Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: windblown on July 11, 2012, 09:47 am
-
I will shortly buy for 1st time on SR. I have seen advice that most sellers like to see a record of purchases from a customer. The usual advice is to build this up by buying cheap items from such as Digital Goods etc. Why is this necessary? I am unable to find an answer to this otherwise I would not trouble the forum.
Is it not the case that anyone, nefarious or otherwise, can do this construction of a buying record? What does it prove? Why should a seller be worried if they are anonymous to the buyer?
Maybe I am not seeing something here!
I want to buy and am prepared to forego this escrow business, if necessary.
Can someone clear this up for me?
Regards
-
I say
1. find a vendor with a good rep. with small quantities of what you seek.
2.Place a order.
3.Follow the rules they place on new buyer(most rep. vendor have special instructions for new / poor stat buyers)
said to say it might mean FE (Finalizing early) for your first couple orders
4 receive and check goods finalize so the good vendor gets their money.
5. enjoy you goods
6.and repeat as necessary until step 3 becomes unnecessary
-
Thanks for that :D That was my line of thinking and the vendor I have in mind appears to operate along those lines.
-
Building up your stats with digital good and lotteries doesn't really work as vendors can see how much you've spent :)
-
Yeah no worries. ;D
-
I always suggest having some communication with a vendor prior to placing the order. Some vendors may not respond, but i think for the first few orders it is important for you to feel at ease before placing money on the line. By speaking beforehand, you can gain a solid understanding of what to expect, so you aren't freaking out at the mailbox every day waiting for the package to arrive.
Depending on what you are looking for, and if its something you would buy again, you may ask for the next order to be in escrow as a repeat client. Never hurts to ask and the worst that happens is they say no! You may wish to try a newer vendor as well who has less transactions but it showing positive results. Try to work within the comf
HeyOItsMe2 said it best, start small. You can get excited and easily spend hundreds of bitcoins ( if you have it available) rather quick. Take your time, and most important, ENJOY.
-
I really dont understand why people suggest buying cheap digital goods to start off with. I am pretty new and have just started out small transactions (7-10BC). You will build your stats and in the meantime gain some cred on the forums while waiting for your package to arrive. Not only have I become more comfortable with buying, sellers have probably become more comfortable selling seeing my transaction history.
-
I say
1. find a vendor with a good rep. with small quantities of what you seek.
2.Place a order.
3.Follow the rules they place on new buyer(most rep. vendor have special instructions for new / poor stat buyers)
said to say it might mean FE (Finalizing early) for your first couple orders
4 receive and check goods finalize so the good vendor gets their money.
5. enjoy you goods
6.and repeat as necessary until step 3 becomes unnecessary
Yep, that's about right. Just don't ignore the part that says, "small quantities".
I wouldn't bother with the digital goods stuff, since the dollar amount is so low that it doesn't really get you any stats. HOIM2 is right, buy stuff you're interested in from reputable vendors in small quantities. But always keep in mind that anytime you FE, your chances of being scammed are high and there's nothing SR can do to help you.
-
I've been both a Buyer & now a Vendor approaching 9 months. I have a very strict policy of who I will do business with.
If you have 6 Transactions, but only spent less than a $100 even though a have a policy to only sell to someone w/6 Transactions, I would Cancel your Order.
Sure it's easy to chalk up 5 minimal Transactions that most Vendors want, but the previous example clearly shows you've been Buying books or small amounts.
Hope that makes more sense..
oppyate
-
I just made my first order and the vendor did not give me any hassle whatsoever. It has not arrived yet but when it does i'll be sure to finalize right away and give a good feedback. If a vendor will not sell to anyone who doesn't have xy and z in a row, then look for someone else.
I realize there are scam buyers as well as scam sellers though a new buyer is more suspect than a new seller since the seller has some skin in the game, $150 worth of skin. If you are worried about le then buying over $100 worth does not prove a thing. Cops and dea have big budgets and can easily spend $1000 or more on an operation. As long as the vendor follows strict guidelines they have no worries. The bitcoins are shuffled, from what i hear and unless the vendor makes a blunder he/she will not give up any info. Its the buyer who is giving up info.
