Ended CardReaderFactory Lancelot Group Purchase due to Seller Business Practice

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Outlining Goals:

I am currently organizing a group purchase for Lancelot, dual FPGA boards that are available through CardReaderFactory. For those uniformed with the Lancelot boards they generate around 380 MH/s mining Bitcoin and other SHA256 alt coins using roughly 30 watts of electricity. Here is the original thread created by ngzhang with release information: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79835.0 . These products have been rereleased and are currently available. The company selling them has tiered pricing as follows:

Quantity / Price

1+     / $350 each
10+   / $300 each
100+ / $275 each
500+ / $260 each

The goal for the group purchase is to hit at least 100 units to hit the $275 price point.

New for sale threads made by the manufacturer with information:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=187549.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=187634.0

Manufacturer's Website:
http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/lancelot.html

Copy:

Hello everybody!

My company, Black Arrow Software http://www.blackarrowsoftware.com, has just started manufacturing Lancelot FPGAs ( 380Mh/sec - 400Mh/sec ).

The Lancelot device was developed by ngzhang. Details in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79835.0

You can purchase it from our reseller's website: http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/lancelot.html

Price: $350 / pcs. Discounts available for more than 10 pcs.

A 10 Amperes power supply can power 4 devices. As you do not need 1 power supply for each device, we no longer include 1 power supply for each device so we can save on the shipping costs.  Please order the power supply separately.

30/04/2013: Stock update:
First batch ready. Will ship 2-4 May.
Second batch should be ready on 10 May.

30/04/2013: Performance update:
Due to limited availability of -3N  and -3 xilinx FPGA we will be using -2 chips too. We have tested them and have no impact in the performance of the boards (see picture below). If you really want -3 chips do let us know and we'll hold your order until we manage to get some -3 chips.

If you haven't place your order yet, please place your order online and do _not_ pay for it. We will send you a payment reminder as soon as they are in stock.

Payment: We accept Bitcoin (price in Bitcoins will be calculated when you've paid the order at mtgox's rate), Western Union and Bank Transfer.
Shipping: We are based in Shenzhen, local pickup available. We can also ship worldwide with DHL, UPS and EMS. Shipping price depends on the destination and package weight. Our website is configured to charge $70 flat fee but we'll update this as soon as we hear back from DHL/UPS.



Our lancelot without the cooler:



Fan is included. At the moment is quite big and we're looking into how improve this.

The default firmware is running at 200mhz. We've tried the v42b firmware but it's just reporting faster speeds and doing less work.

The power consumption is 30Watt / device.





Regards!

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How the Group Purchase Works:

Upon confirming interest in 100+ units each member of the group buy will be asked to send the amount of satoshis (.0000000x) equal to the amount of units they would like from an address that would contain the funding necessary to pay for the units. I would then need each person to post or PM the payment address they used so I can associate a name with the address. At the point 100 units are confirmed I will create a sales order with CardReaderFactory. Upon receiving payment instructions from blackarrow / CardReaderFactory I will request payment from members to the unique wallet address for the group buy. I would then need each member to PM me their shipping information. When the units arrive I will open the box, separate the units, box them, weigh them, and estimate shipping. I will then PM each member of the group purchase and coordinate shipping services and payment for the shipping with them. If any members are semi local (within a few hours) to me I will offer delivery of the units for the cost of gas, a sub sammich, and $10. I can also offer proxy mining services with $0.08 / kwh and 2% for anyone that may be unable to get their units running right away.

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Example of How This Will Work for Members of the Group Purchase:

1abcdefgpaymentaddress

1. A user is interested in 10 units. That user would sent .00000010 BTC to the payment address. Then they would either post that, "I sent the coins to the address from 1exampleaddress" or PM Beaflag VonRathburg that information directly so the payment can be coordinated with the user.

2. Beaflag VonRathburg will create a sales order with CardReaderFactory upon reaching 100+ units.

3. The user will send payment and shipping information through PM to Beaflag VonRathburg

4. Units will be paid for.

5. Units ship to Beaflag VonRathburg

6. Beaflag VonRathburg separates units into individual orders and contacts group purchase members to coordinate shipping / delivery.

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Current Confirmed Interest:

Beaflag VonRathburg                    = 01 Units (roughly)
detail3                                         = 06 Units
Zalfin                                           = 05 Units
Anonymous User 1                        = 40 Units
Anonymous User 2                         = 20 Units
LazyOtto                                       = 01 Unit
Bogart                                           = 10 Units
chanberg                                       = 04 Units
Anonymous User 3                          = 02 Units
Anonymous User 4                          = 01 Unit
Anonymous User 5                          = 20 Units
Anonymous User 6                          = 20 Units
chemicalbro                                    = 02 Units
DebitMe                                          = 08 Units
Cheshyr                                          = 01 Unit
tigerfree                                          = 01 Unit
ebildude123                                     = 01 Unit
Anonymous User 7                           = 10 Units
Anonymous User 8                           = 06 Units
fgkrew                                             = 04 Units

163/100 Confirmed Units (No longer accepting new orders)

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No longer accepting new orders. Please standby for payment details.

[1714918714]

1714918714

[1714918714]

1714918714

[imsaguy]

Recheck the dates.  The update on April 30 says they will ship on April 10.  So did they ship or not? When would this group buy ship?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Recheck the dates.  The update on April 30 says they will ship on April 10.  So did they ship or not? When would this group buy ship?

I noticed that as well and I think it is a typo and he meant to type May. Blackarrow created the thread April 25th to announce the availability of the product. CardReaderFactory's website states, "This product is currently out of stock; We will ship around 8/05/2013 but might ship sooner. Please place your order but do not pay! We will send you an email when they are in stock."

Which, means they should ship in a week.

[imsaguy]

Recheck the dates.  The update on April 30 says they will ship on April 10.  So did they ship or not? When would this group buy ship?

I noticed that as well and I think it is a typo and he meant to type May. Blackarrow created the thread April 25th to announce the availability of the product. CardReaderFactory's website states, "This product is currently out of stock; We will ship around 8/05/2013 but might ship sooner. Please place your order but do not pay! We will send you an email when they are in stock."

Which, means they should ship in a week.

What about escrow?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Recheck the dates.  The update on April 30 says they will ship on April 10.  So did they ship or not? When would this group buy ship?

I noticed that as well and I think it is a typo and he meant to type May. Blackarrow created the thread April 25th to announce the availability of the product. CardReaderFactory's website states, "This product is currently out of stock; We will ship around 8/05/2013 but might ship sooner. Please place your order but do not pay! We will send you an email when they are in stock."

Which, means they should ship in a week.

What about escrow?

I will accept all funds for the group purchase initially to prevent people from backing out and potentially causing a drop below 100 units. Blackarrow states that they will accept escrow for the boards. We as a group can decide on who we want to use for our escrow. I will send the BTC to a group confirmed escrow agent upon ordering the boards. When the boards arrive I will confirm the correct number of boards have arrived ONLY. I previously stated I will only be separating the boards for shipping, but if a member would want me to test their boards that could potentially be arranged.

[LazyOtto]

I will commit to one unit at the group buy price (100 unit discount) of $275.

Plus shipping, amount to be determined later by Beaflag. (I expect to pay a proportional share of the group/bulk shipment cost and then additionally the amount required to ship my unit.)

Looking forward to us hitting the group commitment of 100 units and Beaflag sending me a PM with address to send BTC. Quantity of BTC determined by MtGox valuation on that date.

--

Please correct me, Beaflag, if I've mis/poorly stated anything.

-- edit 1

I'm contracting/committing for the board, the 12 brass standoffs and the fan. As pictured.

-- edit 2 - Revised the 'edit 1' line for clarity.

[Bogart]

You can put me down for 10 units.

