Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Blaatz0r on September 25, 2011, 03:59 pm
-
Hi,
As i have enough to sell and wanna expand my costumer base i tried to get a seller account. The only problem i have, why almost 28 BTC(equals to about 150$) to join the sellers group?
Sure i wanna pay you some for the service you providing but isnt that a bit high?
Is there any way to lower this?
-
Because, and... double no :/
-
Isn't it obvious ?
Because of scamming.
It's to keep risk of scamming low, scamming happens from time to time, but this fee protects SR from scam flooding
-
Yeh, but that high? Then its gonna take ages to make profit!
-
If it's really gonna be that hard to make 150 dollars back, you might want to rethink your operation..
-
If you wanna ripoff buyers sure, then its not hard to get it back.
-
I don't really see how charging high amounts is ripping your buyers off.
The point in SR is to provide access to drugs to those who can't get them, there is a lot of risk involved being a seller. Much buyer scams, bit coin fluctuating, the fact the escrow system can sometimes hold vendors payment for 18 days & at any point a vendor could be dealing with the police. these are all reasons why it's ok to have inflated prices if you are selling on SR, if the buyers don't like it then they can go by somewhere else.............. or can they?
-
The seller's account price is to separate potentially good vendors from poor ones. $150 is enough of an investment that the majority of rationale people will only pull the trigger if they've done the research necessary to become a good seller. Definitely not an impulse purchase.
I like it because it helps improve the quality of the vendors on SR.
-
I am new to SR. I wasn't even sure if I was smart enough to figure out how to find SR or use a Tor program ( first time was to get on SR ) but I guess I haven't fried all my Brain cell. I'm an older person ( early 50's ) then most SR members ( at least I assume I am ).
I am thinking about becoming a seller on SR and I don't have a problem with paying the sellers fee. My problem is I live in Canada and I am having one hell of a time buying bit coins. I have several major credit cards but you can't just buy bit coins with a credit card you have to jump of freaking other hoops. I've tried 4 different sites and haven't got a sinlge bit coin. Piss me off as my Dr. upped my meds and I now have some D8's I'd like to sell.
I had been out of the drug scene for a number of years and now I partake only every once in a while. I don't have many contacts for drugs in my city and I'm hoping SR will provide a much needed service. I have wanted to try ecstasy for a long time now but have no contacts for it. I'm Really hoping I'll be able to get some bit coins soon so I can place an order. Its a real piss off having the money ( and a pile of D8's to sell) but no Bit Coins :'( Anyway I am going to keep trying ( maybe there is a SR member who with some ecstasy who would like to trade or donate a small amount ( this favor would not go unpaid )). I'm not trying to scam I'm just freaken frustrated with the red tape.
Sorry for rambling on
Candyman626
-
@candyman
You'd be surprised ;)
As for "red tape" while buying btc, I very, very, sympathize with you! I think complicated things made by complicated people are just that: complicated.
I remember the very first time I said to myself "OK, let's try this"... It took me 3 solid hours to figure it all out. There is this "buying guide" that includes a link to how to get BTC. It is equally fastididious and complicated, but it's the way it is so it's the way to go..
If you haven't already, you can read it here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Buying_bitcoins
As for the most "convenient" way with a credit card to get BTC, you can try btc-e.com. It's a russian site that's not fully translated just yet, but my russian is awful and I still figured it out (the key here is "interkassa" and the big "visa/mscd" logo).
Another way that looks less scary, but is full of commissions is "virwox.com". With this you can pay paypal-verified or moneybookers. Sad news is it's fastidious (you have to buy this videogame currency, then buy full BTC (by full I mean, 1, 2, 10 etc. Not 1.2 or 1.9 or 9.9), and then you have this up-to-48hours delay to actually have the BTC sent to you), but it appeals "safeness"-if that means anything!
Now keep it mind those 2 solutions aren't the most anonymous of them all -but there isn't anything morally wrong or illegal in buying BTC, so you'll be just fine :)
-
Hi,
I think the fee of 150$ is very low because the maintenance to keep this site running cost also time and money.
I advice at least minimum of $ 400 a $ 500 investment to keep the silkroad transactions fee low (6.25%) and keep the scammers away :).
This my opinion about this topic.
Greets DutchShop,
-
Silk Road is about making a profit. Nothing else. All you have to do is read his post on transaction fees to realize this. There is nothing philanthropic or altruistic about him. He is getting very rich off you and wants more. Its not about scam prevention even though there are detractors who actually belief that bullshit, as there has never been a huge scamer problem. Some have tried, yes, but escrow stopped them as designed.. That is an excuse, a contrivance or knee-jerk overblown reaction to an e-threat. He gave you a problem, then the solution to that problem. Perfect fit - for his wallet. Also, by selling accounts for high fees, he is intentionally limiting the number of sellers and their pricing so there is less competition and more fees per transaction. Less sellers = less competition = higher prices = higher fees per transaction even though the percentage is the same. He really should run for elected office somewhere because he has the system down pat ... SR is also a seller himself, and probably under multiple seller names, so almost every decision made is for the SR's and sellers benefit.
As to SR's expenses, its very minimal. $99-$199 a month for a dedicated server or two, his two new staff members wages, plus the cost of internet access to access the server (unless he is using netzero or free wifi). That is if he isnt using a home server/cluster, then the upfront costs are more but the long term costs are alot less.
This is how business works. If you want to play the SR game, you pay through your nose. If not, then dont use SR. Pretty simple really. It's a niche market.
You can save money by going outside of escrow and combine multiple orders for delivery to save money, but usually buyers want that savings passed on to them for taking the greater risk.
If you doubt my words go take a look at the transaction numbers from your last order, then multiply the number of transactions by the smallest SR profit of each sale and you will have a minimum transaction fee profit that is in reality much higher. Then take the number of sellers over 10,000 acct numbers, multiplying that by $150.00 seller account price.
As a businessman, I applaud the SR model.
As a human, I deplore the financial rape.
In the end, its a personal choice and you are personally responsibility for yourself and your actions.
No one is forcing anyone to participate.
All that said, I love The Silk Road. I love my buyers and I love my sellers. And I love SR himself for what he has pulled off here. I just hope that eventually we get more sellers to add some REAL competition and so SR get more tx fees so he isnt so fucking greedy.