As everyone knows right now, the markets hich we like to explore all share a common problem: unreliability. Whetehr it's Sheep pulling out and running off abruptly, BMR unable to operate despite Backopy's respectable work, and SR2 closed for the holiday's.
We're at a point that some may call "make or break" but it's clear the only future of DNM's and related trades are only going to get better, and more competitive. Scammers will always be around, everywhere some asshsole is waiting to manipulate vulnerable people while they sit in the Nigerian sunlight on westernunion.com.
Many vendors have gained a reputation, and this is a priceless development of trust with your clients - especially if you have some conversations here and there. Escrow WAS a privilege (and there is lots of space for it in the future), but it is now clear that the centralization of escrow on DNM's is a huge flaw.
For now, many people are doing private trades with vendors they trust (if you're worried about getting scammed from a high-rep vendor, just keep your cost per purchase low and f you lose, it's not the end of the world. The only other option of course is to abstain from your darknet goods).
I want to get sellers and buyer's opinions on this matter, and I believe a huge selling point for a marketplace would be having an escrowed transaction value (post-commission) locked with the private PGP keys of the buyer and the seller. That way, the market operators get their cut, but they have no large 'bank' to entice them to run off with our coins.
As a temporary fix, I think a structured forum based on PMs with PGP encryption would be a good, safe start. The only problem with this is that new vendors can't enter the market, as it will take a lot of persuasion to entice buyers to buy from a vendor with little or no feedback.
Any ideas to add or counter mine? Let's make some progress without dependency on centralized organizations.
I sent an invitation via pm to you to join the discussion on bungee54's forums that have been taking place concerning this idea.
I also quoted and linked youR thread there as well.
DC