Lately I've caught myself wondering about the life of vendors, and its fascinating. I've read virtually every quality thread I can find about vendors, but there's still thoughts that are unanswered. Here's a list of some questions, I'm very interested in what anybody has to say.
How many people around you know that you vend, if any? What's it like having to stay inconspicuous, how do you guarantee nobody finds out?
For those who run a team operation, how difficult is it to find trustworthy people, what hurdles do you come across when you decide you need to find outside assistance.
How much money do you make? (Profit)
Could you share any stories of moments that stand out to you as a vendor? close calls, interesting experiences, etc.
How difficult is it to convert BTC into income recognised as legitimate by your bank/tax office? Does your tax office conduct random audits and is that of any concern to you?
Do you sleep easy, or is there a constant stress/paranoia?
Do vendors swap stealth ideas? Or is it each to their own to develop custom stealth (or to what extent is there a mix between the two).
That's all I can think of for now, cheers.
If they're doing it right, darknet vendors should live very like eBay power sellers. They check their inventory and re-order when necessary. They handle customer complaints and custom requests. They keep attuned to what's going on by reading various forums to figure out what's hot and what's not in the Darknet world. They bitch about customer service on different platforms. Etc. Once you take away the drugs, bitcoins and sparkly sports jackets it really isn't all that different than any other work from home gig.
If you're losing sleep because you're worried about your operation, you are in the wrong line of work. Caution is a good thing. Paranoia and anxiety will lead you to make mistakes. And if your operation is so big that you need multiple people, you may want to consider scaling it back. Everybody who knows about your operation is a potential mole who can sell you down the river to get a traffic ticket reduced.
Nobody is going to tell you how much money they make or how they cash out for obvious reasons. Suffice it to say that you can make a comfortable living doing this and lots do.
How do you stay inconspicuous? Keeping your mouth shut is a good start: if you don't tell people you are dealing drugs, they'll never get a chance to brag about your operation. You may also want to try staying away from buying sports cars with bitcoins.