Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: lifeis420 on April 06, 2013, 02:08 pm
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Interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this.
When I first joined the 'Road, I would decide I neeeded X product and wanted to pay no more than Y price and would let that dictate the quantity I needed to buy and from which vendor.
Basically I would just always buy from the cheapest vendor possible at that given time.
Now though I do things very much differently after having experienced some massive highs and some really painful lows here.
I only now use one specific vendor for any one specific product even if that vendor may be more expensive than some of their competitors - I dont even bother checking any more.
So in essence what I am saying is that I value the relationships and trust I have built up with my select excellent suppliers more than just driving down the cost of my goods as much as possible.
This is counterintuitive to me as this is business and I am only interested in making money but having seen so many scammers come and go and been part of such a wary community once you have made that connection with a vendor and established trust, which only grows with each deal you do then price becomes much less of a focus.
What is everyone else's views on this?
Do you always just buy your gear from the cheapest vendor at that given time and/or shop around between vendors with good reputations to find the cheapest price going or are you like me and prefer to just deal with your trusted go-to-vendor who always delivers for you time and time again?
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You have evolved from the typical mindless customer who goes for the lowest price, to a discerning customer who knows that a business relationship involves more than just the price of a transaction.
To use an analogy IRL...some people buy their groceries at the lowest price supermarket. These customers ONLY care about price. If toilet paper is 2 cents cheaper, they will go shop at that supermarket. The supermarket who positions himself as the lowest priced provider, targets these price sensitive customers, and knows that PRICE is the only thing their customer cares about, and consequently neglects ALL other aspects of their business, customer service is the first to go, quality of product is usually the second, convenience, knowing the customer, are soon to follow. The grocery store who sees value in the customer subset that doesn't just care about price will invest in customer service, quality product, diversity of products, store decor. In a free market, each vendor is free to target different types of customers.
It's a matter of what you care about. Some customers only care about price. Personal economics cannot be denied. But there are other factors in a business relationship besides price. If you can afford it, I don't think anyone would doubt the value, and hence the price placed on, trust and reliability, between business people.
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Same boat here.
Now, I dont even bother looking at other vendors.
There are new vendors making a name for themselves, and if you get them at the right time you win with low price and good gear. BUT it's a lot of work and risk playing it this way to save a few bucks. Not worth it as they will eventually switch gear on you.
There are good vendors for the long haul here and then bad vendors for the overnight rich schemes. The new vendors seem to always have different gear and quality with each order. WTF?! And mistakes too.
Seems every time I try a new vendor out getting sucked in by the price and pretty picture, I get fucked.
Now, I shut off pictures in settings and don't even bother with them. They are all old and don't even resemble the recent products anyhow.
I'm so confident with my favorite vendors that I could order blindly and always know ill get the exact same gear each time. That consistency is worth everything to me. I'm not a Guinnea pig.
Paying more for a good vendor is worth every penny.
I think the site is stup to encourage shopping around and it motivates people to try out different vendors which is nice. But really, there are a lot of new vendors popping up and lots of ametuer business going on. Teenagers running a store. I don't want anyone learning off of my dollar and using my address as a fucking little business experiment.
This kind of business requires a certain mature person who understands secret business. This can be quite serious stuff. A fucking typo or some teenager with the smell of pot on his hands drops off my package in the mail bin, and I'm the only one who will pay for HIS mistake.
Think about it. We put a lot of trust in vendors with our addresses. They hold the power to have us investigated. We can only hope they don't slip up on their routine. For that , I'll stick to my vendors who I can really trust.
Would you trust your vendor?
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Ugh.... Mindless customer here
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We need a graduated vendor license system. So, the longer you are a vendor he higher rating you get. So, new buyers can easily tell who is new and who isn't. A checklist and ANNUAL INSPECTION so buyers can have a report card that shows of the vendor has: good stealth, good feedback, number of returns, number of customs siezures, etc . Then they can choose the level of risk they are comfortable with.
I also think they should make the VENDOR FEE A MONTHLY recurring charge. This way, people can't make dormant vendor accounts that pop up and disappear over the years and being sold off on the dark web. Yes, vendor accounts comete with feedback already entered in are for sale. So, any jack ass could start up and pretend they've been around for years, but really have no experience yet.
I'm stoned, so I'm rambling.
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. . . Sometimes vendors give me the feeling I'm Buying drugs from a young teenager.
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We need a graduated vendor license system. So, the longer you are a vendor he higher rating you get. So, new buyers can easily tell who is new and who isn't. A checklist and ANNUAL INSPECTION so buyers can have a report card that shows of the vendor has: good stealth, good feedback, number of returns, number of customs siezures, etc . Then they can choose the level of risk they are comfortable with.
I also think they should make the VENDOR FEE A MONTHLY recurring charge. This way, people can't make dormant vendor accounts that pop up and disappear over the years and being sold off on the dark web. Yes, vendor accounts comete with feedback already entered in are for sale. So, any jack ass could start up and pretend they've been around for years, but really have no experience yet.
I'm stoned, so I'm rambling.
I agree with everything you said. It's ridiculous sorting through 100's of vendors, carefully choosing who seems "real", placing an order, All just to come onto the forums and find out they've been scamming people for weeks...
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This is a lesson I am (somewhat painfully) learning as we speak. Though I'll keep trying other vendors, I'll be sure to start small and not rely on them for things I need.
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Isn't the forum the first point of call when considering a new vendor?
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It should be.
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I only have a couple of purchases under my belt, so I don't have a steady yet.
I have decided to go with smaller purchase though. I am sitting on a pillowcase of mediocre weed atm...
I am sure with the bitcoin action I will try someone else out before I burn through that bag.
