First of all, I'm a long time lurker, but a long-time fan of this sub-reddit. It got me started. I also rarely post anywhere, and this is my first Reddit post ever, so I apologize if I have forgotten some of the reddiquette.
Thanks for your time/help/advice/thoughts!
TLDR;
Why not act as a bitcoin buyer and "ordering" facilitator for a trusted local dealer? I would act as the source, but take the payment up front, place the order, and have it shipped direct to the dealer's customers; I would take a percentage of each transaction for myself for the service.
Full Context:
Few people near me understand DNMs, crypto-currency, or the intricacies with PGP and staying safe while ordering.
I have a local dealer who pays absurdly high prices from his sources, and they don't ever get anything particularly amazing compared to what is possible from DNMs.
I've ordered a couple of things from DNMs for him, and he's convinced that this is a "good thing"; both the prices and the convenience. I explained everything to him, held back nothing, and helped him understand what I do. He, of course, still would never sit down and learn it (he said so himself), but wants to continue ordering.
We use strong encryption when communicating with one another (I've shown him how using Wickr with completely anonymous handles and all sharing/friend-finding set to false), and we set the messages to self-destruct within 2 hours of opening.
I keep nothing stored to disk and run everything within Tails. I am certain there is more that I can do to ensure my anonymity, but for now, I am comfortable with this.
THE PITCH:
I started brainstorming with him one night. He has a few customers who are considered his "regulars", and I asked him whether or not he thinks they would want to have anything they wanted, shipped to their door. He's found a few people who are interested as first time buyers, and intends to expand the network very slowly.
I am considering setting up a LocalBitcoins.com account and begin buying and sending bitcoins for various ways of receiving cash, up to $1000/week.
This will give me a good cover for anything I do from my real identity with bitcoins.
Since nothing ever even comes to my dealer's or my doorstep, and I always strongly encrypt addresses and personally identifying information on the DNMs... I don't see how this could get back to me other than a leak in information, and even then, there would be little to no proof...
Feedback:
- Should I do this?
- Has anyone else done this?
- What are some things I should think about with a small volume, mid volume, or large volume of transactions?
- Are there more secure ways of communication via iOS App (we both understand the inherent issues with an app)?
- Thoughts in general?
If customers are giving you the money first make sure you can pay them back if a site gets shut down or a vendor exit scams. I have seen many posts of people freaking out saying they lost someone elses money