That is very similar to what Josh Garza at GAWminers.com did with the Zencloud mining ponzi scheme. He was taking preorders and selling miners (after using them to mine for a month first) from antminers to hashlets. He made millions.

You know it's bad when there is a dedicated subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/joshgarzaisafraud
He is getting busted now http://www.coindesk.com/sec-seeks-10-million-default-judgment-against-gaw-miners/