At time of writing I can load a cart with the MOQ of 3x lots of 20x 821s and start the checkout process. Now maybe that's as far as I would get, but assuming they validated the order then it appears that one buyer could purchase 60x 821s (66 to be exact since each lot includes 2x "free" units) for $120,825, including shipping. That works out to about $1830/miner. Not exactly a steal, but better than the prices from Canaan's approved resellers.
At the risk of blowing up the ebay prices, there is a seller (ecpar411) that has 10 auctions for soon to be delivered S9's with power supply and he wants $1,000 each including shipping (and the auctions may go for less).
I have a feeling it is a scam but it could be that he knows about an upcoming bitmain announcement that will crash the prices. I am working with him to get proof that they are in transit to him and that he owns them. If it turns out to be legit, I will probably add 30 of them here and sell the rest to anyone with a continental United States address. Since I will have to wire the money and take the risk, I will sell them with 10% added to the final price ($1,100 per unit) if paid in crypto or 15% ($1,150) if paid by credit card. Since the address would be changed to mine, I will likely be required to pay duties which would get added to the base price. In any case, likely way less than $1,830 per miner if it is legit.
Payment plan (if it happens) would be to get your credit card information and Authorize the amount (but not charge). That may reduce your credit limit for about 2 days till it automatically drops off. As you know, credit card charges are easily contested (and it taints my merchant account), so you will NEVER see an unauthorized charge from me. Once I get the units, you will decide if you want me to ship it tested (not more than an hour) or unopened. I will need your contact information and we will set a crypto price at the time of shipment based on the minergain.com prices and you will get a unique payment address. I will ship it fedex ground with a signature required (usually around $20 for one, less per unit for more). When I see that the shipment has arrived, you have 24 hours to pay me in crypto or ACH bank transfer. If you do not pay within 24 hours, then I would charge your card (which hopefully still works).
So please share your thoughts on 1) if anyone has insights on whether this is a scam and 2) thoughts on payment plan if it were to proceed.
