Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: Crooked on August 30, 2012, 02:48 am
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I don't even feel comfy selling MDMA anymore. I've had several people ask me, "yo did you get this off of silk road?" and I have to bullshit them about how I drive 3 hours out of my way to meet some British guy that a friend of a friend introduced me to.... I don't like this one bit :'( I liked being the only man in town with the rocks that fell from the moon
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I had a thought about rolls here if someone knew about SR that would be a dead giveaway,
I would suggest instead of just explaining where you get it, just to say youve heard of that site and that feds are all over it lol, I mean if you are buying off of SR its one thing to spread the love, but if its your way of making money I would make sure everyone around you knew it was not worth being here,
i also agree tho sucks that this place is getting so big the last thing I want to see is it going away
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too bad that since they know about SR, then they now know that you do indeed source your product here, since you just revealed your lie on the very site you claim to not want them to know you are using. Unless of course you were lying about the lie you told them, or about who you told.
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Crooked, why not say "none of your business" or "can't tell you that"? That story your using has many details to remember, especially if your on it (MDMA) at the time. There is more than one vendor selling MDMA on SR so even if others are buying from here to sell, there is every chance it could be different gear or even a different batch. You can still be the only man in town with rocks that fell from the moon, that I'm sure of. SR is known to more people now than ever before but i think it's no where near as well known as you may think it is. The site is definitely growing but that was bound to happen. Regardless of any publicity through the media, word of mouth and people exploring the net, looking for things which are not the "norm", have played a large role in it's expansion. The site itself is key to maintaining the new influx of members and exposing and removing the idiots with all it has to offer and the wealth of information which can be found by joining the SR Forum. The biggest problem I can see developing , especially escalating in recent months, is the huge amount of spam on the Forum and equally, the amount of scammers on both sites looking to exploit every opportunity they come up with as quickly as possible before being shut down by SR and moving on to the next scheme. Trying to reduce this happening will be a real challenge for the SR staff and something they will have to be vigilant about. :)
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Trust me, the vast majority of drug users are too stupid to use SR.
By the time they work out what a bitcoin is and how to login to SR from their prepaid windows phone you'll have sold them what they need in the time frame they are used to.
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I actually went and told a lot of my friends about the website, none of them care enough to get their shit through here. In fact, they all complain whenever I tell them "if you want that shit gimme 3 days and I got you" and their usual response is "fuck that, i can drive down to the city and cop a bag in less than an hour." Be happy more business is coming through the site, it means more competition, which usually means lower prices.
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I was actually really surprised when the people in my area started to sell legitimate Pink Stars from SKYY. I do not try and hide my drug experience too much in conversation if I feel comfortable with the people I'm around and have actually had some people bring up SR to me.
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Most of my friends who what SR is, and though many are not regular participants, nearly all of my many friends are at least familiar with SR.
I am probably the only one of my immediate friends that I DIDNT make over SR that interacts on the IRC chat, though.
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Yea my lie on here was a lie wretched. Almost gave out my real lie but I caught myself before I posted.
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I would just like to add.
In any case, even if you didnt feel "comfy" about selling your stuff here just ask yourself, "how is this website still around after all this time", or "how are the forums so busy even though there may or may not be cops on here drudging for evidence?".
The truth is that there is no "physical" one person that the police can arrest here. This is where people are free to sell, free to buy. This is the ultimate black market in a way.
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I know tones of people irl that know silkroad. Only like 5% of people that know about it actually use it.
Most drug users cant figure out bitcoins and are paranoid about LE.
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I guess its inevitable. A system like SR that actually works will gain fame, though many people will probably not actually go on here themselves. The hassle of dealing with installing a TOR client, working with bitcoins and such is overly complex for people not very familiar with the whole ordeal.
Reselling products ordered from SR will not be much of a problem - considering most buyers do not want to deal with all the technicalities, nor wait for shipping times. The whole procedure of registering, wiring money abroad, exchanging it for bitcoins, transferring those over, placing the order and then waiting for it to arrive is extremely bothersome to most, and they'll probably pay double to avoid all of it for a simple cash for product transaction.
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I think SR is more of a land of Oz, where users on the street know that it may exist, but is never attainable. It takes work to get here.
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i too have noticed an uptick in people around town conversing about the SR. most of them are just like, gawkers amazed by it, they don't really understand how it works. most of them think the website itself has the inventory
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If you have bought drugs from SR successfully on a regular basis give yourselves a pat on the back. You are smarter than about 99% of drug users. You are the 1% !
Occupy SR!
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It feel pretty good to be part of the 1%. I have spent an undisclosed amount of money here over the past well, since last May. I have personally only had 1 bad dealing. It wasn't that I got ripped of, it was that GIM took months to fill my order, and I ended up not even trying his product, because I had lost interest in it by the time I got it. I would believe that the majority of SR users are in that 1%, so I guess it doesn't make it the 1%, but it does feel nice to be a part of it.
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Im pretty new to the site and i have had some quality from here but never knew where it was coming from upon moving and months later i had someone told me and never before that had anyone mention it so i think this site is pretty amazing and a great idea from what i have browsed around so far. my main purchases will be personal because i wouldn't want that hassle of explanation and or words traveling from friend to friend to friend. If you guys have any tips tricks and pointers i would love to hear them also! thanks
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I dont know why people find it so hard to believe a site like this WORKS.
Like someone said, if you dont know about Tor, Bitcoin or dark net then you would have no idea.
Okay so the news can give coverage about the deep web and the silk road but fuck me, they wont tell you how to get there will they. So it goes back to being a rumour, something muttered under the breathes of those "in the know".
I only found out about Tor after downloading a shady hacking app on my phone. Said company got screwed over by google because of their content. Guess google found out too late.
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I'm not sure about percentages. The whole system isn't that hard to figure out when you put some effort into it, but the simple fact is that most people will not.
Perhaps i am biased because i'm from the netherlands, but if i wanted to get a gram of cannabis, cocaine or heroin it would be much faster to just drive out and buy it on the streets - and not more expensive either.
Decent quality medication is another thing entirely though, buying an ounce of cocaine is simpler here then buying one tablet of diazepam.
