I'm a Bitcoin noob, and I was digging ebay auctions (mainly EU).
I don't understand why ASICs sell at a price well over profitability.
I used this calculator:
http://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/calculatorEach bid price always escalate, with tens of bidders. People currently ends buying Red-Fury 2.5 GH/s at 80 Euro, Bi-Fury 5 GH/s at 160 Euro, and so on. For example:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Bi-Fury-BiFury-USB-Bitcoin-ASIC-Miner-bis-wahnsinnigen-5-GH-s-Sofort-Lieferung-/251434458313Assume having already in hand 5 GH/s. With difficulty increment step of only 30%, zero electricity cost, zero pool fee, it will never gain more than 40 Euro maintaining current BTC/EUR exchange rate.
IMHO:
1. ASIC buyers feel BTC will skyrocket to more than 10,000 USD.
2. ASIC buyers mine some weeks, and then resell the hardware, so they hope to end with a profit from sell+mining-buy.
3. Buyers are antique collectors

Or maybe there is something a noob can't understand.
Any hint?
Thanks,
Piero