To be clear, I plan to resell zero or more of these at a profit once I have them in-hand.  I do hope that no one has a problem with this.  Anyone is free to join this GB themselves now to secure a lower price.

I may commit to additional units if funds allow.

[chanberg]

You can put me down for 4 boards

Danny

[Chemicalbro]

2 units if there's a trusted escrow as well as this company being legit. No previous feedback on these yet I believe.

[imsaguy]

I will accept all funds for the group purchase initially to prevent people from backing out and potentially causing a drop below 100 units. Blackarrow states that they will accept escrow for the boards. We as a group can decide on who we want to use for our escrow. I will send the BTC to a group confirmed escrow agent upon ordering the boards. When the boards arrive I will confirm the correct number of boards have arrived ONLY. I previously stated I will only be separating the boards for shipping, but if a member would want me to test their boards that could potentially be arranged.

When I asked about Escrow, I was more concerned about the company.  I've spoken with others that were interested in this and that was always their concern as well.  Where abouts are you located?  That will perhaps affect shipping time, no?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

The unit count has been updated and is extremely close to at least 100 units. I will accept orders over 100 for a short time as some people when it comes time to pay may not be able to pay for all or part of their order depending on price fluctuations.

--------------------------------------------

Recheck the dates.  The update on April 30 says they will ship on April 10.  So did they ship or not? When would this group buy ship?

I PMed blackarrow about that and he has fixed it.

30/04/2013: Stock update:
First batch ready. Will ship 2-4 May.
Second batch should be ready on 10 May.

--------------------------------------------

I will commit to one unit at the group buy price (100 unit discount) of $275.

Plus shipping, amount to be determined later by Beaflag. (I expect to pay a proportional share of the group/bulk shipment cost and then additionally the amount required to ship my unit.)

Looking forward to us hitting the group commitment of 100 units and Beaflag sending me a PM with address to send BTC. Quantity of BTC determined by MtGox valuation on that date.

--

Please correct me, Beaflag, if I've mis/poorly stated anything.

-- edit 1

I'm contracting/committing for the board, the 12 brass standoffs and the fan. As pictured.

-- edit 2 - Revised the 'edit 1' line for clarity.

You have that pretty much spot on. The only thing is that the boards do not come with the standoffs. The boards come with (from their site):

•1 x Lancelot, with standard cooling system (200Mhz Firmware)
•1 x CDROM (with necessary software, documents)
•1 x cable to connect to the power supply
•1 x USB cable

I've added you to the list.

--------------------------------------------

You can put me down for 10 units.

To be clear, I plan to resell zero or more of these at a profit once I have them in-hand.  I do hope that no one has a problem with this.  Anyone is free to join this GB themselves now to secure a lower price.

I may commit to additional units if funds allow.

I have no problem with that. I've added you to the list.

--------------------------------------------

You can put me down for 4 boards

Danny

Danny,

Your units have been added to the list.

--------------------------------------------

2 units if there's a trusted escrow as well as this company being legit. No previous feedback on these yet I believe.

I won't add you to the list yet. Please read my next reply below.

--------------------------------------------

When I asked about Escrow, I was more concerned about the company.  I've spoken with others that were interested in this and that was always their concern as well.  Where abouts are you located?  That will perhaps affect shipping time, no?

I am located in the United States. I've PMed blackarrow to clarify their escrow policy. If theirs is unacceptable I'm sure we can negotiate a third party escrow service.

--------------------------------------------

[jorgebuck]

2 units if there's a trusted escrow as well as this company being legit. No previous feedback on these yet I believe.

I'm in for 1 on this same condition, let me know

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

I'm leaving the house now and will respond to all PMs much later this evening / first few AM hours EST.

[Chemicalbro]

Sorta confused. You want people to pay you, then you pay escrow, then escrow to blackarrow? Why not buyers straight to escrow? Do you have a lot of rep? Not saying you don't, legit asking.

[sgrunger]

PM sent. Thanks!

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

All PMs responded to. We are currently over 100 units so the discount is confirmed. I am going to shut down the group purchase soon. Anyone that is on the fence please decided soon as I will stop accepting units for the group purchase and be placing an order for the units within the next day or so.

Sorta confused. You want people to pay you, then you pay escrow, then escrow to blackarrow? Why not buyers straight to escrow? Do you have a lot of rep? Not saying you don't, legit asking.

I'll not expand on it too much, but how the escrow will work is not 100% set at this moment. I am working that out with blackarrow currently.

I use this user name for all of my forum dealings and ebay account (on there, there's a _ between the two words). The best thing I can tell you is that if you have any problems with sending someone funds you shouldn't do it. You need to be personally comfortable with sending someone funds as it does involve a lot of trust. I am not in this in any way to be sneaky or anything else. I simply want to get a discount on some units and I'm doing a lot of work organizing this for zero group compensation.

PM sent. Thanks!

Units confirmed.

[Chemicalbro]

Consider my 2 confirmed then.

[scarab2378]

I am hopefully on the list as one of the anonymous users.  Watching this thread now

[sgrunger]

Bitcoins ready, set and match.

[DebitMe]

I would be down for 5 units, do I need to send satoshis somewhere?

If we are close to hitting order total please let me know, I might add on some more to get us to mark.

Also wil these come with power supplies?  If not how do we get those or where can we get them?

[scarab2378]

The OP has edited the first post.  We are over the min required qty now.

You have a couple of options for power supplies.

Either a brick like the ones the manufacturer sells, or you get their ATX adapter (or build one yourself).

http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/bitcoin.html

[DebitMe]

I saw that the min had been met,but I was still wondering if I could get in?

[scarab2378]

I will let the OP answer the question about getting in.

I neglected to mention that the power supplies are going to be separate from the Lancelots.  The OP told me he will look into adding them to our orders, but he does not want to delay the shipping of the lancelots themselves due to the power supplies.  I think his reasoning is sound, as the power supplies are much easier to get than the lancelots, so, we can get them anywhere if we have to.  Or, we still have the option of getting them from CardReaderFactory

[sgrunger]

I'd like to bundle one ATX to Lancelot Power Adapter with my purchase, if possible.

[Fighting Irish]

I would be in for 6 units.

PM sent explaining my challenge.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

I will get to responding to PMs right after this. The main thing we are waiting on right now is a response from blackarrow in regards to escrow availability, the availability of the atx power adapters as I've had a few people question me about them, and approximate delivery time for a large order.

His most recent response about the power adapters was:

Today we've shipped half of the first batch.  The orders that contained ATX power supply converter have been postponed as it is not in stock.
We are trying to make the ATX power converters on Friday and ship the rest of the orders then but we might ship on Saturday.

The first batch was small due to limited Xilinx IC availability during holidays. We're currently negotiating to get more Xilinx IC in 2 days and start manufacturing the next batch.

I do not want the order to be delayed due to lack of power converters. If it comes to it I think those are an item that would be easy enough for individuals to order. If they are available I will add them on to people's orders. Once I get a response from blackarrow and confirm the details above I will place an order and start accepting satoshis.

I more than likely am going to have to cut down my order to 1 unit as I had a little fiat emergency that required me to cash out my crypto holdings. We will still easily be above 100 units, but I wanted to let everyone know.

-----------------------------------------------------

Consider my 2 confirmed then.

Units added to the list.

-----------------------------------------------------

I am hopefully on the list as one of the anonymous users.  Watching this thread now

You are. I am just putting the people who PM me to add units down as anonymous as some have requested such. I just want to respect everyone's privacy by default instead of having someone ask me to remove their name.

-----------------------------------------------------

Bitcoins ready, set and match.

[Mr. Burns Voice] Excellent! [/Mr. Burns Voice]

-----------------------------------------------------

I would be down for 5 units, do I need to send satoshis somewhere?

If we are close to hitting order total please let me know, I might add on some more to get us to mark.

