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Sonanza Market Review

Sonanza Market - the first thing you're probably thinking is, 'What is a Sonanza?' Well, the word 'Sonanza' appears to originate from a Swedish contemporary music emsemble, so we can only assume the founders are a fan. It certainly sounds catchy. The market offers both physical goods such as drugs and counterfeits, fraud related items, and digital goods such as software and guides.

Disclaimer: By using Sonanza 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.

Sonanza Market key information:

Sonanza Market has a familiar layout that's pretty similar to many other markets out there, meaning it's easy for newcomers to navigate. It is possible to browse products on Sonanza Market without signing up for an account, although you won't be able to view more detailed information such as vendor profiles until you have signed up.

Registration / login process:
Registration is very simple. All you need to do is provide a username and password, then complete the simple captcha challenge. You'll then be given a mnemonic code (make sure you save this in case you ever forget your password), after which point your account is setup.

Sonanza Market Rules:
Nothing unusual about the rules. No sales of weapons, CP, terrorism activity etc. and dealing outside of the market via apps such as Telegram is also not allowed for the safety of buyers. We found quite a few vendors banned for violating terms of service, so clearly the admins at Sonanza have pretty low tolerance for real breakers and scammers. Always good to see.

The bond for new vendors is $200, but established vendors can apply for a bond waiver.

Searching for products:
In order to search for a product, you can either search by category name (listed on the left hand side of the home page), or enter in what you're looking for on the search bar at the top of every page. If your search term is the same or similar to a vendor name, the search will detect this and display vendor results instead.

Unfortunately there are no advanced search options, so you can't filter by the country of shipping origin for example, nor can search results be sorted in any way.

Results are displayed in grid format which contains key information such as a product photo, brief product description, vendor name, price (in both dollars and Monero), plus the vendor's level and escrow status. Unfortunately you can't see where a product ships from until you enter the individual listing. You'll also need to enter the listing to view any previous ratings against that product.

Product information:
Within the listing page for an individual product you'll find a nice large photo, a detailed description of the product, plus information about shipping, price, previous sales etc.

Below the description, you can also check out past reviews from other buyers. Each review allows a star rating of 1 to 5 to be given (1 being bad, 5 being excellent), alongside some feedback text to allow purchasers to comment on aspects of the transaction such as product quality, delivery time, stealth and communication.

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, highlighted in yellow). Here you can see how many total sales they have had, the total value of these sales (something very few markets show you) and view feedback from across their entire product range, and see their average review scores. You can also send the vendor a private message, or report them to the market staff if you believe they have broken market rules.

Making a purchase:
Decided what you want and want to make a purchase? Sonanza Market now offers walletless / direct pay, so you can either start by depsiting to your market wallet, or simply go direct to the checkout and deposit at the end. All payments are in Monero. If you wish to deposit to your wallet, start by going to your dashboard (click on your username in the top right of the page), then proceed to the wallet page and click 'Generate new XMR Wallet Address.'

> Before making a Monero deposit to the address shown, be sure you're not on a phishing site (check your onion link against those listed on Torhoo). If using the wallet, it is advisable to deposit slightly more than the quoted cost in case there is fluctuation in the Monero price between the time you make the deposit and the time it appears in your wallet.

Once the deposit is confirmed, you can proceed with a purchase. Select the item you want from the relevant product page, enter your address, then click 'Buy Now'.

When entering in your shipping details, we strongly recommend PGP encrypting yourself for maximum security. If you're not yet familar with PGP encryption, we have a detailed guide on how to use PGP. The vendor's PGP key can be easily located via their vendor page (click on their name in yellow from the product listing). You can opt for automatic encryption, but we never advise this as it places too much trust with the market.

You can check on any pending orders within your dashboard, and from here you can receipt orders which have arrived, leave a review, or raise a dispute. We always recommend messaging a vendor first before disputing any order (within the 14 day escrow window). The vast majority of vendors will try their best to resolve the situation with you in the first instance.

Conclusions on Sonanza Market:
Positives:
  • Clean and easy to navigate interface
  • Can browse products on the market without registering
  • Option of walletless pay
  • Admins seemingly active at clamping down on scammers and rule violators

  • Negatives:
  • Only shows prices in dollars
  • Lack of advanced search filters
  • Listings from inactive or banned vendors still show in results

  • Sonanza Market may not be the most feature rich market out there, but it does a good job of delivering the fundamentals and is one of the more beginner-friendly markets with its simple interface. It's already managed to attract a good number of established vendors from around the world and the admins appear very active at dealing with any issues that arise. The market has already seen a number of improvements since its original launch back in August 2022, so it's expected that it will continue to grow and improve over time. We think it's one to watch and certainly worth taking a look at.