Do you have eBay, PayPal, or Amazon stealth accounts you want to manage effectively and prevent them from being discovered or linked? Then this guide has been written to show you how to get that done.
For those that have stealth accounts, they are always on the lookout for how to protect the accounts from being discovered as web services you create stealth accounts for will either block them or get them linked. As a marketer having multiple accounts on eBay, PayPal, Amazon, and Etsy, the risk of losing your multiple accounts or accounts with fake profiles is always high – and if you manage them on the same system, the risk becomes more. Web services in the e-commerce industry frown at stealth accounts, and they are becoming smarter at detecting and blocking them.
If you own stealth accounts on eBay or PayPal, you have to manage them well to prevent detection. In this guide, I will be showing you how to manage stealth accounts manually or using services to automate it. Before then, let take a look at stealth accounts properly.
Stealth Accounts – an Overview
Stealth accounts are accounts that are created using different information other than one’s real details. The user persona, shipping details, and credit card details are faked, and as such, the accounts can’t be linked to the owner. Interestingly, to guide against IP and browser fingerprinting, many owners of stealth accounts manage each in a different environment.
Read More, How to Prevent Browser Fingerprinting
The most common platforms Internet marketers create stealth accounts for are eBay and PayPal. This is not unconnected to the fact that these web services do not allow users to own multiple accounts unless they are linked. The problem with linked accounts is that a restriction or suspension on one can affect the rest.
Why Use Stealth Accounts?
Stealth accounts are not just created; there are a good number of reasons why Internet marketers create them. Below are some of the reasons why marketers create stealth accounts.
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Suspended Accounts
eBay and PayPal have developed the habit of suspending and blocking accounts. If your account has been blocked or suspended by either of these services, you have to forget about creating any other account that can be linked to the suspended account.
If you use the same personal information, computer, or browser, it will get linked to the restricted account and also risk the same punishment. With a stealth account, you can start on a new slate.
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Create Unlinked eBay Accounts
eBay allows a seller to own multiple accounts – but these accounts have to be linked, and in some scenarios, restrictions or suspensions bagged by one of the accounts will affect all. By creating accounts with different details other than your real details, you are able to have your multiple accounts unlinked.
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Evade Geo-location Restrictions
There are some locations that are not supported by eBay and PayPal because of fraud and other issues. If you are from one of the unsupported regions but want to create an account, then you will have to create stealth accounts and use an address from any of the supported regions.
How to Manage Stealth Accounts: The Manual Way
Initially, managing stealth accounts is done manually before the advent of stealth account management services. One thing you will come to like about managing accounts manually is that it helps you save cost.
However, it is error-prone, and you can get your accounts flagged because of the suspicion you will create. Interestingly, manually managing your accounts gives you more freedom. Below are some of the tips to follow in other to manage your accounts manually. I assume the accounts have been created.
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Access Your Accounts Using a VPS
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtual machine provided by Internet hosting services. These VPS can come preinstalled with an Operating System. Unlike regular Virtual Machines that you need to make use of them on your computer, VPS servers are available online.
With a VPS, you are given a new IP address and allowed to installed browsers. This will give you a different online footprint you can use. If you have two accounts and you don’t want them linked, you can manage one on your computer and then the other on a VPS.
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Manage Each Account with a Separate User Account
Using a VPS will provide you a new slate as you have a new OS, browser, and IP address to use. While using a VPS is the best manual method out there, there are other methods and managing each account with a separate user account on your computer is another procedure. This becomes the choice if you have to manage many accounts but think of the financial implication.
How to do this is simple; you will need to create as many new users on your computer as the number of accounts you want to manage.
You will also need to buy residential proxies or mobile proxies, so that the accounts will not have to share the same IP address as that will reveal your account farm footprint.
For each of the stealth accounts, you will have to access it on a unique user profile on your computer and then associate a proxy to it. One subtle importance of running each on a new user profile is that browser footprint will be taken care of as no cookies and browser objects will be used for linking your accounts.
Using Software to Manage Stealth Accounts
If you have tried managing your stealth accounts using the manual method, you will agree with me that it is stressful and even risky as a little mistake can reveal your footprint. For this reason, some marketers manage their accounts using software to ease the whole process and save them precious time to carry out other important tasks.
When it comes to managing stealth accounts, there is no software that can carry out all tasks for all e-commerce stores. You will need to make use of a combination of tools. One thing you need to know is that these tools cost a price tag on them.
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Best Product Listing Software
With a product listing software, you can manage all of your listings at once. From our research, InkFrog has proven to one of the best product listing software in the market. This software makes it easy for marketers to list products on Amazon and eBay. It gives you the opportunity to manage your accounts in a stress-free manner.
Aside from managing your listings (description, quantity, price, etc.), it also comes with template support, image hosting, and inventory sync. When using InkFrog, you will not have to think of IP logging. However, when you sign up, you should go to the setting area and opt-out of InkFrog sharing your details with eBay.
With InkFrog, the SEO of your listing is easy. One thing you will come to like about this software is its pricing. The packages of this software are arguably cheap as you can get started with as low as $11 monthly. Interestingly, as a new user, you do not have to pay to use the software as they have a 14 days free trial option for intending users.
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Best Messaging Software for Stealth Accounts
In business, one of the factors that decide how far you go is how you communicate with your customers. As someone managing accounts, logging in and out of your accounts is not only stressful but can also reveal your IP footprint. With messaging software, managing inboxes becomes easy. The tool of choice for managing your inbox and communication with your customers when using managing stealth accounts is ReplyManager. With ReplyManager, all of your messages will be in one place.It synchronizes well with Amazon and eBay, among other e-commerce stores.
ReplyManager has a lot of big businesses on their customer list, including Boeing. They have got impressive features, including sending personalized messages, team support features, manage customer support on social media, and even automated replies. While ReplyManager is not a free tool, you can try it out for free before opting to become a paid user. It is also important you know that its pricing is on the high side.
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Best Tools for Managing Orders for Managing Stealth Accounts
If you sell with multiple accounts on multiple platforms, it is high time you delegate the processing of orders to software that has got all it takes to get that done. If you are in the US, Stamps.com is the tool of choice for you. UK users will need to make use of Zenstores. These two software do basically the same.
They automatically extract orders from your accounts and on multiple e-commerce, making them ready for you to buy and print shipping labels. If you have been writing labels by hand, you need to ditch doing that and be more professional by making use of the Dymo Label Printer.
Conclusion
Stealth accounts, when managed in the right way, provide you more peace of mind and help you continue in situations when your real accounts have been suspended.
However, managing stealth accounts can be a lot of work as you might end up providing footprints that will get them detected and blocked. For this reason, I will advise you to stick to the software except if they are expensive than you can pay for.
