Kingdom Market is fast becoming one of the largest and most trusted darknet markets, with a vast array of over 10,000 product listings from many established vendors all across the globe. It offers both physical products such as drugs and counterfeits, and digital products such as software and guides.
Disclaimer: By using Kingdom Market for any form of transaction, you may be committing an illegal act in your country. The information provided here is for educational and research purposes and is not intended to promote any illegal activity. Any actions you choose to take are 100% your own responsibility.
Kingdom Market was seized by German law enforcement on December 19 2023. The information here is for historic reference purposes.
The first challenge you'll need to overcome when visiting Kingdom Market is overcoming the captcha. It may seem daunting at first compared to other markets, but it's actually remarkably simple once you get used to it. Simply click each of the boxes in the order from 1 to 9. Some of the numbers may be displayed in text or roman numeral form. If you don't know your roman numerals, be sure to search for these on DuckDuckGo so you're ready. You will have 60 seconds to solve the captcha from the time it loads which should be more than adequate.
Once you're logged in, you'll be greeted with a home page which lays out all the key features you'd expect, in an easy to navigate layout that loosely resembles the original AlphaBay, and subsequent popular markets such as Empire Market. Once you get to grips with Kingdom Market however, you'll soon see it varies quite considerably from these.
The bond for new vendors comes in at €500 which is about average for a market of this size, and certainly considerable enough to deter scammers. It's not clear what the requirement is for a vendor bond waiver for established vendors. Escrow times are determined by the vendor and can vary from 4 to 14 days. Buyers do have an escrow extension option where they require it though. The most established vendors can benefit FE (Finalize Early) upon reaching 1,500 sales, meaning they get paid immediately and are not subject to escrow.
Results are displayed in list format which contains key information such as brief product description, vendor name, price (in local currency and all accepted cryptocurrencies) and level of stock. Unfortunately if you haven't filtered by shipping to / from country, you won't see this displayed here. And whilst you can see the number of sales quite clearly, you can't see the review ratings until you actually go into the listing. Out of stock products do show up as well, so you'll do well to keep an eye on this before clicking on a listing.
As well as details about a specific product, you can also view more information about a specific vendor by clicking on their name (near the top right of the listing). Here you can view feedback from across their entire product range. For some vendors, feedback is also shown from markets they currently or have previously vended on, including large markets such as ASAP, White House Market and Torrez. Vendors can also be added to favorites in the same way as listings.
Before making a cryptocurrency deposit, be sure you're not on a phishing site (check your onion link against those listed on Torhoo or another reputable source such as Dread), then send funds to the wallet address provided in the wallet section of your account. Once the deposit is confirmed, you can proceed with a purchase. Select the item you want from the relevant product page, choose a shipping option, then click 'Buy Now'. You need to check out each item individually, even when purchasing from the same vendor.
Next you will arrive at the checkout screen, where you will need to provide your address, alongside any other notes, as well as choosing which crypto you wish to pay in. The prices are all clearly displayed before you proceed, so no surprises.
Messages to vendors will not be encrypted, with Kingdom lacking the auto-encrypt option that is present on many other markets. That said, we strongly recommend that you always encrypt messages yourself rather than relying on any auto-encrypt function, which has left buyers vulnerable in the past. Reliance on auto-encrypt caused many buyers to be de-anonymised during the takeover of Hansa Market by law enforcement. If you're not yet familar with PGP encryption, we have a detailed guide on how to use PGP.
Once confirmed and submitted, the order will show in your 'orders' menu. When the vendor accepts, ships or cancels the order, it will be displayed here. A notification will be shown in this section whenever there is an update. Once your order has arrived, you can then mark it as received and leave feedback for the buyer. In the event of an issue, you have the option to extend the escrow window by up to 14 days, or as a last resort, you can raise a dispute which will then be reviewed by market staff. We always recommend messaging a vendor first before disputing any order however. The vast majority of vendors will try their best to resolve the situation with you in the first instance. Of course escrow protection is not available for FE listings, so only use these if you trust the vendor.
