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 tomorrowReal 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 inventoryThere 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