Of course a scammer could be out just to get free or discounted goods so i can see caution for that reason. But if someone is making buys and is not making a huge buy after a few tiny ones, it should be ok. You can always use a dcn and charge the buyer for it. Then you have no risk that i can see. The buyer takes all the risk.
The ones who treat me decent while i'm new will be the ones i go to first even when i have 50 transactions.
-
I've been both a Buyer & now a Vendor approaching 9 months. I have a very strict policy of who I will do business with.
If you have 6 Transactions, but only spent less than a $100 even though a have a policy to only sell to someone w/6 Transactions, I would Cancel your Order.
Sure it's easy to chalk up 5 minimal Transactions that most Vendors want, but the previous example clearly shows you've been Buying books or small amounts.
Hope that makes more sense..
oppyate
Yeah you have strict standards, You canceled on me before, no hard feelings lol.
better safe then sorry.
People pretty much filed in the missing gaps to what I was saying.
-
I always suggest having some communication with a vendor prior to placing the order. Some vendors may not respond, but i think for the first few orders it is important for you to feel at ease before placing money on the line. By speaking beforehand, you can gain a solid understanding of what to expect, so you aren't freaking out at the mailbox every day waiting for the package to arrive.
Ill agree with that and add that you should be responsive when a vendor reply's to your e-mail or sends you a question about your order. It seems like new buyers that do not reply to a vendors question also do not come back and finalize. This makes the vendor wait over half a month to get the money out of escrow.
-
Yeah you have strict standards, You canceled on me before, no hard feelings lol.
better safe then sorry.
People pretty much filed in the missing gaps to what I was saying.
So Sorry Bro.
But your Not alone. What I have learned is that it's easy to rack up 5 Sales,
then Order a $300+ value of Product and easily say:
1. Never Received it
2. Get product then say it sucked asking for Refund
From there, since there is No Skin involved, walk from account and do process all over.
On the other hand, if you've Racked up 15+ Buys and spent over $500, likely hood of walking from that account is minimal. As a Vendor, once you've been Reverse Scammed a few times and happen to notice it happens with Buyers with weak stats (lot's of Buys, but low expenses or less than 10 Buys & Low expense, etc) you quickly go on Defense.
At least thats my perspective.
oppy
-
Yeah you have strict standards, You canceled on me before, no hard feelings lol.
better safe then sorry.
People pretty much filed in the missing gaps to what I was saying.
So Sorry Bro.
But your Not alone. What I have learned is that it's easy to rack up 5 Sales,
then Order a $300+ value of Product and easily say:
1. Never Received it
2. Get product then say it sucked asking for Refund
From there, since there is No Skin involved, walk from account and do process all over.
On the other hand, if you've Racked up 15+ Buys and spent over $500, likely hood of walking from that account is minimal. As a Vendor, once you've been Reverse Scammed a few times and happen to notice it happens with Buyers with weak stats (lot's of Buys, but low expenses or less than 10 Buys & Low expense, etc) you quickly go on Defense.
At least thats my perspective.
oppy
after how many transactions did u get ur 1st scammer
-
2 0f the first 5 transactions claimed they never got goods.
That was entirely my fault as I had no system in place and i was stupid by Not using DCN.
I then set set hardline policies and it;s been fine..few transactions, but I only deal with creme dela creme of Buyers now.
-
aside from digital goods (which dont really make your stats very impressive) you could purchase a couple smaller legal items (tobacco pipes, salvia (if its still legal in your area), etc) and keep your eyes open for new buyer friendly sellers, who usually advertise as being so. i was actually impressed with how accomidating and friendly these sellers were to me as a new buyer (and another potential scammer). once you move a few bitcoins you will be trusted. ive never finalized early, just couldnt get whatever i wanted from the start.