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I'm not sure about percentages. The whole system isn't that hard to figure out when you put some effort into it, but the simple fact is that most people will not.
Perhaps i am biased because i'm from the netherlands, but if i wanted to get a gram of cannabis, cocaine or heroin it would be much faster to just drive out and buy it on the streets - and not more expensive either.
Decent quality medication is another thing entirely though, buying an ounce of cocaine is simpler here then buying one tablet of diazepam.
I dunno about diazepam, but i had to take some valium during an mri scan. Ahh mate valium is the shit.
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Valium is just an example though. Many substances are traded on SR that aren't usually available from street dealers.
Drugs on the street are usually limited to things like pot, cocaine, xtc and heroin of very variable quality. SR offers a wider selection and often more consistent quality, which is great if you don't need an immediate fix but want to shop around to see what is available and to your liking.
That said, its not likely that SR will replace the street dealers anytime soon - many people are looking for a fix right away and do not want to deal with all the technicalities nor waiting for the shipment to arrive. This is not a place for junkies, but more suitable to casual drug users that are picky about the quality of substance they use, and are willing to pay a little more to obtain substances for reputable sources even if that takes some effort and waiting time.
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Ben, you are absolutely right in what you say.
The only major problem for the silk road right now, is that there potentially a hundred more tech savvy vendors or customers out there, but who just simply dont know about the existence of SR, or even dark net, despite the recent coverage on the news.
I had to download a dodgy hacking app on my phone before i even learned of its existence.
What the SR needs is an advertising policy.
Although, how do you advertise something that wants to remain sort of, anonymous.
What about if you get some sort of "mass-mailing" software that collects emails of all those registered with "dodgy" email accounts like safe-mail and tormail etc. Then just sending them a simple, yet clear message - The Silk Road is there for those who want to use it?.
It might sound dumb, tell me if it is infact, it was just an idea.
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Reading through these posts I see a lot of things that I agree with as far as the reaction to the site from most recreational (and professional) drug users..."I can get it myself quicker, easier and cheaper" and "you know the cops are watching that thing". I have only two friends that I even tell about this place and both said it was too difficult and they liked their method....so, I guess what I am trying to articulate is that I do agree that :
- Your average drug user is too lazy or inflexible to use this system ("you pay them in what kind of coin?)
- very few people truly understand that we know LE is watching, but most of us aren't important enough to pursue and the system, used as designed, keeps you protected (this one I hope continues because as this thing continues to grow, the lazy, stupid and sloppy users are going to fuck the rest of us)
Just my .02 and I am new, but active....this is fun! drugs, technology and for the most part, intelligent conservation around the 2....
One more thing, my favorite statement I have seen here:
"As if buying drugs online wasn't difficult without having to trade fluctuating crypto-currency. We're a unique breed of people that's for sure; using encrypted communication and untraceable currency on an underground black market on a secret internet funded by the US NAVY utilized by child molesters, assassins and various other criminals. I tried telling an associate what kind of shenanigans go on here and he looked at me like I'm a serial killer. "
Stolen from JoeyGPesci007
See, good fun for those of us with an expanded world view!
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I'm not sure we need more people getting attracted to SR. I've been here for a year and have watched it explode. The good news is, the influx of vendors has significantly driven down prices, IMO. When I first started here, a great price for MDMA was around $70 a gram. Now you can easily find it for as low as $30-40 a gram, from multiple vendors.
I have a family friend who works for the FBI's internet crime/fraud division. He seizes hard drives of suspected/caught felons and digs around until he finds what he needs to indict them. But from what I hear he's swamped, their electronic/internet crime division is vastly understaffed and spends most of their time on counter terrorism and shit like that.
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@fartsinthewind (awesome nick btw)
This is the argument i have had with many a deep web user. Why is this site here, how are the feds allowing it to exist blah blah blah. If it were down to the government doing their jobs properly, there would be no free downloads, no connections other than the ones we are given etc.
We should be VERY grateful that the feds have been sloppy, and that sites like the SR, Intel Exchange and UMB have somewhat flourished. Personally i would like to think that the feds are more bothered about terrorism than some guy sat at his computer ordering a stash of magic mushrooms at 2am. At least, i HOPE thats what they are more worried about.
Sure they may have spies here, but hey, wtf can they do.
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Like you say - although more people seem to have heard of SR, unless you have a fair bit of technical know-how - despite the clearnet tutorials on PGP, Tor and BTC - majority of people don't have the ability or patience to see it through IMO. But its a decentralized economy in full flow, and cos of Tor's infinite relaying capacity it should stay that way - true anarchy: 'an' - no/without; 'arkhia' - govt/leader/state = stateless self determination.
Either the State for ever, crushing individual and local life, taking over in all fields of human activity, bringing with it its wars and its domestic struggles for power, its palace revolutions which only replace one tyrant by another, and inevitably at the end of this development there is ... death! Or the destruction of States, and new life starting again in thousands of centers on the principle of the lively initiative of the individual and groups and that of free agreement. The choice lies with you! (Peter Kropotkin - C19th anarchist) Choose life! (Mark Renton - Trainspotting)
While I love buying drugs - especially quality drugs - on SR, for me this is as much about creating a space where try as they might, LE/govts across the world just can't fucking do anything about it. Doesn't matter how many top cryptographers and hacking specialists are on their respective payrolls - there'll always be folk plodding away at open source software that are just smarter, see things differently, and are committed to keeping at least 10 steps ahead in software development - cos it's their software.
And BTC appeals to me (and I'm sure many of you) cos it doesn't have the capacity to fuck a country's economy over by cunts who speculate on derivatives and other side markets which are 'darker' than SR and darknet affiliates in their consequences IRL. The more people who use this site safely and correctly, and show one another the respect we all expect from everyone, shows it works and doesn't need regulated or taxed - cos that's why govts are really fucking pissed off, they're getting screwed out of a market they can't tax. Plus we're all (relatively) informed and prepared to take the associated risks and responsibilities involved with taking drugs - only fucker you're gonna harm is yourself.
And let's face it, there's gotta be LE buying personal amounts on here too on the sly. They just can't stop sucking the corporate/governmental cock for their wages.
