Please Don't Do These Things

Having been potentially beaten by a vendor here, and witnessing some very bone-headed behavior by fellow customers who interacted with said vendor, I wanted to take a moment to lay out a few things to avoid when transacting in the marketplace, dark or otherwise. If I come across crass or offend your sensibilities, consider it constructive criticism or "tough love". Some people really need to hear it and take it to heart, doesn't matter if it's from me or someone else.

1) DON'T DON'T DO NOT leave product reviews until you actually have it in hand and have verified its authenticity. The one recourse we have as buyers in this game is our word. If we throw away reviews on stupid, trivial details of transactions like "great comms", or fire our bullets too soon (leave a review the second after we pay), then we are wasting our only strength as customers, and we are fucking over the next guy that is contemplating buying from the same vendor, and trusting you to do the right thing when it comes to your reviews.

2) Don't evaluate vendors solely based on their written words, i.e. "comms". I have seen this so often in reviews, and frankly it demonstrates a level of naivete and cluelessness that is painful to read. It's important to get this through your head now: this is a business, most particularly for the vendors we are buying from. The sellers are taking great personal risk; they are selling illicit materials that could land them massive jail bids. They are taking on this risk not to make your life peachy, or hold your hand while you delicately dip your toes in the water of illegal drug use. They are doing this TO GET PAID. They are not doing you a solid, they are not interested in being your friend, wasting time chating about stupid bullshit, and walking you through how things work. If they come straight to the point, are terse, even brusque/borderline unfriendly, they are this way to protect their anonymity, and their (and your!) safety. You'd be surprised what subtle details can be gleaned by written text, and that is what the vendors don't want, i.e. people tyring to draw out hints. The kids nowadays call it OPSEC, and writting long-winded "Dear Abby" messages to vendors is piss poor OPSEC. So don't do it, don't expect the vendor to give you a cheerful, verbose response, and most importantly don't review them based on this criteria.

3) Don't place massive orders with a vendor right out of the gate, especially newer or less established one. I mean, this should just be common sense and shouldn't need explanation. To read that people are plopping down several thousand$ for their very first(!!) order with a seller who lacks substantial positive feedback defies logic and makes one think that you are either indiffirent to the value or your money, or a badly desperate fiend, or just plain stupid. Obviously, it'd be better to place 1 or more test orders at the vendor minimum, to make sure the product is legit, and establish the vendor even has the product in their actual posession.

4) Don't begin inundating the vendor with messages after a few days to the effect "hey, just checking in, did the product ship, etc. etc". You should understand it annoys the vendor, but also it is fucking over your fellow customers, as the time spent by vendor reading your pointless, neurotic notes could be better spent serving other legitimate orders. It's understandable if you're sitting a week, 10 days, etc. beyond alleged ship date, but otherwise, there is no need to hyper-ping the seller. It's not getting your pack to you any sooner.

5) Don't be afraid to leave useful, timely reviews. This is where you help out your brothers/sisters! After you have completed a transaction successfully, including positive verification of product, by all means, leave a thorough review. Do it here, do it on the vendor's market page, do it in the market forum, whereever. Just please focus on details like the actual product, stealth, etc. and not pointless information like the tone of the vendor's message.

I'm sure things like this get written weekly on this sub, but given the climate and the fact I've seen some of these things prevelant, I thought I'd mention it again.

Avoiding some of these pitfalls will make your experience better, but also will improve the market experience for everyone. When you act carelessly and make yourself an easy mark, it gives lurkers incentive to scam, and makes ripping off people so much easier, especially with large signal to noise ratio in the reviews, and also pumping out big money for early orders.

Good luck and be safe.


Comments


[32 Points] None:

upvote for well karma'ed member, will update as soon as i start reading


[5 Points] trynakick:

I would add, finalize as soon as you've used/tested the product. Or receive if that makes more sense. Less vendor money in escrow means less likely for market to exit scam and the vendor is less likely to go FE only


[4 Points] grandpajoe_dnm:

I regret that I have but one upvote to give!

FWIW (see point 2) I'm sure a lot of us would love to be your buddy and hang out IRL and I love to chat a bit and answer questions from floks out there. There are quite a few of you I'd love to sit around a fire and have a smoke with, of course some of y'all are true asshats but that's to be expected too!

Much love and stay safe GPJ


[3 Points] ar0undthew0rld:

the buying big for the first time with a vendor with few sales is mind boggling to me idk how people do it


[2 Points] vendorthrowaway2222:

This is so true, thanks for writing this.

99% of the time there is no need for communication when ordering. This must be really bad for the dope and benzo vendors I'd think.


[2 Points] an_illegal_smile:

They are doing this TO GET PAID. They are not doing you a solid, they are not interested in being your friend, wasting time chating about stupid bullshit, and walking you through how things work. If they come straight to the point, are terse, even brusque/borderline unfriendly, they are this way to protect their anonymity, and their (and your!) safety.

If I could choose any part of your very good post to bold, it would be this. Use your review to reward professionalism, which I'd define as getting you the product described to you in a timely and security-conscious way, not making friendly small talk or giving you hourly updates on shipping. Did you get what you paid for and did it get to you on time and safely? That's all that's important. The best vendors I've dealt with I've hardly had to exchange ten words with, because they were very clear up front what the price was, what shipping times were like, and what I was receiving, as well as any personal rules they might have. A smooth transaction involves little talk and few traces. And it's not up to the vendor to teach you how to use PGP or how to buy bitcoin or anything else darknet-related, it blows my mind how many people complain about that with a vendor. Why the hell are you buying drugs online without taking an hour to educate yourself on how to do it, and do it safely, first?


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] fungi_breaux:

Great write-up!


[1 Points] Early_C:

Thanks for the already obvious information. Super useful post.


[1 Points] nakulmhatre:

Is there any possible way to check the legitimacy of the vendor? I'm looking to order some stuff but I'm scared of getting scammed.


[0 Points] None:

[deleted]


[0 Points] None:

That was tedious for those of us with a brain.