My friend is still making $2 a day on each card but he has really low electricity prices. If you don't have cheap electricity you should sell all your gear and just buy the coins.
I assume your friends mining a pretty obscure coin, as even before electrical costs I dont see any cards breaking $2 per day on either Whattomine or Nicehash (even the Titan V on Nicehash doesnt break $1.50 daily before electrical costs). I still do agree that its better to simply buy coins right now, though, as mining at current rates isnt too profitable, and its risky to gamble on mining a low-difficulty coin and hoping prices go up on it.