-snip-
LOL, N00bs offering group buys!
We've never seen that one before!Quite so! If you read it again you will see that first I asked if one of these "Crowd Funding Buys" even existed, then if not I would be willing to start one. And yes, I realise that my post count is not in the thousands and that basically nobody here knows me. Didn't seem like a reason not to offer something that could open the doors of FPGA mining to a lot of people.
The way I see it, there are people here who would like to FPGA mine but either don't have thousands to invest in a card right now or think it is too risky for that kind of investment. What I propose is a lower entry point. If you are saving up to get a card, why not collaborate with others who are doing the same? So instead of money sitting under the mattress, it is actually mining and making money back.
Potentially, you could invest a couple hundred, instead of thousands, and then in a few years be able to get a dedicated card at a fraction of the price. (Re-investing any coins mined back into the system and letting them just grow there till you can get a dedicated card.) Or, you could keep adding more money as you have it till you can get a dedicated card, plus whatever coins you mined in the meantime. (Or get a dedicated card faster using the coins)
Risk: Trust a "Noob"
Reward: The ability to risk less money and still try FPGA mining or possibly to put money to work that would otherwise be sitting idle as you saved up for a card.
If you feel the need to bail after the card/s are bought, no problem! I, or we collectively will buy your shares of the card and you get your money back.
It's an interesting idea, but you could also just buy a $549 Bridgelink X1 FPGA card that has (at the moment) about 290-330 day ROI and experience FPGA mining with hardware in your hands.