...end of anticapitalist rant
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Your starting to make me feel like the anarchistic revolutionist ive always wanted to be! 8)
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I think we need more sites like SR - not just anonymous markets - but ways and means to organize without the prying eyes of so-called elected officials who don't represent the views of anyone I know IRL. The Facebook and social networking revolutions in Egypt in 2011 and Thailand in 2010 showed that electronic organizing has the potential to scare the shit outta ruling parties - its just they own and control the means of violence, and won't hesitate to use them when necessary. Problem with both of these rebellions is that the social networking sites can be blocked or made to comply with state regulations, or they can simply prevent access unless everyone's savvy enough to use proxies or Tor, or encrypted comms - and a high proportion of encrypted traffic on the clearnet would trigger concerns and reactions by those who monitor these systems.
However, if you take a look at what's happening in Mexico - indeed has been happening since 1994 - the Zapatista movement has removed itself from the state and organizes everything from healthcare to food production and distribution to housing themselves, despite living in the most impoverished yet resource-laden state in the country. They have allied themselves with anyone/organization/collective/'insert descriptive here' who is prepared to find common ground with them outside of the current political and capitalist systems which continues to fuck the poorest repeatedly for maximum profit. And walk together with them to find a better way, 'from below and to the left' - real grassroots organizing.
Here on SR we have essentially a (medicinal grade?) grassroots community who have organized an economy which is centred around the distribution of substances some bunch of conservative fuckers have deemed illegal because they are unable to control production, supply and sale. Clearly we all use this site cos we disagree with this assumption made on our behalf, without valid debate and input from everyone who is entitled to contribute to such a debate.
So how do we take this forward? Decentralized economies and electronic communities who share common interests and values - we don't all have to agree with one another, but be prepared to constructively debate and achieve a consensus on our common ground and aims. At the moment these are to get as stoned or fucked up as possible and I would be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that was the main attraction when I first discovered SR. But the potential exists here and elsewhere on the 'darkweb' to develop this so much further. Even the name 'darkweb' has negative implications - surely the govts and multinationals involved in perpetuating wars and terrorism around the world are darker than any of us?
More sites like SR would remove the spotlight from it in particular, and show how we are able to create alternative culture(s) where many similar sites could flourish, and where each person has a real choice about what they want to buy/access/use as well as the level of participation they are comfortable with, and how they go about achieving it. Given how our globalized world is so integrated that pretty much everyone would be unable to just up sticks and live off the grid, and we still need to earn real money from real jobs to convert to BTC, it could take a quite a few years before you could look at trading goods for goods and removing the need for a local currency.
I don't know how many users SR has - maybe a moderator could give an approximate figure? - but even a million members worldwide is fuck all, unless we're prepared to take the time to explain it to those we trust, but don't get it's potential. Then it's capacity is exponential.
Whether you like the term 'anarchist' or not, whether you consider your political views to be at odds with what you consider to be anarchism, or self-determination, being a member of SR puts you in that category. You are promoting and participating in a stateless community which creates its own agendas and holds all forms of governmental authority (relative to what is accessible here) to be unnecessary and undesirable, and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups. This isn't a threat to your own way of life - but it is a threat to capitalist govts and economies.
So let's walk a good path together, down the Silk Road and every other place it has the potential to take us.
And maybe someone can start a SR vendor account selling Guy Fawkes masks (a la V for Vendetta) so we can eventually walk on our respective govts and kick those racist, bigoted, warmongering, exploitative motherfuckers out for good.
Anyone coming?
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I'm not sure we need more people getting attracted to SR. I've been here for a year and have watched it explode. The good news is, the influx of vendors has significantly driven down prices, IMO. When I first started here, a great price for MDMA was around $70 a gram. Now you can easily find it for as low as $30-40 a gram, from multiple vendors.
I have a family friend who works for the FBI's internet crime/fraud division. He seizes hard drives of suspected/caught felons and digs around until he finds what he needs to indict them. But from what I hear he's swamped, their electronic/internet crime division is vastly understaffed and spends most of their time on counter terrorism and shit like that.
A greater influx of vendors and buyers will only be helpful to establish better prices on SR - some competition among vendors is needed to get to realistic market prices, and the influx of buyers means it will be worth their while since they can sell larger volumes.
As for the risk of harddisks being seized and such: Please use a solution like truecrypt. The only thing you need to do in case the police come knocking is power down your system - yanking the ac cord from a desktop computer or holding down the power button on your laptop of 10 seconds or so. After that you have the choice to cooperate or not, and can consult with a lawyer before making that choice.
Also, SR might not be that interesting to drug enforcement agencies: the trade here is mostly invisible to the general public, so there is no urge to 'get those junkies off our streets' at all. A crackdown on SR and its users would require a huge ICT effort, and involve persons in dozens of jurisdictions to prosecute. Picking up someone smoking pot on the sidewalk is a lot easier, and also makes the statistics as a successful conviction.
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I am glad people as a whole are flocking to SR more and more. But if I know them i aint teachin them how to. Nor will i tell anyone what i do here and how long of my life i have put into the road :P at first i joined to get ahold of some items in my bucket list. only a few more to go (where you at mescaline?) lol .. but now its more about being a part of a community its amazing some of the support you get from ppl here. there have been a few times i needed a btc here and there and the ppl willing to give a few bucks was unreal to me.. this is my Cyber Utopia ...lol.. Viva la SR!!!
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Re: Seems like a lot of people IRL know about SR now
« Reply #30 on: Today at 07:51 AM »
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I am glad people as a whole are flocking to SR more and more. But if I know them i aint teachin them how to. Nor will i tell anyone what i do here and how long of my life i have put into the road :P at first i joined to get ahold of some items in my bucket list. only a few more to go (where you at mescaline?) lol .. but now its more about being a part of a community its amazing some of the support you get from ppl here. there have been a few times i needed a btc here and there and the ppl willing to give a few bucks was unreal to me.. this is my Cyber Utopia ...lol.. Viva la SR!!!
Amen to that. This place is like the last true freedom we really have.