Also wil these come with power supplies?  If not how do we get those or where can we get them?

I will add you to the list. These only come with:

•1 x Lancelot, with standard cooling system (200Mhz Firmware)
•1 x CDROM (with necessary software, documents)
•1 x cable to connect to the power supply
•1 x USB cable

Please read the initial comment. If it comes to seperating the units and power adapters, etc.. they are available from cardreaderfactory.

-----------------------------------------------------

I'd like to bundle one ATX to Lancelot Power Adapter with my purchase, if possible.

I will find out soon and let everyone know about power adapters.

-----------------------------------------------------

I would be in for 6 units.

PM sent explaining my challenge.

I'm getting to PMs here shortly. There's a lot of them, but you will get a response.

[Cheshyr]

Put me down for one unit please.  I need to get fiat into BTC, but I'm in.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

All PMs have been responded to. I await the next onslaught.

Put me down for one unit please.  I need to get fiat into BTC, but I'm in.

Unit added.

[tigerfree]

i want 1 unit how i can pay ?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

i want 1 unit how i can pay ?

I'll add you to the list. Please reread the first post in regards to payment method. Payments will be accepted upon receiving an answer from blackarrow about escrow, power adapter availability, and the time line on placing a large order.

[sgrunger]

blackbarrow has been AFF (away from forum) for more than 2 days now.

[conceptxp]

put me for 2 units

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

blackbarrow has been AFF (away from forum) for more than 2 days now.

I've noticed.... I sent a message containing my quesstions on cardreaderfactory's website. Hopefully, one of the two will respond soon.

put me for 2 units

PM sent.

[ebildude123]

Put me down for 1 if the group is still open. I too need to find a way to convert fiat -> btc though atm.

[sgrunger]

Ah blackbarrow has posted in his selling thread - did he reply to your email / PM ?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Put me down for 1 if the group is still open. I too need to find a way to convert fiat -> btc though atm.

Let me know when you have.

Ah blackbarrow has posted in his selling thread - did he reply to your email / PM ?

I noticed that as well. He hasn't responded to my PM. That's all we're waiting on at this point in time.

- Escrow availability
- ATX power converter availability
- Order time on a large purchase

Once those questions are answered I'll close the group purchase.

[DebitMe]

I guess depending on what the answer is towards the Power Supply issue, I would increase my order to 8 of them.  Might as well if I have to get 2 bricks anyway.  I understand that I would have to order those two bricks seperately, but if that is what it comes down to, increase my number from 5 to 8.

THanks,

Sorry to be a bother.  But it seems less efficient to have 1 brick powering just one device.  And let me make sure I have that right.  If I get 8 devices, and 2 bricks, then it should come with everything else needed to plug into my computer and start hashing?  Does anyone know a good setup guide?  Or have any other advice on what might need to be done to get these hashing as soon as possible?

[ebildude123]

Put me down for 1 if the group is still open. I too need to find a way to convert fiat -> btc though atm.

Let me know when you have.

Ah blackbarrow has posted in his selling thread - did he reply to your email / PM ?

I noticed that as well. He hasn't responded to my PM. That's all we're waiting on at this point in time.

- Escrow availability
- ATX power converter availability
- Order time on a large purchase

Once those questions are answered I'll close the group purchase.

Just deposited OKPay to Mtgox, gonna buy some coins,
also gotta sell some litecoin.

[scarab2378]

Guys, these cards don't require anything special to power them.  They take 30 watts (according to blackarrow) each.  He posted in another thread that a 600watt atx can power 20 units.  
http://www.newegg.com/Power-Supplies/SubCategory/ID-58?nm_mc=EMCPB-052013&cm_mmc=EMCPB-052013-_-PB050413-_-index-_-txt

Personally, I would get a slightly larger power supply.  If they don't have the ATX power splitter boards in stock at the time of our order, we can look into making them ourselves.  I started searching by googleing "ATX breakout board" (but without quotes)

The cards appear to have a 2 conductor DC jack on them, so you just have to find the appropriate size plug.  Blackarrow also says the cards have a molex type D connector.

So, one of the 12v 10a bricks they sell on their site can power about 4 cards.  You can probably get a generic brick off of Amazon or Newegg.  Backarrow says that the shipping for the bricks is more than they are worth.

Also, I would like to gauge interest in the following idea:  I am buying a quantity of Lancelots and I want to stack them.  I am going to create a open frame that mounts the lancelot, and the cooling fans.  It will be an extruded aluminum frame, probably with 3D printed brackets.  Anyone interested in buying kits of these from me?  I don't have a price yet, as I have to price out the parts.  It won't be a lot though.  Probably a lot less than $70, but that's very tentative.  I would only ship to USA as well.

[ebildude123]

Put me down for 1 if the group is still open. I too need to find a way to convert fiat -> btc though atm.

Let me know when you have.

Alright, have most of the BTC.
https://blockchain.info/address/1swagRTAax1nny6zJbtukYVVWYJkm3zKg
Just need to wait for my litecoin transaction to confirm so I can trade to Bitcoin as well.
http://explorer.litecoin.net/tx/9380ec355ce4512153b2012dda933e80a54616fdb72715031fa63e617a87fc3e

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Put me down for 1 if the group is still open. I too need to find a way to convert fiat -> btc though atm.

Let me know when you have.

Alright, have most of the BTC.
https://blockchain.info/address/1swagRTAax1nny6zJbtukYVVWYJkm3zKg
Just need to wait for my litecoin transaction to confirm so I can trade to Bitcoin as well.
http://explorer.litecoin.net/tx/9380ec355ce4512153b2012dda933e80a54616fdb72715031fa63e617a87fc3e

I'll add you to the list.

[DebitMe]

Scarab. Im trying to figure this out. I havr an extra psu for this but no extra comp to put it to. All the ones I have running have all their watts used by gpua. So I want the brick. Can I buy a generic brick that will work? Do the splitters come with the boards? And I wojld possibly be interested in a tower unit. But dont the pins they come with allow them to be stacked?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Still no response from blackarrow or cardreaderfactory. Going to be resending messages and posting in multiple threads in hope of receiving a response.

Scarab. Im trying to figure this out. I havr an extra psu for this but no extra comp to put it to. All the ones I have running have all their watts used by gpua. So I want the brick. Can I buy a generic brick that will work? Do the splitters come with the boards? And I wojld possibly be interested in a tower unit. But dont the pins they come with allow them to be stacked?

If you have an extra PSU to power the units just connect the lancelot units to the molex connectors and paper clip the 24 pin plug to turn it on. Google, "Paper clip turns on power supply". Or, purchase one of these for $7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201037&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Internal+Power+Cables-_-N82E16812201037&gclid=CIqBodHO_bYCFcuh4AodvVcAtA

[DebitMe]

Still no response from blackarrow or cardreaderfactory. Going to be resending messages and posting in multiple threads in hope of receiving a response.

Scarab. Im trying to figure this out. I havr an extra psu for this but no extra comp to put it to. All the ones I have running have all their watts used by gpua. So I want the brick. Can I buy a generic brick that will work? Do the splitters come with the boards? And I wojld possibly be interested in a tower unit. But dont the pins they come with allow them to be stacked?

If you have an extra PSU to power the units just connect the lancelot units to the molex connectors and paper clip the 24 pin plug to turn it on. Google, "Paper clip turns on power supply". Or, purchase one of these for $7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201037&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Internal+Power+Cables-_-N82E16812201037&gclid=CIqBodHO_bYCFcuh4AodvVcAtA

So what your saying there is that I still need the ATX Power Converter right?  Then I have my one main computer that has 4 GPU's running and its own PSU, and I plug in a different PSU to the boards through the ATX Power Converter, and plug all the usb connectors into the main computer I should be fine?  Essentially two PSU's, one to power my GPU's and the other for the FPGA's?  Why would I need that product from NewEgg though?

