[Cassius]

The concessions are made for a 10-20% discount on UNIQUE high quality chips, that in many cases noone else has the ability to buy. Those who participate DO have a say and can give their opinions on the makeup, and generally whatever company (say Chipco) DOES give real sample and real mock-ups, so there isn't some mystery about how these chips are going to look. Additionally, if you don't like the design, by all means don't get them.

The lure of a group buy is to get an otherwise unique (if not personally custom, certainly very custom in the realm of available poker chips) set of chips that are of high quality and impeccible design - as the design of most chips out there is simply lacking - and if one is going to spend ~ $1 a chip, you want the best design out there, and this can definitely come from a group buy of custom designed chips.