Silk Road forums
Market => Rumor mill => Topic started by: jpisbetterthanme on March 01, 2012, 04:58 am
-
Here's The Thing. The Customer Appreciation Sale? Friggin' phenomenal. The best thing ever. I turned other people on to SR for it as I'm sure a lot of you did, and vendors mad TONS of sales. TONS!
As someone who Knows About Selling Shit from Non-Personal Experience (wink!), I know that it's not always a good thing to be selling for a discounted rate. But I also know about Loss Leaders. And for that reason alone, I think the sale was great for tons of vendors. Me And Mine got ripped off personally by one (ahem hybridmike ahem), but other than that there were dozens of successful transactions I am personally responsible for / can vouch for, plus all the Anonymous ones from you all in Internetland. And tons more people recruited. So it was a huge success! And all in all a GREAT idea! And perfectly timed too, as those of you like me who have been following the site since nearly the inception will vouch.
There was one thing I noticed personally, though, that was also verified by a lot of my friends I referred. Vendors almost seemed ... I don't know... Entitled? .. whatever, by the sale. So there were vendors who provided absolutely ATROCIOUS service and just said "don't complain you got the shit for cheap!!!!" and that is lame, not just to me but to all buyers, and it's embarrassing for the vendors as well.
See, the thing about a sale like this is that it's a FANTASTIC way to build your business - nearly all of those several-dozen vendors I can vouch for made repeat customers from my referrals alone - but it's also a FANTASTIC way to destroy your business. Hybridmike? Never going to make a dime on SR under that name. I sure do hope he comes through on his orders for my friends and all, but I doubt it and shame on him. But others? Going to make a killing.
And see, there's a basic principle of IRL dealing that almost seems to apply to SR more - it's *all* word of mouth. Hybridmike ran that sale, sure, but who's the cocaine guy if you're in the US? QUICK WHO IS IT? The first one you think of! It's Tetra! Of course!
... Why do you suppose that is? I've tried TV's shit, but I've tried other people's shit too and in many cases it's been way better but guess what? TV will respond to messages. He will probably even read this message. And, frankly, he is cool as shit - all the people I know of who have dealt with TV have been totally pleased and have recommended him highly enough that, guess what?, now when I tell people to sign up for SR for their ski, I send them right to TV. RIGHT TO HIM!
Think about that! I am thousands of miles away from TV but I will refer customers to him until .... Well .... He is outdone. And how will that happen? It will have to be someone who matches his extreme level of customer service (which is phenomenal - many people I've talked to call him a Friend after just one transaction) and also undercut his prices by a significant amount (how much savings would it take for you to leave your Friend..?). In other words, It's Not Gonna Happen!
There are tons of vendors who have that streak. And THAT, ladies and gents, is how you make money on SR. Hybridmike was a fucking moron (and if you're Hybridmike reading this from another name ...... YOU are a fucking moron) because of this. I saw something in another thread estimating HM's earnings over that Customer Appreciation Sale and subsequent days as around 10-15k in Pure Ripoff Profit but I honestly think it may have been double that amount. Nearly everyone I know spent 50 or more with HM. And there are tons of people on these forums talking about balls - think of how many others there are who haven't posted or who spent more or . . . etc. Point is, he may've made off with enough money to not only "fix his pipes" but to buy a new house.
So, uh, OOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Look at TV!
Seriously! Go look at TV's profile and look at what he's charging for his product! It is AWESOME, no doubt, but . . . He is making money. Clearly. Some people get a bad attitude and say "oh he's overcharging" or whatever horseshit but seriously? TV has a good connect. And he is passing that on to you. He is doing a service. SO SHUT UP! :-D
.... Kay. So there's that.
Now I'd like to talk about a vendor who is awesome, and that is DubG. DubG offered a free sample of GHB during the Customer Appreciation Sale, and that was a fantastic idea for him and for the community. As it turns out, in asking around I found out that pretty much everyone - including lots of hardcore HBangers I know - has no experience with GHB. I personally have very little and I consider myself the O-negative of Chipping. . . So that was fantastic! And I had many friends sign up just for this (sorry Dub)!
Shit went out and it went out in LUDICROUS amounts.
