I started ordering weed online in 2010, when I discovered a certain Dutchman called Adam Flowers (RIP) was williing to send it in the post. After a while of using him exclusively, I stumbled upon a now-infamous Gawker article on this 'Silk Road' phenomenon and had to investigate further. I remember the old days, before the news exposure, when it was just techno-junkies serving other techno-junkies and the service was good. I remember the utter shock and loss of communal innocence that tony76 caused, I remember the furore over the sales of weapons over SR, I remember getting the magnets and hammers out when the feds seized SR's server, I remember plotting to kill that Czech bastard from Sheepmarket, I remember laughing at the idiots who used Evo because their admins were carders even as they laughed at me for using Agora because it was clearly a honeypot, I remember the utter hilarity of SR2.
Now, with Abraxas gone, Agora on what will inevitably turn out to be a permanent hiatus, all other markets being run by either idiots, fraudsters or both and almost every single major cannabis vendor in my area (not the USA) being either a ripoff merchant or a selective scammer, I think I'm going to go back to sourcing my weed from my local grower for the first time in a very long time. I've lost over $1000 in the last 6 months alone, in the 4.5 years before that my running total was about $200 and that includes $100 that I stupidly left sitting in Sheep. The brutal truth of the matter is that my personal confidence in the system that we've built for ourselves here has collapsed. Escrow means absolutely nothing as market admins are proven thieves, vendor rep means absolutely nothing as it's easy to drum up to 100+ sales to build confidence then start requiring FE as escrow is worthless then run off with a five-figure sum of money. Us buyers get screwed on both counts. For me anyway, it is now easier to simply make a phonecall and receive weed to my doorstep from someone I have known for years within 24 hours.
It was fun while it lasted, and I have no regrets. Good luck to all of you.
Congratulations on both finding a reliable connection on weed and only losing $1000.