Mining Hardware - Purchase Method Poll

[ak49er]

Without competition there is no 'best terms', just; 'terms', like them, or not.

Which by definition would then be the best terms, (and also the worst), and it would be up to me as to whether to stick to buying from a reseller, joining a group buy or looking for a different product.  There's still competition.  If a manufacturer/reseller price themselves out of the market it's because there are still alternatives.  I'm not about to cut off my nose to spite my face and steadfastly refuse to buy from anyone but a high-priced reseller, but if I deem the terms to be reasonable, even if they are the only terms available, then I'll buy.

There's value in offering people what they want, but it's not infinite.

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[Bitcoinorama]

Without competition there is no 'best terms', just; 'terms', like them, or not.

Which by definition would then be the best terms, (and also the worst), and it would be up to me as to whether to stick to buying from a reseller, joining a group buy or looking for a different product.  There's still competition.  If a manufacturer/reseller price themselves out of the market it's because there are still alternatives.  I'm not about to cut off my nose to spite my face and steadfastly refuse to buy from anyone but a high-priced reseller, but if I deem the terms to be reasonable, even if they are the only terms available, then I'll buy.

There's value in offering people what they want, but it's not infinite.

Agreed and by that logic who in their right mind would by an ASICminer USB dongle anyway?! (Aside collector/novelty value)

[ak49er]

Agreed and by that logic who in their right mind would by an ASICminer USB dongle anyway?! (Aside collector/novelty value)

Hey!!!  I never once said or implied that I was in my right mind!!

[Bitcoinorama]

Agreed and by that logic who in their right mind would by an ASICminer USB dongle anyway?! (Aside collector/novelty value)

Hey!!!  I never once said or implied that I was in my right mind!!

[kosmokramer]

Thanks for sharing your opinions everyone! As I said from the start, I don't think any purchase method is necessarily superior over the other; as a re-seller, I was just interested in seeing what you preferred. Perhaps I've been serving the wrong market - look at those who prefer pre-orders!

I originally thought customers preferred in-stock, average priced merchandise, to an extent where they would protect/support merchants who offered such service. Risk comes inherent with inventory (particularly so with ASICs!), which is why I'm doing my best to reach an agreement where that can be minimized to a point where I (and others) can focus just on selling/servicing and not having to worry if tomorrow morning, our inventory will be worthless.

Poll has been locked - apologies to those of you who feel it was "rigged" or designed in a way to be biased. I don't claim to be an expert in data collection - just typed up some questions late at night trying to gauge my audience!

[Bitcoinorama]

Thanks for sharing your opinions everyone! As I said from the start, I don't think any purchase method is necessarily superior over the other; as a re-seller, I was just interested in seeing what you preferred. Perhaps I've been serving the wrong market - look at those who prefer pre-orders!

I originally thought customers preferred in-stock, average priced merchandise, to an extent where they would protect/support merchants who offered such service. Risk comes inherent with inventory (particularly so with ASICs!), which is why I'm doing my best to reach an agreement where that can be minimized to a point where I (and others) can focus just on selling/servicing and not having to worry if tomorrow morning, our inventory will be worthless.

Poll has been locked - apologies to those of you who feel it was "rigged" or designed in a way to be biased. I don't claim to be an expert in data collection - just typed up some questions late at night trying to gauge my audience!

Fair play buddy, I added a link to one of your other threads a moment ago as someone started a thread looking for a USB miner to purchase now. Go for it...

[webjoe]

Personally, I think a healthy mix is good for the ecosystem.  People have different needs and different tolerance, and the variety helps address whatever people value. 

[kosmokramer]

Personally, I think a healthy mix is good for the ecosystem.  People have different needs and different tolerance, and the variety helps address whatever people value. 

Agreed! As an ambitious re-seller though, I'm interested in seeing where most of the demand lies!

[kosmokramer]

You want exclusive agreement because you got screwed by the recent price drop, but it does not change the fact that exclusive arrangements are inefficient and against the free market.

I've clarified this in other areas but perhaps not here - I am not necessarily seeking an exclusive agreement. I should have said "authorized" from the beginning, but was just using terms I saw in friedcat's recent post. I don't entertain thoughts of monopolies, oligopolies, etc - I just want to continue to provide outstanding customer service.

I don't necessarily agree with some of the things being said, and don't appreciate people telling me what I'm seeking. To be clear: I desire nothing more than to be able to keep honorably serving my customers with steady inventory that I can ship same-day at a fair price; I'm pretty simple.

Short of that, I will be relegated to requiring payment up front in the form of group buys, which maybe is what you guys want anyway (as revealed by the results of this survey).

In the end, if you're all happy with the service I'm providing, that's all that matters.

[Bicknellski]

Start a coop and buy everything at cost and have everything fabricated and shipped at cost for members.

[kosmokramer]

Start a coop and buy everything at cost and have everything fabricated and shipped at cost for members.

That idea has some merit! So there's a fee to join the coop I assume, but then everything after that is cost. What do you think a fair membership fee would be?

Also, how would the person who manages the coop be compensated for their time over the years?

[Bicknellski]

More than merit.

11 people with me see the benefits in our COOP. 10K chips just ordered at cost no escrow required, we are working on getting fabrication set up this coming week or two.

COOPs are "managed" by everyone. Compensation is only necessary should they outlay more time. Everyone takes a turn running the COOP none are salary takers.

ZERO FEES.
POOLED MINING.
GROUP BUYS.
REGIONAL FABRICATION.
WORLDWIDE SALES & DISTRIBUTION.

[kosmokramer]

More than merit.

11 people with me see the benefits in our COOP. 10K chips just ordered at cost no escrow required, we are working on getting fabrication set up this coming week or two.

COOPs are "managed" by everyone. Compensation is only necessary should they outlay more time. Everyone takes a turn running the COOP none are salary takers.

ZERO FEES.
POOLED MINING.
GROUP BUYS.
REGIONAL FABRICATION.
WORLDWIDE SALES & DISTRIBUTION.

I'm very interested. PM me any details and maybe we can do something.

All Avalon chips? Any work on BFL yet? Also, where are you located??

[Bicknellski]

We already have a closed membership in the COOP. Not taking more people right now while we are producing boards.

But ya start one up I highly recommend it. Find some like minded people get a few in areas where fabrication is cheap.

Avalon chips right now... but we are going to look at whatever is available. BFL not really something I think anyone can rely on,  besides given the overclocking of Avalon chips it really seems like a no brainer to stick with Avalon till they come out with the GEN2 chips. Cost of Klondike production is so low that it beats everything out there right now and if we get some K64s going we are set. (IF THEY EVEN WORK THAT IS!  Risky ).