So here's where the positivity goes off for a minute - I asked Dub about the dosage and he gave it to me in mL instead of mg. I don't know what DubG's source is, but personally I've only known of G given in mg doses as salt/powder, and I figured his shit was given in diluted form in the vials he mailed out. We butted heads a little but it was because he and I were both hard-headed about our units (isn't that always the case lol) ... fact is, I suppose mL and mg are both ok for determining dosage, even though I was arguing that salts need to be dosed in mg because I am an inflexible geek.
Blahblahblah... Anyway, as I'm sure you all can imagine, he got a little miffed at me after a while of this. Note (both to the Community and to DubG, who is going to get this link sent to him ...) that I think this is *totally* understandable, and I'm sure he will too. As he explained to me, the sale resulted in TONS of people messaging him and whining about God-Knows-What-Bullshit-People-Whine-About. I did tell him that his 3mL or so of GHB may have KILLED ME, and I was totally joking, but that's hard to convey in text, especially when it's one message in a slew of two billion other messages with people SERIOUSLY bitching about things.
I approach everything with such a dry sense of humor that it borders on "this fucker is serious" - I recognize that, as do my very-very-very-small group of friends;) ... But that doesn't come across in messages! So DubG got a little pissed off and (as I'm sure he will admit) he got a little abrasive, which, again, is TOTALLY understandable, since he may have thought I was just being abrasive too (I was just trying to explain that GHB should be measured as a dry powder since it's a salt!).
Do you see how ridiculous this argument is yet? Cus I can go on!
Anyway fast forward a bit, I ended up telling him he should just take shit in stride and he apologized and said it was essentially because of the sale, and you know what? He's not alone. I'm posting this on the forums to get the word out about this to everyone in the community since I'm not sure everyone knows about it - that sale was ROUGH AS SHIT on just about EVERY vendor. So go easy on them! These are just normal dudes, you know! Anyone who checks DubG out a little bit is sure to see that. Shit, I'd hang out with him.
At the same time, I have a comment for fellow vendors . . . I said this to DubG and I'll say it here - just because you're offering a product for discounted rates (or free ..) doesn't mean you should sacrifice customer service. DubG was a dick to me. I'm sure he'll admit that if you asked, and I'm sure he'd be willing to say it was my fault, and assuming he didn't recognize my being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it totally was ... but still. He shouldn't have said what he did. Anyone who has worked retail customer service knows alllllllll-the-fuck about the smile-and-nod technique. Right? ... Seriously, right? If you know, you Know. If not, I can't explain.... Basically, as a vendor it is ALWAYS (read : A L W A Y S) in your best interest to simply take what your customer says and think about it. Customer says your packaging wasn't secret enough? Don't argue! It's pointless! It'll only get you both riled up! Instead, just think of better ways to do it, because guess what? It takes BALLS to say that sort of shit to a vendor.
And on that note, I'll end on this public apology: DubG, it took fucking balls of steel for me to say what I did to you on behalf of the community given your Free Sample, and even more so to maintain what I was saying! ... you know it did. You do.
But guess what? In the end you responded with class and dignity and I commend you for it. I'm going to refer everyone I know to you as long as they're looking for stuff you are selling, and I have no problem saying the same to the community. I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way and I hope this worked out as a positive experience for you.
It took balls for me to speak up about what I did, sure. But it took even bigger balls for you to step up and admit you were frazzled by that sale. I hope it doesn't detract from you offering something like you did in the future; I'm personally sure it will make you money (I've sent two people your way today alone) and if nothing else your karma points always rack up if you're willing to come to terms with someone . . . Kudos to you. Other vendors should take your example.
Also . . If you're in my neck of the woods, I'll buy you a beer ;)
-
Who is TV I looked at his profile 0% feedback nothing listed. Inactive user too.
-
Yeah Mike raped me on an ounce, all the sweet talking lube beforehand isn't helping how much my ass hurts right now :(
So kids....just remember, even if you have your favourite prostitute who is professional and polite...... dosent mean she isn't still a filthy whore that will steal your money if you fall asleep. ;)
PS- DubG IS the man, hooked me up with a small sample amount and even paid the postage I was short on. Definately a vendor who seems to be handling his business while also attentive to customer satisfaction. Thanks again Dub.
-
Who is TV I looked at his profile 0% feedback nothing listed. Inactive user too.
Sorry - TetraVort.
-
Hey jp, just so you know, you never got GHB from DubG. It's 1,4 Butanediol. Go check and see how he changed the listing if you don't believe me. There's a reason you thought GHB as a salt/powder, because that's how it is. 1,4B is metabolized into GHB after a few passes through the liver iirc. It's legal and it's used as a solvent and precursor to certain rubbers and such, which also explains the foul industrial solvent taste I'm sure you're familiar with. GHB takes like salt and nothing else.
