Because of the positive feedback I received on my "Confessions of", I decided to write a second story, a more practical and light-hearted way to look at things. I'm not the depressed wreck my first post made it seem like. At least not always.
#### Intro: "Everyday I'm hustlin' " by Rick Ross
Who the fuck you think you fuckin' with, I'm the fuckin' boss
Seven forty-five, white on white that's fuckin' Ross
I cut 'em wide, I cut 'em long, I cut 'em fat (What)
I keep 'em comin' back (What), we keep 'em comin' back
I'm in the distribution, I'm like Atlantic
I got them motherfuckers flyin' 'cross the Atlantic
Mo' cars, mo' hoes, mo' clothes, mo blows
I touch work like I'm convertible Burt
I got distribution so I'm convertin' the work
In the M-I-A-YO them niggaz rich off yayo
Steady slangin' yayo, my Chevy bangin' heyo
Everyday I'm hustlin'
Everyday I'm hustlin’
Hi, I'm a hustler. :D I love that song, it's hilarious. But seriously now: I'm a "dealer", both offline and online. Not the guy that's trying to get your kids hooked, not the guy that's cutting whatever he sells with caffeine or any other white powder he gets his hands on to scrape together a profit. Let's say I'm more into wholesale. Not the actual producer or importer either, but about a level below that.
How did I get this far? I've always been a user. As early as at the age of 13, I was actively searching for dealers for whatever I was then reading about on Erowid, Tripreport, newsgroups, etc. I was obsessed, I still don't fully understand why. But being who I was at the time, I learned a lot about drugs, dealers and life in general. While my friends were getting their first touch at a boob, or trying alcohol behind school walls, I was experimenting with weed, dxm, xtc, and anything else I could get my hands on. Money was very much an issue back then. I did some things I'm not proud of, but I usually got whatever substance I wanted pretty easily.
Once you're "in the club", it's like other users sense you're one of them. Somehow, whenever I meet new people, it takes less than a few hours to know who is using what and, more importantly, who has what right now. Users have a radar for other users. Note that I always say users, because at this stage, dealers are users and vice versa. This changes quite a bit when you go higher up the foodchain.
During my school career, my knowledge of the "other side of the economy" steadily increased. A few times I got caught, but being underaged, without any consequences. Now I'm mid-thirties, doing what I've always done, and sometimes thinking I need to quit before something bad happens. But it's not easy to quit doing what you love most.
It's not just the money. I mean, I like money just as everyone else. But what I'm really proud of is my connections. Apart from heavy artillery and fighter jets, and given enough cash, I could buy anything. And that makes me feel awesome!
I'm sure that our federal police would consider my smartphone the catch of the month. Yet, luckily, they have no idea.
I'm a connector. I establish links between people, more than I act as a middle man. People who have been introduced to each other by me, have an instant trust on which to build further doing business. And that's just on the internet. The people I deal with in real life trust me like they trust their mom. That's a reputation you get over time. I believe much of it can be attributed to me being a normal guy. I'm a user, like most of them, but I'm completely functional. I have a regular - even respectable - job, a family, a house I'm still paying for. Not a hysterical degenerate junkie like you see in the movies. Well, not only in the movies: I know plenty of junkies that I wouldn't trust with a bucket of water if my pants were on fire. Trying to sell me crap, not paying back loans, lying about money: you don't get second chances in this world.
This has changed a lot when dark markets became popular. While there's a lot of scamming going on, it should be easy to avoid if you're on a reputable market and use escrow. If a new vendor asks for FE, watch out. Logical thinking.
Technical anonymity is overrated. Tor/VPN/i2p/anonymizers... When I started my little business, I just had a plain old gmail-address and a prepaid cellphone. Main issue is looking like a normal guy working for the man. Don't quit your job and drive around all day in a gold-plated Maserati sniffing coke off hookers asses. That kind of stuff. Be normal. (I must admit, however, that sniffing coke off hookers asses can be a very rewarding experience. Just don't tell everybody.)
I soon added PGP encryption to the mix, that's basic stuff. Tor means nothing because of the exit node sniffers. Anyone can set up a malicious exit node in minutes, imagine what subsidized police departments could do. Latest, and most promising technology is i2p. Especially for high traffic dark markets, this is the future. Some of the more advanced markets have already migrated and the i2p userbase is exponentially increasing. Anyone interested to actually buy on a dark market and do so anonymously should check it out.
I’m always prepared to answer questions, so feel free to ask away in the comments. I'll be reading ;) And I might even answer in a third instalment of the series, lol. Anyway, thanks to 
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The author of this post has asked to remain anonymous. As such all details relating to my source will remain confidential.