Sorry for being a noob, I am learning and promise to take everything that I have learned and help others

[DebitMe]

Wow I apologize for sucking at reading.  Ok, 2nd PSU goes Molex straight to boards, then paperclip power supply to turn them on, then connect the boards to the main comp via usb, GOT IT! 

Is there an order that I should turn this contraption on?  Like boards first then main comp?

[scarab2378]

Scarab. Im trying to figure this out. I havr an extra psu for this but no extra comp to put it to. All the ones I have running have all their watts used by gpua. So I want the brick. Can I buy a generic brick that will work? Do the splitters come with the boards? And I wojld possibly be interested in a tower unit. But dont the pins they come with allow them to be stacked?

I'm not 100% sure, but the brass standoffs do not seem to come with the Lancelots, hence the idea of making a frame came to me.

http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/bitcoin.html

A generic brick with the right specs should power these.  They sell 12v 10amp bricks on thier site and state that 1 brick powers 4 devices.  They don't state if the brick has 4 output plugs though.  If you view thier ATX splitter page, they give a bunch of options for buying wires with plugs.  I am sure that getting the plugs is not an issue, you simply need the correct size (5.5/2.5mm power plug), and I am assuming that we will need to wire them ourselves.  This is pretty easy soldering. Just get the polarity correct!

So, you buy any bricks with the right specs (input volts 120 for N. America, and 220 for Europe), probably have to cut off the existing 12v output plug, and solder on 4 of the correctly sized plugs in parallel to power 4 of the Lancelots.

Alternatively, you can use a computer ATX power supply (at 600 or more watts), but then you need to figure out how to adapt it to power up to 20 lancelots.  This is where their ATX adapter breakout board comes in handy, which is why some of us asked for this.  Their breakout board is a bit unusual in that it has 20 of the 12V outputs.  You buy 20 of their wires + plugs and simply screw the bare wire ends into the green terminals.  You then plug a 600 watt ATX power supply (personally, would use a 700 watt) and you can plug 20 lancelots into it.  You can plug less in (say like 10 lancelots) if you prefer, so then you need only 300 watts (or preferably 350 watts).

Hardware installation:

1, connect the Power cable, use Molex-D-type connector or 5.5/2.5mm power plug. please do not use both of them.

As another option, we make our own, or find an off-the-shelf ATX breakout board.  Possibly this might work http://www.robotshop.com/cytron-atx-power-supply-breakout-board-right-angle-2.html though it does not have 20 of the 12V outputs.

I am not sure what the 5 (or 6?) caps on the cardreaderfactory ATX breakout board are for.  If anyone knows, please let me know.  Possibly they are just to help smooth out the 12V output.  If that's the case, then it would be easy to add some caps to a generic breakout board.

The above options assume you don't mind doing a little soldering.  THis is easy soldering, not like trying to solder SMT components or anything tricky.

[scarab2378]

Still no response from blackarrow or cardreaderfactory. Going to be resending messages and posting in multiple threads in hope of receiving a response.

Scarab. Im trying to figure this out. I havr an extra psu for this but no extra comp to put it to. All the ones I have running have all their watts used by gpua. So I want the brick. Can I buy a generic brick that will work? Do the splitters come with the boards? And I wojld possibly be interested in a tower unit. But dont the pins they come with allow them to be stacked?

If you have an extra PSU to power the units just connect the lancelot units to the molex connectors and paper clip the 24 pin plug to turn it on. Google, "Paper clip turns on power supply". Or, purchase one of these for $7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201037&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Internal+Power+Cables-_-N82E16812201037&gclid=CIqBodHO_bYCFcuh4AodvVcAtA

So what your saying there is that I still need the ATX Power Converter right?  Then I have my one main computer that has 4 GPU's running and its own PSU, and I plug in a different PSU to the boards through the ATX Power Converter, and plug all the usb connectors into the main computer I should be fine?  Essentially two PSU's, one to power my GPU's and the other for the FPGA's?  Why would I need that product from NewEgg though?

Sorry for being a noob, I am learning and promise to take everything that I have learned and help others

This may just be my preference, but I would not power the Lancelot units from the same PSU that is running your computer, except possibly just to run 1 or 2 of the Lancelots (and assuming you have enough unused wattage from your current PSU.)  If you do have enough available unused watts, then you can use the splitter from Newegg he cited to split the power from your current PSU to power one Lancelot.

If you are using an extra PSU, then the spitter he cites will power 2 of the lancelots.  I suppose you could get crazy with the splitters and buy a bunch and keep splitting them to power a bunch of lancelots, but this is not ideal due to daisy chaining a lot of plugged in connectors, and risking that somehwhere in the chain, you get a bad connection, which would affect everything downstream.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Wow I apologize for sucking at reading.  Ok, 2nd PSU goes Molex straight to boards, then paperclip power supply to turn them on, then connect the boards to the main comp via usb, GOT IT! 

Is there an order that I should turn this contraption on?  Like boards first then main comp?

You got it. Connect USB, plug the Lancelot boards in, and paperclip. Fans will spin and OS will detect the boards.

[Zeronic]

Depending on when the order will be place I might be good for 1 atm.

[sgrunger]

I got a reply from blackbarrow, I had asked him a few questions before I knew about the group purchase, saying

"We do accept Bitcoins as payment, even escrow service.
We aim to ship at the end of this week but we'll know for sure on Monday. We are still waiting for our FPGA suppliers hence we cannot be 100% sure that we'll ship everything at the end of the week."

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

The group purchase has officially been closed. If you have previously contacted me and are on the fence about ordering this is your last chance.

Depending on when the order will be place I might be good for 1 atm.

Let me know as soon as possible.

I got a reply from blackbarrow, I had asked him a few questions before I knew about the group purchase, saying

"We do accept Bitcoins as payment, even escrow service.
We aim to ship at the end of this week but we'll know for sure on Monday. We are still waiting for our FPGA suppliers hence we cannot be 100% sure that we'll ship everything at the end of the week."

He responded to my PM and I've just sent him a response. We are attempting to work out the details of the escrow services.

[fgkrew]

Put me in for 4 of this.

Is there an estimate of delivery time?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Group purchase closed. Updating the OP and that is it.

Put me in for 4 of this.

Is there an estimate of delivery time?

Adding you and updating the original post with PMs received. This is officially the last units to be added to the group purchase. From the time they ship 2-3 days until they are at my door.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

John K. confirms he will perform the BTC group purchase escrow for 2% of the total. That would increase the price per unit $5.50. If that is unacceptable to you personally please pm me, let me know, and we will discuss it.

Here is a group purchase thread he is currently acting as the escrow agent for: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=195052.0

Here is a group purchase thread that he has successly acted as the escrow agent for: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=177994.0

All we are waiting on is for blackarrow to confirm John K. as an acceptable escrow agent, confirm acceptable stock, and I will place the order for the units.

Please wait few more days before starting collecting payments. We will let you know as soon as we have confirmation from our FPGA supplier then you can start collecting the payments.

[LazyOtto]

...
All we are waiting on is for blackarrow to confirm John K. as an acceptable escrow agent and I will place the order for the units.

Not quite. Also still need blackarrow to affirm product availability. (Unless he has already done this in private conversation with you. If so, the statement needs to become public.)

All I've seen recently is that he is still working on procuring sufficient chips to actually build more boards.

Please get some specificity as to blackarrow's actual ability to deliver in xx time frame prior to placing the order.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

...
All we are waiting on is for blackarrow to confirm John K. as an acceptable escrow agent and I will place the order for the units.

Not quite. Also still need blackarrow to affirm product availability. (Unless he has already done this in private conversation with you. If so, the statement needs to become public.)

All I've seen recently is that he is still working on procuring sufficient chips to actually build more boards.