I thought it was GHB too becuase I was inexperienced and either missed his disclaimer in the listing (the title said "pure GHB" or something similar...) or it was never there. It was a shady move regradless and I'm surprised he hasn't been called out on it (that I've seen). Initially I thought it was weird that the stuff would freeze at temps in like the 50's...I looked up some chem data on GHB and ended up discovering that 1,4B had all the characteristics of the liquid in the vials. And then what do you know, the listing went from "pure ghb" to "1,4B GHB substitute". There's some valid concern that 1,4B could be harmful to human health, it's not established and there are conflicting reports and studies, but be aware. Having since obtained real GHB I can say that it feels a lot cleaner and better in general. I'll keep the 1,4B for a rainy day but I kind of scowl every time I see it. I'm pretty weary of DubG, I mean everything else about the order was great except the deceptive (fraudulent?) advertising...
Bottom line: Caveat Emptor.
-
Hey jp, just so you know, you never got GHB from DubG. It's 1,4 Butanediol. Go check and see how he changed the listing if you don't believe me. There's a reason you thought GHB as a salt/powder, because that's how it is. 1,4B is metabolized into GHB after a few passes through the liver iirc. It's legal and it's used as a solvent and precursor to certain rubbers and such, which also explains the foul industrial solvent taste I'm sure you're familiar with. GHB takes like salt and nothing else.
I thought it was GHB too becuase I was inexperienced and either missed his disclaimer in the listing (the title said "pure GHB" or something similar...) or it was never there. It was a shady move regradless and I'm surprised he hasn't been called out on it (that I've seen). Initially I thought it was weird that the stuff would freeze at temps in like the 50's...I looked up some chem data on GHB and ended up discovering that 1,4B had all the characteristics of the liquid in the vials. And then what do you know, the listing went from "pure ghb" to "1,4B GHB substitute". There's some valid concern that 1,4B could be harmful to human health, it's not established and there are conflicting reports and studies, but be aware. Having since obtained real GHB I can say that it feels a lot cleaner and better in general. I'll keep the 1,4B for a rainy day but I kind of scowl every time I see it. I'm pretty weary of DubG, I mean everything else about the order was great except the deceptive (fraudulent?) advertising...
Bottom line: Caveat Emptor.
.... Point. I like to think DubG may have had the same issue (perhaps he was misinformed by his source) but it's only because I give people the benefit of the doubt. Dub . . . weigh in, please?
-
Hindsight is 20/20, right?
There were a couple of things I could of done better in regards to my "GHB" listing. But first I want to get on the record that I have been buying and using "GHB" since before it was illegal and since the time it became illegal everything that was sold to me as GHB most of the time was in fact 1,4b. My experience with this has been GHB & 1,4b as being synonymous. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just putting it out there as far as where I was coming from with this.
The first listings I put up where titled as follows (I can't tell you exactly because I edited the listing after some feedback from other users rather than make new ones): "99% pure GHB" I can't remember if I used asterik after the GHB or had 1,4b in parenthesis after GHB and in the title, but I know that it was one of those two. Then in the description I stated that this was in fact 1,4b that you body metabolizes into GHB blah blah blah. Was this misleading? Possibly, was it my intent to mislead buyers, absolutely not. As soon as it was pointed out to me that there could be some confusion I changed the listing to the what it is now, which is "1,4b 99% pure GHB Substitute"
Additionally ANYONE that bought product and contacted me voicing any type of concern over the listing not being clear enough I refunded the customer 100%, not partial even though if you read the listing close enough it did say it was 1,4b, I gave anyone that brought this up to me a 100% refund and they kept the product. If my intent was to mislead I would not be handing back 100% refunds to anyone that felt the listing wasn't clear. And I will continue to honor that policy provided the order was placed with the original, in question listing.
So in short:
Obviously the original listing wasn't clear because I received feedback to this, but the listing did say it was 1,4b. This was not left out, it was there in black and white. I changed the listing after receiving feedback.
It was never my intention to mislead anyone.
I have issued 100% refunds to anyone who felt it wasn't clear and will continue to honor this.
I am open to any suggestions if you feel there was a better way to handle this, I think I did the right thing.
thanks
DubG