Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Kryptonite83 on July 09, 2011, 04:54 am
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Hey Guys,
I have a question, and am wondering what the majority here thinks. A popular seller here on SR, and I, have become fairly friendly with each other lately..purely though PM's back and forth. It was during these conversations, that we figured outsomething we share in common: I have a product that he has a hard time acquiring...and he, as well, has a product that I wish to acquire and can not get locally.
This seller has become extremely popular recently on SR, and all orders have been fufilled...so I know he is not LE nor a Scammer. We were considering doing an even trade for a sample of my wares and vice versa. Recently, though, there has been an uprising on the boards in regards to vendors going outside of escrow (Which is completely understandable.) This vendor is concerned, that by trading out of escrow...but using SR to facilitate the trade...he may get a bad name, and run the risk of losing future business.
I have no interest in becoming a seller, nor purchasing a seller account. I love the awesome vendor's we have here, but it is not worth my time, for the tiny profit margin I could make. This vendor's product is all the I am interested in on this site, and we both trust each other. Lastly, I do not feel the need to go through the trouble of getting bitcoin, leaving (however so small) some sort of paper trail, and buying through the site, when we can evenly trade. So,what is the communities thought on evenly trading products between vendors and buyers, if all of the above criteria are met? Would their be any backlash towards this vendor, should word get out that we went outside of escrow in this manner? Has SR ever considered incorporating a barter system into the site? Any and all feedback would be welcome, as I want to calm my friends fears, as well as create interesting discussion!
-KRYP ;D
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Damn I can't believe how people are putting the escrow on a pedestal. I'd just as rather flush it down the toilet but thats just me. Do whatever you want man it's your goods/money do it how you please... Honestly this could of been done in private and not even made public? If worried about what the 'customers' think then why even bring it out here in the open? No I think you are fine its really no one elses business how you two do business.
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Ummm yeah what he said. If you trust each other why wouldn't you just send some PGP messages to each other and arrange the trade?
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If I were an SR seller, there's no way I'd send a buyer my address, never ever. After all, a popular seller with lots of feedback (ie demonstrated sales) is a tempting target for LE, and offering the popular seller something they don't have access to is the way I'd try to tempt them were I LEO. Yes, I'm paranoid, and popular sellers should be, too. I'd just wait for the difficult-to-get product to appear on SR, and buy it using a separate buying account (not the selling account). Patience and an abundance of caution is the way to survive in this murky underworld that's been created.
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I agree with nef, sellers should never give out their address. Escrow is fine especially for using an inexperienced seller but it is hardly necessary for serious well established sellers.. GreenCo does lots of sales outside of escrow. We do not separate escrow versus non-escrow sales at all. Sometimes it is just more convenient.
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Also, a reminder to sellers that your main, your only real protection, is that your address is unknown to buyers. I hate to say this, but if you give out your address, there wouldn't be a lot of sympathy if shit came down. Buyers don't have this protection, but you do, and I'd take advantage of it. No sane buyer wants to know, needs to know, or should know who or where you are. One bad fall and this site would be tarnished in a bad way. It's hard sometimes. I like my sellers, and it's human nature to want to reach out, be pals, find things in common. Sometimes it's a struggle not to: we can commiserate with each other over our fears, and share experiences...but I try not to. Nothing good will come of it. Our protection is our anonymity. Not easy tho, sometimes...gets lonely. I can't trust anybody.
We had a really good seller we all liked. Something went bad on his end, and a bunch of product disappeared. I don't know all the details, but I'll *bet* he trusted somebody he shouldn't have. Always happens...and that's the *best* outcome that can happen, is that your shit disappears. You can imagine the worst.
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but, since everyone on here is (should be) already using addresses which are not theirs, where there is no contraband stored, then the whole address thing shouldn't matter. this seller who wants to get this mystery product that you have should just do the same as a buyer would do on here - give a PO box or nondrugpossessing-friend's address.
but i concur with the posts above that all the risk here is on the existing seller's side - not for getting a bad rep by going outside escrow, which should be your free decision to make in this libertarian-agorist paradise of ours, but for risk of LE finding out their real identity and address. OP can be pretty sure seller is not a scammer or LEO, but apart from seller's own judgment based on your correspondence, they have no such assurances about you. you're probably both legit but as nef says above this is pretty much how you'd expect a sting to proceed - established seller being targeted by sincere-sounding 'buyer' who can access some rare product that said seller just happens to be seeking.
so yeah - some cause for concern, but neither of you should be giving each other your real home addresses in any case, so i don't see what the worry is apart from scam risk.
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but, since everyone on here is (should be) already using addresses which are not theirs, where there is no contraband stored, then the whole address thing shouldn't matter.
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Not necessarily. There is a school of thought that you are safer using your own address, with a different name...you stand out more, and appear more suspicous using a 'fake' address, and people have already gotten questioned by mailmen, who are very perceptive about things like this...
Some people actually feel that they are not reponsible for what shows up in their mailbox, and that they are in less trouble--though of course *shocked*--when something unusual shows up in their box...while trolling for empty houses, or using *fake* i.d. to open a p.o. box puts you in a much less defensible position...
No free lunch, really...all buyer's decisions involve tradeoffs....
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i recommend real name and real address after reading the postal inspector ask me anything thread.
Make it blend in.
Fake stuff just stands out, making you less secure, and doesn't add any actual protection.
Who is to say someone didn't order it without your knowledge.
A really good fake that gets mail all the time at a different location is safer than a real address. But an unestablished fake is actually worse than a real and does not add to safety.