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It's all about capital. If you can pick up more then offer below SR prices locally, lock down the market then. Why the fuck go through the trouble of getting coins when they can get it from you?
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It's all about capital. If you can pick up more then offer below SR prices locally, lock down the market then. Why the fuck go through the trouble of getting coins when they can get it from you?
You ever suck dick for LSD?
Eh, what the fuck...??
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I actually heard about this site while listening to an episode of Marketplace on National Public Radio. They also posted the story on their website and a whopping seven or eight people posted comments about it - as opposed to the hundreds of people who have opinions on "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I think a lot of people who read/hear about the site lose interest when they realize they have to spend five or ten seconds setting up TOR and the rest of them hear about "bit coins" and just zone out. Low attention spans are a wonderful thing.
As far as LE, I'm not too concerned as a buyer. I used to buy stuff online back when people posted lists of products on newsgroups and hosted message boards selling cannabis by the gram or kilogram and ecstasy in quantities ranging from 2 pills to 2000. The Canadian authorities eventually cracked down on my favorite site, due in no small part to the fact that the operators were also selling AK-47s to Japan, and LE never came after me for ordering a few ounces of bud and some hydrocodone syrup.
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yo Hippo.. hook me up with some syrup
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Many of ya'lls have got it pinned here.
It's the same in much of the different circles I've had some minor discussion of the road.
Most are either not tech savvy, not interested because it's wayy to weird and because their also not tech savvy... which is sorta why it's weird, they are afraid of mail that contains illicit drugs, they are happy with their regular game, they are afraid of lees.
If you do drugs, live a life doing them, and thus spend some of your time evading lees then you sorta have to have some balls.
And the market will change... as everything changes with time. It will progress into different dynamics. Unfortunately it's not a buyers market... yet. Seems that most sellers can't keep much stock. And it is the dark market so there is a certain appreciation for them taking the real risks.
What I want to know is how many lees finally ate that molly they ordered when it was their nite off! I mean come on... you know you gotta konw that there's a number of em that eventually let the curiousity get the best of them! Or that they are already hooked on vic's or xannys! In fact I'm sure there's gotta be lees who actually enjoy the road as a real person but never tell anyone.
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As far as LE, I'm not too concerned as a buyer. I used to buy stuff online back when people posted lists of products on newsgroups and hosted message boards selling cannabis by the gram or kilogram and ecstasy in quantities ranging from 2 pills to 2000. The Canadian authorities eventually cracked down on my favorite site, due in no small part to the fact that the operators were also selling AK-47s to Japan, and LE never came after me for ordering a few ounces of bud and some hydrocodone syrup.
I seriously LOL'd when i read this. I just adjusted your karma mate, well done! 8)
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When I first got to SR, someone said it best. "SR works because people are afraid to use it"
Ive only spoke to like 2 people about SR. They are all afraid to use it or say shit like " I bet its run by the feds"
I'm like "Well, they sure do have quality product and speedy shipping!"
Plus as most posters said, Tor is confusing to most. In addition to the worry of LE, most stay away.
I make this pledge today, I will never again speak of SR to anyone. I'm happy the way things are. :)
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Yep it seems to have become a little more well known. Saw a guy at a psytrance london warehouse thingy selling Pfs MD, you could tell by the baggie and product, could have even been you OP, who knows. If anything saying "Yes it was brought off SR instills confidence in them about its purity?"
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A product coming from SR might actually be more reliable then most available on the streets. But there is no way to tell if a vendor is selling something that actually came from SR unless you happen to recognize product and packaging like you did.
Obviously SR is no guarantee of quality either - sellers can still get away with selling sub-par products on here for quite some time before being outed in the forums and losing their business.
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Obviously SR is no guarantee of quality either - sellers can still get away with selling sub-par products on here for quite some time before being outed in the forums and losing their business.
Yeah, here people have to have a name and a reputation or nobody will buy... but it's still anonymous.
SR has been a lifesaver for me... probably literally. All the dealers in my city are scary as fuck and I am lucky if I only get ripped off 50% of the time. I've been threatened violently several times and have lost thousands of dollars. Compare that to the 100% effortless completion rate here on SR. I still occasionally will get a text from someone offering something locally and it's great to be able to say "No thanks! I now have hookups for pretty much anything I could ever want for cheaper than what you have!"
That's one of my suspicions as to why the government probably doesn't care as much as I thought they did. This place is taking all the violent crimes out of drug deals.
and... you can like, buy and receive drugs without having to put on pants or pretty much leave your house... ever.
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I find the quality on SR to be superb compared to street quality. I've bought many sketchy things off the streets and back alleys, weed, coke, crack, pcp, heroin. Very rarely do you find anything of decent quality and more often than not you get ripped off, either straight up (you're a dumbass) or you try some, it's good, buy some more, bait & switch, now you have crap wax burning and melting in your pipe. I figure I've been ripped off more at street level than I have (as a buyer) on SR. Plus the streets are busier at night, which adds an extra degree of sketchy and who knows what will happen if some junkie flips out goes whacko or pulls a needle on you (had that happen before, almost as bad as having a gun pulled on you, which has also happened). In short, streets are easily accessible, sketchy, heat scores, filled with junkies who need a fix and people who will screw you over and try to take advantage of you.
Compare that to SR. I sit at home, I read reviews and write ups (when's the last time you were able to go to your street dealers buyers and talk to them about quality and such?) from vendors hawking their wares (much more descriptive than 'Psst, rock?) and the buyers who purchase them. The feedback is constant, so if a vendor does start to fall, the info spreads pretty quickly (though not quickly enough if you don't read the forums). True, there are scam sellers, but again, same thing on the streets. Once you get above that level, you should find some decent priced local quality, not too much shit to deal with, it just becomes a waiting game, kind of like here.
Real Life Coke Dealer: I'll be there in an hour SR Vendor:I'll have it in the mail tomorrow
Real Life Coke Dealer (2 hours later): I'm on my way now, give me 30 mins SR Vendor:I sent it off, not sure why it's not there yet.
