Nvidia's RTX 4080 GPU is fresh on the scene, and we've seen some stockouts in the early days of the graphics card, but the good news is that scalpers trying to cash in on reselling these cards seem to be falling flat on their faces.
As Tom's Hardware (opens in a new tab) reports, looking at the sales data for RTX 4080 GPUs on eBay in the US panicked, and perhaps rethinked its lucrative strategy that is currently crashing and burning.
In fact, RTX 4090 graphics cards outsell RTX 4080s on eBay, according to Tom's stats, with 3,4 of the former sold for every unit of the RTX 4080 lagging. In other words, the number of RTX 4090 graphics cards sold is quadruple compared to its younger brother Lovelace.
Tom's notes that, on average, only eight RTX 4080 GPUs are sold per day on eBay US, and that's a far cry from what was seen with the RTX 4090; when the flagship was released, it was selling a maximum of 64 cards per day on the auction site.
Analysis: Reflecting broader sentiments on the disappointing RTX 4080
This reflects the general sentiment regarding the RTX 4080 as a misplaced graphics card, almost as expensive as the RTX 4090 in some cases, and yet not offering the same levels of performance.
While the RTX 4090 was a cash cow for resellers (unfortunately), reselling at 54% off MSRP in its launch week on eBay, the RTX 4080 currently only commands a 30% premium over MSRP ( and doesn't actually sell). not much at that level either, as noted above). The RTX 4090 currently sits at 38% above MSRP, still stronger than the newer 4080, and prices for the Lovelace flagship even rose slightly on eBay after the RTX 4080 launched.
This sets a few things up pretty clearly: the underwhelming and poorly received RTX 4080 is certainly helping boost sales of the RTX 4090, both new graphics cards off the shelves (as we've seen with stats elsewhere, the flagship sold more than four times as many units as the RTX 4080, give or take), and on eBay.
It's also a clear lesson to resellers that just because a shiny new graphics card comes out, it won't necessarily be a reselling gold mine, or even turn a huge profit. Right now, with the RTX 4080 models, scalpers will no doubt nervously consider moving stock and taking a small loss, perhaps, rather than a larger loss in the future.
Times seem to be changing, so in terms of GPU price increases for new stock, it now feels a bit like playing with fire, at least with the RTX 4080. And hopefully those signs. This caveat may make resellers think twice before engaging in reselling. AMD's incoming RDNA 3 graphics cards, which may be cheaper than Nvidia's Lovelace models, but will still be expensive beasts. Rather, it depends on how initial stock levels work out, mind you, and how much volume AMD and its card-making partners can muster, because if GPUs turn out to be in short supply in the field, it's obviously a recipe ripe for reselling.
Hopefully some lessons have been learned here though, and at least some people who are apparently burning their fingers trying to trade an RTX 4080 for profit might not want to expose themselves to that risk or hassle at all.
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