Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: BigBill6778 on March 27, 2012, 02:13 am
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I have seen that alot of people here talk about free accounts I was just wondering if SR will ever be doing this again or possible Half pricing accounts.I have seen some accounts for sale and have done alot of reading and understand accounts can not be sold from what I understand.If I am wrong about this please steer me in the right direction I would really like to set up shop but need all my money for shopping on the Market( BADLY ADDICTED TO THE SHOPPING)
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Free accounts = Scammers, no thanks.
To be honest, if you can't scrape together $150 to buy an account, how are you going to afford sourcing the product you're selling? What about packaging equipment and security precautions? There's a lot more to starting selling than just the $150 into Silk's coffers.
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I agree with 57...
When I saw the price for a seller account, it hit me at first, but then I realized that becoming a seller is making a commitment. Commitments cost...
You know the old idea that if you give something away for free, it wont be appreciated. Make someone earn it, they will respect it and themselves as well. If you want to play the game, gotta pay the price.
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The $150 is only a small part of the cost to become a vendor here, for most a good Vac sealer along with the bags (not cheap to buy) along with stealth packaging materials in the end will be a bigger cost then the sellers fee. As was said above if you cannot afford the start up costs you are better off not trying to sell here as it will most likely end bad for all parties.
You are not dealing with ebay trinkets here to be successful you really have to make sure you do everything to not only protect yourself but especially your customers. All it takes is one bad package job and things can go very bad for a buyer here so all sellers have to make sure you have your packaging in order BEFORE you start to sell here. Only a few items here are exempt from needing safe packaging methods.
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The $150 is only a small part of the cost to become a vendor here, for most a good Vac sealer along with the bags (not cheap to buy) along with stealth packaging materials in the end will be a bigger cost then the sellers fee. As was said above if you cannot afford the start up costs you are better off not trying to sell here as it will most likely end bad for all parties.
You are not dealing with ebay trinkets here to be successful you really have to make sure you do everything to not only protect yourself but especially your customers. All it takes is one bad package job and things can go very bad for a buyer here so all sellers have to make sure you have your packaging in order BEFORE you start to sell here. Only a few items here are exempt from needing safe packaging methods.
You are absolutely right. I was lucky enough to be here when I didn't have to pay for my account. At the time, I probably wouldn't have bought in. I was only going to sell enough so that i could get enough bitcoins so that i could buy stuff that i wanted.
Since then, Its turned out a lot different. the 150 that it costs to buy an account is a chump change to starting this type of venture. There are a lot of factors that are involved and a lot of it depends on what your going to sell and your cost. Some of my costs are huge. But, I think you need a good wireless internet card (one thats not attached to your name or address) but with TOR taking so little bandwidth you can get away with a very small plan if all you use it for it TOR stuff. (10 bucks a month..) either a cheap computer that has all the cool stuff to keep your anonymity.
Good gloves (a small business can go thru a ton of those in a month) baggies (good ones are fairly expensive) and then the food saver stuff. Some businesses dont need one. Especially if they dont send outside of their country and their product wont set off any dog alarms,,etc like pharmaceuticals.. But its still a good idea to get one, no matter what. I would say that it costs me about 7-8 (or more) bucks to ship a package. I use DCN, use great packaging material, etc. you can go cheap with an enevelope, but then your asking for trouble. I also figure that it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to put together each package. Tor is slow, etc. So, not only does this take a descent financial commitment. Be prepared to spend 10 times more time than you would think that you would need.
I can see why vendors come and go. They see the ability to make a lot of money, but then realize it takes a lot of work. I haven't even mentioned dealing with angry or anxious customers that expect their product yesterday. Nor the ones that reverse scams. So, you have to build all this stuff into your cost. I can pretty much guess which vendors are going to make it by how much they charge. If they are charging way too much, most likely they wont make it. same with the ones that think " Hey, I can sell that pill for 10 dollars less than anyone else" then they find that extra 10 bucks is needed to make a profit. There are so many unknowns that you really just need to jump into it and see if its for you. Its also wise to take small vacations no and then. Its not really business smart to do that, but I think its necessary in this biz...
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Agree on costs involved...!
