USB Miners

[ranochigo]

I've heard that USB miners aren't really useful for mining anymore but I really want to experience what mining is like, even if I'm not really getting anything more than a few satoshis. With them being pretty outdated I was wondering if anyone had one or two left over from when they actually were useful, that would be willing to send them to me. I could probably pay for shipping if need be. I understand that even the cost of the electric needed to use it, is more than I will get out f it, but it is nothing something I will be doing long. Like I said, kinda just want the experience.
Thank you all in advance.

Most miners out on ebay are obselete in profitability.

Dont forget the power costs when mining.

Good to play with if you want to mine for a little project.  But USB's stick miners are pretty much not for profit. 

is any miner really for profit?

Not much, you have to invest a lot and have cheap electrical cost. Mining is really all for big miners now, small miners are already out of the game.

I don't understand how can even they make profit

I mean, if they have free electricity
and mining exceeds the price of electricity

wouldn't it be more profitable to sell the electricity?

Is this even legal? If you have free electricity, but some ASICs and since you do not count electrical cost into your final calculations, your profit would be a lot more, more than selling electricity.

how can it be more then selling electricity
if you can't break even when paying electricity

is it legal?
I don't know about other countries, but here you can directly sell electricity to your electrical provider, the equipment for that however costs around 2000$

A kW would cost a few cents when sent to your provider. However, in a kW of power, you can mine even more amount of BTC. After some time, you can also choose to sell the ASICs.

[ranochigo]

I've heard that USB miners aren't really useful for mining anymore but I really want to experience what mining is like, even if I'm not really getting anything more than a few satoshis. With them being pretty outdated I was wondering if anyone had one or two left over from when they actually were useful, that would be willing to send them to me. I could probably pay for shipping if need be. I understand that even the cost of the electric needed to use it, is more than I will get out f it, but it is nothing something I will be doing long. Like I said, kinda just want the experience.
Thank you all in advance.

Most miners out on ebay are obselete in profitability.

Dont forget the power costs when mining.

Good to play with if you want to mine for a little project.  But USB's stick miners are pretty much not for profit. 

is any miner really for profit?

Not much, you have to invest a lot and have cheap electrical cost. Mining is really all for big miners now, small miners are already out of the game.

I don't understand how can even they make profit

I mean, if they have free electricity
and mining exceeds the price of electricity

wouldn't it be more profitable to sell the electricity?

Is this even legal? If you have free electricity, but some ASICs and since you do not count electrical cost into your final calculations, your profit would be a lot more, more than selling electricity.

how can it be more then selling electricity
if you can't break even when paying electricity

is it legal?
I don't know about other countries, but here you can directly sell electricity to your electrical provider, the equipment for that however costs around 2000$

A kW would cost a few cents when sent to your provider. However, in a kW of power, you can mine even more amount of BTC. After some time, you can also choose to sell the ASICs.

if that is true, how is it not profitable to mine while paying electricity?

You have to minus the electrical cost when you are calculating profits. The cost can be quite high if your electricity isn't cheap. You might not be able to ROI if you also have to count cooling and ASICs equipment electricity cost.

[ranochigo]

okay, I get it now
but you have to have some serious money to pull this off and get ROI right?

Yup, that is why most people don't mine any longer, just trading.

[cech4204a]

You will need at least 100 miners at 330MHs to get like less than 1$ per day, which is very low. They are not profitable anymore.

[ranochigo]

You will need at least 100 miners at 330MHs to get like less than 1$ per day, which is very low. They are not profitable anymore.

Those miners actually have less efficiency and requires more space and wiring rather than a simple Plug-and-play mining machine.

[petersiddle98]

The best way to make profit from USB miners are buying it and selling it higher.

[notlist3d]

I've heard that USB miners aren't really useful for mining anymore but I really want to experience what mining is like, even if I'm not really getting anything more than a few satoshis. With them being pretty outdated I was wondering if anyone had one or two left over from when they actually were useful, that would be willing to send them to me. I could probably pay for shipping if need be. I understand that even the cost of the electric needed to use it, is more than I will get out f it, but it is nothing something I will be doing long. Like I said, kinda just want the experience.
Thank you all in advance.

