1. Possible to keep bots from getting banned. I have no problems having them to last for weeks or months. Highly suggested to use good private scripts.
2. Proxy prevents chain bans afaik, I'm sure VM's under a single network shares the same external IP, you might want to look more into it.
3. I do trade on daily basis, only happens to get banned for RWT 300m and above, perhaps keep it low?
4. The question will not be how cheap a private script will cost, but rather how good you are willing to pay for a premium private script. Good scripts don't come cheap, prepare to invest.
5. We keep methods to ourselves, but nonetheless skills like resource gathering are a good source of income. It's best to explore into some good methods before requesting for a script.
In general, start small, do trial and error as mentioned above. You will make it big someday. Goodluck