Most trustworthy exchange site?

[ldr77]

Be cautious if you are going to start out by doing a wire-transfer deposit into an exchange.
I wired $600 USD into BTC-E in June 2013 and $200 USD into Mt Gox in Dec 2013 and neither have confirmed the transfers, despite my bank doing traces and confirming they worked.
Depositing bitcoins into each has worked however and i've traded on them since without trouble.

An easy but expensive (compared to normal exchanges) is to buy bitcoins using paypal with virwox.
First you have to buy SLL (an online game currency) w/ fiat currency & then buy bitcoins w/ the SLL.
There are heavy fee's attached but it's a safe and easy way to start.

[bitmarket.io]

You can't trust anyone on this site.   TradeFortress was in the default trust here, and he managed to screw a shit ton of folks over.  Funny thing is, they still didn't remove him from the default trust.    Always use a very established escrow.  Do big deals in person.

This place is, as they say in IRC channels, a cesspool and will certainly become irrelevant as bitcoin becomes more mainstream and established.  Perhaps that's why theymos gave it the big fuck you and decided to keep the donations.

[crycurex.com]

I've always used Bitstamp.net, never had a problem.

Bitstamp is best for btc/usd trading, but if you would like to trade other alt-coins with usd ... there is lack of exchanges ... thats why my exchange will offer trading alt-coins with usd, but lots of "paper work" has to be done when I want to add Usd trading option.

[Sancho]

Well, I have since traded on coinmarket and have received money in my bank account from selling bitcoin - so I definitely recommend them!

https://coinbase.com/?r=52ccda4f9a0f329570000058&utm_campaign=user-referral&src=referral-link

There is a referral... you get a free 5 dollars in bitcoins when you make any sale over a hundred dollars if you use it. I accidentally used someone's referral link and was surprised by the 5 dollar bonus after my first over $100 sale.

[Sonny]

You may try localbitcoins, and find a cash trade near you.
Of course, you should meet the trader in a public area instead of an empty alley lol.