Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: DezNutzinyourmouth on January 10, 2013, 10:08 pm

Title: New Vendors
Post by: DezNutzinyourmouth on January 10, 2013, 10:08 pm
Anybody skeptical about using new vendors with no feedbacks.
Title: Re: New Vendors
Post by: Strickland Cocaine on January 10, 2013, 10:50 pm
Speaking as a new vendor and a silk road customer, just do your homework.

Message the vendor to get a feel for them. Don't FE early if you are not comfortable doing so. Do not risk too much money. Make a choice based on the risk vs. reward as you see it. Remember, SR takes $500 dollar bond from each new vendor. So if the vendor is offering low priced goods, it is not likely they are trying to scam because they would be losing money.

However, if the vendor is offering high priced items with no feedback and asking for FE, they may likely be a scammer. There is one guy on there, NOB, who has no sales, is offering products that range from 5-10k and has no feedback. I would STEER CLEAR of this guy.

To summarize, start small and think logically. Remember, someone has to pop a vendor's cherry ;)
Title: Re: New Vendors
Post by: dbz4u on January 11, 2013, 12:13 am
Speaking as a new vendor and a silk road customer, just do your homework.

Message the vendor to get a feel for them. Don't FE early if you are not comfortable doing so. Do not risk too much money. Make a choice based on the risk vs. reward as you see it. Remember, SR takes $500 dollar bond from each new vendor. So if the vendor is offering low priced goods, it is not likely they are trying to scam because they would be losing money.

However, if the vendor is offering high priced items with no feedback and asking for FE, they may likely be a scammer. There is one guy on there, NOB, who has no sales, is offering products that range from 5-10k and has no feedback. I would STEER CLEAR of this guy.

To summarize, start small and think logically. Remember, someone has to pop a vendor's cherry ;)

You can actually report any vendor that doesn't have 35 transactions and asks for FE. It's clearly stated in the vendor agreement that this is against the rules of silk road
Title: Re: New Vendors
Post by: GlassHouse on January 11, 2013, 01:28 am
Everyone has to start somewhere!  If you decide to give a new vendor a chance, contact them and get to know them a little.  Ask some questions.  Our first two clients got free upgraded shipping out of us when we first started, but we were happy to do it because they took a chance on us. 
Title: Re: New Vendors
Post by: Angel Eyes on January 11, 2013, 04:54 pm
For my part, I am setting up as a new vendor in the next few days and  I understand that reputation is everything on SR, and that many are wary of doing business with new vendors.  In that regard I will never ask buyers to finalize early, even once I've established my rep.  And if anyone you don't trust or doesn't have a large solid rep asks you to you should avoid them like the plague IMO.  I see that its not even permitted for new vendors to do so, which makes sense.  Whenever we enter a transaction both sides are taking some risk on.  The escrow option is there to reduce that risk so its best to always use it.  In fact, I might even say that, if you always use escrow as a buyer you are at less risk than the seller is, although you have to trust the seller with your physical address.

As @GlassHouse stated above, everyone does have to start somewhere.  And yes, its a great idea to  communicate with new vendors to get a feel for them. 
If a new vendor is trying to get you to part with a lot of money, seems shifty or skittish, or makes claims that sound dubious find someone else to do business with.

And remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is :).