Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: LeftCat on August 13, 2012, 03:15 am

Title: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: LeftCat on August 13, 2012, 03:15 am
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: ZenAndTheArt on August 13, 2012, 03:22 am
best left alone :)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: UKGrower on August 13, 2012, 03:24 am
That's far too general of a question to get any kind of useful answer.  It would obviously depend on what they were selling, how often they were able to restock, how much time and effort they were willing to put into messaging, packing and shipping,  their pricing/quality compared to other vendors, whether they shipped internationally, and a ton of other factors.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Zulu on August 13, 2012, 03:27 am
best left alone :)

let let the LEO etc figure it out them selves, thinks it's best we just spend the BC and reap the rewards :D
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: CaptainTrips on August 13, 2012, 03:28 am
best left alone :)

amen.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: polygamuz on August 13, 2012, 04:46 am
Vendors make 'bout tree fiddy
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Limetless on August 13, 2012, 04:55 am
None of your fucking business OP and I'm not sure why you think it's appropriate to pry into others financials when in any other situation it's extremely ignorant to ask. Jesus Christ I don't know why people think that just because you are doing something illegal means that automatically means etiquette goes out the window. Would you like it if some stranger off the street came up to you and asked what you earned? No. You'd think it's an invasion of your privacy and you'd quite rightly tell them to fuck off.

Yano how people run their own business here, yano selling their wares? Well it's THEIR business, not yours. So STFU.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: melancholy on August 13, 2012, 05:07 am
Although not a seller myself, I think that this question is far too general for anybody to be able to answer. It depends on SO many different things; packaging costs, shipping costs, living expenses, profits made, etc. Also, this question is fairly similar to asking somebody on the street how much they earn in a week - I bet most people will tell you that you're too nosy. I've always grown up with others around me telling me that it's rude to ask people questions related to their finances. But, that's just me.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: trollsquad on August 13, 2012, 05:17 am
17 billion a week. No ome would tell you OP and they did they would totally give you false info. 

Lets just leave it at the make enough money to stay on SR doing what they do and thats all you need to know
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: tpebop on August 13, 2012, 09:12 am
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?
Well Jethro lets do a little cyphering. Using the numbers you provided if apx 550 vendors use sr, and the sites monthly intake averages 1.9mil a month, then simple division tells us the average vendor grosses around $3445 a month. Take out commissions and other costs we will say $3000 a month. Giving the average sr price is roughly twice the going street price, and assuming the sr vendor is paying full retail street prices, lol, that nets our average vendor $1500 net. Not bad but not exactly a six figure income.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: psychedelicmind on August 13, 2012, 10:08 am
In my part of the World, it is considered rude and insulting to speculate on a persons income or to ask them directly how much they earn.
I guess that is old etiquette, but I agree with it. It is intrusive to ask and an answer best kept between the vendor and the wall.

Some people wouldn't be dropping exact figures, but love to mention extravagant purchases and large figures that they spend on here, but that is entirely down to themselves to disclose that info, but may be an attempt, on their part, to let it be known that they have a lot of money.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Sickle Cell 98 on August 13, 2012, 11:07 am
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?
Well Jethro lets do a little cyphering. Using the numbers you provided if apx 550 vendors use sr, and the sites monthly intake averages 1.9mil a month, then simple division tells us the average vendor grosses around $3445 a month. Take out commissions and other costs we will say $3000 a month. Giving the average sr price is roughly twice the going street price, and assuming the sr vendor is paying full retail street prices, lol, that nets our average vendor $1500 net. Not bad but not exactly a six figure income.

That math is pretty fail. Most vendors don't sell shit while a select few vendors generate a majority of the total profit. The average low-to-medium volume seller, which constitutes 90% of SR vendors, likely sees an average profit of $2000 per month. On the other hand, large bulk sellers, who will remain unnamed out of respect, likely bring in hefty profits of $20,000+ per month.

The numbers for large bulk sellers look nice, but you have to take into account the added time, expenses, stress, and influx of stupid bullshit that these guys have to put up with. Your average Joe Blow wouldn't be able to orchestrate such a workload. Luckily there are always people willing to put their ass on the line to make as much money as possible.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: vlad1m1r on August 13, 2012, 11:52 am
Hear hear pyschedelicmind +1

I am generalising of course but English people in particular don't think this is very appropriate to ask how much another person earns. I have been at pains to explain this to my Polish friends who think nothing of it!

V.

In my part of the World, it is considered rude and insulting to speculate on a persons income or to ask them directly how much they earn.
I guess that is old etiquette, but I agree with it. It is intrusive to ask and an answer best kept between the vendor and the wall.

