There seems to be a bigger picture that people are missing out on here about buying groups.
Buying groups are not a legitimate business. They are using workarounds to game the system. The manufacturer or retailer does not want to sell the merchandise wholesale or in bulk to unauthorized distributors, so they crowdsource by asking individuals to buy and deliver them.
Everyone knows by now that the manufacturers and retailers are well aware of this scheme. Google once suspended hundreds of Gmail accounts because of the Pixel buying group (you can thank Dan for getting them to reinstate those accounts). Best Buy, Target and others have blacklisted many buyers. It's not illegal, but it's still not legitimate. (Some have mentioned importing these items to other countries without paying import taxes/tariffs, that is indeed illegal)
To put this in perspective, imagine I said that I had a fleet of taxis in NYC making a ton of money but I don't have a taxi medallion from the city, or I said I owned a hot-dog stand in NYC making a ton of money without a permit. Would you invest $100,000 with me?
Investing large sums of money is risky even when investing in legitimate businesses, how much more so with illegitimate businesses.
Is it less risky than swiping for a merchant? certainly. But consider this: Swiping for a merchant is like jumping off a 100ft building and hoping to survive. Buying for a group is like jumping off a 30ft building and hoping to survive.