Lucky for me , I'm just a tech geek who's done a lot of drugs and 'used' to have many great connections. Tried selling in R/L before, but just couldn't do it. Didn't want to go up to people cause they might be a cop, plus I'd have my selling supply and personal supply (personal supply not funded by selling by supply). Nothing would sell fer a while, so I'd take some personal stuff and try to sell some more. Maybe a half dozen sales, take another from the personal supply. Pretty soon, you can't keep track of what's what, where your money is and/or why it's gone and you suddenly have an eight ball, so you head home a pick up some ammonia, or whatever.. I was much better at doing the drugs than selling them.
Since discovering SR, I've managed to rekindle some of those old relations (as is evidenced by my growing selection). Had a great many setbacks (MiMM's Mystery Meth - cost me big time, learned a lot from that), but worked through each one and the end result was always a leaner, tighter operation with a better understanding of how this all works. Those that learn to adjust stick around and get successful (MiMM's Mystery Meth led to discovering/purchasing drug testing kits, used on all chemicals I deal with to ascertain their validity and I include that info with all listings, both new and updated after restocking). Now I'm seeing other vendors do the same. In short order, I'm sure we'll see more legitimate vendors on here with more transparent operations (pictures, product details, sources, quality, proof, testing etc.) who will last for some time before burning out/moving on or vendor teams that can divide up the workloads and efficiently run a smooth operation. There will always be scammers, but if they don't follow the same practices as the proven legitimate vendors, they'll be identified quickly, outed and removed. Also keep in mind the money that most legit vendors put into shipping research, testing packing methods, ordering from other vendors to check their packing, test kits, shipping gear, packing equipment, mailing supplies. It's a lot more than $150, and you haven't even stocked up yet. At some point in the near future, the cost of setting up properly to the communities expectations will make it more challenging for scammers to run their game, and then the vendors will get competitive and it should become more of a buyers market.
What most people don't take in to consideration are the hidden costs. Do you know exactly how much it costs to send an item? Not just stamps, but envelopes, packing/wrapping materials, enclosures (paper, cardboard, gift cards, thank you cards, inserts), vacuum sealer roll, wipes/cleaners/disinfectants. What about the cost of goods sold/inventory? Different margins at different levels? If it's lost/stolen/undelivered/scammed/etc, and you provide a 100% reship or 50% refund, how much does that cost you/how much are you losing? How many of your packages are successfully delivered? What options do you have to mitigate or reduce that loss (discount replacement, bonus on next order, smaller refund, 50% reship? How much are you losing now? Less? More? How do you maintain cashflow for operations if it's all tied up in escrow? If you need your supplier to front you for a bit, how much more are you paying now? How does that affect the cost of goods sold? What are your margins now? What does it cost to convert BTC -> local currency? SR is going to take a 4% hedge fee, possibly some of your list price if you use post commission. Do you use a mixing service? What do they charge? (typically in %). Whatever exchange you go through is going to charge some sort of % for converting BTC, and possibly again if the currency conversion isn't to your currency of choice. What does it cost to actually get the money sent to you? Again more fees, possibly % based. If you're pricing in USD, yet your local currency is not, what is the exchange rate difference and how much more is that costing you? Oh, and the BTC you received when the order finalized, is it worth more or less now that it's all cleaned and ready to be cashed out. I swear I've lost more money this way than any other. Get my coins @ 7, launder then a few days, cash out after the weekend, BTC is down to 5, but you cant wait, you need money now for more supplies and inventory
There are a lot of extra charges that a vendor pays that the buyer has no clue about, and they all come right off the top, before you have cold hard cash in your hand. Then you need to resupply, both for product and shipping supplies. Depending on where I go through, I estimate that I lose 10-20% right off the top, just in fees paid out before I even see my cash. Then it's off for more shipping/mailing supplies and inventory. Do you have anything left? A couple of scammers/non delivered packages that you give full reships or 50% discounts on, money tied up in escrow so you get fronted at a higher cost and either have to raise your prices or make a little lesss, and a few BTC drops is all it takes to have a wildly successful month, go totally sidewise and now your lucky to break even. I've had several months where I took significant losses, but kept persevering cause I believed in the idea and just kept crunching the numbers and costs, building in more and more so I would have a complete understanding of every cost, from a single pill, a layer of the triple vacuum seal, how much I lose if I do offer a 50% refund (real cost, cause I'm out product and money now), how much I gain if I offer a 50% reship instead. Once you get that sorted, you can start scaling out, bigger quantities (also bigger risks and potentially bigger losses) other goods and apply the same ideas. It's a lot to learn for a new vendor, but if they can master it, navigate through and get out the other side, they just may make it.
It's a steep learning curve and with the growing membership here, you need to master it faster and faster before you lose everything. And almost none of it is in the seller's guide. It's all from experience, reading forum posts, vendor profiles/policies and seeing how their idea/model would apply to my situation, checking competition and what they're up to, familiarizing yourself with all of SR, not just your niche market, comparing prices, reading competing product listings and checking other vendors feedback and figuring out what's working for them and what isn't.
SR has only been around a little over a year now, there's been tons of vendor turnover (burnouts, scammers, people that can't cut it/deem it too risky or are too paranoid) and a huge influx of buyers ever more demanding. Those vendors who have mastered the items above are not the ones who shoot to the top of the list in 3 months and bail. They're the ones who have been around the longest, taken their lumps, learned their lessons and slowly risen to the top. Kudos to them. I don't count myself there yet. If I can get back to 98%+ FB satisfaction, top 5% or less and 750+ fans, then I think I can say I made it.
Sorry, got off on a little tangent there. As for people IRL that I know who know about SR, there are quite a few. As for how many of them know of my involvement, 4. My 2 partners and my 2 suppliers. Which is to say, about 2 too many.
MJMuse
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Great post MiMM, and only can be said from a solid vendor's experience.
People cite LE as a reason not to use Silk Road. That's the reason I do use it, or a big reason anyways. I'm past the point in my life of being a junky or acting that way and frankly I have too much to lose for a shitty drug charge. It's just not worth it. Because we all know you can have the cleanest operation but in real life there are way too many uncontrolled variables and sometimes it's just not your day.
