Wow The REAL INternet .... Must SEE!!!.. EVERONE!!!... THE REALChart...July 17, 2016
This is part of the Internet that most user do not Know about...
Earlier this week, The Economist had extracted the data Gwen’s programs had gathered. Roughly 1.5 terabytes of information for around 360,000 sales spanning from Agora, Evolution, and Silk Road were analyzed. They realize that the data in fact may be flawed, as recent transactions may have been missed, they also excluded deals that were over seven days old at the time of the scrape.
“If the price was extremely high, they also ignored the page due to vendor holding prices for being low on product. Vendors may fake sales, or reviews. The volatile exchange rate between bitcoin and dollars means our conversions of prices are not completely accurate, yet the data still reveals a lot about the workings of a once-shadowy industry,” The Economist said.
The final total of all the deals made was around $50m. MDMA sold the most by sheer value. Pot is still the most popular single product at 38,000 sales. Prescription drugs are also very popular. The report found that a third of the sales didn’t belong to a single category, but this is due to names like Barney’s Farm, Gorilla Glue, and Pink Panther; which are known to be various strains of marijuana.
“Specialty” products can be found, including things like THC edibles that promise to be sourced from a reputable place for 13% more than those that are advertised as homemade. Cocaine that’s promised to come from no conflict zones at a pretty steep price compared to street values. A less expensive, less pure social cocaine is available at 5 to 25% lower, targeting buyers who want to show that they have expensive tastes but are on a budget.
The first thing noticed in the findings were that compared to the street prices, the prices on the markets are relatively high. Users can take the time and browse for bargain, but in most countries a gram of heroin off the street is half the price that it sells for online. Cocaine stands at about a 40% price increase.
Also found to be extremely high priced were any and all narcotics going into Australia. On average drugs are three to four times higher than the rest of the world. This is due to it being so remote in location, and its customs agents being able to secure they’re borders better. International markets however, offer the chance for shopping abroad. One could in theory, buy a gram of heroin for around $70 from the Netherlands. The same amount inside Australian borders is roughly $290.
Some of the reason is blamed on vendors having to calculate the cost of the pack being found by Law enforcement, as most vendors advertise a half refund, or to do as moderators instruct them to do. You also have to factor in certain things like shipping materials, the time going into securing your package from being noticed on its way to you, and how far away the vendor must go to drop the pack for shipping. With vendor complaints about losing out on gas, postage and shipping can up the prices of things as much as 28%.
The main reason for price increases seems to be that the quality of the drugs available online is far above the street grade drugs available in most areas.
“If you order from someone with thousands of reviews, your likely to get poison in place of your psychedelic,” one market user explained.
A online vendor who supplies sub-par product receives negative reviews on their profiles, and lose customers because of it.
One study, done by the Spanish organization, Energy Control asked to be sent samples of dark net drugs to test for quality. The study had shown that these drugs obtained from online markets were of impeccable quality. The average purity level for cocaine tested at an average of 71.6% compared to the street grade coke which tipped the scales at a whopping 48%. Over half of the samples tested contained nothing but cocaine, compared to only 14% of the ones bought on the street. Given these findings, its likely less expensive to buy online, than off the street.
Prices on the markets change drastically when browsing from substance to substance. Some of the difference is explained by where bitcoin sits in the supply chain. Access to the materials and tools to make synthetic LSD are easily obtainable in most places, and a vast majority of pot can be cultivated inside, but things such as cocaine and heroin are still having to be sourced from Latin America, and the Middle East. The sellers of these two products are likely to be middle, given their places of origin, which would account for the price increases as well.