Scalpers Returned With the Launch of GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Cards

The FPS Review may receive a commission if you purchase something after clicking a link in this article.

Image: NVIDIA

Scalpers returned on the launch day of the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 to snatch up the latest graphics card and wasted no time in putting them up for sale. From Founders Edition models to partner versions, the cards have been spotted going for up to three times their MSRP. They are popping up in the usual spots, eBay and Amazon, and one reportedly even reached $9999, plus shipping, at auction on eBay but it is not known if that sale was completed.

Scalping took center stage for the last few years following a combination of supply chain issues coupled with a historic surge of bitcoin. Many had hoped that with a severe drop in the crypto market, and much of the planet recovering from the pandemic, as well as ETH 2.0, The Merge, it would largely be a thing of the past. It seems that as high priced as these cards are out of the gate that there are still plenty of those willing to pay more for them. According to the Terapeak tool for eBay, there were over 135 cards sold for an average of $2,524 on October 12. One person has even taken to Discord to brag about all the cards they successfully grabbed by showing the dozens of confirmation emails sent from BestBuy.

Image: Discord

Consumers have been pushing for better sale procedures to prevent scalpers from exploiting portals. Although some managed to enact their own processes such as the Newegg Shuffle and the EVGA Queue system, it appears that major retailers either opted out for launch day or were outsmarted once again by bots for the highly anticipated RTX 4090 launch day. Some frustrated folks, with a sense of humor, have even gone so far as to create a Reddit page with a sort of how-to guide to attempt to derail scalpers by placing completely unrealistic bids. Most scalped listings have indicated that the cards will ship to customers once they have received them but some seemed to have had their own sources and actually had them in hand, ready to ship, at the time of sale. This too is a disheartening detail for consumers who were never even able to purchase one.

Sources: PC Mag, HotHardware

Join the discussion in our forums...

Peter Brosdahl
As a child of the 70’s I was part of the many who became enthralled by the video arcade invasion of the 1980’s. Saving money from various odd jobs I purchased my first computer from a friend of my dad, a used Atari 400, around 1982. Eventually it would end up being a lifelong passion of upgrading and modifying equipment that, of course, led into a career in IT support.

Recent News