-
I am brand new to this entire endeavor. I just created a Bitcoin Exchange account through Mt.Gox, and I'm curious as to how I acquire Bitcoins to start with. Since I'm still skeptical of this whole process, I don't want to link my bank account and simply transfer funds right off the bat. My questions are, what is the most used/trusted Bitcoin Exchange site, and how do I get started with this if I have no currency to work with? Also, how do I add a link to accept Bitcoins through my youtube channel? I've noticed others doing this, and it seems like a good idea.
-
I am brand new to this entire endeavor. I just created a Bitcoin Exchange account through Mt.Gox, and I'm curious as to how I acquire Bitcoins to start with. Since I'm still skeptical of this whole process, I don't want to link my bank account and simply transfer funds right off the bat. My questions are, what is the most used/trusted Bitcoin Exchange site, and how do I get started with this if I have no currency to work with? Also, how do I add a link to accept Bitcoins through my youtube channel? I've noticed others doing this, and it seems like a good idea.
if your sceptical about using an exchange site, you might wanna try a guy you can buy bitcoins from for cash, if your in the uk i suggest vlad1m1r as ive heard he has a great service, send cash in the mail, get bitcoins within a few days :)...minimum exchange of 60 pounds :) commision of 10% or something, just check his official thread :D
other wise you could just tumble the coins around as many times as it takes to satisfy yourself, then chuck it in your SR wallet, should be virtually untraceable:)...but the more you do that the more of your coins are taken for commission :P
dw im sceptical too xD just read up, old posts contain much wisdom ^^
-
All this has pretty much been said but just buy something you like that's small for a few purchases. I don't do anything special, just don't be ignorant of how the system works. Send them your address encrypted and place your small time order. Nobody has really given me any problems. I haven't needed to FE any. One guy asked me to and I said no thanks and he canceled my order all quick and easy. Everyone else has processed me thus far.
Cheers and good luck
-
I am brand new to this entire endeavor. I just created a Bitcoin Exchange account through Mt.Gox, and I'm curious as to how I acquire Bitcoins to start with. Since I'm still skeptical of this whole process, I don't want to link my bank account and simply transfer funds right off the bat. My questions are, what is the most used/trusted Bitcoin Exchange site, and how do I get started with this if I have no currency to work with? Also, how do I add a link to accept Bitcoins through my youtube channel? I've noticed others doing this, and it seems like a good idea.
if your sceptical about using an exchange site, you might wanna try a guy you can buy bitcoins from for cash, if your in the uk i suggest vlad1m1r as ive heard he has a great service, send cash in the mail, get bitcoins within a few days :)...minimum exchange of 60 pounds :) commision of 10% or something, just check his official thread :D
other wise you could just tumble the coins around as many times as it takes to satisfy yourself, then chuck it in your SR wallet, should be virtually untraceable:)...but the more you do that the more of your coins are taken for commission :P
dw im sceptical too xD just read up, old posts contain much wisdom ^^
Thanx for the attention and the tip. I'm in the US. Please forgive my ignorance on this totally new currency, but do you mean that I should send someone $ hoping that they will apply that money to my Bitcoin account? That seems even more sketchy than transferring money from a bank account. I am very interested in this innovative process, but it seems very overwhelming.
-
Only way you are getting BC is through an online site or someone here on SR. Check the beginner's thread and read all through that. bitinstant has lots of easy ways to turn cash into BC. Mtgox is often suggested as the site to get your coins sent through. It's not hard after you try it once:
Set up mtgox/other trusted site account >> bitinstant cash deposit via whatever store is close to you (bitinstant will suggest some) >> trade cash for BC via mtgox >> send BC from mtgox to a tumbler or ten >> send BC to SR.
These are the basic steps that many new users do. Look at the thread, the sites, and do your homework. Protect yourself and others. Enjoy.
-
I plan to make my first order soon after months of lurking and contemplation. I have no problem with finalizing early, I can see why people wouldn't trust new users.
I want to become a vendor myself sometime in the future, i'd like to get off the street with my prescriptions. I don't even know how you'd start going about that though.