Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: antigrid on July 20, 2012, 09:06 am

Title: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: antigrid on July 20, 2012, 09:06 am
I am having trouble getting my first customer(s) as a vendor and I am trying to figure out why. I have a separate username (for the forum) for my vendor profile, but using this one because I like to keep things separate. Anyways, I am trying to figure out why I haven't even gotten one order yet. I am selling adderall, which based on other vendors, seems to sell quite well. I have lowered my prices to be competitive and to allow me to establish myself as a worthy vendor. I have been watching other listings closely of the same / similar product and cannot figure out why no one has purchased from me yet.

I have posted threads in "Products offered", I am offering free shipping, and obviously not asking / requiring anyone to finalize early so I can't figure out if there is something I am missing, or if it is just slow right now. I have my listings listed in the "Adderall" category, which is where most of the other adderall vendors have theirs, so that is not the issue. Any suggestions / input would be appreciated. I took my time getting setup so that I am able to offer the best service possible, as I was told to expect a lot of orders and wanted to be able to gie everybody the service they deserve, but so far nothing.

The confusing thing is that there are a few other brand new vendors selling the same thing and they have been able to get orders, actually one of them, somethingunique, is already almost sold out. What could it be?
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: QwertAnon on July 20, 2012, 02:36 pm
taking a shot into the dark here but either your vendor account is in stealth mode or you didn't write anything on your vendor page or you want first time buyers to message you, which could be interpreted as "people with 0 buys" or "people with 0 buys from me" and might confuse potential clients.

anyway, gl
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: Jello on July 20, 2012, 11:13 pm
Give out 5-10 samples. Sell them to established buyers and trusted forum members. Once you have a review thread and people see you're legit you should start getting more customers. It takes a few months though for things to speed up, just establish yourself as a trusted vendor and be patient =). Good luck. ;)
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: 20DollarBILL on July 20, 2012, 11:58 pm
I offered to double the orders of my first five customers. I am happy with how that worked out for me.

I also made a thread on here stating what I had for sale and alot of people asked me questions, most of them ended up buying from me too.
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: Creamsicle on July 21, 2012, 01:16 am
I still have yet to break the ice with my first customer. Does anything seem confusing on listings or profile page (link in signature)?
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: 20DollarBILL on July 21, 2012, 01:24 am
I still have yet to break the ice with my first customer. Does anything seem confusing on listings or profile page (link in signature)?

I second that you may have posted your link incorrectly. This is what I saw when I followed the link.

has been a member for 42 years
was last seen: 42 years ago
has 0% positive feedback

Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: Angelina on July 21, 2012, 01:28 am
I still have yet to break the ice with my first customer. Does anything seem confusing on listings or profile page (link in signature)?

I second that you may have posted your link incorrectly. This is what I saw when I followed the link.

has been a member for 42 years
was last seen: 42 years ago
has 0% positive feedback


Oldest new seller the site has ever seen!
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: RxKing on July 21, 2012, 05:32 am
The worst thing you can do is give free samples. They are not buyers. And there reviews won't do shit.

Think in terms of running this like a legit business. You need to advertise. You need people to know you are selling and that you have your shit straight and will get them what they want as fast as possible.

I think what works best is offering  customers free pills. You get legit buyers and they get hooked up. So much so that they will take a chance on you.

Also you said you lowered your prices...Why didn't you just start low in the first place? You are trying to get customers to use you instead of the other vendors. They need a reason. Price is #1.(as of right now for you, it won't be in the future). They need a reason to switch to you. You need to make sure your vendor page is in order.

From what you said you sell Adderall, so I will use that as my example.

Lets say you have 20mg IR, barr brand, orange pills. Say the average price on SR is $14.00 a pill. You should sell for $10. Then offer something like if you buy 10 you get 5 free. Charge for shipping. Explain on your vendor page that you will ship same day as purchased if before a certain time.... say 4pm EST. Make sure your shipping prices are fair. By fair I mean the exact price that it cost you. Make sure  to state your packages will be stealth and they will get their pills not broken. You need to convince the buyers you know your shit and you will take care of them. You also need to know your shit and actually take care of them.

You need to put up "adds" in the forums section for product offers. Don't spam but at the same time, you need to make sure people know you exist. Also make sure your vendor page is a full description of everything you offer and all your policy's, how you ship, where you ship to, I mean everything.

Make a post introducing yourself. Make sure all your post are in the right forums.

I do not understand why you wouldn't use the same name on both the forums and on SR. I don't know what the benefit of keeping them separate. I think that is a dumb idea. You should tell people what your "other" name is. Or you need to just have 1 name in both spots.

Bottom line is you need to get the word out there and you need to be on top of your shit. It is not easy. In fact there are tons of things I am not even bringing up. Being a vendor is a lot of work. Especially in the beginning.

SR needs more great vendors. By great I mean vendors that ship their products as fast as they can, that understand how to package and to make sure your package gets there without anything being broken. That you respond to messages fast. And that you have exactly what you state you have. The bottom line is all people care about is getting what they want as fast as they can.

 And I think you being new you should be available 24/7 basically. You should return all messages within 15 minutes. If you can't be online a lot, then put on your vendor page the hours you are online. So they know when you are available.

And most important is staying good. You should only get better as a vendor. Not worse. There are plenty of posts from vendors telling about our mistakes. Read them and try to learn from them so you don't make the same ones.

 Just be honest to buyers, do what you say you are going to. Don't let an order sit there. Don't mark in transit when it is still at your house.

And don't take any shit. There are a lot of scumbags. But there are a lot of great buyers. More then enough for you to sell all of your product.

Just do your homework and be smart.

Good Luck, I hope you make it!
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: 20DollarBILL on July 21, 2012, 05:38 am
I like the post RxKing
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: Smiletabs on July 21, 2012, 06:19 am
First I recommend reading the buyers guide located inside SR. Then set up your profile page explaining some information about what you sell our your priorities and shipping policies. Make sure you know how to use and setup your public PGP key on your profile page so that customers can encrypt their address and you can decrypt it easily. Along with sometimes talking through SR email like this. I myself did not give out samples it did take awhile to get started. What I did was I started small offering 1 pill, or 5 packs for low cost. The reason is you are on the last page and need to build up on the list with steady good feedback. Make sure you get your packaging in order. I'm out!
Title: Re: Getting first customers as a new vendor, need advice
Post by: 20DollarBILL on July 22, 2012, 06:00 pm
You probably should have fixed that link by now and posted it in this thread. Maybe also posted it in your signature. I am sure you could have had a few people over to your page by now if you would have those up and running correctly. If you put it in your signature every time you post something on the boards, your link is right there. Pretty much free advertising and the community gets to know your name at the same time.

I think that makes sense....