Some people wouldn't be dropping exact figures, but love to mention extravagant purchases and large figures that they spend on here, but that is entirely down to themselves to disclose that info,
but may be an attempt, on their part, to let it be known that they have a lot of money.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Wadozo on August 13, 2012, 12:08 pm
I agree. What a vendor makes is frankly, none of our business and is something which shouldn't be up for discussion in a public forum.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: OldGuard on August 13, 2012, 12:20 pm
$14.82
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: tpebop on August 13, 2012, 12:22 pm
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?
Well Jethro lets do a little cyphering. Using the numbers you provided if apx 550 vendors use sr, and the sites monthly intake averages 1.9mil a month, then simple division tells us the average vendor grosses around $3445 a month. Take out commissions and other costs we will say $3000 a month. Giving the average sr price is roughly twice the going street price, and assuming the sr vendor is paying full retail street prices, lol, that nets our average vendor $1500 net. Not bad but not exactly a six figure income.

That math is pretty fail. Most vendors don't sell shit while a select few vendors generate a majority of the total profit. The average low-to-medium volume seller, which constitutes 90% of SR vendors, likely sees an average profit of $2000 per month. On the other hand, large bulk sellers, who will remain unnamed out of respect, likely bring in hefty profits of $20,000+ per month.

The numbers for large bulk sellers look nice, but you have to take into account the added time, expenses, stress, and influx of stupid bullshit that these guys have to put up with. Your average Joe Blow wouldn't be able to orchestrate such a workload. Luckily there are always people willing to put their ass on the line to make as much money as possible.
The math is not fail, it is a mean an average, based on the data provided. I know full well the disparity between top vendors vs average vendors. It is just like the real world, maybe a little bit better distributed but the top 10% most likely reap 80 % of the revenue. The point of my post was that the OP had the numbers there to answer his own question yet failed to even use a calculator and a bit of common sense.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: mclovin on August 13, 2012, 12:26 pm
i been a vendor for 3 months and have offshore accounts with 30 million that 10 million a month so far!! and im only selling grams of weed  ;D
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Delta11 on August 13, 2012, 01:15 pm
Bill  gates asked me for a loan the other, I respectfully declined.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 13, 2012, 01:23 pm
We all know you have dick for money Delta. Gates was a hallucination from all the drugs you supposedly sell ;)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Delta11 on August 13, 2012, 02:25 pm
We all know you have dick for money Delta. Gates was a hallucination from all the drugs you supposedly sell ;)
It's true I think it was a bum asking for money but I was on 2c-i so I could have sworn it was Bill  Gates.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: jameslink2 on August 13, 2012, 09:42 pm
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?

Well, if the above question is OK in your mind them please tell us LeftCat, How much do you make per week at your job?
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Limetless on August 13, 2012, 10:13 pm
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?

Well, if the above question is OK in your mind them please tell us LeftCat, How much do you make per week at your job?

Depends how much effort he feels like puttin into giving head that week.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: jameslink2 on August 13, 2012, 10:16 pm
So I read that Forbes article:



"the site’s number of sellers, who offer everything from cocaine to ecstasy, has jumped from around 300 in February to more than 550. Its total sales now add up to around $1.9 million a month. And its operators generate more than $6,000 a day in commissions for themselves, compared with around $2,500 in February."

Now, the media tends to exaggerate the fuck out of things.
I guess I'm asking in a general sense, how much do sellers usually make in an average week?

Well, if the above question is OK in your mind them please tell us LeftCat, How much do you make per week at your job?

Depends how much effort he feels like puttin into giving head that week.

+1 lim, you crack me up!
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Limetless on August 13, 2012, 10:17 pm
;)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 13, 2012, 10:51 pm
We all know you have dick for money Delta. Gates was a hallucination from all the drugs you supposedly sell ;)
It's true I think it was a bum asking for money but I was on 2c-i so I could have sworn it was Bill  Gates.
That is one of the side effects of 2ci. Sorta like when Cartman took ritalin and saw pink Christina Aguilera spiders. BLAH!
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 12:03 am
Vendors make 'bout tree fiddy

Lol.
Yeah tree fiddy sounds about right.
I make about tree fiddy.
Does that answer your question?
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: NorCalKing on August 14, 2012, 12:33 am
They don't make shit when the site's down!


NCK
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: 3kingdommaster on August 14, 2012, 12:41 am
Here's the actual academic paper the Forbes article is referring to: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.7139v1.pdf
By reproducing their methods, you can easily estimate how much vendors are making, simply by looking at their feedback pages.
Surely no one is making as much as the site admins.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 12:59 am
They don't make shit when the site's down!


NCK

No fucking shit brother.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 14, 2012, 01:06 am
shit - i have to borrow money every month just to stay in business!!

 :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 01:08 am
Ya! Christy.
Your feedback looks like your hurting  :)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 01:10 am
I'm the same way.
Might have to sell the Aston.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Gandalf The Green on August 14, 2012, 03:15 am
I'm the same way.
Might have to sell the Aston.

^Truly tragic =/.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 14, 2012, 03:32 am
Ya! Christy.
Your feedback looks like your hurting  :)

my feedback is from delivering quality - safely - ina couple days 

does anyone have a few coins to spare for a poor farmer girl????????  :P
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Master Reaper on August 14, 2012, 08:15 am
As a new seller I'm hoping millions a week. I cant wait to be disappointed.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Americanbartender on August 14, 2012, 03:38 pm
even tho its sarcasm   LOL at the millions a week =) 
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 03:57 pm
I'm the same way.
Might have to sell the Aston.