For every dollar my customer spends above the cost of actual postage I easily spend twice that in packing material, tape, canisters, paper, gloves, vacuum seal bags, etc...
selling to your buddies is easy... selling on SR is a full-time job!
TJ
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Bigbill, if the sample makes it through customs and its good, i will gladly buy the 150 worth to get you started
cheers mates!
ggg
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Agree on costs involved...!
For every dollar my customer spends above the cost of actual postage I easily spend twice that in packing material, tape, canisters, paper, gloves, vacuum seal bags, etc...
selling to your buddies is easy... selling on SR is a full-time job!
TJ
I'm wondering if most vendors on SR shave their heads for the convinece of not having to wear a hair net. Just one of the things that goes through my head when I'm stoned.
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I have almost everything gloves,envelopes from a different city cases from another large city all supplies are bought in a large urban city 1 million + people just for safety & tracking purposes of materials used so the LE can't get product shipping locations (where the vacuum sealer bags were shipped & sold) all details have been followed Like I was committing a perfect crime all mailing done from different cities also.My wife & niece help me as they have no criminal record or fines both are in the medical field so that would explain them travelling
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I'm going to go Wiki-style on this post. That's right....citation needed.
There was a recent post (1) that included an interesting link (2) to an overview of SR. That article said that, according to SR (3), sellers would have to pay for an account because someone threatened to open seller account(s), and instead of drugs, sell poison.
So, if that's true, then my sweet Wesley did it to protect us, and it's unlikely to be reversed.
(1) http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=16550.msg163461#msg163461
(2) http://www.gwern.net/Silk%20Road)
(3) http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=207.msg1033#msg1033
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If you cannot afford the 150$... then you cannot afford to be a safe seller...
The label maker I bought jus for SR cost almost $150, the vacuum sealer( I bought couple years ago) was almost $120, then stocking 1 product cost me almost $2000. All the shipping materials including stamps cost another 150$.
that's over $2500 to set up shop... if you don't have that kind of money, don't even bother....
Oh, thats just in money you'll need alot more in time..
the first day I had so many orders it took me over 8 hrs to get everything packed and ready for cross border shipment.. I was up til 4 am packing all the orders...
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why not give buyers with very good stats a seller account on sale?
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Why would they change it? People are still buying them
If you complain about cost I wouldn't want to buy anything from you... as you are one cheap sob
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well no need to keep beating this thread I have opened an account and thank everyone for their input
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well no need to keep beating this thread I have opened an account and thank everyone for their input
Good luck, safe vending!!
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Thanks Rake
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After you get everything sorted do not forget to put a link to your profile on SR in the signature here on the forums.
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I read on here all the time about people wanting the free seller accounts. If it were up to me, I would double that price, at least. The last thing I want is a seller that is not organized or prepared to put in the time and money. The cost now, in my opinion is pretty obtainable for just about the average guy or average scammer. Like others said on here, becoming a true seller is definitely a commitment. Someone that is willing to do this for the long haul, would probably be willing to purchase a higher priced account. Just my thoughts
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considering you can EASILY make your money back within a week.. within a month you should be able to have a constant supply of your product and never run out.. at the begining you might, as your cash will be stuck in escrow for about a week.. I ended up investing 3 times the amount I planned to start with because money was still stuck in escrow but orders were still coming in...
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Free accounts = Scammers, no thanks.
To be honest, if you can't scrape together $150 to buy an account, how are you going to afford sourcing the product you're selling? What about packaging equipment and security precautions? There's a lot more to starting selling than just the $150 into Silk's coffers.
thank you
150 is nothing compared to the profits you will make once you choose to enroll..
^^^^ there is no other way to get bullshit scumbag scammers from fucking shit up ^^^^^^^^^^
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so far this is the best 31 bitcoins I have spent already had my account a week and just made $839.66 from sales so I love this place and my customers are getting what they want at ultra low pricesand I still make my share so this is fun as hell
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lol man, SR is fucking amazing, 3 weeks and I have cashed out over 4 k and still have almost 600 btc stashed....
