Topic: [WTB] USB Miners (e.g. Antminer U1/U2 etc) for School Students (Read 1195 times)

Just a small update, picked up 8 Antminer U1's.

Anyone have a lot of USB miners that they are no longer using?

First of all thanks for the very detailed response and that great SitckMiner thread.

As for the needing 60, I have 56 total students across 3 classes that all showed interest in learning more once I proposed the idea brought up by a group of students. You are correct they only want me to show the process although I would like to do that bit more as it is the last year for them in the school before they leave for College / University. So I would like them to actually keep a miner each as a thanks and farewell gift.

I have a decent amount of time to accumulate them as this will not take place for another few months.

I will make sure to keep checking the forum and places like eBay.

Thanks again.

Given the volume you're looking at, and the purpose being only to introduce them to Bitcoin mining, you may have a problem finding people who have that much stock willing to sell for a price that fits your budget.

For what it's worth, you can check my StickMiners thread to get some idea of pricing, as well as (semi-)official resellers, for the type of miner you're describing:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/stickminers-overview-of-low-power-usb-stick-type-mining-hardware-464496

I'd say you should be looking at a price of around $7.50 (certainly for bulk) for things like the old Block Erupter USB (last sold by a reputable reseller at $5 to get rid of stock), and between $15 and $30 for other single chip miners - you'll mostly find the nanofury based ones in the wild.  The other models are more difficult to gauge, but almost certainly are going to be more expensive.

If you had to buy these in one go (rather than slowly accumulating them from several private sellers, random e-bay auctions, etc.), I'd say have a look at:
BitShopper's store: https://www.bitshopper.de/shop/usb-miner-sha256/bitshopper-nanofury-nf2/
Last he mentioned he had more than 100 units left, so stock is probably not an issue.  Budget might be, though, as they're  ~$50 each on account of having two Bitfury chips of a later revision.  You may be able to negotiate a bulk discount: https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/macentyre-168223

CryptoRig's ebay: http://stores.ebay.com/CryptoRig/_i.html?_sop=2&rt=nc
There's auctions up for 10 units at $170, so $17/each.  I don't know how many he has left (ebay counters are useless), which may make fulfilling 60 units problematic.  You could try contacting via this forum: https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/cryptorig-102767 or website: http://www.cryptorig.com/

But you might have more luck with the iMiner (entirely enclosed and difficult to take apart - if you wanted to explain hardware in detail, this may not be a favorable option) or Avalon Nano (some people have problems getting that one running).  Both were produced fairly late, and so resellers tend to have plenty in stock, while there's very few buyers.  Most of the resellers of those also tend to be on places like aliexpress and dhgate, so buyer beware applies.
Official western reseller for the Avalon Nano is ehash.com, they currently have 55 in stock at approximately $17.85 each (not seeing bulk discount options there): https://ehash.com/
For the iMiner you're stuck with the manufacturer for an official outlet (they do point to an aliexpress store, but that store no longer carries the item).  They supposedly have 394 in stock (haven't seen that number go down in a long time, might be broken).  They have a minimum order quantity of 100 units at about $10.55 each: http://www.icointech.com/index_en.php

Of course if you don't mind accumulating them slowly, or waiting for somebody to dump their picomine, and possibly having mismatched models*, that's almost certainly going to be the cheapest option in terms of direct costs if you want to stick with 60.

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And thus the second half of my response - do you really need 60, or could you just as easily get, say, 10 and have the students share?  After all, it sounds like they're only asking you to describe the process.  Wouldn't need one miner per machine/student for that.  Technically wouldn't need a miner at all, just pop up a youtube video, but I don't know what level of student / what classes we're talking about here

Edit: I accidentally a word, and forgot Cryptorig's website link - fixed now

Here's a few:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/u1-u2-antminer-great-for-beginners-or-as-hobby-949528

They trickle in from time to time.

I want to buy ~60 USB miners to cover all the students of my 3 classes I teach Computing to, it wasn't my own idea but a group of my students, they have read about Bitcoin through social media and wondered if I could explain and show them the process; from mining (and why miners are needed) to transactions and wallet management. (Also any other recommendations welcomed)

So I believe it would be even better if they could actually have a physical miner that they slot into their computer in class and run the miner software to be able to view the results from the miner they have. Also these miners would be gifted to the students after the in class use of them. Note: Students are all of high calibre and chose to study this subject.

Not sure what to pay and the only importance is that these miners are self USB powered like that of the Antminers U1/U2 so if anyone has these hidden away in storage and would like to earn a few £ / € / $ for them please post what you have, of what quantity, how much you would want per miner and where you are located.

I am located in the UK, so UK / EU postage/shipping is preferred although if shipping costs from other countries is at a justifiable amount I would consider that as well.

Many thanks.