Most people that are resourceful enough and smart can source out something if they really want it. This was something I'd do a little more when I was younger but it's not something I have or care to waste my time on now so I'll gladly pay a higher price here. I don't miss worrying as I drove out of the ghetto past a cop and just praying he doesn't pull me over because there's no fucking way I'm from the neighborhood and he will know exactly why the fuck I'm there. That's assuming I didn't get jacked from some random crackhead or opportunistic thug in the area. Also assuming the door doesn't get kicked in by LE or that I wasn't being watched the whole time and as soon as I get in my car...see ya.
I've been ripped off on the street far more times and frankly when I did have a good connect basically my ambassador to the ghetto...it was still scary as fuck every time because while I knew he wasn't going to rip me off I didn't even like going there, being there, or leaving because he can't protect me.
Most people don't give a fuck about the story. I never did and never will tell anyone where I got something. You gain nothing. Just say you have an old friend or some ambiguous answer. The product should sell itself if you're resaling from here. The less you say is always the better. There is major value here because it takes so much resources for LE to ever get to even one person and if you play your cards right here and work within the system your odds of getting in legal trouble or scammed are very very low. Much less than if you go try to source out something on the street or even just have bad luck when you're in a part of town you really shouldn't be in.
It takes a certain investment of time and a certain sophistication to make successful purchases and sales here. That will prevent the majority of people doing it. Just like in real life. We could all be drug dealers, but is that what you want? Too much risk for my taste but when I lost my job I needed the money. Hopefully that never happens again but yah you're much safer here if you play by the rules and stay smart.
People know of SR but none of my friends has the wherewithall or care to invest the time and effort to actually make a purchase here. If I get something and they ask is it from SR...if I cared to I'd say yeah and it's fucking great. Or I'd say it's from a friend of this junkie kid I used to know. It's all good in the hood.
Take a Valium my man and relax.
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That's one of my suspicions as to why the government probably doesn't care as much as I thought they did. This place is taking all the violent crimes out of drug deals.
That may indeed be a factor - it causes little problems. Another important thing, i think, is that it is mostly invisible to the public. Sure, mailmen are delivering shipments all over the world, but most of them are disguised to the point where your neighbours wouldn't have a clue they are in fact illicit substances.
Both mean there is no public outcry for government to 'do something about it'. Drug enforcement agencies will probably make themselves more popular with the general public if they take down a causal user with guns blazing.
Living in holland i have some perspective on this where cannabis is concerned. Government tolerated trading in in coffeeshops for decades, which caused little trouble at all. Now, they changed their mind and want to install a system where it can only be sold to dutch residents and requires registration as well. This system has been implemented in cities on the border with belgium, and already caused mayhem there due to an explosion in the number of street dealers and traffic/noise/violence that comes with that.
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Living in holland i have some perspective on this where cannabis is concerned. Government tolerated trading in in coffeeshops for decades, which caused little trouble at all. Now, they changed their mind and want to install a system where it can only be sold to dutch residents and requires registration as well. This system has been implemented in cities on the border with belgium, and already caused mayhem there due to an explosion in the number of street dealers and traffic/noise/violence that comes with that.
damn i hate America
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Living in holland i have some perspective on this where cannabis is concerned. Government tolerated trading in in coffeeshops for decades, which caused little trouble at all. Now, they changed their mind and want to install a system where it can only be sold to dutch residents and requires registration as well. This system has been implemented in cities on the border with belgium, and already caused mayhem there due to an explosion in the number of street dealers and traffic/noise/violence that comes with that.
I heard about that on a recent Planet Money podcast. It said that a lot of the coffee shops have had to cut back or close down now that they can no longer sell to tourists. I appreciate that the border cities are upset because tourists want weed rather than, well, anything else the city has to offer, but a bruised ego and a booming economy sounds better than the system they have now. You can't stand proud and hold your head high when bullets are whizzing past your ears.
That's why I value the Silk Road. I don't have to worry about dealing with seedy dealers in real life when I can do business with trusted vendors online. The risk of losing a few packages in the mail is nowhere near as scary as losing a few pints of blood in an alley.
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I live in IRL and I know about SR. :o
It is fucking spooky I tell you.
On serious note, I saw some fucking idiot link to the Gawker silk road article in the comments section on a guardian article about cannabis.
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A mate of mine was in the pub a couple of years back and really wanted a cheeky half of coke.
The only problem was the streets at the time had dried up and the only source was this scum bag of a dealer.
He got the half, did it in a couple of lines and within half an hour he realised he'd snorted fucking HEROIN.
As hes lying on the floor with blood pissing from his nose the dealer is ringing his mobile to tell him the mistake.
Yeah you could say he deserved it, certainly gave me the giggles, but this is why the Silk Road is a good thing.
I hope it continues to prosper so we dont have to deal with those junkie shit heads out in the street. I hope they go out of fucking business.
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I'm sure the lower chance of a mix up like that is a benefit of SR :)
As far as drugs being available to amsterdam tourists: for now you can go to the coffee shops and buy it legally. This will remain so until at least jan 1, 2013.
As for the future, the municipality of amsterdam and the central government are fighting about it. For tourists it will not make a bid difference though - if amsterdam gets its way you can buy it in the shops, in central government gets its way you can buy it on the streets. There will be elections for the central government in holland this week, and the national policy on drugs will be determined in the weeks after.
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I'm sure the lower chance of a mix up like that is a benefit of SR :)
Damn straight brother. 8)
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I've told a lot of my friends about the silk road. If I could go back in time I would never have told any of them. People irl have asked me to order things for them before, but you know what people? YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF!
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I've told a lot of my friends about the silk road. If I could go back in time I would never have told any of them. People irl have asked me to order things for them before, but you know what people? YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF!
I know the feeling :(
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The more the merrier! Everyone deserves to be free!
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and who knows what will happen if some junkie flips out goes whacko or pulls a needle on you (had that happen before, almost as bad as having a gun pulled on you, which has also happened).
I dont care who you are.. thats funny right there :P
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I always feel really odd when people in my social circles talk about SR and then ask me if I know about it. I always pull out the "Yeaaaah heard of it, never used it though....where's the glasses again *walks off to get a drink*" move.
