This Ares Market review will be an all-inclusive discussion about the market. That would include its products, payments, wallet-modes, security, vendor policies and everything in between.
You’ll find an “overall rating” for every single section on this Ares market review, which is a rating for that specific feature.
Before we proceed, I’d urge you to read the disclaimer in the next section. And if you are new to darknet markets world, first read article on how to access dark web markets.
Legal & financial disclaimer
Do not buy/sell on Ares market. Some products may be illegal, or illegally acquired. We haven’t verified the legitimacy of the market, or its sellers.
Any and all your actions, including financial profits and losses due to scams will solely and exclusively be your own responsibility.
This Ares market review is purely for educational purposes. No practical use is encouraged or supported.
Ares Market review- A summary
It is one of the newest markets in the industry and was launched in the second half of 2021.
- Onion URL: http://sn2sfdqay6cxztroslaxa36covrhoowe6a5xug6wlm6ek7nmeiujgvad.onion
- Wallet-less
- Supports BTC and XMR
- $499.00 vendor bond
- 2-FA available
- Around 500 listings
- No login phrase
- No security PIN.
Ares Market Mirrors
- http://sn2sfdqay6cxztroslaxa36covrhoowe6a5xug6wlm6ek7nmeiujgvad.onion
- http://bj6b5mers333ubzkiqla3majrifv5fzuznjmhbivwjdqt7q7ckyhykad.onion
- http://gtlohc26hgbbmdrj7lvu2qyspzdoiludz2yestoktbqqeifxr3eusqad.onion
- http://liwkxe47gb2hhypbazusz6i4xsayv4nnkqceum2b25iyqbpacfhjlrqd.onion
- http://a6bw363hqds6j3tclfgxnuvehpjo7fw3vrwkmvskcfslw523bwatz5id.onion
- http://3k6wsobkhrtrs5ehxxjvu465xnr3xjxcxvwq22w3zdjra2kj4jxyg5id.onion
- http://jkr5y2gnmchmjugkibke2nrjco7tazf6i5ny5xxujonfpfrz4hmwjeid.onion
- http://vcmfsm7mubypuqr3tfjps5j5vn5zoqrjlzldmgvvkip76cepr3kakmad.onion
- http://a5kanymo53imclmmw4bgfkbm7pqksnnosqj5cud2sftpcgd26oko74yd.onion
- http://rj25tf2yep6ggxj5zc7cdb7nah3j6dhxxvvmfyipra43wmasjorafpyd.onion
User-Interface
Overall rating: 4/5
The UI at Ares Market isn’t anything new, impressive or “never before”. Which, in this case, is a good thing.
If you’ve been on any other darknet market previously, you’ll actually be comfortable and know your way around things.
There’s the bar at top with all the links to different sections on the market:
Then there’s a simple text-based search bar.
Again, as expected, the product-categories can be found on the left-sidebar. However, the one unique aspect is its openness. Meaning, every product category and its sub-categories are out there as a single list.
You don’t have to click or go to different pages to view the sub-categories.
If we talk of the listing interface, it’s not as impressive as we’d like it to be.
It does display the price, escrow type and accepted Cryptocurrencies.
However, it doesn’t display stats about a product’s sale numbers, the vendors level/sales or other such info. For that data, you’ll have to check each product’s listing page individually.
Products
Overall rating: 4/5
The market today has less than 500 individual products. That’s not impressive, sure. But then, the market is literally weeks old. Hence, let’s not judge it by the numbers.
If we look at the “categories”, we’ll know what is and probably will be available in the future.
As mentioned earlier, the list seems longer because it’s not broken down.
Anyway, the market seems to sell everything this includes:
- Drugs: Almost all types of drugs including Cocaine, Dissociatives, Ecstasy, Meth, Pharma and so on.
- Electronics: These offer devices, gadgets, and sometimes even e-books.
- Digital goods: E-books, software, exploits, tutorials etc. can be found here.
- Jewellery
- Fraud: Sells items such as dumps, cards, login data, account information and so on.
Products Restrictions
An easy way to define available products is to see what’s “not” available, right?
Basically, everything else that’s not on the restriction list is allowed. The only restriction on Ares Market is “Illegal porn”.
Literally, almost everything else is allowed if its official rules page is to be believed.
Security features
Overall rating: 3/5
Being a darknet market, security is of utmost importance, isn’t it?
I liked the fact that just after registration the market offered me a mnemonic code. It can be used to recover my account lest I lose access. This is the master key which is a major relief.
After that, it recommends setting up 2-FA. This can be done using PGP.
The reason I rated it 3/5 for security is because it’s missing a few of my favourite features.
For starters, there’s no login phrase. That means scammers can create fake phishing links and lure innocent users into leaking their login data.
Similarly, the security PIN too is missing. This one’s more serious as it helps prevent withdrawals and even major security changes.
Now, I’m being lenient because it’s a very new market. There’s hope that these features may get included in the future.
Wallet modes
Overall rating: 5/5
This is probably the happiest, most impressive feature on this Ares Market review.
It’s a wallet-less market. Meaning, accounts do not have “wallets”. Users do not have to deposit funds to wallets.
Rather, on each checkout page, it displays an independent address for that specific order.
Users can send funds directly to this address from any and all external wallets.
The benefit isn’t just of convenience. Because there are no on-market wallets, the market can’t exit-scam.
Payment Cryptocurrencies
Overall rating: 5/5
Needless to say, Bitcoin is the default, most widely used Cryptocurrency on the planet, especially on dark web markets.
However, it’s not as anonymous as most take it to be. Then its fee and speed are to be considered as well.
Keeping all that in mind, Ares Market also supports Monero payments. This is comparatively more anonymous and secure than BTC.
Vendor policies
Overall ratings: 5/5
The rating is based primarily on how serious and tough it is to get a vendor account on Ares Market.
For starters, any independent seller can join Ares market as a seller after depositing $500 as a vendor bond.
Now, they do offer a waiver. Meaning, established vendors do get the vendor accounts for free.
However, it only offers the waiver to those with at least 2 years of prior verifiable experience.
On top of the vendor signup fee, there’s also a 4% commission/sale. This fee is reduced as the vendor levels up.
The vendor fee too can be paid both using Bitcoin and Monero.
Its vendor-transparency is impressive as well. I can click on any vendor’s username to get to his/her profile.
On this page, it shows:
- The vendor’s total sales
- Account creation date
- Vendor approval date
- Vendor level
- Won vs. Lost disputes
- Positive/negative/neutral feedback etc.
This helps judge a vendor’s legitimacy as it shows:
Escrow and F.E
Overall rating: 5/5
Ares market acts as an escrow for all and any trades unless the vendor is enabled for finalize-early and the buyer opts for it.
F.E too isn’t just made available for anyone. Only those vendors who’re at least level 5 get F.E privileges.
Getting to level 5 isn’t easy. It requires quite a few sales and trust-building and hence F.E by itself is a trust and legitimacy indicator.
Final verdict- Is Ares Market a good darknet market?
Certainly.
Its wallet-less mode massively boosts trust for the market. Then, it accepts two Cryptocurrencies and has decent security.
The vendor-policies are strict and isn’t open to just about anyone, reducing scammers. It’s pretty transparent with vendor-details as well, isn’t it?
The product-stock sure is disappointing for now, but, it’s just starting out.
The UI too isn’t complicated or hard to work with.
Now, if I’m being honest, I’ll certainly say Ares isn’t the best dark web market for now. On the flip side, it totally has the potential to claim the crown someday. With that, I’ll sign off this Ares market review for now.