Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: lrp72 on November 01, 2011, 03:31 pm
-
Hi everyone!
Surprise, I am a newbie. :) And have a couple questions. I have been around SR for a couple of weeks and have read everything I can up to this point and have not been able to find what I am looking for. I would like to place an order. I am wondering first of all if it would be a good thing to place an order or two of inexpensive digital products (or is there something else better?) before I order anything too risky, in order to do some trust building. Or will that make any kind of a difference to a vendor (in trusting me) or not? It has been such a tedious process to get bitcoins here, I don't want to waste them if it won't make a difference. Hope that makes sense.
I was also wondering if anyone happens to have time on their hands to let me message them and make sure I have this encryption thing down. If you do, I'd be so grateful. Here is my public key, just in case - and thanks!
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.17 (MingW32)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=y3Nu
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
-
Ordering some digital goods to boost your buyers stats is probably a good idea, some vendors will make you release escrow early if it is your first purchase.
I'm PMing you right now as well :)
As for BTC being a hassle, give get-bitcoin.com a try, they seem to work fast and have a bunch of different exchange options.
-
GREAT! Thanks so much for the info and the PM! :)
-
I find the digital goods very sketch. You have no idea if you're downloading more than just the book/video you ordered.
-
Check my sig for the newbie's guide, might be a useful read.
-
Thanks for the info, Rapid and pulp -
Pulp - I have read your guide several times, thank you for that!
Rapid - I am hoping that good feedback will cover any riskiness in those downloads. I guess we will see!
-
Yep, it's kind of hazardous lately, being a newbie, but you are ahead of most of them, by coming to the forums first, rather than buying haphazardly and getting off to a bad start or getting ripped off, which has happened a lot lately.
Mostly, just show some caution. Latest constant scam around here is scammers trying to sell bitcoins which may or may not exist. Because of no escrow, they usually don't. As posted above, I'd learn to navigate get-bitcoin.com, which, if you have a Bank of America, or Wells Fargo bank branch near you, is very easy....
Second, I don't think all sellers require that newbies bypass escrow. I don't like it, but even sellers I like and trust often require it. They used to start threads about newbies who either wouldn't finalize or scammed, but now they just won't do escrow, which means the good suffer as well as the bad. Mostly, just make sure it is a reputable seller, here on the forums....the feedback on the main site no longer means very much, as it is all too easy to fake: get a bunch of 'buyer's accounts and just buy from yourself
But in the forums you can tell who is good seller, who is chronically late, and who is total no-show. Best wishes to you, and I've read thru all the posts in Security, and that is a great education, and pulpfiction's newbie guide also is great...or u can just pm people you are curious about, also...most are pretty friendly and helpful, tho asking publicly is better, so all can learn...
-
Blues is right. No matter what you are buying, standard procedure should be to enter in the product type you are looking for in forum search and see what comes up. You can lurk through post titles and check out any sellers who might be interesting or who the community has annointed with "scamming dickless-fuck" status.
THEN you go over to SR and shop with your new batch of information. Being here asking these questions is a great start (buying my cannabis if you are in US or Canada is the best start you can make on SR *wink wink*), as most of us who have been around for a while, either buyers or sellers, want this to be a community of commerce and peaceful cooperation and trade. Every scam gives SR a bad name and jades buyers, which hurts buyers because sellers pack up if volume drops off, and hurts buyers because that means prices go up and selection goes down. I would personally take a piss on every scammer's face if given the opportunity because they hurt my bottom line and rep of the market I sell from.
So good on you for asking the noob questions. As you've found, most of us are more than happy to help out because it is to the benefit of all, including ourselves.
-
You guys are so nice, thanks for the helpful advice. I am definitely a geeky internet researcher, if nothing else. I have spent I-am-scared-to-count-how-many hours on this forum reading already. I am pretty proud of my old ass self figuring out BTC well enough to have put some money in SR AND figuring out PGP. Go me! I am a little sad I didn't find SR before now though.
phubaiblues: I generally trust feedback, but thank you for the warning, I will definitely make sure I check them out on the forum too.
Anarch - cannabis is the one thing I have what I think is maybe a lifetime supply of, as I restock every time I go back home (across country), and don't smoke that much. ;) Let me know if you get other goodies, I would love to buy USA (or North America, as the case may be!! :)
I am usually pretty quiet on forums, out of fear of saying something moronic and getting my ass chewed out, but you all have been great, and I feel like I need to make myself known a little bit, if only for the trust factor. And I totally agree on asking publicly so other people can learn too. I know I am not the only beginner at all this. This is so fun - thanks again!