low risk items like what?

[muckingfuppet]

Used books mainly, not for a loss-making amount, reasonable postage etc. Occasionally basic kitchen equipment, sometimes cleaning products.

[rsot]

How quickly are you getting suspended?

Your products seem alright - nothing too pricey

[SaiJin]

Originally Posted by muckingfuppet

Hi All,

Set up is MacBook laptop with VirtualBoxVM installed, new VM for each machine. Mobile broadband MiFi routers and checking my IP addresses each time. Using firefox with webgl turned off, media.peerconnection.enabled turned off and privacy.resistFingerprinting turned on.

Aging accounts for a few weeks, bidding and watching items. Listing low risk items at first, then gradually building up.

Keep getting suspensions and reactivates that are not reactivated.

Any advice?

Have you ever tried just without VM / privacy shenanigans ?
And just use your MacBook pro as instructed in the stealth guide?

(Macs are awesome for stealth btw)

[muckingfuppet]

Originally Posted by SaiJin

Have you ever tried just without VM / privacy shenanigans ?
And just use your MacBook pro as instructed in the stealth guide?

(Macs are awesome for stealth btw)

Yes, I did that for a number of years. Only in the last 12 months have I switched to VMWare; I take it you mean using user accounts? I note that the stealth guide says VMs are ‘more advanced then User Accounts or portable browsers but well worth it if you can get your head around the setup.’

I am more than happy to try going back to user accounts on my MacBook. \\

Thanks for your suggestion

[muckingfuppet]

Originally Posted by rsot

How quickly are you getting suspended?

Your products seem alright - nothing too pricey

Thanks, yes I’ve been quite careful with that. I don’t think it’s products, I think it’s my setup - either too tight and it’s suspicious, or something is leaking out somehow.

Either 30 minutes or 36-48 hours after first listing.

I’ve also started getting requests for photo ID, which isn’t n issue but is annoying

[rsot]

Are you using your own photos?

[muckingfuppet]

Not always at first, I’m using eBay stock photos. Could this be the issue?

[rsot]

Originally Posted by muckingfuppet

Not always at first, I’m using eBay stock photos. Could this be the issue?

Yes it could be, possibly - use your own pics with a watermark/stamp

[muckingfuppet]

Originally Posted by rsot

Yes it could be, possibly - use your own pics with a watermark/stamp

Happy to try

[muckingfuppet]

Do we think these are manually reviewed or bots? What effect does watermarking have?

I’m not objecting, just keen to learn as much as possible

[rsot]

More often than not, just bots

[muckingfuppet]

Early results seem positive - moved back to user accounts, dropped the privacy tinkering and using own pics with watermark

Cheers all

[Roy3805]

Originally Posted by muckingfuppet

Early results seem positive - moved back to user accounts, dropped the privacy tinkering and using own pics with watermark

Cheers all

How’s it working for you now?

I know virtual machines work but when you disable things like webgl you get the eBay bots full attention

[rsot]

Originally Posted by muckingfuppet

Early results seem positive - moved back to user accounts, dropped the privacy tinkering and using own pics with watermark

Cheers all

Good to hear so far

[BlackLion]

I'm late responding, but I'd definitely stay far away from "stock photos" on eBay. It's best to use your own, and what I use to do in order to prove items were mine is include my logo inside of the actual photo next to product. I went beyond watermarks. Off topic, but I remember selling on "Mercari" and they took down a listing and told me to use my own photos, so that should be a hint to never do that across all platforms.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by BlackLion

I'm late responding, but I'd definitely stay far away from "stock photos" on eBay. It's best to use your own, and what I use to do in order to prove items were mine is include my logo inside of the actual photo next to product. I went beyond watermarks. Off topic, but I remember selling on "Mercari" and they took down a listing and told me to use my own photos, so that should be a hint to never do that across all platforms.

Nice touch

[muckingfuppet]

Originally Posted by Roy3805

How’s it working for you now?

I know virtual machines work but when you disable things like webgl you get the eBay bots full attention

Definitely having more luck with it now thank you

Not perfect though!