I first landed on Nexus mirror back in January after my usual spot went down for what felt like the 100th time. A buddy on a forum DM’d me the new onion and said, “Stop whining, just try it.” I’d burned through three markets in four months, so honestly my bar was pretty low: just stay online long enough for me to finish a damn order. Six months later I’m still here, so that’s already a win in my book.
First Click & Onboarding
The captcha is annoying—nine little tiles of traffic lights that take two tries every time—but once you’re in, the layout is clean. Wallet setup was copy-paste standard: generate address, send coin, wait two confirms. I liked that they show the exact USD value in real time; saved me from that “did I just over-pay?” panic. PGP key upload worked on the first shot, no weird formatting errors like I’ve seen elsewhere. Total time from fresh account to ready-to-buy: about 12 minutes, and that includes me fumbling for my USB with keys on it.
Placing Orders – What Actually Works
Search filters stick. Sounds minor, but nothing pisses me off more than ticking “North America only” and still getting EU listings. Cart page shows final coin amount in both BTC and XMR; I swap to XMR anyway, but the double label keeps me from math mistakes at 2 a.m. The one pain point: the order confirmation page sometimes spins for 30-40 seconds before the “Order Placed” banner pops. First time I thought it crashed, hit refresh, and accidentally double-ordered. Vendor was cool and cancelled the duplicate, but lesson learned—wait the full minute before touching anything.
Vendor Quality & Stealth
I’ve run 14 orders through Nexus darknet so far—mostly green, couple nose-candy testers. Only one pack never landed (UK to US, flagged by customs). That vendor had 4.8/5 with 600 deals, so I chalk it up to bad luck, not scam. Every other pack arrived in 4-8 days domestic, longest was 12 from Germany. Stealth ranges from “decent” to “holy crap that’s clever.” One guy ships inside a fake electrical component; I almost tossed it in the trash. Communication is solid—most answer within 24 h, even the big fish. Two vendors sent photos of the actual product on scale before shipping when I asked; both times weight was .1 over.
Support & One Dispute
I had to open a dispute on order #7 because tracking showed “Delivered” but nothing hit my drop. Support replied in 36 h, asked for my PGP-signed message and a screenshot of the tracker. Three days later they ruled 50% refund, 50% vendor credit. Fair enough—I’d rather take half than eat the whole loss. Mods stayed polite, no “final decision, go away” attitude I’ve seen on older markets.
Pros and Cons – Quick Hit List
- Pros: Uptime has been 95%+ for six months, fast coin confirms, search filters that remember your settings, responsive mods, decent vendor pool.
- Cons: Order confirm lag, captcha hell, no in-house exchange (had to swap my own XMR), occasional 522 errors during heavy traffic.
Bottom Line
Nexus mirror isn’t perfect, but it’s the most reliable darknet mirror I’ve used since 2021. If you’re new, start small, read the vendor’s “Terms” tab (some require FE after 10 deals), and always encrypt your address—yes, even though the site allows “auto-encrypt.” Old heads will appreciate the uptime and the lack of drama. I’ve already moved my monthly budget here and retired my backup onions. Give it a spin, but don’t yolo your rent money on day one; let the market earn your trust like it earned mine.