Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: tehjiggy3 on February 17, 2012, 09:37 pm

Title: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: tehjiggy3 on February 17, 2012, 09:37 pm
Hey there guys!  Just thought I'd post a little something on here for all the other newbies, like myself, who are getting ready to take the plunge into the world of bitcoins.  I know it can be daunting, especially if you are like me and want to make sure you are making the most secure purchase possible.

First of all, congrats on figuring out about the site and Tor!  While this is a big step, there are many others to take.  The most confusing for me was the process of getting bitcoins.  It all seemed so complex...so confusing.  After actually using them today, I have to say the process is actually pretty easy.  Here was my route of getting the bitcoins and moving them to my SR account. 

I made a MtGox account.  I set it up with a new email address.  (Don't use Tor if you are going to go to Mt.Gox.)  Once my Mt.Gox account was set up, I wanted to check out my available methods of funding my account so I could buy some coins.  After reading for a couple of weeks on the forums here on SR as well as on the clearweb, I decided to go with bitinstant.com.  My logic behind this was: 1) I don't need any identification.  Just go to Bitinstant, tell them how much you want, give them your mtgox account name and pick one of their banks to make a cash deposit.  No ID, nothing.  That sounded awesome to me...and the best part is that they send you the funds almost instantly.  I was able to check my email and find the Code for my funds, from my smartphone, before I even made it home from the bank.  LEGIT! 

Once you go to Mt.Gox and redeem the code under the Funding Options tab, its a simple few clicks to buy your coin and get them on their way.  Once you have the coins, its pretty straightforward from there.  Just copy the address for whatever wallet you want to send the coins to.  I used BitSpinner, a free app for Android phones that acts as a wallet for your BTC.  So, I sent them to my bitspinner address and then went onto Tor, logged into Silk Road, checked my account settings and copied the address for my Silk Road wallet.  About an hour later my funds were in my Silk Road wallet and I was able to make my orders.  :D

Like I said, I was overwhelmed at first with all of the security procedures, not to mention the buying and moving Bitcoins.  It's not as bad as it seems.  Anyway, there is a ton of information on these forums.  I would spend hours just reading up on here, making sure I knew what to do.  I suggest you do the same.  There are PGP tutorials, a buyers guide...all manner of helpful posts.  Most of all, there are people here.  Friendly people, who are most likely willing to help you out, as we were all n00bs once upon a time.  (I am still a n00b)

Anyway, I really just wanted to post on here that I had placed my first couple of orders today!  I have been excited about doing it for some time now, and now that I have done it, I feel giddy about the packages coming!  I researched a couple of vendors I thought I could trust.  Went with Tony and Dolfan.  Tony because he sells quantity and Dolfan because he is a USA vendor.  Both vendors seem to have great reviews and feedback. 

I want to thank everyone for their help, anytime I had a question it was answered quickly through messages to vendors or by people on the forums.  The community here on Silk Road is truly something to be proud of and it seems like they look after their own.  An admirable quality in a world filled with scammers and greedy, selfish bastards.  So, in closing, cheers Silk Roaders!  Wish me luck on my packages arriving!

Thanks,
Jiggy
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: ron1n on February 18, 2012, 12:06 am
Congrats on taking the delve into SR!  It seems so complicated at first but then I realized how easy it really was.  Transfer money to dwolla, send to mtgox, buy bitcoins and send to wallet, then send to SR (extra step there for security).  Your method works just as well, but i'm too lazy to want to go out of my way to make a deposit by hand haha.
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: TalkingHead on February 18, 2012, 01:37 am
Congratulations. All I would suggest, as I do it a similar way, is that you don't use your regular email with Mt. Gox. You don't want your dealings there to be tied to you too easily. Set up a Mt. Gox account with a fake name, of course. And get a Tormail account with your SR user name. You have to be on the Tor network to check your Tormail account but it keeps it all more anonymous.
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: tehjiggy3 on February 18, 2012, 01:53 am
Yea, I actually have a tormail but because of all the advice I saw about staying away from mtgox with tor, I didn't wanna set it up with a tormail address. I guess it wouldn't matter then? Ill keep that in mind. I drained all my BTC out of the MtGox acct today by sending it here so I can always just make a new one. Thanks for the heads up! And thanks for the welcomes! I'm pumped to be a part of this awesome community. !Viva la Revolucion! haha
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: anarcho47 on February 18, 2012, 02:22 am
Glad to see new and fresh faces (and by faces, I mean usernames) on the SR.

A piece of advice from someone who has been here longer than most:  Don't let yourself get complacent.  Don't establish patterns.  Be vigilant with your security and your anonymity, because it is all that you have in the end.

And also, let me know if you want some awesome Canadian bud for the best price/quality rate going! :)
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: tehjiggy3 on February 18, 2012, 02:32 am
I will definitely keep that in mind anarcho. Ill be in the market for some kind bud in the next month. The holiday is coming up ;) and I have a Sublime concert to go to on 4-20. Count on me hitting you up!

As for not getting too comfortable. I will keep that it mind as well. I definitely wouldn't want to get pinched. Especially now that I've finally found Mecca.
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: TalkingHead on February 18, 2012, 07:30 pm
Yea, I actually have a tormail but because of all the advice I saw about staying away from mtgox with tor, I didn't wanna set it up with a tormail address. I guess it wouldn't matter then? Ill keep that in mind.

When I first started on SR I tied Mt. Gox to my normal public email. What an idiot! LOL. Then I started over there with a new account. You can use any email, including Tormail, when setting up your account. The issue with Tor and Mt. Gox is that you can't sign in through the Tor network because that can create big problems when trying to withdraw bc.

Welcome to the world's greatest candy store for adults!
Title: Re: Just placed my first SR order. YAY! A couple tips for other newbies!
Post by: tehjiggy3 on February 19, 2012, 02:18 am
Went and made a new Mt.Gox account tied to my tormail.  Thanks for the heads up. Like I said, I thought about setting it up with the tormail address but since I read so much about staying away from Mt.Gox using Tor, I was apprehensive about using a tormail address.  I will be making another BTC purchase in the next couple of days.  Im gonna wait for my first couple of packages to arrive before I make another purchase.  I think I could see this place becoming a big drain on the weight of my wallet. 

Yea, I actually have a tormail but because of all the advice I saw about staying away from mtgox with tor, I didn't wanna set it up with a tormail address. I guess it wouldn't matter then? Ill keep that in mind.

Welcome to the world's greatest candy store for adults!

Haha.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  And thanks for the welcome.  I'm so happy for those sweet little letters to come in the mail!

-jig