Most miners out on ebay are obselete in profitability.

Dont forget the power costs when mining.

Good to play with if you want to mine for a little project.  But USB's stick miners are pretty much not for profit.  

is any miner really for profit?

Not much, you have to invest a lot and have cheap electrical cost. Mining is really all for big miners now, small miners are already out of the game.

I still say yes for ME personally.  I have lower priced KWH.  I had to do somethings to make it profitable again, sold and shutdown my many GPU rigs.  Parted them out. The heat and low earnings did make those where I just could not do it anymore at level I was doing.

Moved onto next generations.   I feel good about my mining operation.  And there are some good hosting options out there for those not able to have miners at home.   But I also love mining.  I think there is a good mixture with both mining and trading.  I know some will say buy and sit on it for years and profit.   But so far mining has been good to me.  The only secret is buy a quality machine, no pre-order, and have a decent power price or hosting option.   And at the end of profitability sell the miner don't put it on a shelf.

[Kiloday]

Mining with a USB miner would be worth it if the miner was a gift, the electricity was free, and the pool had no fees.

[ranochigo]

Mining with a USB miner would be worth it if the miner was a gift, the electricity was free, and the pool had no fees.

The chances of it happening? Very low. Their hashing speed aren't that fast and can only earn like 500 satoshis per day. Isn't really worth your time IMO, especially when difficulty is rising so fast.

[Coef]

Mining with a USB miner would be worth it if the miner was a gift, the electricity was free, and the pool had no fees.

Even in that situation, it may be more profitable to sell that USB miner on eBay than to use it on bitcoin mining yourself.

[Coef]

The best way to make profit from USB miners are buying it and selling it higher.

The profit would be very limited after shipping cost and eBay fees.
Also, you probably won't have much customers as very few people will buy USB miners nowadays.

[minerpumpkin]

Mining with a USB miner would be worth it if the miner was a gift, the electricity was free, and the pool had no fees.

Even in that situation, it may be more profitable to sell that USB miner on eBay than to use it on bitcoin mining yourself.

I think keeping one or two is a nice way of remembering the generation of the first ASICs and the good times you had with them. Too much sentimental value to sell them on eBay for a bit of worthless FIAT

[zhinkk]

The best way to make profit from USB miners are buying it and selling it higher.

The profit would be very limited after shipping cost and eBay fees.
Also, you probably won't have much customers as very few people will buy USB miners nowadays.

You'd be suprised. People who simply hear about the success of mining from others and don't research properly just go out and buy these miners in hopes of profits. Usually people who are very very new to bitcoin.

[milan74]

You can try your luck, but mining bitcoin with a USB is difficult.

[guizai]

i still got 10 running at home. they cant even cover my electricity cost daily. 

[IamCANADIAN013]

i still got 10 running at home. they cant even cover my electricity cost daily.  

I had 10 of them running up until a few weeks ago.  What are 10 earning these days before electricity costs?

If my computer wasn't in my bedroom I'd probably have usb and cubes still mining. I'm not the one that covers the cost of electricity.

[TheJohn]

i still got 10 running at home. they cant even cover my electricity cost daily. 

Then why are you still running it?

[ranochigo]

i still got 10 running at home. they cant even cover my electricity cost daily.  

Then why are you still running it?

Many people only wants to contribute to the network. They only take about a few dollars per month, many people just do it as their hobby. It is nice to see the lights blinking when they find a share.

[Datcracktho]

USB miners? when did this stop being useful?

[ranochigo]

USB miners? when did this stop being useful?

USB miners have no cooling, therefore you can't put efficient ASIC chips there. Also, after so much more efficient ASICs came out, the difficulty skyrocketed and they are unprofitable. These are only for collectors and people who want to mine as a hobby but do not want a big and expensive ASIC which emits a lot of heat.