Reviews on SR proper are pretty useless it seems. The forum threads are much more helpful.
I am slowly working my way through the vendors on the rumor mill weed thread.
Shipping is a big consideration for me as well.
Like I said, still looking for a steady
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I couldn't agree more. Some times the cheap comes out expensive.
I also would like to see a better rating system. Top vendors deserve to be recognized for their work.
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I'm the same way, hell when I first started buying weed in high school I even made it a habit to just stick with only one guy at a time with no concern for who else was selling. I basically go by the same principles now. It's just something about finding what you need and just having a bad feeling that something won't go right unless you stick with what or who already has worked out successfully for you. I feel it can be more reassuring to try different people on here with more confidence if you read around enough but I know what you mean.
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Im a bulk buyer, so i usually do not like giving out my addresses to random vendors, i wouldnt risk one of my addresses because there is a new vendor whose stealth is shit, i would be loosing a lot more just for paying a little less. I always stick with my vendors and i check for prices and shit and if there are new vendors who live up to their stealth , i check their ratings and comments on forums.
Remember you are sometimes trusting your freedoom to a vendor, so do not try to save a few bucks cause in the end it could cost you more.
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So everyone is in agreement with me then- I thought I was perhaps the odd one out.
Yeah I totally concur with the sentiments here; near the start of my journey down the Road I was scammed out of around 1500GBP by an asshole vendor (I FE'd for a relatively newbie- school boy error).
Thankfully I have made this back several times over thanks to the honesty and hard work of the select vendors I now to business with.
After taking that hit I remember being 50/50 on whether to just quit this shit altogether as you feel that maybe all vendors are like that. Thankfully thats not the case and for that the vendors who pull through for me will always get my business.
TL;DR Moral of the Thread, cheapest is not best, biggest bulk is not best, dont FE and when you find someone who works hard with you, stay with them.
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Yes I think most people who've been on the road for awhile would agree with you. I too at first just bought the cheapest not doing any research in the forums only to be very upset when I've come to find the product that came was not the product advertised. Through trial and error and getting heavily involved in the forums I've come to the same conclusion as you that you only really need a few different vendors that you really trust. I now only buy my marijuana from 2 vendors, if both of them are out I wait until they're good again. The money lost waiting a few days to reup is alot less than buying some garbage that no one wants. And also by doing this you're cutting down on the chance of giving some know-nothing your address because like someone said before anyone can buy a vendor account including a 14 year old kid. When I first found out about the road I was so overwhelmed with all the options. Now I've come to realize all SR did was help me find two solid connects. And that's all I need.
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Yeah man-
I have made some great contacts here that has hooked me up with products of a MUCH higher quality than I could ever get before. I think thats the really great thing about Silk Road is the connections you can make and the business relationships you can build with those people- i've been in this game for a few years already and did pretty well but if you told me then that now I would spend so much money buying Class ABC drugs on a website I would never believe it.
Now my contacts I made here are more valuable to me than most of the many contacts I have IRL. There gear is also alot better in general too.
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Excellent topic.....there are lots of people who only want price....and that is it.
Having a business degree....and being an entrepreneur my entire life....leads me down a different path....most likely I am way older than most venders....I understand....relationships. and i try and do business with like minded people..who do the same.......when packaging an order....I always wear gloves....and once all orders are in bags...they are sealed and washed with a mild bleach solution...glove change again...and off to a new room for packaging...I do not want any residue in the packaging room....after 1 seal....glove change again....another wash.....and then a visual barrier and another seal.....then it off to take a shower... and a new room for putting on the address labels...and putting the order in packaging....with new gloves.......I believe the most important part is security for both the vender and customer.
I have quite a few resellers. who have standing orders....they know they will need xxx product on yyy day....and have to have it....be same quality or better as before and not have to worry about chasing that last dollar from a low balling vender who may have what he needs this weeks....but nothing next week....and know when a package comes....the security is the best.
To me it seems....like those guys are are all older...understand business...been around before.
To them it's not how many sales they can sell in a day....its how many sales they can sell everyday....
Younger people.....really never get that....of course not all of them think that way.....but most do.....I meet people like that every week....
Now as far as the end user....that guy/girl...will catch on to that pretty fast.
Thanks....excellent topic....+1
Same boat here.
Now, I dont even bother looking at other vendors.
There are new vendors making a name for themselves, and if you get them at the right time you win with low price and good gear. BUT it's a lot of work and risk playing it this way to save a few bucks. Not worth it as they will eventually switch gear on you.
There are good vendors for the long haul here and then bad vendors for the overnight rich schemes. The new vendors seem to always have different gear and quality with each order. WTF?! And mistakes too.
Seems every time I try a new vendor out getting sucked in by the price and pretty picture, I get fucked.
Now, I shut off pictures in settings and don't even bother with them. They are all old and don't even resemble the recent products anyhow.
I'm so confident with my favorite vendors that I could order blindly and always know ill get the exact same gear each time. That consistency is worth everything to me. I'm not a Guinnea pig.
Paying more for a good vendor is worth every penny.
I think the site is stup to encourage shopping around and it motivates people to try out different vendors which is nice. But really, there are a lot of new vendors popping up and lots of ametuer business going on. Teenagers running a store. I don't want anyone learning off of my dollar and using my address as a fucking little business experiment.
This kind of business requires a certain mature person who understands secret business. This can be quite serious stuff. A fucking typo or some teenager with the smell of pot on his hands drops off my package in the mail bin, and I'm the only one who will pay for HIS mistake.
Think about it. We put a lot of trust in vendors with our addresses. They hold the power to have us investigated. We can only hope they don't slip up on their routine. For that , I'll stick to my vendors who I can really trust.
Would you trust your vendor?