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What most people don't take in to consideration are the hidden costs. Do you know exactly how much it costs to send an item? Not just stamps, but envelopes, packing/wrapping materials, enclosures (paper, cardboard, gift cards, thank you cards, inserts), vacuum sealer roll, wipes/cleaners/disinfectants. What about the cost of goods sold/inventory? Different margins at different levels? If it's lost/stolen/undelivered/scammed/etc, and you provide a 100% reship or 50% refund, how much does that cost you/how much are you losing? How many of your packages are successfully delivered? What options do you have to mitigate or reduce that loss (discount replacement, bonus on next order, smaller refund, 50% reship? How much are you losing now? Less? More? How do you maintain cashflow for operations if it's all tied up in escrow? If you need your supplier to front you for a bit, how much more are you paying now? How does that affect the cost of goods sold? What are your margins now? What does it cost to convert BTC -> local currency? SR is going to take a 4% hedge fee, possibly some of your list price if you use post commission. Do you use a mixing service? What do they charge? (typically in %). Whatever exchange you go through is going to charge some sort of % for converting BTC, and possibly again if the currency conversion isn't to your currency of choice. What does it cost to actually get the money sent to you? Again more fees, possibly % based. If you're pricing in USD, yet your local currency is not, what is the exchange rate difference and how much more is that costing you? Oh, and the BTC you received when the order finalized, is it worth more or less now that it's all cleaned and ready to be cashed out. I swear I've lost more money this way than any other. Get my coins @ 7, launder then a few days, cash out after the weekend, BTC is down to 5, but you cant wait, you need money now for more supplies and inventory
There are a lot of extra charges that a vendor pays that the buyer has no clue about, and they all come right off the top, before you have cold hard cash in your hand. Then you need to resupply, both for product and shipping supplies. Depending on where I go through, I estimate that I lose 10-20% right off the top, just in fees paid out before I even see my cash. Then it's off for more shipping/mailing supplies and inventory. Do you have anything left? A couple of scammers/non delivered packages that you give full reships or 50% discounts on, money tied up in escrow so you get fronted at a higher cost and either have to raise your prices or make a little lesss, and a few BTC drops is all it takes to have a wildly successful month, go totally sidewise and now your lucky to break even. I've had several months where I took significant losses, but kept persevering cause I believed in the idea and just kept crunching the numbers and costs, building in more and more so I would have a complete understanding of every cost, from a single pill, a layer of the triple vacuum seal, how much I lose if I do offer a 50% refund (real cost, cause I'm out product and money now), how much I gain if I offer a 50% reship instead. Once you get that sorted, you can start scaling out, bigger quantities (also bigger risks and potentially bigger losses) other goods and apply the same ideas. It's a lot to learn for a new vendor, but if they can master it, navigate through and get out the other side, they just may make it.
It's a steep learning curve and with the growing membership here, you need to master it faster and faster before you lose everything. And almost none of it is in the seller's guide. It's all from experience, reading forum posts, vendor profiles/policies and seeing how their idea/model would apply to my situation, checking competition and what they're up to, familiarizing yourself with all of SR, not just your niche market, comparing prices, reading competing product listings and checking other vendors feedback and figuring out what's working for them and what isn't.
SR has only been around a little over a year now, there's been tons of vendor turnover (burnouts, scammers, people that can't cut it/deem it too risky or are too paranoid) and a huge influx of buyers ever more demanding. Those vendors who have mastered the items above are not the ones who shoot to the top of the list in 3 months and bail. They're the ones who have been around the longest, taken their lumps, learned their lessons and slowly risen to the top. Kudos to them. I don't count myself there yet. If I can get back to 98%+ FB satisfaction, top 5% or less and 750+ fans, then I think I can say I made it.
MJMuse
I love this quote,really reflect what we've been feeling as a vendor. Respect bro!
Nice reading btw.
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What most people don't take in to consideration are the hidden costs. Do you know exactly how much it costs to send an item? Not just stamps, but envelopes, packing/wrapping materials, enclosures (paper, cardboard, gift cards, thank you cards, inserts), vacuum sealer roll, wipes/cleaners/disinfectants. What about the cost of goods sold/inventory? Different margins at different levels? If it's lost/stolen/undelivered/scammed/etc, and you provide a 100% reship or 50% refund, how much does that cost you/how much are you losing? How many of your packages are successfully delivered? What options do you have to mitigate or reduce that loss (discount replacement, bonus on next order, smaller refund, 50% reship? How much are you losing now? Less? More? How do you maintain cashflow for operations if it's all tied up in escrow? If you need your supplier to front you for a bit, how much more are you paying now? How does that affect the cost of goods sold? What are your margins now? What does it cost to convert BTC -> local currency? SR is going to take a 4% hedge fee, possibly some of your list price if you use post commission. Do you use a mixing service? What do they charge? (typically in %). Whatever exchange you go through is going to charge some sort of % for converting BTC, and possibly again if the currency conversion isn't to your currency of choice. What does it cost to actually get the money sent to you? Again more fees, possibly % based. If you're pricing in USD, yet your local currency is not, what is the exchange rate difference and how much more is that costing you? Oh, and the BTC you received when the order finalized, is it worth more or less now that it's all cleaned and ready to be cashed out. I swear I've lost more money this way than any other. Get my coins @ 7, launder then a few days, cash out after the weekend, BTC is down to 5, but you cant wait, you need money now for more supplies and inventory
There are a lot of extra charges that a vendor pays that the buyer has no clue about, and they all come right off the top, before you have cold hard cash in your hand. Then you need to resupply, both for product and shipping supplies. Depending on where I go through, I estimate that I lose 10-20% right off the top, just in fees paid out before I even see my cash. Then it's off for more shipping/mailing supplies and inventory. Do you have anything left? A couple of scammers/non delivered packages that you give full reships or 50% discounts on, money tied up in escrow so you get fronted at a higher cost and either have to raise your prices or make a little lesss, and a few BTC drops is all it takes to have a wildly successful month, go totally sidewise and now your lucky to break even. I've had several months where I took significant losses, but kept persevering cause I believed in the idea and just kept crunching the numbers and costs, building in more and more so I would have a complete understanding of every cost, from a single pill, a layer of the triple vacuum seal, how much I lose if I do offer a 50% refund (real cost, cause I'm out product and money now), how much I gain if I offer a 50% reship instead. Once you get that sorted, you can start scaling out, bigger quantities (also bigger risks and potentially bigger losses) other goods and apply the same ideas. It's a lot to learn for a new vendor, but if they can master it, navigate through and get out the other side, they just may make it.
