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posted by janrinok on Sunday December 04 2022, @10:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the laughing-so-much-it-hurts dept.

Our collective hearts are breaking for the poor scalpers:

It's no secret that the RTX 4080 has not been selling particularly well, primarily due to its $1,200 price tag, which most people feel is far too expensive. The situation has even impacted scalpers, with many now having to resell their cards at MSRP or even less in some cases. A few second-hand sellers have tried returning them, which seems to have prompted certain retailers to stop offering refunds for the RTX 4080.

We're used to seeing graphics cards arrive with such high demand that they're quickly bought in bulk by scalpers and sold on auction sites at hugely inflated prices. But the MSRP of the RTX 4080 (and RTX 4090) has led to memes calling Nvidia the scalpers.

Our investigation last month showed that the RTX 4080 isn't selling that well—most retailers have plenty in stock. But it seems plenty of scalpers assumed the Lovelace card would be hard to find, so they decided to purchase units for resale.

That lack of demand and abundance of stock is evident on eBay, where many RTX 4080 cards are selling for around or just over their official store prices, a far cry from the bad times when GPUs were being scalped for three or four times their MSRP.

VideoCardz reports that one scalper is offering six RTX 4080s from various manufacturers for MSRP. The seller writes that the "Market isn't what I thought."

It appears that being unable to sell the RTX 4080 cards has caused several resellers to return them for their money back—where allowed. YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead spotted that Newegg is not letting buyers return the cards for refunds, possibly in response to so many scalpers trying to cut their losses.

The problem is the same in Germany: Scalpers buy the GeForce RTX 4080, put it on eBay - and what does not sell is sent back to the retailers. Unfortunately, the legal situation in Germany definitely prevents retailers from excluding returns.

[...] Things aren't going to improve for RTX 4080 sellers looking to make a quick buck. There are more cards from different AIB partners arriving all the time, and the upcoming launch of AMD's cheaper Radeon RX 7900 series will likely make Nvidia's prices look even less appealing. Given what gamers went through over the last couple of years, it's hard to imagine people shedding any tears for the poor scalpers.


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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Monday December 05 2022, @03:59AM (7 children)

    by sjames (2882) on Monday December 05 2022, @03:59AM (#1281215) Journal

    No, a broker. Brokers don't hoard things, they find someone selling on the behalf of someone who wants to buy. They just facilitate the deal for a fee.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1, Disagree) by khallow on Monday December 05 2022, @04:35AM (6 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 05 2022, @04:35AM (#1281218) Journal

    Brokers don't hoard things, they find someone selling on the behalf of someone who wants to buy. They just facilitate the deal for a fee.

    That's exactly what scalpers do as well.

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday December 05 2022, @03:45PM (5 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Monday December 05 2022, @03:45PM (#1281270) Journal

      The difference is that brokers don't screw up the availability of a thing. They just charge a "finders fee" per se to a person who "really wants" x thing, then the broker finds someone who wants to sell x thing, and facilitates the transaction. As opposed to buying as many of x thing as possible, then trying to find buyers for x thing. The first is providing a service to people. The second is gambling.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 05 2022, @10:30PM (4 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 05 2022, @10:30PM (#1281333) Journal

        The difference is that brokers don't screw up the availability of a thing.

        Except, of course, they do for the same reason scalpers do - they buy some quantity of the thing creating an immediate short term reduction in the supply of it for everyone else.

        • (Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday December 06 2022, @05:06PM (3 children)

          by cmdrklarg (5048) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 06 2022, @05:06PM (#1281408)

          Incorrect. A scalper has inventory, a broker does not. Brokers are purchasing agents; scalpers are second-hand retailers.

          --
          The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 06 2022, @10:44PM (2 children)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 06 2022, @10:44PM (#1281452) Journal

            A scalper has inventory, a broker does not.

            Unless, of course, the broker has inventory as well. Notice how mincingly small these differences become? Reminds me of the difference between a pimp and a manger [soylentnews.org].

            Basically a scalper is a broker who brokers in a way you don't like.

            • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday December 08 2022, @06:30AM (1 child)

              by sjames (2882) on Thursday December 08 2022, @06:30AM (#1281670) Journal

              Yes, A manager is a manager and a pimp claims to be a manager because that sounds so much better and doesn't imply that he is a violent exploitative sleazeball.

              Kinda like a toe cutter may claim to work in accounts recievable.

              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday December 08 2022, @06:35AM

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 08 2022, @06:35AM (#1281671) Journal

                Yes, A manager is a manager and a pimp claims to be a manager because that sounds so much better and doesn't imply that he is a violent exploitative sleazeball.

                It's all connotative noise for very similar things. A pimp may or may not claim to be a manager (in the entertainer sense), but he is one by definition. Same with scalpers and brokers.

                Kinda like a toe cutter may claim to work in accounts recievable.

                Or a Soylentil making non sequitur arguments.