TLDR:
Not sure if it exists but would like to start a master thread on reputable people/companies to buy miners from, including sellers on this forum. My experience thus far directly with Goldshell has been positive and I have also bought from user “badgerlandcrypto” and have nothing but positive things to say.
I am new to ASIC mining, but sadly I have already learned quite a few lessons the hard way, but hey that’s half the fun, right?
Anyways, one of the biggest problems I ran into when first getting started was finding reputable companies selling ASIC miners. Whether it was listings on eBay or companies directly linked on asicminervalue.com as reputable sellers, it’s been really hard to know who to trust.
My first experience on eBay quickly proved the old saying, “if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is!” After sending money, luckily via PayPal, to a seller for an ASIC miner, they went MIA. After a few weeks I got my funds back, but nonetheless it was a hassle.
Then a few times I almost bought direct from companies linked on asicminervalue.com. However, after googling a few of them and asking google if they were a scam, it was quite hard to tell from reviews whether or not they were legit, or at least reliable. Plenty of good reviews, but also loads of ones saying they never got their items. So, I wondered, where they only shipping out half of them?
My next attempt was buying direct from Goldshell, now that they have finally been getting some things in stock. Overall, it was a relatively good experience, however I was caught off guard by the high customs fee of roughly $500 for my $1700 CK-Lite miner, which was also a slight learning curve to navigate the first time. I also felt a little uneasy sending them crypto with no real ability for recourse if they didn’t follow through and send the item.
That leads me to my latest purchase, which was from a seller I found on the forums here, “badgerlandcrypto,” and wanted to leave a review. I purchased 2 KD-Box Pros, prior to them being in stock on Goldshell, and he was asking a fair price, based on what they were being listed on Goldshell as well as eBay for. I was able to pay via PayPal (he offered multiple other means of paying as well such as Square, or eBay w/covering ebay fees) which was nice bc allowed me to have the comfort of PayPal’s buyer protection, which I already recently delt with. From there he apparently bought them direct, had them sent to his residence to be tested, and then sent them to me. Personally, I appreciated that I didn’t have to deal with custom fees or being concerned I would be getting them DOA from the manufacturer. He did a great job throughout the entire process communicating with me, providing me tracking of the miners to him, and then again once he shipped them to me. His turnaround time was great and he even offered to reimburse me based on lost mining fees of the token, if there were any delays. It was also nice to see he has an eBay account with not only other miners listed, but previous sales and positive reviews.
Anyways, I would not only recommend him if you are new and looking into asic mining, but I definitely plan on checking with him and comparing his prices in the future when I continue to grow out my mini-mining operation.
If anyone has any more questions about my experiences, whether with Goldshell or badgerlandcrypto, please feel free to send me a direct message and I would be happy to give you more information or provide evidence proving that he offers great service.
Anyways, hopefully this can be the start of a thread where we all work together to build a network of sellers (whether individuals or companies) that we can reference, so that we can have more confidence purchasing these expensive items, in a crypto-world full of scammers!