If only 500 chips in all batches want to be kept it wont be possible to keep a whole batch then i guess.
Interesting that people who want refunds will get precedence over those who want chips, given there was nothing in the OP about a batch being cancelled if other group buy members change their mind. What happens in the more evenly balanced situation where 5000 chips in all batches want to be kept (i.e. exactly half a batch)? Does that batch get ordered or not?
Besides, given the batch 3 refund experience, who knows if refunds will happen in a timely manner (if at all)? What happens if you force some people in a batch to take a 'refund' they don't want, and then the 'refund' never turns up, even though YiFi finally ships all chip orders that remain open.?
Still I don't want to make a big deal out of this - I will accept that you can do what you feel is best if at any time you feel it becomes impossible to keep the group buy open. I really feel that people like Sebastian, zefir, burnin, etc are the innocent parties in this and first and foremost these are people who are doing work that benefits the community, and I don't want them to be hurt by this situation.
But still, given the choice of holding out for chips or holding out for a refund, my preference remains chips - at least as long as burnin remains willing to assemble them.
roy
[Edited lightly for readability]
ETA: So it seems to me it would not so much be offering a refund (I wouldn't ask or expect you to refund out of your own pocket), but more cancelling our orders and putting our trust in YiFu refunding... But still, as I say, my order is small and I don't want to make a big deal out of this.
I ask all members how many chips they want to get anyway. If we get 10k together then i would try to get a refund for all batches except batch 1 and all members get their chips from batch 1 then.
The thing is... who will pay the 9500 chips that remains? You? Iam? Or will you find a buyer? Or which of the buyers should be forced to buy anyway? I mean it wouldnt be fair to move all chips to batch 1 then because all batch 1 buyers cant get a refund than. In this case in theory no one could get a refund because every batch would contain some buyers that want to keep. Thats the problem here. So i think the only solution at the end would be to handle this democratic since the solution is somewhat black or white. The choice in between is slim.
But i already posted a question to zefir if we could merge such chips into one batch that isnt refunded in case we only get enough chips together with other groupbuys.
If nothing works i guess there still will be some chips are sold somewhere that could be bought. At least Yifu most probably will have a good amount of chips at the end that he only can sell for low prices.