Bicknellski K1 Nano USA Only Group Buy [Closed]

[bigbeninlondon]

Update 08/01/2013

There's been no interest at this price point for a group buy, considering more than 3 makes it pointless to add a step in.  Therefore I've decided to go ahead and close it up.  I'll be watching the Nano landscape closely, and you may see me attempting to start up a group buy somewhere else if there is a need.

Thanks for the votes of confidence to those who were willing to jump in early.


So I've decided to take the plunge and go ahead and start taking names and quantities for the group buy.  I'm building in the cost of 2 miners into the price so I get a little compensation for putting this together and executing it well.  I'll also be purchasing 2 of my own.

Please remember that the risk you are taking is not only with me, but with Bicknellski and his company Big Picture Mining.  I've contacted John K for escrow, and I am hoping he will accept my request, so I've built his 2.5% escrow fee into everything.

Our first target is 50 miners.  According to the Bicknellski Website (https://bigpicturemining.com/klondike-miner), miners are currently priced at $49.99.  Should we receive pledges for more than 50, we'll recalculate shipping from Indonesia and retarget at 100 miners.  If we don't get 50 miners, I'll dissolve the group buy and return any already commited funds.  Bigger is better here, folks.

Breakdown:

Miners:$49.99 * 50 = $2499.50
Handling: $4.95
Shipping to USA: $90.00
Shipping to USA: $40.00
Subtotal: $2594.45
Subtotal: $2544.45

Escrow Service: (2594.45 * .025) = $64.87
Escrow Service: (2544.45 * .02) = $50.89

Total before shipping: $2659.32 / 48 = $55.41 per unit.

Total before shipping: $2595.34 /48 = $54.07 per unit.

Shipping will be done USPS First Class with tracking for up to 10 miners and is only available to the continental US at quoted prices.  Other locations PM me for quotes.

Shipping for 1 unit will be $3.25.  Add $.75 for each additional miner up to 10.  

I'll only ship in units of 10 to mitigate risk of loss or damage.  If you want 20 I'll send you 2 boxes.


All of these prices are subject to change should Big Picture Mining change it's policies.  

I will update this thread once a day (barring unforeseen emergencies) even if no progress is made.  I know what it's like to be left in the dark and I won't do that, even if I have nothing to report.

Please PM me or post in this thread your pledge.  When/If John K provides us escrow, we can begin collecting money.

I'll be working out how to take bitcoin while mitigating my own risk, since Bicknellski has pegged his price to USD.

Let's get started.  46 left.

Update 1 2013-07-26

33 already vouched for.  17 left to hit the 50 mark.

Tracking sheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApT7WUJuJCwMdDBtN2VSNXhxczgxT2toWVhXb1ZlbXc#gid=0

Update 2 2013-07-263

Currently, even should we reach 50, we are holding on the following points:

• Waiting on John K to respond for escrow
• Waiting on Bicknellski to finalize shipping methods & costs (website is under maintenance)
• Trying to figure out how to mitigate bitcoin volatility risk when using escrow

For bullet point three, one way to go is to take payments for a specific low exchange rate (say 1 BTC = $75) and then refund back any extra after the transaction.  I'm unfamiliar with this process when using escrow.  If I was receiving the money directly I would probably use Bitpay or just sell on the exchange myself (which would mean another little bit on top to pay for exchange fees), but I understand that escrow eases people's minds.  Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

Also, I'm not sure what the shipment from Indonesia will cost as far as customs is concerned.  That would also have to be included in the price.  

Update 3 2013-07-26

John K has accepted the request for an escrow service, and his fee is only 2% as opposed to the 2.5% I quoted before.  In addition, Big Picture Mining's site has fixed their shipping costs, and for an order of 50 the cost is $40.00 (not including customs fees). If anyone familiar with receiving packages internationally can give us an idea of what customs costs will/might be, I'll incorporate an estimate into the spreadsheet.

All pledges and price changes updated in the spreadsheet and in OP.

Update 4 2013-07-26

Just checked; if we get 100 miners, shipping is $65.  This would bring the price to $52.76 each before shipping.

Update 5 2013-07-26

This group buy will be accepting bitcoin only.  I can't be held responsible for chargebacks; I don't have the funds to do so.  I'm currently trying to ascertain the best way to collect bitcoin so as to hedge my own risk of receiving it.  Hopefully John K has some experience here; if it was me I would just take bitpay and convert to dollars, or worst case, just sell the bitcoin to convert to fiat.  Suggestions are welcome.

It's unfortunate that Bicknellski is pegging his miner's price to USD, but bitcoin is still pretty volatile so I don't fault him for it.


Update 1 2013-07-27

So far the best option for accepting payments is to over-estimate the cost and offer refunds for overages.

Therefore, I will price each unit at BTC.64 which does not include shipping to you.  Since Bicknellski's website takes bitcoin, the price you end up paying will be determined based on the actual cost of the miners.  Once we near completion, we can make another assessment and see how far off the mark we are.  I've updated the spreadsheet to show conversion to BTC.
  
I'll be sending John K my identity verification in the morning when I can take some pictures.

