The online black marketplace was launched in or before 2006 as Adamflowers.[2][3] The site connected and mediated transactions for buyers and sellers of illicit substances through extensive use of Hushmail, an encrypted email service promoted as private and anonymous.[1][2] It moved operations to a hidden site on the Tor network in 2010, changed its name to The Farmer's Market, and greatly expanded its services to offer not just a venue for transactions but also customer service features more common to traditional eCommerce, such as guaranteed shipment and merchant screening.[1][4] Ars Technica described it as "like an Amazon for consumers of controlled substances."[5]