Please get some specificity as to blackarrow's actual ability to deliver in xx time frame prior to placing the order.

Fixed. Pasted from our pm conversation. Waiting on blackarrow's confirmation of stock and John K.

[LazyOtto]

Please ...

Fixed. Pasted from our pm conversation. Waiting on blackarrow's confirmation of stock and John K.

Thank you.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Updates:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=187549.msg2048750#msg2048750

Dear Customers,

We've based our offer on a IC supplier that promised us a certain price for any quantity with immediate supply. When we've placed the order with them (immediately after receiving the first orders), they gave us few FPGAs and asked us to wait 8 weeks if we want more. Since then we have continued to look for the FPGAs.

Today we've only been able to get enough FPGAs for 50 boards (from another supplier) but this is not enough to clear our backorders. We'll put these in production tomorrow and should ship by Friday.

Meanwhile it looks that we've asked every company in Shenzhen for these FPGA. Most of them are indirect re-sellers but they did not told us this upfront. What happened was that they started to ask between themselves and they got the impression that the demand is higher than it actually is. For this reason they've upped the price by 30-45% which makes it impossible for us to sell them with the discounted price of $275/pcs. We are still looking for the parts but it appears that the only certain way to get them is to place an order from Xilinx which will take 8 weeks.

Would anybody be willing to wait 8 weeks if we can sell at $275?

We have now put the Lancelot devices "Out of Stock" on our website and will not take any more orders until we can clear the backlog and find a proper supplier.

If anybody can supply us with the following ICs, we would be very grateful. Please send me a private message if you can get them within few days.

XC6SLX150-3NFGG484C   
XC6SLX150-3NFGG484I   
XC6SLX150-3FGG484C   
XC6SLX150-3FGG484I
XC6SLX150-2FGG484C
XC6SLX150-2FGG484I

Regards!

and,

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=187549.msg2050341#msg2050341

Just a quick update. We're sending everybody who've placed orders and have not yet paid this message. We think it is the fairest thing to do right now. We welcome useful suggestions.


We have an update for your order:

We will have in stock 50 x Lancelot devices on Friday but this is not enough to complete all our backlog. For this reason you might not get the order in time.

You can now pay your order but if you do so you agree to the following conditions:

We will ship the orders on first paid, first shipped basis.

If we've sold all the above stock and you have not paid by then, we will put your order status back on "Backordered"
If your payment arrives after we've sold this stock you can ask for a refund immediatelly (you will cover all the refund or exchange fees where aplicable - none for Bitcoin) or you can let us know by next Monday how long you are willing to wait for your order to be shipped. Based on this information we will organize our parts order to ensure that we can fulfill your order.
Once you've commited to a shipping date, and we've accepted it, your refund will be available only after that date if we fail to ship it.
Although we accept escrow payments we will favorize all other payment methods but escrow. This means that if you choose to pay with bitcoin escrow, you will only receive your order once we've cleared our backlog of all other orders paid through different payment methods.
Your order is on hold as we are waiting for the payment.

My Response:

This doesn't seem shady to anyone? Nevermind, what we said before about escrow services, please pay us now to receive your order eventually. When, we can't tell you, but we'll let you know.

As the organizer of a 163 unit order, paying customers would constantly bump our large order to the end of the line because we are requesting escrow service. Receiving inadequate stock of xilinx units as infrequent as 50 at a time with no certain time line for more, guarantees never being able to supply the units in a timely manner. Paying orders would stack up ahead of us faster than they can send them out the door due to inadequate stock of xilinx units. Combine those two factors and we'd end up waiting at absolute minimum a month to receive units and possibly longer.

He also refuses to answer my question about escrow suggesting I should fly to China to pickup and pay for the units:

We will cover the 2% fee. If that is acceptable to you I will place the order upon your response for the units.

Wouldn't it be more convenient if you would fly here to pick them up?  You could pay here in Cash, test them, avoid paying 600-900usd in escrow, customs taxes and DHL fees.

We cannot declare very low value for customs as we will need to insure them for the full value.

Regards!

Let me know how you feel about this. I believe this basically makes our purchase worthless unless they magically get 300+ xilinx units in tomorrow.

[chanberg]

Pretty much man.. Sucks, was looking forward to this group buy..

I guess its back to the BFL waiting game haha

- Danny

[DebitMe]

dang that really sucks, I was getting really excited for these.  But that sounds very sketchy to me.  Oh well...

[scarab2378]

Dat Boosheet!

Well, as a manufacturer/retailer myself, I understand the realities of getting parts--especially parts that are not made by mutliple sources (I try to avoid selling products that have this problem).  But at the same time, he should have confirmed that he could get the required parts before offering his product. 

Alternatively, he should have warned us that he had this potential issue in his supply chain.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

I'm ending the group purchase due to blackarrow / cardreaderfactory's business practices in this matter. It makes no sense to start collecting payment from members when our order is going to have negative priority in being processed due to desiring escrow services.

[Lacan82]

that is disappointing. You'd think they'd want our business

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

that is disappointing. You'd think they'd want our business

Obviously not.

[Lacan82]

that is disappointing. You'd think they'd want our business

Obviously not.

just makes me think it is a scam

[LazyOtto]

I'm ending the group purchase due to ...

I agree, Beaflag.

Thank you for your efforts even though they ultimately proved to be fruitless. (Please don't misunderstand, clearly through no fault of yours.)

[chanberg]

I'm ending the group purchase due to ...

I agree, Beaflag.

Thank you for your efforts even though they ultimately proved to be fruitless. (Please don't misunderstand, clearly through no fault of yours.)

Seriously. Good look beaflag

Danny

[jdot007]

I'm ending the group purchase due to blackarrow / cardreaderfactory's business practices in this matter. It makes no sense to start collecting payment from members when our order is going to have negative priority in being processed due to desiring escrow services.

Thanks for vigilance man, at least we all still have our coin! 

-J

[jdebunt]

They mailed at first saying they have 50 units in stock, and asking for a fast payment if i wanted shipment this batch.

i asked them about my preorder, to ask if i can change from bitcoin to western union payment because it'ld be a lot faster atm (need to wire transfer for btc)

their reply is : we already ran out of units, don't send payment now.

So in less than 24 hours they actually sold 50 of these?

I smell big BS.

[Fighting Irish]

50 units in 24 hours doesn't seem far fetched. We were able to gather 163 units without breaking a sweat.

What I don't understand is why the X6500 are no longer being produced due to "lack of interest"? Seems there is plenty of interest based on what I have seem here. Or was the price point of the X6500 too high? I know the ZTex are almost twice what the Lancelot's were running and they are 8 weeks out.

[Bogart]

50 units in 24 hours doesn't seem far fetched. We were able to gather 163 units without breaking a sweat.

What I don't understand is why the X6500 are no longer being produced due to "lack of interest"? Seems there is plenty of interest based on what I have seem here. Or was the price point of the X6500 too high? I know the ZTex are almost twice what the Lancelot's were running and they are 8 weeks out.

There's plenty of buyer interest, but everyone wants them cheap.  A lot cheaper than the $550 the x6500s originally sold for.  I don't think the maker has a lot of interest in (or time to) make more.

The ztex 1.15y boards are twice the cost because they are quad FPGA boards with twice the hashpower.

[blackarrow]

Hello everybody!

Does anybody know the true identity of this Beaflag individual? Would you be so kind and share it with us?

He has never placed an order with us, we assume that he was set to run away with your money and blame it on us.

His actions so far are consistent with criminal behavior. We strongly recommend that you check his criminal record before sending him any money.

Regards!

[chanberg]

Hello everybody!

Does anybody know the true identity of this Beaflag individual? Would you be so kind and share it with us?

He has never placed an order with us, we assume that he was set to run away with your money and blame it on us.

