Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: Obatala on February 09, 2012, 06:38 pm
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Hello. I am completely new to tor, bitcoins, and silk road. Basically, can someone help me out? I just wanna get to the basics. How can I get bitcoins so I can make a purchase hopefully without having to learn too much more about computers? lol :P Any orientation would be very much appreciated.
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There are several ways to exchange your money for bitcoins. Mt. Gox and Virwox are among the most popular. Just do some Googling around. You won't have to learn much about computers at all, but you'll have to do a little bit of math to decide which exchange works best for you.
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I just go through with the Moneypak method, any CVS store has them, just load it up with cash, but not a credit card or any sorts like that, just plain cash. Then just find a vendor who does trades for MP and BTC's. At times you'll have the money in your account right away, but when they're filled with several orders other then yours it may take a day, maybe two, they should have info and percentage rates that they charge on their silk road page. The top 3 vendors I believe are Sugar Mama, BTC Buddy, and BTC Pal. I just choose this method because I'm too lazy to go through other sites and getting wallets and bouncing things around or whatever you need to do haha.
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I just go through with the Moneypak method, any CVS store has them, just load it up with cash, but not a credit card or any sorts like that, just plain cash. Then just find a vendor who does trades for MP and BTC's. At times you'll have the money in your account right away, but when they're filled with several orders other then yours it may take a day, maybe two, they should have info and percentage rates that they charge on their silk road page. The top 3 vendors I believe are Sugar Mama, BTC Buddy, and BTC Pal. I just choose this method because I'm too lazy to go through other sites and getting wallets and bouncing things around or whatever you need to do haha.
Keep in mind that this is not only expensive but, dangerous. It's easy to get scammed because you bypass escrow. If you really feel that you need to do it this way because you want some very quick then do it at your own risk. But, don't do this on a regular basis. It's just too expensive.
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Oldtoker, your advice is much appreciated! i find myself in a similar boat to obatala.. have been keen to purchase on sr for some time but am finding all the technical stuff quite overwhelming. i'm no idiot but am not particularly computer savvy, and it's just taken me quite some time to get my head around this whole bitcoin thing. sadly living in aus it's not as simple as going into walmart and buying a card etc etc, as i've seen suggested to many ppl asking. i've finally found an aus-friendly site (http://www.spendbitcoins.com/buy/ - hopefully not dodgy??) to purchase them from, but i'm pretty confused as to what happens then?? where do you get both a bitcoin address and this wallet they speak of and where is the wallet kept, and how do i access it? and how do i then get my bitcoins into my sr account? also, once i add a product to my shopping cart (was just experimenting to see the process), where do i get the pin they ask for - (the link "what is my pin?" doesn't seem to work)? also, whilst reading the forums i keep seeing ppl referring to "pgp" and "gpg" encrypting for messages - do you need to be able to do these things if you're just purchasing and not asking sellers questions? and if so is there a VERY simple way of doing this without installing 10 different programs and having to link them in labyrinth-like ways?? and lastly - i think! - how does this escrow thing work? this isn't a standard process in aus like i have heard it is in america - when purchasing property and the such - so i'm not sure how to make my purchase "in escrow", and i've read as a first time buyer i may be asked to "finalize early", so how do i do that? sorry for the barrage of questions, i've truly spent hours trying to find these answers myself on the forums only to end up more confused than when i began! nobody seems to answer in a very simple way without skipping steps and making massive knowledge assumptions... judging by how many other newbies are asking similar questions it seems there is a need for an actual step-by-step quide to sr for dummies!!! many thanks in advance Oldtoker, i plan on becoming a regular and reliable sr user and i want to make sure i do things right from the start as reputation is everything in this world!