“Relationship Between Vendor Popularity and Prices on Dark Web Marketplaces”, 2021-07-02 (; similar):
Illicit drugs take up by far the largest market share out of all categories of illicit items sold on the dark web marketplaces. With the rapid growth of darknet users over the last decade, and the notorious popularization of the Silk Road business model, drug vendors, both new and established, have been becoming adept in marketization of their goods. The cryptomarket platforms became reminiscent of traditional e-commerce websites, such as Amazon or eBay, with item descriptions, vendor ratings, reviews, and discounts.
There exists a gap of knowledge regarding the effects of vendor popularity on the price of drugs, created by the new “black e-commerce” business model. This research uses secondary forms of data analysis to discover if a relationship exists between vendor popularity and prices on dark web marketplaces.
[Keywords: drug trafficking, dark web marketplaces, analysis, drug vendors, drug pricing, vendor popularity]