Founded in the second half of 2021, Ares is already a medium-sized darknet market that seems to be built from scratch, using a unique site design that is somewhat refreshing (as it utilizes a “dark mode” theme by default). It boasts over 7,200 listings and claims to have 160 vendors, and 14,000 members overall. It currently maintains 10 market mirrors and features a traditional, exceptionally easy captcha system. Registering for the market is also a breeze, requiring only entry of a username and password to get started.
Ares Market link – http://sn2sfdqay6cxztroslaxa36covrhoowe6a5xug6wlm6ek7nmeiujgvad.onion
Ares employs rather strict, no-nonsense rules when vetting vendors: they must have at least a 2-year prior history as a vendor on other markets, a 95% or better positive feedback rate, and a minimum total of 500 completed sales. They do this by checking each vendor against the database kept by Recon, the darknet market search engine. This serves to keep the riff-raff out of Ares and helps the buyer’s chances of completing their order when making a purchase. In this sense, it is a buyer-oriented market, though it does recognize Featured Vendors. It also displays most recent purchases and feedbacks left by buyers.
Product Selection
The listings categories and subcategories on Ares are plentiful and conveniently displayed in alphabetical order in the left panel of the main market page. This makes the browsing experience incredibly convenient. There are none of the usual item filters, but the market still retains the traditional search feature. While about half the market’s listings are for the same digital items that you’ll find just about anywhere (e-books, guides, tutorials, etc.), Ares does feature a rather large selection of drugs listings split into slightly over 30 different subcategories. As with most darknet markets, the Cannabis-related categories are the most popular on Ares.
Payment Methods
Ares utilizes a wallet-less, per-order escrow system (referred to as Direct Pay), meaning buyers needn’t pre-fund an account balance before making a purchase. Instead, funds are sent to a designated address upon placement of each order and held by the market until it is marked as finalized by the buyer. While the most successful vendors are afforded FE status, we didn’t find many who had been on the market for long enough to gain this award. Ares supports both BTC and XMR as payment options. They buyer only need configure a refund address before placing an order.
Ares Pros
- Large assortment of listings that are easy to browse.
- Wallet-less escrow system (Direct Pay).
- Strict vetting process for vendors.
- Supports XMR.
Ares Cons
- PGP encryption is not forced or even required.
- No BTC multisig or advanced payment options.
- Slim selection of vendors.
- Majority of listings are for generic digital items.
Ares Market url – http://sn2sfdqay6cxztroslaxa36covrhoowe6a5xug6wlm6ek7nmeiujgvad.onion
In all, Ares appears to be a unique, well-designed market that contains a lot of the basic features that darknet market users have come to expect in 2022. We appreciate the fact that they do not use the traditional user account system for deposits and support XMR as a payment option. It’s also great that they perform such heavy vetting of vendors. On the other hand, this is not a market for noobs hoping to escape having to learn PGP encryption, even though it can technically be done here. We recommend all users PGP encrypt all communications when using Ares and always respect the basic principles of OpSec.
Ares Market rules for vendors
- All members are expected to behave in a respectful manner to each other.
- Any form of DOX will result in a straight and permanent ban.
- Child pornography is stricly prohibited and will result in a direct ban.
- Being rude or unrespectful towards any Ares staff member may result in ban.
- Ares will end your vendor account if we suspect any form of scamming.
- Sharing contact details on your vendor profile will result in a immediate ban.
- Outside deals are also prohibited and will result in a direct ban.
- You agree to make clean and well formatted listings.
- You agree to only use original pictures of your own products.
- You agree to not share contact details through private messages.
- You agree to not impersonate another vendor and or member.
- You agree to not spam members their inbox.
- You agree to not threaten or insult any member including staff.
Please do not apply if you have anything less than 2 years experience, that can’t be verified.
And at least 95% or higher positive feedback and a total of at least 500 sales.
We will double check all Vendor waiver applications using the Recon database,
and will also double check the PGP to ensure nobody is impersonating another vendor.
Ares Market rules for buyers :
- All members are expected to behave in a respectful manner to each other.
- Any form of DOX will result in a straight and permanent ban.
- Child pornography is stricly prohibited and will result in a direct ban.
- Being rude or unrespectful towards any Ares staff member may result in ban.
- Ares will ban your buyer account if we suspect any form of scamming.
- Outside deals are also prohibited and will result in a direct ban.
- You agree to not impersonate another vendor and or member.
- You agree to not spam members their inbox.
- You agree to not threaten or insult any member including staff.
Ares Market Message Inbox Rules :
- The use of the Message Inbox is not intented for promoting.
- Sharing of contact details through the Message Inbox is strictly forbidden.
- The Message Inbox is intented for contact between Customers and Vendors.
- We have 100 accounts set up to catch Customers and Vendors in breach of any rules.