^Truly tragic =/.
Lol
Right?
Just have to make do with the Bentley I guess.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 14, 2012, 05:32 pm
u guys r killing me lol - my vehicle is over 20 yrs old and rusty
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: THUMBSuP. on August 14, 2012, 05:35 pm
keepin' it trill in a '95. :p
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 14, 2012, 06:19 pm
u guys r killing me lol - my vehicle is over 20 yrs old and rusty

I just dumped my Jag.
The ashtray was full so I thought fuck it, get another one  8)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: jameslink2 on August 14, 2012, 07:31 pm
u guys r killing me lol - my vehicle is over 20 yrs old and rusty

Poor Christy  :(

Mine is over 20 years old, no rust, and runs like a charm in both 2wd and 4wd.  ;D
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Delta11 on August 14, 2012, 07:59 pm
u guys r killing me lol - my vehicle is over 20 yrs old and rusty
The DEA is going to be looking for a girl with purple hair, one eye, and a 20 year old rusty car  :D
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Americanbartender on August 14, 2012, 08:30 pm
hey at least u guys have a vehicle   im  car less right now because i got hurt on my second job 5 years ago and hammering out workers comp... id take a rust bucket over nothing
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: THUMBSuP. on August 14, 2012, 09:10 pm
hey at least u guys have a vehicle   im  car less right now because i got hurt on my second job 5 years ago and hammering out workers comp... id take a rust bucket over nothing

become a vendor, duh.

they make like 1mil+ a month.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 14, 2012, 09:22 pm
Damn if i had knicknack's money i would just throw mine away!!!!!!

I am soooooo poor i can't even pay attention.....

:P
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: KeyserSoze on August 15, 2012, 01:34 am
42
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: jameslink2 on August 15, 2012, 01:36 am
42

What is six by nine?
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 16, 2012, 04:01 am
Damn if i had knicknack's money i would just throw mine away!!!!!!

I am soooooo poor i can't even pay attention.....

:P
lol bravo +1
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: StickAFinger on August 16, 2012, 03:56 pm
i just create my seller account. first time being a vendor, havent even sold anything yet and I already made $50,000
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 16, 2012, 08:31 pm
pfffftttttt..........you're doing it all wrong. REAL vendors make $1 Million first starting out. Flip the Hustler's Book over, that should help ;)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: THUMBSuP. on August 17, 2012, 01:16 am
hustler's book.. you guys really read that crap??? :x


man.. banked 3.5mil(fat eighth) overnight doing express.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 17, 2012, 01:56 am
hustler??????????? thats a pimpley face little dick weed mag lolololol
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: 20DollarBILL on August 17, 2012, 02:01 am
I do not make anything. I am doing this for my community service hours.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: rickybobby on August 17, 2012, 02:24 am
I only check in every other week, so my listings disappear too often.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 17, 2012, 04:40 pm
hustler??????????? thats a pimpley face little dick weed mag lolololol
Not everyone can afford the super duper Secret Smuggler's Guide to the Universe Christy :p

What do those go for? like 100 MIL?
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: anseladams on August 19, 2012, 12:14 pm
I do not make anything. I am doing this for my community service hours.

I've always liked community service
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: 67ynot on August 19, 2012, 05:24 pm
FE (FI FO FUM),
My island was bought
with the blood of the SR dumb

My Pina's from freshest coconut
I made the loonies
by fucking my customers' butt.




Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Skippy_Jif on August 19, 2012, 06:08 pm
Learn how to rhyme you dumb shit. Enjoy the weekend of junk you managed to retrieve from noobs before your stupid ass starts to withdraw while you're sucking the next dick for your fix.

Cheers :)
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: 751a696c24d97009 on August 19, 2012, 08:04 pm
First off, it's none of your business, second, it varies from vendor to vendor, third, knowing this doesn't affect you in any way so it doesn't matter, and lastly, this is way too general of a question to get a specific answer. Some new vendors who don't know what they're doing could be losing money, while top vendors could be making thousands a week. There are hundreds of vendors in between those two examples as well.
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: Christy Nugs on August 19, 2012, 10:17 pm
Well this weekend i am having a half price sale that was thrust upon me!!!!
most of my orders that will ship out monday were purchased at friday coin prices lol
its all part of the game i guess boo hoo!!!
actually i really feel sorry for all the customers that bought inflated coins and now have
watched their investment dwindle!!!!!
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: superhippie on August 19, 2012, 10:33 pm
I do not make anything. I am doing this for my community service hours.
HAHAHAHA.... I FUCKIN LOVE IT !!!
Title: Re: So how much money are vendors REALLY making?
Post by: knicknack on August 20, 2012, 07:59 pm
Damn if i had knicknack's money i would just throw mine away!!!!!!

I am soooooo poor i can't even pay attention.....

:P
lol bravo +1


Nice Christy, but I'm reminded of my Shakespeare.
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much!"