Silk Road forums

Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: RaFaeL5 on December 13, 2012, 08:24 pm

Title: How would the perfect vendor page on SR look like?
Post by: RaFaeL5 on December 13, 2012, 08:24 pm
For our little "project" I've had a look at pages from a lot of vendors on SR (cocaine vendors in Europe) and then I had to find a system to give the vendors a score  for their page. For this purpose I made this little note.
Read all about the "little project": http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=91822.0;topicseen

Now I would like to know what's your opinion on the list...


Most of the pages are quite similar and quite good, but some really lack important information or have a lot of totally useless paragraphs.

I don't know if the vendors already have a forum where they're asking/discussing what should be on a vendors page and what shouldn't be, but in order to be able to give a score to the vendors page I made a little list of what I think should and should not be on their page.
Off course: the page should be polite and friendly with clear and structured text.

Really: the best is to keep it short and simple, just make sure all the info is there, but nothing more and write it in a friendly and polite style.

What should be on their page:
a greeting
a link to the vendors forumpage!
what the vendor sells, what he doesn't sell
in what quantities he sells his products
privnote accepted or not
PGP/GPG only or not
shipping from which country
shipping to which countries
not shipping to which countries
special conditions for certain countries
shipping frequency: every hour/day/week/...
shipping cost: per country/region/...
tracking possible or not
refund & return policies
BTC only
FE requested/appreciated/unnecessary
policies towards new SR visitors/first time buyers
tormail address (or other) in case SR is down
public key


What's a bonus on a vendors page:
an informative link to the forumpage about PGP and how to use it
estimated shipping times
working during the weekends or not
details on package (how many times vacuum sealed, envelope, ...)
discount possibilities
special deals for regular customers
“order a sample first if you're not shure you're gone like it”!


What should NOT be on a vendors page:
feedback from “customers”
personal introduction
quotes from books, movies, comics, cartoons, ...
“I only sell the best”
only SR deals


I understand some vendors might have a lot of messages to reply to. I also understand that some vendors have had bad experiences in the past (and will probably have some in the future also), but I genuinely believe that in a good and professional business “the customer is king”. But some pages are written in such a style that it seems like the customer is nothing more than a necessary pain...


Again, read all about our "little project": http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=91822.0;topicseen

and lett me know what you think about my little list regarding the do&don't for vendors pages!
Cheers, R5
Title: Re: How would the perfect vendor page on SR look like?
Post by: PlutoPete on December 17, 2012, 11:10 am
I think that vendors need to have the BTC ONLY on their page, we get deluged with requests to pay using alternatives otherwise :)
Title: Re: How would the perfect vendor page on SR look like?
Post by: RaFaeL5 on December 17, 2012, 08:57 pm
I think that vendors need to have the BTC ONLY on their page, we get deluged with requests to pay using alternatives otherwise :)

I had no idea people would actually still be asking you such... thank you for your reaction, I will change this!
Title: Re: How would the perfect vendor page on SR look like?
Post by: jagfug on December 20, 2012, 10:28 am
I would like to add a request that on the Vendor page, (I suppose we should be saying "Profile" page) when a vendor writes "Update" that they remember to "Put the date!!" Many do, but quite a few don't , so unless you follow them all the time, you have no idea if that's old news or not. Also "Clean up" old stuff, unless leaving it on shows where you've been, and how you've progressed, which is understandable.

Also the "FE"  request, should be backed up with some sense of reason. - Been burned by buyers before, etc.

I'll never understand, why some vendors want FE, even from someone with over 25 buys, 0 auto-finalizes, and 0 refunds. (that's me)

It's kind of an insult to a buyer, who has played by the rules, and maybe even eaten a few lost orders,  just to keep the 0 refunds rating there.

Well that's my addition to the "Perfect Vendor Profile Page" request list.

Great topic!
+1 Karma for you RaFaeL5 ! :)

PS.  I found it surprising too, that people don't catch on to the "BTC Only" rule. - It could be because the FE rule is ignored constantly too. Both are seemingly "frowned upon", but FE listings are allowed. -alternatives to BTC aren't.
Title: Re: How would the perfect vendor page on SR look like?
Post by: RaFaeL5 on January 10, 2013, 04:39 pm
also: when vendors keep a "diary" on their pages,
they should keep it updated - so only mark the present situation, don't make it a list of what you had/did/didn't have/didn't do for the last month. Keep it short!