Update 2 2013-07-27

Bicknellski and Big Picture Mining have updated their shipping policies again.  They now have EMS Shipping available.  Here is the most up to date comparison of the group buy vs direct purchase from Big Picture Mining using EMS shipping (which is cheaper for small amounts of units):

Num Miners	Group Buy	Direct	Difference
1:	$57.32	$70.95	$13.63 ($13.63 each)
2:	$112.14	$120.94	$8.80 ($4.40 each)
3:	$166.96	$175.35	$8.39 ($2.80 each)
4:	$221.78	$225.34	$3.56 ($0.89 each)
5:	$276.60	$275.33	-$1.27 (-0.26 each)

At this point the only reason I can see to participate in this group buy is if you only want between 1 and 3.  At four the price difference doesn't really warrent the extra step of shipping to me.  As long as the price difference for one remains the same I'll continue the group buy.

Update 1 2013-07-28

Escrow service has been set up.  Please send your bitcoin to 1JtPi2MbvCuMvBGT7VeyoyBcoGLTHYYYDp to secure your place in the group buy.  John will send payment to Bicknellski once we've got 50.  Thanks John!

[pixl8tr]

I am in for 4

[Unacceptable]

At least 4 for me    Maybe more if we have another week to send BTC  

[systic]

Ill take 10

[dc81]

I'll take 3

[initforthemoney]

Is Canada completely excluded  ?

[Bicknellski]

I will let you know guys as soon as chips hit our shores and personally take them in hand to Batam from Jakarta. Fingers crossed these chips start landing soon not just for our K1 production but for every DIY builder out there. We need the CHIPS AVALON we need those chips ASAP.

EDIT:

As a COOP we have quite a few chip buys we are part of different members spread worldwide... so my chips are not only the candidates for the earlier chips we are expecting. Hoping the other members get lucky with Avalon shipping as well.

[Miner99er]

I'm in... can afford 5 now... more as BTC rolls in.

[reactor]

Put me down for 5, but I need to have priority shipping (neighborhood sucks, they actually knock for priority boxes).

[bigbeninlondon]

Is Canada completely excluded  ?

PM Sent

At least 4 for me    Maybe more if we have another week to send BTC 

I think we've got a week; Bicknellski doesn't have chips in hand yet.

I will let you know guys as soon as chips hit our shores and personally take them in hand to Batam from Jakarta. Fingers crossed these chips start landing soon not just for our K1 production but for every DIY builder out there. We need the CHIPS AVALON we need those chips ASAP.

Thanks Bicknellski; I appreciate the personal attention.  Definitely bodes well for confidence levels.

Put me down for 5, but I need to have priority shipping (neighborhood sucks, they actually knock for priority boxes).

PM Sent


I've put together a tracking sheet.  You can find it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApT7WUJuJCwMdDBtN2VSNXhxczgxT2toWVhXb1ZlbXc#gid=0

[aoshea]

In for 1. When is payment due?

[bigbeninlondon]

In for 1. When is payment due?

Will notify; still working escrow and shipping out with John K and Bicknellski, respectively.

[bigbeninlondon]

All; please watch the OP for updates.  They will occur below the OP, in chronological order, marked by date and post number.  Post number will reset every day, and every day will be delimited with a horizontal rule.  In addition, from this point forward (for those using bitcointalk's watch thread feature), I will reply with a new post every time OP is updated.

[bigbeninlondon]

OP Updated.  Prices modified downward.

[dc81]

I'll just order directly from them. Please remove me from this GB.

At current prices, it's cheaper to buy 6 directly and pay shipping ($328.99) than it is to buy through this GB ($331.42).

[bigbeninlondon]

I'll just order directly from them. Please remove me from this GB.

At current prices, it's cheaper to buy 6 directly and pay shipping ($328.99) than it is to buy through this GB ($331.42).

So it is.  Removed.

[bigbeninlondon]

So shipping prices on Bicknellski's page have changed.

Here's a breakdown of costs:

Num Miners	Group Buy	Direct	Difference
1:	$57.32	$79.04	$21.72 ($21.72 each)
2:	$112.14	$129.03	$16.89 ($8.46 each)
3:	$162.21	$179.02	$16.81 ($5.60 each)
4:	$221.78	$229.01	$7.23 ($1.81 each)
5:	$276.60	$279.00	$2.40 ($.48 each)
6:	$331.42	$328.99	-$2.43 (-$.40 each)

For 1-4 miners, looks like the group buy is worth it.  After that it's a toss up.  For $2.40 I'd probably get it shipped directly to me.  Let me know.

[systic]

Hmm how gard is it to get these setup. With all the guides out it was pretty easy with cgminer for the USB eruptors

[bigbeninlondon]

Hmm how gard is it to get these setup. With all the guides out it was pretty easy with cgminer for the USB eruptors

Evidently BKKCoins has a version of CGMiner that works with these.  I'd bet when they get released into the wild the other mining programs will release revisions to make them compatible.  They're supposed to be plug and play.

[systic]

Any link or where to download the cgminer for these?