His actions so far are consistent with criminal behavior. We strongly recommend that you check his criminal record before sending him any money.

Regards!

His real name is Bruce Wayne and he lives in Gotham city I believe.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Hello everybody!

Does anybody know the true identity of this Beaflag individual? Would you be so kind and share it with us?

He has never placed an order with us, we assume that he was set to run away with your money and blame it on us.

His actions so far are consistent with criminal behavior. We strongly recommend that you check his criminal record before sending him any money.

Regards!

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Almost everyone who is involved with my group purchase has my personal information; Full name, address, phone number, proof of these items, etc... If they asked I provided the information. You have not done the same. I've asked you to identify yourself multiple time to prove you are not Alexandru Ion Sovu and you refuse. For those not familiar with Alexandru Ion Sovu, here is some information on that individual.

Their site:
http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/about-us.html

to find:
http://www.cdrex.com/alexandru-ion-sovu/786164.html

Linked to:
http://www.creditgate.com/company_information/cardreaderfactory+ltd.aspx

Alexandru Ion Sovu aka international scammer / credit card fraud from Romania. His home was raided in 2003 resulting in his brothers and associates being arrested. Alexandru Ion Sovu was not as he was out of the country at the time:
http://www.gov.ro/comunicat-de-presa__l1a15869.html
Translated:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ro&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.ro%2Fcomunicat-de-presa__l1a15869.html

Google search of his name:
https://www.google.com/search?q=SOVU+ALEXANDRU+ION&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Blackarrow states that Alexandru Ion Sovu is a reseller based in the UK:

This was 10 years ago. Some people change. No matter what were his circumstances back then, Mr. Sovu is our re-seller in UK and has never failed us in 5 years since we work with him. We gave him credit, and always repaid us without any issues. Mr. Sovu is a great gentleman and one of the most honest people we know."

Please, elaborate on, "Criminal behavior," as all I've done is ask you questions? You asked me:

We take great pride in the way we conduct business. Please let us know why and how we've failed you and we'll try to address your issue. It's a pity that you've canceled 163 units, we're just finishing 50pcs and starting to make 225pcs (ready by early next week).

Regards!

I answered how you have failed us, asked you some questions about why you made the decisions you made, and the responses I've taken as a result of your actions. Please see the conversation below. Blackarrow removed all of his responses to my posts, but I have them saved.

PS: Anyone who wants to check my criminal record go for it. All you'll find are some speeding tickets.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Good luck to all of those who paid. I don't doubt you'll get your boards eventually, but the way the business side of things is being taken care of makes little to no sense. Their operation strategy didn't sit well with myself and the group purchase members so I cancelled the 163 units we were planning to order.

We take great pride in the way we conduct business. Please let us know why and how we've failed you and we'll try to address your issue. It's a pity that you've canceled 163 units, we're just finishing 50pcs and starting to make 225pcs (ready by early next week).

Regards!

To answer your question:

Just a quick update. We're sending everybody who've placed orders and have not yet paid this message. We think it is the fairest thing to do right now. We welcome useful suggestions.

We have an update for your order:

We will have in stock 50 x Lancelot devices on Friday but this is not enough to complete all our backlog. For this reason you might not get the order in time.

You can now pay your order but if you do so you agree to the following conditions:

We will ship the orders on first paid, first shipped basis.

If we've sold all the above stock and you have not paid by then, we will put your order status back on "Backordered"
If your payment arrives after we've sold this stock you can ask for a refund immediatelly (you will cover all the refund or exchange fees where aplicable - none for Bitcoin) or you can let us know by next Monday how long you are willing to wait for your order to be shipped. Based on this information we will organize our parts order to ensure that we can fulfill your order.
Once you've commited to a shipping date, and we've accepted it, your refund will be available only after that date if we fail to ship it.
Although we accept escrow payments we will favorize all other payment methods but escrow. This means that if you choose to pay with bitcoin escrow, you will only receive your order once we've cleared our backlog of all other orders paid through different payment methods.
Your order is on hold as we are waiting for the payment.

This doesn't seem shady to anyone? Nevermind, what we said before about escrow services, please pay us now to receive your order eventually. When, we can't tell you, but we'll let you know.

As the organizer of a 163 unit order, paying customers would constantly bump our large order to the end of the line because we are requesting escrow service. Receiving inadequate stock of xilinx units as infrequent as 50 at a time with no certain time line for more, guarantees never being able to supply the units in a timely manner. Paying orders would stack up ahead of us faster than they can send them out the door due to inadequate stock of xilinx units. Combine those two factors and we'd end up waiting at absolute minimum a month to receive units and possibly longer.

You also refused to answer my question about escrow and stated that it would be cheaper to fly to China and pay for the boards with cash in person (RED FLAG) than to ship them and pay customs. I'm currently in the process of importing 88 FPGA boards from China through another company that has operated up to this point without issue and is accepting escrow services.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't want to ruin anyone's parade or cause issues. The only reason I'm passing this information along is to inform buyers of the history of the seller. Everyone should do their due diligence in informing themselves who they choose to do business with. Up to this point they have been delivering boards so this is one hundred percent for you to decide on. Perhaps blackarrow could elaborate on this:

Their site:
http://www.cardreaderfactory.com/shop/about-us.html

to find:
http://www.cdrex.com/alexandru-ion-sovu/786164.html

Linked to:
http://www.creditgate.com/company_information/cardreaderfactory+ltd.aspx

Alexandru Ion Sovu aka international scammer / credit card fraud:
http://www.gov.ro/comunicat-de-presa__l1a15869.html
Translated:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ro&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.ro%2Fcomunicat-de-presa__l1a15869.html

Google search of his name:
https://www.google.com/search?q=SOVU+ALEXANDRU+ION&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

I have screenshots of all of these pages in case anyone decides they want to change anything really quickly.

Just a quick update. We're sending everybody who've placed orders and have not yet paid this message. We think it is the fairest thing to do right now. We welcome useful suggestions.

This doesn't seem shady to anyone? Nevermind, what we said before about escrow services, please pay us now to receive your order eventually. When, we can't tell you, but we'll let you know.

As we said, we welcome useful suggestions. What would you have done in our place?

As the organizer of a 163 unit order, paying customers would constantly bump our large order to the end of the line because we are requesting escrow service.

I can't understand how anybody would trust you with money for 163 units: $44825. You are obviously a difficult and problematic person.

Receiving inadequate stock of xilinx units as infrequent as 50 at a time with no certain time line for more, guarantees never being able to supply the units in a timely manner. Paying orders would stack up ahead of us faster than they can send them out the door due to inadequate stock of xilinx units. Combine those two factors and we'd end up waiting at absolute minimum a month to receive units and possibly longer.

We've wrote here several times, our suppliers told us initially that they have as many as we want with immediate availability. As soon as we've received orders on the website we've placed the order with them and they've only delivered 46 FPGAs before bailing out. Our company (and no other sane company) wouldn't purchase a lot of FPGAs without knowing if there is a demand for them. We have done and are doing our best to provide you our customers with the Lancelot devices that they've ordered.  Every other supplier raised the price with as much as 50% compared with the initial price but we've still purchased them to honor the orders that we've took, even though we did not make any money.

We have never asked for money from customers without knowing exactly when we can deliver their order.

You also refused to answer my question about escrow and stated that it would be cheaper to fly to China and pay for the boards with cash in person (RED FLAG) than to ship them and pay customs.

Haven't I? I thought I did: Let me repeat and state the facts. Any intelligent person should figure this out:
1. You are asking us to send merchandise from our own money ($44825) to you
2. with an uninsured package (as you're worried about how much you'll pay for the customs).
3. In the same time, you wish to send money to a person from this forum who is refusing to provide an ID and to sign any contract.

I do not know where you live, but loosing $44825 would get us bankrupt.

