LEGIT or QUIT List of Safe retailers

[ekrififi]

Thought I'd start a list of hardware retailers that are actually SAFE to buy from, as well as a list of BAD sites i know to be scams...Scammers come up a lot on these forums, but usually scammer warnings are kind of scattered, and it's hard to find the info you're looking for.

It's a real shame too, because there are some honest trustworthy hardware companies that would see a lot more success if they were easier to find.


LEGIT LIST - SAFE AND TRUSTWORTHY

Bitmain and Baikal -
(obviously) direct from manufacture is always the best way to go, but make sure you are ACTUALLY dealing with the manufacturer. Scammers have contacted people with fake Skype addresses pretending to be Baikal.

Eastshore.xyz - I thought I might actually get Shanghaid from a company IN Shanghai, but my experience (and many other posters) has been great so far. Still waiting on my L3+s (set to ship in August), but I ordered a PSU from them, just to test them out. It arrived quickly (considering the origin), nicely packed, great customer service. They're also pretty reasonably priced.

BITCOINTALK GROUP BUYS - I'm new to the forum group buys, so please forgive my ignorance. Some respected members will arrange group buys of new hardware to get a favorable price, access to rare miners or both. I only know of 2 trusted members,

Bittawm - Legit
kilo17 - Legit

PLEASE add any and all members you've dealt with and personally trust. BE ADVISED - Scammers be lurking. People will pretend to be trusted members, creating similar screen names, ~bittawm instead of bittawm as an example, then private message people with the wrong bitcoin address. I saw somebody lose 9k in btc that way.

Always look to see a member's status as an indicator of their trustworthyness. If their status is Hero or Legend, that's a great sign... if they're a newbie...LIKE ME   then proceed with caution, or retreat with haste...




QUIT LIST - SCAM - NOT SAFE - WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY


AS-Shops.su - They are not at their listed address. I called another company in that building, and they had never heard of them before.

Metrobitcoinminer.com - I was looking for a Blessinghash Scrypt miner (which I now know is skunkware), and stumbled upon this site. Decided to test them out, ordered the cheapest thing they sell, never received anything.




UNKNOWN - below sites seem legit, but I lack any personal experience. any input would be greatly appreciated

51ASIC.RU - this site has pretty good social media presence (facebook, youtube videos), but I haven't ordered from them yet. It's hard to find anybody who has... and if you do, they usually speak Russian, which diesn't really help. has ANYBODY here ordered from them?

BITBAZA -same deal, russian company, seem legit, but I don't know... they supposedly just sold out of a bunch of ibelink pre-orders. If anybody here paid them, please let us know if they arrive.

holybitcoin.com - I think i read some favorable posts on another thread. site seems legit, but they just sell out of everything.

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[NotFuzzyWarm]

Don't be surprised if this gets moved to the Marketplace area...

[leowonderful]

Can confirm holybitcoin is legit, I bought a few things from them including a SP20 for a decent price and they delivered. Still running well today with no issues. They do indeed have a stock issue but if you use the livechat Scott usually has stuff left over (at least from my experience).

[ekrififi]

Thanks so much for the experience. I was considering buying an S9 from HolyBitcoin before Bitmain brought them back online. Good to know they can be trusted for next time.

Once there's a few more posts, I'll make a master list with everyone's input (and Holybitcoin in the Legit section).

[ekrififi]

UNKNOWN

AsicMinerMarket.com - Adding this site to the unknowns... they SEEM very legit, mainly because they sell out a LOT, so if they ARE scammers, they're missing out on a lot of fake sales. Right now, the only miner not sold out is a 3.6 T A6... which would make you about 5 dollars in profit a month, so it makes sense they'd have a surplus... BUT I've never bought from them personally.

[ekrififi]

SCAM - QUIT

minerslab.com - haven't ordered from them personally, but ive read a lot of posts / complaints from people who have. They also had the Blessinghash for sale, which I'm fairly certain does not exist...

[vh]

Just a suggestion to restructure your initial post to use this format as a reference point:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622998.0

Having accessible feedback links would make it feel less subjective.

[BitcoinPSU]

holybitcoin.com - I think i read some favorable posts on another thread. site seems legit, but they just sell out of everything.

I believe they are the J4bberwock salesperson in the US, so Legit.

