8k is the cheapest I could find them going for In Hand, but seems worth it until newer miners come out in Feb/March. As far as group buys go, Im sorta new to the forums and don't really understand how to orchestrate a group by lol.
Honestly, my thoughts are the best way to go in the bitcoin mining race is always look at future generations and move forward, you just have to guess which are the best preorders to go for company wise. but each to there own I guess.