I'm currently in the process of importing 88 FPGA boards from China through another company that has operated up to this point without issue and is accepting escrow services.

Good luck with that. I can't understand why you pick on honest business like ours and comment nothing about $95940 for 10000 ASICs to Avalon. Avalon don't even have a company and are supplying a commercial center as their address. I'm sure that you've done your due diligence and figured out that they failed to ship batch 2 of ASICs ($5 million dollars) , batch 3 (another $5 million dollars) and they're late with chips ( another 5 million dollars ). I will not talk here about BFL which it's a wonder they're not yet in prison.

I don't want to ruin anyone's parade or cause issues.

I'm sure that this is exactly what you want to do.

Alexandru Ion Sovu aka international scammer / credit card fraud:
http://www.gov.ro/comunicat-de-presa__l1a15869.html

This was 10 years ago. Some people change. No matter what were his circumstances back then, Mr. Sovu is our re-seller in UK and has never failed us in 5 years since we work with him. We gave him credit, and always repaid us without any issues. Mr. Sovu is a great gentleman and one of the most honest people we know.

You have the audacity to complain that we do not trust you with $45000 in an uninsured package? After this episode, the only way we would give these to you would be if we would film you while you pick them up yourself so we have a proof in case you run away with them and blame it on us.

I have screenshots of all of these pages in case anyone decides they want to change anything really quickly.

Keep them.

Please, quote the whole conversation instead of taking the pieces of it out that you prefer to respond to. Blackarrow, please don't get upset, start questioning my ability to broker purchases, or call me, "Obviously a difficult and problematic person". Personal attacks get you nowhere in this. All I am doing is wanting to know who Alexandru Ion Sovu, who named in the document above is an idividual guilty of credit card fraud and manufacturing false credit cards is, and how he fits into your business. Thank you for answering this.

To answer your questions directly. I am currently in the process of importing 88 FPGA boards from China through another company as a group purchase. I am personally ordering 3 and 85 are with other people's money with an actual declared value of $14500 USD through John K for escrow. With importing the boards all I am paying is:

Shipping paid for by seller = $0.00
Merchandising processing fee .003464% of cargo + freight value = $50.23
Airport handling fee = $60
Bond fee $5.50 / $1000 of value = $79.75
Broker customs clearance fee = $125
Total = $314.98

In our dealing I had received confirmation of interest for 163 boards. At that point in time you had one person who had confirmation 3 boards which was only part of their order. You had interest from our 163 boards + probably at least another 150 in from other people. I don't know what else you would qualify as needing interest to order the FPGAs.

"Let me repeat and state the facts. Any intelligent person should figure this out:
1. You are asking us to send merchandise from our own money ($44825) to you
2. with an uninsured package (as you're worried about how much you'll pay for the customs).
3. In the same time, you wish to send money to a person from this forum who is refusing to provide an ID and to sign any contract.

I do not know where you live, but loosing $44825 would get us bankrupt."

1. That is how escrow works. On confirmation of receiving the package the funds would've be released. This would take a total of 3-5 business days from the time you shipped the package. I don't know how that would bankrupt your company? Perhaps you could elaborate on that.
2. I only wanted to know how importing these boards would work and the associated costs. You were not able to answer this or provide me with any related information: HTS code, shipping costs, etc... You immediately stated that it would be cheaper to fly to China and pay with cash or BTC in person.
3. John K. was going to be the escrow agent. If you don't accept escrow from John K, I don't know who you would accept it from.

Cost comparison:
Ticket to China: from your quote $1530 along with 23 hours and 52 minutes of travel time to get to China.

Importing cost:
Merchandise processing fee .003464 of $44825 = $155.27
Airport handling fee = $60
Bond fee: $246.54
Duty using proper HTS code = $0
Broker - customs clearance entry = $125

Total = $586.81 + the cost of shipping.

Now, if shipping doesn't cost greater than $943.19 it would cost less than flying to China. That trip to China would also include 49 hours of round trip travel time and the associated travel costs of the trip for food, parking, taxis, hotel, etc... which aren't factored into the ticket price.

The main issue is that shipping wouldn't cost $943.19. The company I'm dealing with spent $186 on shipping 88 FPGA boards that are larger that the Lancelot units insured through EMS Speedpost. Even if your carrier charges a plus size package fee it could easily be split into multiple insured packages below the plus size threshold. As a worst case scenario if the packages were lost or damaged you would receive payment for them as they would be insured and our escrow would be returned to us by John K. That process provides a safety net for both buyer and seller. Whereas flying across the world with $44825 in cash provides absolutely zero safety, in fact it takes even puts the safety factor at a negative value due to the risk of robbery, customs issues, murder, etc...

Just so I am clear as well. I ordered BFL fpga singles from BFL over a year ago and have never dealt with Avalon. You are correct in the way that they operate their business does not make sense and as such I choose not to do business with them. It is a personal choice that everyone should be able to make. I feel that in making this decision everyone should do their due diligence in investigating who they send large amounts of non reversible payment to. It is only common sense. Do you disagree with this?

Alexandru Ion Sovu may be a fantastic business person for you now, but that will never change the fact that he previously robbed people and businesses. Being someone who has fallen victim to credit card fraud i can attest to the fact that it is not a fun thing to deal with. I was without any money for 8 days at the end of the month while all of my bills were due. Thankfully, I was able to prove that fraud had occurred and acquire a deferred payment date. To consider though that the person doing this was spending it on motorcycle parts and other items for personal gain at the expense of someone else is rather horrifying to me.

If you choose not to do business with me because I request escrow that is your choice. It is also one of the same reasons I choose not to do business with you. Bitcoin mining is a business solely about the bottom line. If you can't guarantee a quantity of items available for purchase, confirm delivery on a solid timeline, and / or a safe way to provide payment I don't want to deal with you. I will take my business elsewhere as I have done. I feel other should be able to make the decision of who they send payment to for themselves, which is why I posted this information. Again, do you disagree? For those that do choose to do business with you I hope that everyone works out for them as it has so far and just as I hope it works out for everyone involved in purchasing items from BFL or Avalon. Having your money stolen is not something anyone should have to deal with.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was his most recent response before he deleted it.
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Shipping paid for by seller = $0.00
Merchandising processing fee .003464% of cargo + freight value = $50.23
Airport handling fee = $60
Bond fee $5.50 / $1000 of value = $79.75
Broker customs clearance fee = $125
Total = $314.98

I fail to understand how so many people would trust you with their money. You are clearly someone with no experience in importing goods. I can't wait to see how you'll cover the customs fee of your imported goods in USA:

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_States:
The United States imposes tariffs or customs duties on the import of many types of goods from many jurisdictions. These tariffs or duties must be paid before the goods can be legally imported. Rates of duty vary from 0% to more than 20%, based on the particular goods and country of origin.


20% out of $40000 is $8000 which you fail to add in the calculation above.

1. That is how escrow works. On confirmation of receiving the package the funds would've be released. This would take a total of 3-5 business days from the time you shipped the package. I don't know how that would bankrupt your company? Perhaps you could elaborate on that.

Escrow means that both of parties should trust the escrow. I do not trust my own brother with $40000 and you're asking us to trust a person who is refusing to sign a contract and provide their own ID. You must be delusional.

You immediately stated that it would be cheaper to fly to China and pay with cash or BTC in person.

Just trying to help but our good intentions were obviously misunderstood.

3. John K. was going to be the escrow agent. If you don't accept escrow from John K, I don't know who you would accept it from.

John K is a private individual who refused to provide an ID and sign an escrow contract. He stated that for him $40000 is such a low amount that he cannot be bothered to do this. Well, for us is a huge amount.

The main issue is that shipping wouldn't cost $943.19.