Can you ad me as well: bitcoinpsu.com

[ekrififi]

I haven't personally bought from
bitcoinpsu.com yet, but I'd like to. Do you have a power supply for an L3+? I was going to buy it from eastshore, but I'd buy it from you to support the cause.

[ekrififi]

thanks so much for the format suggestion VH. It looks great. Let me get some additional vendor names and  experiences from some posters, then I'll try to reformat it with feedback links.

Just a suggestion to restructure your initial post to use this format as a reference point:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622998.0

Having accessible feedback links would make it feel less subjective.

[QuintLeo]

Thanks so much for the experience. I was considering buying an S9 from HolyBitcoin before Bitmain brought them back online. Good to know they can be trusted for next time.

Once there's a few more posts, I'll make a master list with everyone's input (and Holybitcoin in the Legit section).

 I had an issue with HolyBitcoin selling me a ... think it was an S5, might have been a SP20 .... then turning around and "out of stocking it" and so they could relist it at a higher price - but to be fair, they didn't charge me for the unit they just didn't live up to their sale price on the order I placed.
 I was also more than a bit ticked that it took them almost 2 WEEKS to let me know what was going on with my order.

 Amazon listing, and I DID get to "negative" review them over the issue since the order HAD initially been accepted.

[ekrififi]

Thanks silver,

I'll definitely add EBAY to the Legit list. You're right that they have a wide array of new (and old) crypto miners, along with user ratings and Paypal protection that can help the consumer. Paypal WILL refund your money if your item never arrives, though it may take a little while for the refund to process.


My main complaint with EBAY is that it is very hard to find good deals on any hardware, especially of late. For instance, the Baikal X11 300 MH Cubes sold for under $800 when you bought straight from Baikal (not that long ago). These same miners are selling for 8k and up right now on Ebay. At those mark ups, it's a little tougher to ROI (tho beggers can't be choosers, i s'pose).


Also, you can't use crypto to purchase anything. For some people who try to reinvest their mined crypto by purchasing more hardware, converting to fiat is a hassle.


ALIBABA is a little better when it comes to deals. They're certainly a lot less user friendly; you have to direct message a lot of frogs, wait for them to reply etc., but they offer very similar money back buyer protection as ebay, as well as a developed seller rating system. Some alibaba sellers even accept crypto...

if you want to buy a mining hardware and your afraid to get scam. well go on ebay there are many mining hardware stocks there. gudluck guys.

[ekrififi]

BitcoinPSU,

Maybe you should tell the group a little bit about your site. What are your best products / deals? Are you getting any new hardware in stock? Do you have any customer reviews or forum threads you could point us to that might put some potential buyers at ease?

Would you ever offer a discount to people on these forums? That last question might have been too presumptuous... unless the answer's yes...

holybitcoin.com - I think i read some favorable posts on another thread. site seems legit, but they just sell out of everything.

I believe they are the J4bberwock salesperson in the US, so Legit.

Can you ad me as well: bitcoinpsu.com

[ekrififi]

Thanks so much for the experience. I was considering buying an S9 from HolyBitcoin before Bitmain brought them back online. Good to know they can be trusted for next time.

Once there's a few more posts, I'll make a master list with everyone's input (and Holybitcoin in the Legit section).

 I had an issue with HolyBitcoin selling me a ... think it was an S5, might have been a SP20 .... then turning around and "out of stocking it" and so they could relist it at a higher price - but to be fair, they didn't charge me for the unit they just didn't live up to their sale price on the order I placed.
 I was also more than a bit ticked that it took them almost 2 WEEKS to let me know what was going on with my order.

 Amazon listing, and I DID get to "negative" review them over the issue since the order HAD initially been accepted.

Hi Quint,

Thanks so much for your HOLYBITCOIN.COM experience. I'm sorry that happened to you. If I understand your post correctly, they either did not take your money, or returned it after they cancelled your order? If that is the case, (and I mean this with all due respect) I think I may leave them on the Legit List, as they did not scam you out of your money per say. Maybe we put an asterisk  (*) next to their Legit status, and include your experience.

Also, I believe HolyBitcoin is basically run by one person named Scott (as leowonderful mentioned above). Maybe we cut the guy a little slack. Maybe the capitalist in me over-sympathizes with the inclination to relist a product's price when demand shoots up, but IMHO there's no such thing as over-priced if it gets sold. Some people prefer "over-priced" to "out of stock" and Price negotiates scarcity.

