Quote from: gracevan3569 on July 18, 2012, 04:48 pmBeen around for a few weeks and have made a few successful purchases. Not a veteran by any means, but I feel like I have done my homework here and I continue to peruse the forum for various informative topics that I believe will keep me safe, help me make wise decisions and ultimately allow me to enjoy my experience here. I think that the more people do this type of stuff, the harder it will be to run a scam. Having said that, it seems that more are popping up every day. They will continue to as SR gains in popularity and new members treat SR casually and allow their drug impulse drive their actions. I believe we are all susceptible to make bad decision here, if for no other reason than we are purchasing drugs that we enjoy. It has a way of getting you excited so that you make a leap of faith, no a business decision. And make no mistake, that this is a business. It can be a community, but only if we understand that the same rules of business that apply in the real world, apply double here. So, having said that, I decided to jot down a few "rules" of safe buying and selling that seem to be pretty logical. I welcome feedback and additions. Buyers1) There truly should be a "Terms and Conditions" page that everyone must read when creating an account. If you label it in huge font that reads, "YOU WILL GET RIPPED OFF OR ARRESTED" people might actually read it. 2) "Caveat Emptor" "If it sounds to good to be true, it is." "There is a sucker born every minute." "A fool and his money are destined to be separated." All of these phrases have been around for generations (in some iterations for centuries). Why would you think SR is different? Behave accordingly.3) Think about how much effort you put in to get to SR safely. Think about how much effort you put in to get BTC safely. Think about time you put in to learn encryption, protecting your hard drive and establishing a safe mailing address. Now think about how quickly you make a decision to buy from a vendor just because they have a great price on a drug you love. Does it make sense? 4) Look for vendors who have feedback that means something. Does it say "5/5 FE" or does it say 5/5 I love this vendor, everything was great and I will be doing business again? That is an easy way to see if the vendor is boosting stats through lottos or raffles. It also is a good way to see if they are doing a massive sale and requiring everyone to finalize (which means they could disappear soon too)5) Use the forums. Read about your vendor, but also read about the drug area your interested in. Then, read the forums for scams and become part of the community.6) Your first few purchases should be of a size that you will be OK if something goes wrong. Never make your first purchase with a new vendor.7) Since you are new you may need to FE, so use a trusted vendor. If you use a new vendor, do not FE. You are new, but so are they. Everyone has to prove themselves here. 8) Don't message a vendor thinking you are Mr. Fucking Sly asking them to hook you up if you go out side the system. It is there for a reason and you are not smarter than the people who set it up. At the same time, don't be Mr. Dumb Shit and fall for a vendor messaging you for the same reason or allow them to sweeten the deal for an FE. 9) Stop allowing your drug impulses to control your actions. You get all happy, your brain starts lighting up because some vendor is going to corner the market on LSD. The vendor says LSD is about love and sharing so $350 sheets if you act now! Tell your brain to shut the fuck up and see rule 2.VendorsI wouldn't presume to tell established vendors (or any vendor for that matter) how to run their business. However, the following list seems logical to me to help buyers be wary of scams.1) New vendors should never enter SR with claims of taking over a market. That kind of bragging is a red flag. Anyone with the skills and product to do that would let the business speak for itself. All the rest are just trying to lure you in.2) Price to good to be true? Never forget this is about business. Business means profit. This is an illegal activity that carry stiff consequences for vendors. A vendor selling at a price point just lower than the others is understandable. A huge mark down is a red fucking flag.3) A new vendor opening his/her market with bulk orders is a red flag. Like a new buyer, a new vendor needs to prove themselves. Be wary.4) A new vendor has no idea just how difficult running their business on SR will be. Taking orders, answering questions, packaging, shipping, escrow, resolving issues, etc. Be wary of bragging by a new vendor about how amazing your experience with them will be. They don't know. It's a lure.5) FE. It is against SR policy for a new vendor to require FE. If your a new buyer, so what? They are a new vendor. They must also prove themselves. Don't do it.6) Overly wordy stories about who the vendor is and how they got there. When I first read the "Kat LSD" thread, her story was so detailed and full of fun anecdotes about who they were and how they got there. Fuck that. A liar uses more words then necessary to explain their lies. That's what I got for now. I may come back and add or edit. Please feel free to comment. I hope this is helpful to SR. It pisses me off to watch a scam go down. I watched the Kat scam from the beginning and new how it would end. It was painful to know all of those well meaning buyers who got so excited, were going to get jacked.Again, I'm nobody special. Just been observing and want to see SR flourish.This all seems excellent advice to me +1V.