Will I make a profit on this? I am starting to give it serious consideration, but as far as I am concerned the whole shit is a scam and you always end up going negative profit when you buy hardware as new stuff is always around the corner. What will $5k give me today TH/s wise?
I think you answered your own question: "the whole shit is a scam and you always end up going negative profit when you buy hardware:
If I had $5k to blow I would just buy BTC with it.
But I don't have a lot of extra space for mining and the price of electricity is quite high.
If you buy BTC with your money you have a chance at making money OR losing money.
If you buy mining equipment AND you have access to cheap electric you MIGHT make some money, on the flip side, you could lose money....
It's really up to you....
The difference in power cost in running a USB miner and a Bitmain S4/S5 or Spondoolies Tech SP20/SP35 is substantial.
You'd need to know your electrical rate k/WH. If it's $0.06 k/WH or lower, then I'd consider mining. If it's $0.10 k/WH or higher, I'd say forget about it.
Not only do you have to factor in this cost, you'll have to find out if your house or hosting center electrical circuit can handle the power requirements and total circuit load. The SP35 requires a 208V power outlet.
If you pass these requirements, then probably no better deal than this mini farm:
http://www.spondoolies-tech.com/products/holiday-special-sp20-mini-farm-batch-2
What would you experienced people who has payed and sold EQ earlier done?
Honestly, none of the above really. No hardware or cloud mining will be worth it for you at this point in time. Currently, 1 TH/s of hash power earns just over 0.01 BTC a day or $2.
Think about it. There's truly no way to recoup whatever investment you were planning to put money into.
If you're counting on BTC to spike in price, perhaps, but then it would easier to just buy BTC ten fold.