(I promise I do not secretly work for HolyBitcoin or any of their subsidiaries, though I think we all can agree that at this point Scott should compensate me with some kind of affiliate kick back... i kid, i kid)

[ekrififi]

holybitcoin.com - I think i read some favorable posts on another thread. site seems legit, but they just sell out of everything.

I believe they are the J4bberwock salesperson in the US, so Legit.

Can you ad me as well: bitcoinpsu.com

I hate to overwhelm you with questions; Just trying to compensate for my ignorance. I promise this'll be my last one... for a while..

What exactly is J4bberwock? Do they make power supplies or something? I checked out the Holy Board section on his site, but there are very few details there.

[leowonderful]

holybitcoin.com - I think i read some favorable posts on another thread. site seems legit, but they just sell out of everything.

I believe they are the J4bberwock salesperson in the US, so Legit.

Can you ad me as well: bitcoinpsu.com

I hate to overwhelm you with questions; Just trying to compensate for my ignorance. I promise this'll be my last one... for a while..

What exactly is J4bberwock? Do they make power supplies or something? I checked out the Holy Board section on his site, but there are very few details there.

He makes breakout boards for server power supplies and I also think he makes cables for them. He's a forum member and you might be able to contact him for direct pricing.

[QuintLeo]

Thanks so much for the experience. I was considering buying an S9 from HolyBitcoin before Bitmain brought them back online. Good to know they can be trusted for next time.

Once there's a few more posts, I'll make a master list with everyone's input (and Holybitcoin in the Legit section).

 I had an issue with HolyBitcoin selling me a ... think it was an S5, might have been a SP20 .... then turning around and "out of stocking it" and so they could relist it at a higher price - but to be fair, they didn't charge me for the unit they just didn't live up to their sale price on the order I placed.
 I was also more than a bit ticked that it took them almost 2 WEEKS to let me know what was going on with my order.

 Amazon listing, and I DID get to "negative" review them over the issue since the order HAD initially been accepted.

Hi Quint,

Thanks so much for your HOLYBITCOIN.COM experience. I'm sorry that happened to you. If I understand your post correctly, they either did not take your money, or returned it after they cancelled your order? If that is the case, (and I mean this with all due respect) I think I may leave them on the Legit List, as they did not scam you out of your money per say. Maybe we put an asterisk  (*) next to their Legit status, and include your experience.

Also, I believe HolyBitcoin is basically run by one person named Scott (as leowonderful mentioned above). Maybe we cut the guy a little slack. Maybe the capitalist in me over-sympathizes with the inclination to relist a product's price when demand shoots up, but IMHO there's no such thing as over-priced if it gets sold. Some people prefer "over-priced" to "out of stock" and Price negotiates scarcity.

(I promise I do not secretly work for HolyBitcoin or any of their subsidiaries, though I think we all can agree that at this point Scott should compensate me with some kind of affiliate kick back... i kid, i kid)

 They never took the payment, so I don't count them as a scam - but the "didn't deliver the order at the price they LISTED" part makes them somewhat shady IMO.

 I wouldn't have minded the relisting *IF* it had happened before they accepted the order - it was the do it AFTER order acceptance that I found unacceptable.

[ekrififi]

UNKNOWN

MINESHOP.EU - This site and it's products look really great. Too good to be true? They have a lot of GPU rigs hashing anywhere between 85-185 mh. A lot of out of stock, u gotta call for prices on certain products... If it's real, would be pretty interesting... I'd pay this kind of premium to avoid the hassle of self-assembly, especially since GPUs have become a little hard to come by.

BUT i have NEVER bought from them. Has anybody had an experience w mineshop.eu ? would REALLY appreciate any feedback, good, bad, ugly or otherwise...

[BennyAndDeJets]

https://gpushack.com/ is legit!

[sidehack]

It's been several years ago but I did a bit of business with the guy running GPU Shack. I assume it's the same guy still.

HolyScott is also one of my preferred miner resellers, one of two in the US. He can be unresponsive at times, takes a while to return emails I mean, but like was mentioned - it's one guy running the place. I'm in the same boat so I can't judge. But aside from sometimes slow communication I've never had any trouble with him.