How Independent Vendor Shops Operate on the Dark Web

Independent vendor shops are typically built as single-operator onion services. Unlike darknet marketplaces, they do not rely on shared escrow systems, dispute mechanisms, or centralized moderation.

From a technical standpoint, these shops often use:

Custom onion service deployments

Lightweight storefront frameworks

Direct PGP-based communication

This infrastructure reduces dependency on large platforms but increases exposure to phishing, impersonation, and operational failure.

Technical and investigative overview:
https://torbbb.com/independent-vendor-shops/