Production hurdles aside, scalpers have made it especially difficult for enthusiasts to find this season’s hottest processors, graphics cards, and next-gen gaming consoles. While the incentive for this immorality is obvious, Oracle data engineer Michael Driscoll has shared a report that provides an idea of just how much bank scalpers are making.
AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Processors
An analysis of listings and pricing trends for AMD Ryzen 5600X, Ryzen 5800X, Ryzen 5900X, and Ryzen 5950X “Zen 3” processors revealed total profits of $576,737 and total sales of $1,628,521.
| CPU Graph | MSRP | Total Sold | Median Price | Past Week Median Price | Casual Scalper Break Even | Sophisticated Scalper Break Even | Scalper/eBay Profits | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5600X | $299 | 728 | $428 | $413 | $375 | $304 | $96,454 | $314,126 |
| 5800X | $449 | 633 | $589 | $545 | $558 | $457 | $93,715 | $377,932 |
| 5900X | $549 | 533 | $873 | $825 | $682 | $558 | $190,756 | $483,373 |
| 5950X | $799 | 322 | $1395 | $1275 | $987 | $812 | $195,812 | $453,090 |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 Series Graphics Cards
An analysis of listings and pricing trends for AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800 “Big Navi” graphics cards revealed total profits of $201,694 and total sales of $477,930.
| GPU Graph | MSRP | Total Sold | Median Price | Past Week Median Price | Casual Scalper Break Even | Sophisticated Scalper Break Even | Scalper/eBay Profits | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RX 6800 | $579 | 263 | $859 | $850 | $720 | $589 | $81,044 | $233,321 |
| RX 6800 XT | $649 | 191 | $1277 | $1247 | $807 | $660 | $120,650 | $244,609 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Graphics Cards
An analysis of listings and pricing trends for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3080, and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards revealed total profits of $9,606,076 and total sales of $22,385,052.
| GPU Graph | MSRP | Total Sold | Median Price | Past Week Median Price | Casual Scalper Break Even | Sophisticated Scalper Break Even | Scalper/eBay Profits | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3060 Ti | $399 | 112 | $649 | $649 | $498 | $406 | $22,948 | $67,636 |
| RTX 3070 | $499 | 4141 | $786 | $809 | $623 | $507 | $1,254,754 | $3,321,113 |
| RTX 3080 | $699 | 7222 | $1315 | $1250 | $869 | $711 | $5,278,707 | $10,326,885 |
| RTX 3090 | $1499 | 3749 | $2250 | $2017 | $1849 | $1523 | $3,049,667 | $8,669,418 |
Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Consoles
An analysis of listings and pricing trends for Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles revealed total profits of $10,091,369 and total sales of $23,586,474.
| Console Graph | MSRP | Total Sold | Median Price | Past Week Median Price | Casual Scalper Break Even | Sophisticated Scalper Break Even | Scalper/eBay Profits | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox Series S | $299 | 6863 | $469 | $500 | $385 | $304 | $1,481,654 | $3,533,691 |
| Xbox Series X | $499 | 22932 | $865 | $895 | $639 | $507 | $8,609,715 | $20,052,783 |
PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Consoles
An analysis of listings and pricing trends for Sony’s next-gen PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles revealed total profits of $19,036,493 and total sales of $34,753,329.
| Console Graph | MSRP | Total Sold | Median Price | Past Week Median Price | Casual Scalper Break Even | Sophisticated Scalper Break Even | Scalper/eBay Profits | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 Digital | $399 | 7322 | $937 | $1025 | $516 | $406 | $4,294,061 | $7,215,539 |
| PS5 Disc | $499 | 25642 | $1021 | $1101 | $642 | $507 | $14,742,432 | $27,537,790 |
“In short, scalpers have made $82 million in sales, $39 million in profit since September on just these 14 products on eBay,” Driscoll summarized. “But let’s not forget eBay and PayPal, taking in $6.6 million and $2.4 million, respectively, in fees for providing the platform and payment options.”
The Verge also conducted a similar exercise to ascertain the true cost of AMD, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Sony’s latest tech. The most expensive item is NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090, whose street price is $2,076, followed by AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 XT at $1,232.
PS5, Xbox, GPU Street Prices: Holiday 2020
| Item | Retail Price | Street Price |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 (disc) | $499 | $1,024 |
| PS5 (digital) | $399 | $990 |
| Xbox Series X | $499 | $835 |
| Xbox Series S | $299 | $471 |
| Nvidia RTX 3090 | $1,499 | $2,076 |
| Nvidia RTX 3080 | $699 | $1,227 |
| Nvidia RTX 3070 | $499 | $819 |
| Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti | $399 | $675 |
| AMD RX 6800 XT | $649 | $1,232 |
| AMD RX 6800 | $579 | $841 |