Silk Road forums

Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 05, 2012, 05:06 am

Title: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 05, 2012, 05:06 am
Hey guys, new to the forum and SR, I'm just a little confused on a few things that Id like to clarify (considering im not very tech savvy)

Ok! so im just curious how you would use these PGP codes, is it a simple copy n paste kind of thing? and i've seen alot of people in the comments write "FE" and I would just like it if someone could clarify this stuff for me. I like to be as cautious as possible when it comes to these things so any help would be appreciated!! PM me if your not confortable talking about this forum style. Thanks
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: metaphoe on October 05, 2012, 05:16 am
yup.. its a copy and paste kinda of thing..

its simple. i use PGP desktop which works well for me on my windows
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 05, 2012, 05:31 am
Is this program a necessity? or would a simple copy n paste work for a regular email? I'm just a little slow on the uptake on this one...  :-\  If not...this program free?? Thanks for your help tho, much appreciated!
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: ExiledKeef on October 05, 2012, 05:58 am
I feel your pain bro as I spent much of yesterday struggling with the same questions about PGP.   Yes, consider this program a necessity as it allows you to encrypt sensitive data (such as your address) when placing an order with a vendor and most of them seem to require it.   I used the free program "GPG4win" for a Windows computer and found it easy to use after reading several of the tutorials here:    http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=38861.0

As for the term FE, that stands for Finalize Early.    Finalizing an order basically means that you have received your product, have given the vendor a transaction rating (out of a possible 5 "stars"), and have released the funds from escrow (full payment for your order is now in the vendor's account).   It is generally advised that you DO NOT finalize early unless you have full confidence that your vendor of choice will come through for you since once they have your money and your 5/5 rating, you are SOL if they decide to fuck you.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 05, 2012, 07:04 am
Awesome!! thank you very much. you were very helpful.

So basically, what your saying is you don't actually need to take your payment out of escrow until you've received the shipment?

I downloaded PGP desktop. Still have no clue how to use it so i'll be sure to look at this tutorial. Thanks again.

Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: ExiledKeef on October 05, 2012, 07:24 am

So basically, what your saying is you don't actually need to take your payment out of escrow until you've received the shipment?


The payment will come out of your account when the order is placed, then held in escrow by SR until the buyer marks the transaction as "Finalized" at which point the payment is released in entirety to the seller.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 05, 2012, 08:14 am
Ok thanks for clarifying. I'm just now finding out how expensive bitcoins actually are! I'm still not exactly sure how to buy bitcoins. i know mtgox.com has something to do with it, but its kind of confusing all together...
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 06, 2012, 01:51 am
Bitinstant.com - easy, breezy, beautiful... cover girl?  :P
'Cash Deposit' at a Major Bank (BoA, Wells Fargo, or CITI) => 'Bitcoin Address'
Done and done!
.Hades.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Slugger on October 06, 2012, 06:53 am
Hey guys, new to the forum and SR, I'm just a little confused on a few things that Id like to clarify (considering im not very tech savvy)

Ok! so im just curious how you would use these PGP codes, is it a simple copy n paste kind of thing? and i've seen alot of people in the comments write "FE" and I would just like it if someone could clarify this stuff for me. I like to be as cautious as possible when it comes to these things so any help would be appreciated!! PM me if your not confortable talking about this forum style. Thanks

Download Liberte onto a USB and it breaks this whole accessing SR and purchasing and using PGP into SUPER simple terms. gpa is already installed just open it, make your password to decrypt, get your key, import other keys. Then its simple press a button to encrypt/decrypt. Real simple. Internet is automatically Tor'ified so you can access SR easily right from the browser. Homepage has links to THW. If you want to know more go here (http://dee.su/liberte)

You can try and send me a PGP message through PM using the key in my signature.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 10, 2012, 11:31 pm
Ok awesome thanks slugger ill try that it'll be good practice!!
Is this program only for linux?

ive heard of gpg4win...is that program good and virus free? (i had an issue with that on PGPdesktop) :(
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Flyerz1934 on October 11, 2012, 12:27 am
ive heard of gpg4win...is that program good and virus free? (i had an issue with that on PGPdesktop) :(

It is easy to handle with and virus free :)
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 11, 2012, 02:00 am
sweeet thanks for yr imput dude. Im gonna try that.


through my research it kind of dawned on me that i might not want to send a ton of bitcoins from my wallet to SR (could look bad) so is there any reliable and relatively risk-free way of transferring funds?

Is bitinstant a good site to buy coins from?
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 11, 2012, 02:21 am
There is no way of telling that the address 'belongs' to Silk Road. That being said, for the extra layer of security, you can always wash your coins before sending them over. Search for bitcoinfog (I think)... I've heard good things.

Also, yes, Bitinstant is a great service. Bank deposit > bitcoin address is super easy.
.Hades.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 11, 2012, 02:29 am
Also, yes, Bitinstant is a great service. Bank deposit > bitcoin address is super easy.
.Hades.

You mentioned a bank deposit.....what does that entail?  For example, does that mean i can just pop in my card number and/or acct # and they just convert that into BTC?
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 11, 2012, 02:43 am
No. When you setup a transaction with Bitinstant/Trustcash they will give you an account number to make a deposit into. You go into the bank with CASH and deposit money into the provided account. Some time later (usually less than an hour, but sometimes up to 6 hours) you will receive bitcoin into the address you entered on Bitinstant.

If you want to use a CC/Debit Card you'll have to setup a MoneyGram deposit not a Bank deposit.
.Hades.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Mr.NiceGuy on October 11, 2012, 03:28 am
Ok that makes a lot of sense to me now. I think cash is probably the best route to take.
I'm guessing it doesnt really matter which bank you use?

The one thing i could say im slightly worried about is them carding me and starting to ask questions.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 11, 2012, 06:52 am
Before we started vending we used the bank deposit several times (at both BoA & Wells Fargo) - none of the times did they ask for any information. The most we were asked was "are you paying a bill?" Just say yes and keep moving :P
.Hades.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 11, 2012, 08:59 pm
Is what for Windows? And is there a Mac version of what? Liberte is a linux distro that you have to boot into. You can boot your entire machine with it or run it in a virtual machine. The prior you can't [easily] do on a mac, and the former isn't really a good idea for other security concerns.

If you have a 16GB flash drive (or larger) you can do a fresh install of OSX onto it, use the FileVault encryption to encrypt the entire system AND use truecrypt on top of that to further encrypt files/programs/whatever once you're booted to your drive. This works wonders on a mac and technically keeps the hard drive installed in your computer clean (as long as you deny access to it from within the USB version of OS X. Or you can run the FileVault encryption on your normal install and it'll always pop up asking for a password - just cancel and nothing can be written to the drive.
.Hades.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Motherfucker.Jones on October 11, 2012, 09:16 pm
Good tips Hades. BTW, was it easy for you to recover the SR vender fees right away? Right now the cost of being a SR Vender is what's keeping me from jumping on. I just don't know how good the market is here.
Title: Re: New to SR. Just a few questions...
Post by: Aidoneus on October 11, 2012, 09:22 pm
Depends on several variables. What do you want to vend? Is there are market? Can you compete with prices from other vendors?

Our biggest 'problem' right now is stock. When we have stock, orders roll in pretty steadily... but the demand is definitely greater than our supply for the time being. So when we're out of stock for 1 - 1 1/2, sometimes 2 weeks... people forget about us and it takes a little bit to get recognized again.

Not to mention there are a ton of things to take into account when becoming a vendor in general. A lot of which you might not have thought of. There is an awesome thread 'So you want to be a vendor' or something like that... I suggest you search and read that.  :)
.Hades.