It's a steep learning curve and with the growing membership here, you need to master it faster and faster before you lose everything. And almost none of it is in the seller's guide. It's all from experience, reading forum posts, vendor profiles/policies and seeing how their idea/model would apply to my situation, checking competition and what they're up to, familiarizing yourself with all of SR, not just your niche market, comparing prices, reading competing product listings and checking other vendors feedback and figuring out what's working for them and what isn't.
SR has only been around a little over a year now, there's been tons of vendor turnover (burnouts, scammers, people that can't cut it/deem it too risky or are too paranoid) and a huge influx of buyers ever more demanding. Those vendors who have mastered the items above are not the ones who shoot to the top of the list in 3 months and bail. They're the ones who have been around the longest, taken their lumps, learned their lessons and slowly risen to the top. Kudos to them. I don't count myself there yet. If I can get back to 98%+ FB satisfaction, top 5% or less and 750+ fans, then I think I can say I made it.
MJMuse
I love this quote,really reflect what we've been feeling as a vendor. Respect bro!
Nice reading btw.
This.
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Firstly I am not a journalist I am a researcher mostly involved in the drugs field and I also run a harm reduction forum in Ireland www.inef.ie, and I am interested in the experience of people buying from SR I hope that the information that i get will be made into a academic journal, I have a number of publications one of the journal publications was on injecting mephedrone users (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22342322) Others are on my linkedin profile http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tim-bingham/16/a57/67b
I have always been interested in the drugs market especially on the web and more recently I have spoken to a couple of people who purchase from here who have mostly dismissed the reports on silk road and most of them assume what and who the buyers are ,that SR buyers come from various backgrounds and purchase from here for a variety of reasons I was wondering those who have purchased from the site you be interested in answering a few questions . I can send the questions via here or on tor mail I do not need to know the country your from or your name , please keep this anonymous also if there are any questions you dont want to answer just
leave them out. Please email or DM me if your interested or have any more questions .( hrireland@tormail.org)
Thanks again Tim
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What most people don't take in to consideration are the hidden costs. Do you know exactly how much it costs to send an item? Not just stamps, but envelopes, packing/wrapping materials, enclosures (paper, cardboard, gift cards, thank you cards, inserts), vacuum sealer roll, wipes/cleaners/disinfectants. What about the cost of goods sold/inventory? Different margins at different levels? If it's lost/stolen/undelivered/scammed/etc, and you provide a 100% reship or 50% refund, how much does that cost you/how much are you losing? How many of your packages are successfully delivered? What options do you have to mitigate or reduce that loss (discount replacement, bonus on next order, smaller refund, 50% reship? How much are you losing now? Less? More? How do you maintain cashflow for operations if it's all tied up in escrow? If you need your supplier to front you for a bit, how much more are you paying now? How does that affect the cost of goods sold? What are your margins now? What does it cost to convert BTC -> local currency? SR is going to take a 4% hedge fee, possibly some of your list price if you use post commission. Do you use a mixing service? What do they charge? (typically in %). Whatever exchange you go through is going to charge some sort of % for converting BTC, and possibly again if the currency conversion isn't to your currency of choice. What does it cost to actually get the money sent to you? Again more fees, possibly % based. If you're pricing in USD, yet your local currency is not, what is the exchange rate difference and how much more is that costing you? Oh, and the BTC you received when the order finalized, is it worth more or less now that it's all cleaned and ready to be cashed out. I swear I've lost more money this way than any other. Get my coins @ 7, launder then a few days, cash out after the weekend, BTC is down to 5, but you cant wait, you need money now for more supplies and inventory
There are a lot of extra charges that a vendor pays that the buyer has no clue about, and they all come right off the top, before you have cold hard cash in your hand. Then you need to resupply, both for product and shipping supplies. Depending on where I go through, I estimate that I lose 10-20% right off the top, just in fees paid out before I even see my cash. Then it's off for more shipping/mailing supplies and inventory. Do you have anything left? A couple of scammers/non delivered packages that you give full reships or 50% discounts on, money tied up in escrow so you get fronted at a higher cost and either have to raise your prices or make a little lesss, and a few BTC drops is all it takes to have a wildly successful month, go totally sidewise and now your lucky to break even. I've had several months where I took significant losses, but kept persevering cause I believed in the idea and just kept crunching the numbers and costs, building in more and more so I would have a complete understanding of every cost, from a single pill, a layer of the triple vacuum seal, how much I lose if I do offer a 50% refund (real cost, cause I'm out product and money now), how much I gain if I offer a 50% reship instead. Once you get that sorted, you can start scaling out, bigger quantities (also bigger risks and potentially bigger losses) other goods and apply the same ideas. It's a lot to learn for a new vendor, but if they can master it, navigate through and get out the other side, they just may make it.
It's a steep learning curve and with the growing membership here, you need to master it faster and faster before you lose everything. And almost none of it is in the seller's guide. It's all from experience, reading forum posts, vendor profiles/policies and seeing how their idea/model would apply to my situation, checking competition and what they're up to, familiarizing yourself with all of SR, not just your niche market, comparing prices, reading competing product listings and checking other vendors feedback and figuring out what's working for them and what isn't.
SR has only been around a little over a year now, there's been tons of vendor turnover (burnouts, scammers, people that can't cut it/deem it too risky or are too paranoid) and a huge influx of buyers ever more demanding. Those vendors who have mastered the items above are not the ones who shoot to the top of the list in 3 months and bail. They're the ones who have been around the longest, taken their lumps, learned their lessons and slowly risen to the top. Kudos to them. I don't count myself there yet. If I can get back to 98%+ FB satisfaction, top 5% or less and 750+ fans, then I think I can say I made it.
MJMuse
Good stuff. Perhaps, we need an update and more in-depth version for new vendor guide.