Hey guys.
Ok. Looking like we are going to do a second batch. Pretty exciting. The new prices, while being an annoying jump up, seem to be within the viable range to still make it worthwhile, and i feel confident we can fill out a second reel pretty quickly. I'll be opening up the second batch soon.
Just to clarify a few things that have been discussed here. At this point i am not sure if our first reel will be bumped up for early shipping, or if that only applies to new reels. I have written to Dave asking about this and haven't yet heard back. I am trying to arrange things so that both reels can be delivered together, but not of course if they are far enough apart in the queue such that one will be coming substantially earlier. If that is the case, then we'll accept them as two separate shipments. I'll let you know details on that as soon a i know them.
It's also important to note that we are not in a position to jump straight into production next week anyway. Our timeline has always been based on receiving the chips in early October. We still have work to do to get everything in place so basically if we got the chips tomorrow it wouldn't necessarily mean we will be able to get finished miners out to you any sooner. That said, we will be doing all that we can to get everything done as quick as possible. If we do get an earlier chip delivery, we'll do our best to turn them around as quickly as we can.
As for order priority and position in the queue, I've noticed a bit of discussion about what is the appropriate and fair way to deal with it and i must admit, its not clear cut and easy, especially since people will be paying different prices for the same stuff. Hopefully the two reels arrive at the same time and everything is done as one manufacture run and its not even an issue, but in the case that these do become two separate batches, here is how am approaching it. I have always said that the order priority is first come first served, and so that it how it will be. If one reel arrives earlier, then it will go to batch one. I want to respect the people who jumped in early and maintain their position in the queue. Putting out higher priced chips that may arrive earlier than older orders is a rogue move (note, we aren't actually sure that that's what they're doing). Bitfury should be respecting their order queue, and perhaps they are, but regardless, we will respect ours. I know this might seem unfair to new people jumping in and paying more money than others and being behind them in the queue, but that's just how it goes for not jumping in early. The old prices were there and available for a long time and everyone had their chance. So Batch 2 orders are batch 2, regardless.
I'll be posting order details soon. This time there will be a few changes. We will only be accepting BTC payments for Batch 2. There will probably be paypal and credit card options through a third party, but basically we are trying to steer people away from paypal. After all, BTC is why we're all here so i really wanting to encourage people to use it. If you don't have any BTC, there are lots of ways to get it, and if you've never done so, now is the time to learn how to do it.
Also, miniplanes won't be free this time. We copped a bit of a hit offering those for free on the last batch (all previous orders will still be honored of course).
Hopefully we can get this one filled nice and quick. I'll put up the new details and payment instructions in the next day or so.
Exciting times.
Barntech
Sounds really good! Bitfury shipping that way does put you, as the manufacturer, in a tight spot. I am glad to see that you are maintaining fairness to your first order batches. As always, you guys handle things well, even with bitfury putting you in a tight spot. Amazing how nice customers are when treated with respect!
Since you are only taking BTC for payment this time, are you planning on using escrow or just direct payment? Also, some of us don't have as much bitcoin around as we would like, how fast will you require payment? Converting money to bitcoin sadly still takes a few days to a week for some of us (me).
Do you have an idea of the price for the backplanes? I would really like to purchase four more boards, so I'll require an additional backplane. Also, what is the word on heatsinks? I remember the nice looking ceramic ones shown.
Early October for production dates still is not bad. Even if the second reel arrives early and sits around, it will still be quite nice knowing they are ready to go to manufacturing. Hopefully the price will stay around $400!
Now to wait and see how it all goes. Waiting is hard. Good luck with the hashing!