Insuring a package for $40000 would cost more than this. You've specifically asked us to declare a lower value so we cannot insure the package.

I feel that in making this decision everyone should do their due diligence in investigating who they send large amounts of non reversible payment to. It is only common sense. Do you disagree with this?

I disagree. Are you the designated policeman of this forum? If so, show us the threads where you've done your due diligence with every seller here.
If not, please go away and stop bothering our customers.

but that will never change the fact that he previously robbed people and businesses.

Are you aware that most of the crimes can be spent? Who do you think you are to say "never"?
And are we supposed to pull up the criminal record of every re-seller? The way that we see it is what people have been doing 10 years ago is their business as long as they honor their contract and don't cheat our customers.

Being someone who has fallen victim to credit card fraud

That's your business. You are off-topic. Please stop bothering our customers.

If you choose not to do business with me because I request escrow that is your choice.

We choose not to do business with you that you're delusional, paranoid and unreasonable. We have permanently added you to our black list and you'll never purchase from us. This will never change :-)

[blackarrow]

His real name is Bruce Wayne and he lives in Gotham city I believe.

Maybe he is The Joker...

[blackarrow]

...

Who are you? These people should know!

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

His real name is Bruce Wayne and he lives in Gotham city I believe.

Maybe he is The Joker...

...

Who are you? These people should know!

I knew you weren't good at running a business, or reading replies, but now it appears you aren't even a good troll. I'm glad you operate your business as horribly as you do because 88 FPGA boards showed up to my house yesterday:




A little under half of the boards have already been shipped to their owners and the rest go out tomorrow morning. Each one of these units cost less than your lancelot units and produce over twice the MH/S. Mine are averaging 881.8 MH/S each.

PS: I'm going to refer to you as Alexandru or Mr. Sovu if you prefer until you identify yourself.

[Fighting Irish]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

[Menig]

there was a big FPGA-Cluster in China with round about 200 FPGA-Boads.... they are sold very cheap....
we ordered 100 boards of this - Beaflag seems to be ordered 88 of this Clusterboards, too...

we already asked the seller - there are no boards left... ;(

[DebitMe]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

[ebildude123]

How much for 1 of those 88 boards 

[John (John K.)]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

Nah, I don't think you ordered 4 from him...

I don't have much to say here in this discussion except that I confirm most parts of the discussion up there is true. I personally got some ztex boards from the guy mentioned and they're hashing fine currently. I don't blame blackarrow here as frankly, some of us here do not trust even our government, and I'm just another guy on the Internet sporting a cute dog pic.

That said, if I had to sign and send a physical contract every time in dealing with an 300~+ BTC tx, I'd be literally living in the post office - I released an average of 400-500 BTC each day in the past week alone. However, I still sign a GPG contract each and every time I conduct an escrow, be it 1 BTC or 1000 BTC.

[DebitMe]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

Nah, I don't think you ordered 4 from him...

I don't have much to say here in this discussion except that I confirm most parts of the discussion up there is true. I personally got some ztex boards from the guy mentioned and they're hashing fine currently. I don't blame blackarrow here as frankly, some of us here do not trust even our government, and I'm just another guy on the Internet sporting a cute dog pic.

That said, if I had to sign and send a physical contract every time in dealing with an 300~+ BTC tx, I'd be literally living in the post office - I released an average of 400-500 BTC each day in the past week alone. However, I still sign a GPG contract each and every time I conduct an escrow, be it 1 BTC or 1000 BTC.

I did order 4 on beaflags order. Should receive shipping info today and have them overnighted and be here tuesday. Im sure he would be happy to confirm this. Got in at the last minute before order was sent. John why do you say I dony have 4?

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

Nah, I don't think you ordered 4 from him...

I don't have much to say here in this discussion except that I confirm most parts of the discussion up there is true. I personally got some ztex boards from the guy mentioned and they're hashing fine currently. I don't blame blackarrow here as frankly, some of us here do not trust even our government, and I'm just another guy on the Internet sporting a cute dog pic.

That said, if I had to sign and send a physical contract every time in dealing with an 300~+ BTC tx, I'd be literally living in the post office - I released an average of 400-500 BTC each day in the past week alone. However, I still sign a GPG contract each and every time I conduct an escrow, be it 1 BTC or 1000 BTC.

I did order 4 on beaflags order. Should receive shipping info today and have them overnighted and be here tuesday. Im sure he would be happy to confirm this. Got in at the last minute before order was sent. John why do you say I dony have 4?

I'm guessing the ... is a joke. His whole post is in a light hearted and slightly jesting tone  .

You did order 4 from me and I just shipped them about an hour ago through USPS overnight to arrive on Tuesday (holiday weekend). You've also been sent a PM with tracking information. I only have one more package to send out and it is because that person hasn't responded to my shipping quote yet.

[DebitMe]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

Nah, I don't think you ordered 4 from him...

I don't have much to say here in this discussion except that I confirm most parts of the discussion up there is true. I personally got some ztex boards from the guy mentioned and they're hashing fine currently. I don't blame blackarrow here as frankly, some of us here do not trust even our government, and I'm just another guy on the Internet sporting a cute dog pic.

That said, if I had to sign and send a physical contract every time in dealing with an 300~+ BTC tx, I'd be literally living in the post office - I released an average of 400-500 BTC each day in the past week alone. However, I still sign a GPG contract each and every time I conduct an escrow, be it 1 BTC or 1000 BTC.

I did order 4 on beaflags order. Should receive shipping info today and have them overnighted and be here tuesday. Im sure he would be happy to confirm this. Got in at the last minute before order was sent. John why do you say I dony have 4?

I'm guessing the ... is a joke. His whole post is in a light hearted and slightly jesting tone  .

You did order 4 from me and I just shipped them about an hour ago through USPS overnight to arrive on Tuesday (holiday weekend). You've also been sent a PM with tracking information. I only have one more package to send out and it is because that person hasn't responded to my shipping quote yet.

Ahh that would make sense. Thanks for clearing that up glad to hear they are coming getting excited. Ill confirm receipt in a couple of days. Just wanted to make sure people didnt think I was untruthful. Lol.

Btw im thinking 7 btc per board escrowed and buyers expense if anyone is interested or make counter offer

[Fighting Irish]

Wish I had 7 BTC. All I have is this Monopoly money that say Federal Reserve. 

[DebitMe]

Wish I had 7 BTC. All I have is this Monopoly money that say Federal Reserve. 

I could take cash equivalent....

[John (John K.)]

Beaflag,

How did you get such a great price on those quads? Do they have more available? I would love to get me some.

I ordered 4, make me an offer (it will have to be good cause I am really interested in mining with these lol)

Nah, I don't think you ordered 4 from him...

I don't have much to say here in this discussion except that I confirm most parts of the discussion up there is true. I personally got some ztex boards from the guy mentioned and they're hashing fine currently. I don't blame blackarrow here as frankly, some of us here do not trust even our government, and I'm just another guy on the Internet sporting a cute dog pic.

That said, if I had to sign and send a physical contract every time in dealing with an 300~+ BTC tx, I'd be literally living in the post office - I released an average of 400-500 BTC each day in the past week alone. However, I still sign a GPG contract each and every time I conduct an escrow, be it 1 BTC or 1000 BTC.

I did order 4 on beaflags order. Should receive shipping info today and have them overnighted and be here tuesday. Im sure he would be happy to confirm this. Got in at the last minute before order was sent. John why do you say I dony have 4?

I'm guessing the ... is a joke. His whole post is in a light hearted and slightly jesting tone  .

You did order 4 from me and I just shipped them about an hour ago through USPS overnight to arrive on Tuesday (holiday weekend). You've also been sent a PM with tracking information. I only have one more package to send out and it is because that person hasn't responded to my shipping quote yet.

Yep, and I was right anyway.  You didn't buy 4 directly from the source.