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Buy an account or gtfo. Of course silk road has gone mainstream and anyone selling here is likley to get raped in the ass by leo once it gets too much hheat. kind of a win lose situation. the dinosaurs are still roaming the earth, there aint no comet to wipe them out anyime soone. keep your ear to the ground,
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Seriously i bought my Vendor Account at about April 10, 2012, 8:05 am UTC
and currently have 31.49 BTC in escrow. PAID FOR ITSELF IN ONE DAY!!!
Loving SR now dont know why it took me so long to join the ranks of vendor
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The $150 is only a small part of the cost to become a vendor here, for most a good Vac sealer along with the bags (not cheap to buy) along with stealth packaging materials in the end will be a bigger cost then the sellers fee. As was said above if you cannot afford the start up costs you are better off not trying to sell here as it will most likely end bad for all parties.
You are not dealing with ebay trinkets here to be successful you really have to make sure you do everything to not only protect yourself but especially your customers. All it takes is one bad package job and things can go very bad for a buyer here so all sellers have to make sure you have your packaging in order BEFORE you start to sell here. Only a few items here are exempt from needing safe packaging methods.
You are absolutely right. I was lucky enough to be here when I didn't have to pay for my account. At the time, I probably wouldn't have bought in. I was only going to sell enough so that i could get enough bitcoins so that i could buy stuff that i wanted.
Since then, Its turned out a lot different. the 150 that it costs to buy an account is a chump change to starting this type of venture. There are a lot of factors that are involved and a lot of it depends on what your going to sell and your cost. Some of my costs are huge. But, I think you need a good wireless internet card (one thats not attached to your name or address) but with TOR taking so little bandwidth you can get away with a very small plan if all you use it for it TOR stuff. (10 bucks a month..) either a cheap computer that has all the cool stuff to keep your anonymity.
Good gloves (a small business can go thru a ton of those in a month) baggies (good ones are fairly expensive) and then the food saver stuff. Some businesses dont need one. Especially if they dont send outside of their country and their product wont set off any dog alarms,,etc like pharmaceuticals.. But its still a good idea to get one, no matter what. I would say that it costs me about 7-8 (or more) bucks to ship a package. I use DCN, use great packaging material, etc. you can go cheap with an enevelope, but then your asking for trouble. I also figure that it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to put together each package. Tor is slow, etc. So, not only does this take a descent financial commitment. Be prepared to spend 10 times more time than you would think that you would need.
I can see why vendors come and go. They see the ability to make a lot of money, but then realize it takes a lot of work. I haven't even mentioned dealing with angry or anxious customers that expect their product yesterday. Nor the ones that reverse scams. So, you have to build all this stuff into your cost. I can pretty much guess which vendors are going to make it by how much they charge. If they are charging way too much, most likely they wont make it. same with the ones that think " Hey, I can sell that pill for 10 dollars less than anyone else" then they find that extra 10 bucks is needed to make a profit. There are so many unknowns that you really just need to jump into it and see if its for you. Its also wise to take small vacations no and then. Its not really business smart to do that, but I think its necessary in this biz...
in more than 6 month i shipped more than 117 orders with 100% satisfied customers.
to get my customers satisfied i have to do A LOT!
i have to spent a lot of time in only answering requests or questions about sr or btc works.
no one would think that i have to write about 50 messages or even more!
in 180 days that would be around 900 messages!
this also means that i have to write about 10 messages with each customer!
i totally agree to the above - not only spending money is the most expensive here - but spending so much time with it!
think about it! 150$ for a vendors account is nothing - customers should pay for it, too.
let´s say 50$. in that case a vendor and silk road would defeat scamming customers more efficient i think ;)
only my opinion ;)
greets JD
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I hate to say it but as stated if you are struggling for the $150 account fee than you cant afford to sell on Silk Road. I was in SILC chat and a new seller started breaking down all the expenses and he listed right down to the nearest dollar amount by the time he was done it was around $400. That was for the vacuum sealer, packaging, postage, bags, and other necessary things. So I suggest not attempting to sell on Silk Road until you have about $600 extra. I hope this helps. I certainly dont mean to discourage any new sellers but I believe this is a good starting amount of capital. Its also extremly important to spend the money to protect your customers and provide good packaging. Its very selfish to start a vendor account when your low on funds and put your customers at risk.