Buying a miner:
In an earnest effort to start my CryptoSolar project, and with a bit of haste, I ordered a Bitmain L3+ from BitShopUSA.com. This is a decision I would soon regret. After paying $3498 USD for the L3+, only a few days later they send me an email informing me of their "One Day Sale" on the L3+ for $2498! This "One Day Sale" has now continued for five days!
I sent a polite email informing them of this very serious infraction of customer trust since, after all, their website touts "superior equipment at lower costs." The reply I received was polite but dismissive of my concern telling me...
"I first want to say that we understand your frustration. We have a lot of experience in the rapidly changing prices of mining hardware. Unfortunately, the pricing of mining hardware is so closely tied to the cryptocurrency market which is completely out of our control. We price everything according to current market prices and we are always willing to try and price match any competitor at that given time. We however, can not guarantee that this will be the best price in the future. That is impossible to predict as we cannot predict the price of bitcoin in the future. When you purchased this machine Litecoin was about 175$, with the drop to the low $100's. Now if the price of Litecoin went to $400 instead of down we probably wouldn't be having this conversation and Antminer L3+'s would be selling for 5,000 and Bitshop is the one losing out. You can see my point here right? If you are looking to place a future order please email us with what you are interested in and I will see what I can do about a discount for you."
This answer is no answer. I knew I would not get my $1000 back but thought they might have a more consolatory tone and better offer for this gross financial disparity. So, to you all I say "caveat emptor" and look elsewhere for your mining equipment needs.
Issues:
The upside, I am mining away with few issues with the rig. I do seem to have a high rate of "HW" on my #1 card. Forums suggested adding /#xnsub to the address line to help, which I did. It may have helped as I only have 49 HW since a restart about 18 hours ago. If anyone can offer guidance on the HW issue, it would be much appreciated.
Better deals:
I am still excited about this project and will not let unscrupulous dealers deter me. I discovered, too late to my regret, that I could have brought the L3+ from CryptoCrane, a reputable dealer on Amazon.com, for about $2800. However, I may try to order an L3+ directly from Bitmain itself. They list the price of the March shipment at $1536 USD, plus shipping of about $125. So, for less than $1700, I can get one straight form the manufacturer without the questionable middle man.
Pool Platforms:
After trying sever pool platforms; Nicehash.com, Prohashing.com, Litecoinpool.org, and a couple others, I landed on litecoinpool.org. They pay 102%, they payout with a minimum of 0.01 litecoin, and NO FEES!. Any better suggestions appreciated but, so far, kinda happy with them. One more thing, Coinbase is a ripoff! Their fees are ridiculous and their price quote system is a joke! More on that next time.
End:
Good luck and good mining. Please share this and/or your stories, good and bad, of buying equipment. Also, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!