Join for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation plus sign you up to our newsletter.
By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over,
have read our
Privacy Policy
and agree to the
Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Bad News for Scalpers in Nvidia RTX 4080 eBay Sales Data
Scalpers love it when objects of desire are in short supply. Sadly for this buy-low sell-high crowd, people apparently aren't very interested in the GeForce RTX 4080. During the first week of availability — usually a period of peak demand, especially at this time of year — the hoped for feeding frenzy has failed to materialize. People seem more interested in keeping their cash or opting for the RTX 4090 flagship.
If these trends continue, Nvidia and its partners, retailers, and the loathsome scalpers will have to reconsider the RTX 4080 pricing. That could result in some scalpers still holding stock bought at a premium price. Pour one out for the sorry scalper (not really).
eBay tends to be the favored scalper route in the U.S. If we look at the overall eBay sales numbers for the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 graphics cards over the past week, there's direct data indicating the lukewarm reception for the 4080.
GeForce RTX 4080 sales numbers are incredibly low compared to the flagship, with the RTX 4090 outselling the RTX 4080 3.4 to 1.
An average of eight RTX 4080 graphics cards are sold per day on eBay US.
Sales of the RTX 4080 on eBay have flat-lined or declined since the launch date.
The average RTX 4080 on eBay is priced about 30% over MSRP, which is noticeably less lucrative than the RTX 4090 (38% over MSRP).
The average RTX 4090 price on eBay during its first week was 54% over MSRP, with 64 cards sold per day.
In the wake of the RTX 4080 launch, the flagship 4090 seems to be getting more popular.
(Image credit: eBay (via Tom's Hardware))
Other interesting data we have gleaned from eBay US searches shows that current scalping profits on RTX 4080 sales are marginal at best. The average selling price of an RTX 4080 on eBay is currently $1,560 and dropping. We calculate that to break even (due to eBay fees, tax, shipping etc) a scalper would have to have purchased their RTX 4080 at $1,350 or less — not a trivial feat today.
That's why the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition is the favorite among the scalping fraternity. It's widely considered an appealing and high quality design, and it's sold direct and via select partners at Nvidia's $1,199 MSRP. These cards aren't available in great quantities, however, and Nvidia continues to work on mitigating scalping access. That's why Nvidia recently introduced the Verified Priority Access program in some regions.
An RTX 4080 Founders Edition purchased for $1,199 would need to sell for about $1,350 just to break even on eBay (with its 14% in fees). If the lukewarm reception continues — and it certainly might, especially considering early indications of AMD's RDNA 3 performance — even Nvidia might find difficulty moving 4080 cards for $1,200.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
Scalpers Gonna Scalp
On Monday, Twitter's AMD GPU reacted with glee, as it posted about RTX 40-series scalpers being "burned," just like in the wake of the crypto-collapse. The social media account that claims to represent the AMD enthusiasts of Reddit says it counted 500 eBay listings for RTX 4090 graphics cards, with some of the listings offering >10 in inventory.
However, from our observations, RTX 4090 prices are holding steady or even rising a little in the wake of widespread consumer disappointment with the RTX 4080. We'll have to see how things continue to develop in the coming weeks, especially once AMD RX 7900-series cards arrive, but it's a safe bet scalpers will continue to pick up any cards they can flip at a 20% or higher price than they paid.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
LDLC, one of Europe's biggest hardware shops, if not the biggest...has had 4080 in stock since launch.
There are Gigabyte 4080, Zotac, PNY, Gainward. All fully stocked at MSRP with immediate shipping.
These GPU are not selling well at all in Europe. Usually LDLC runs out on the first days of a GPU launch, that did not happen this time, 4080 have been in stock since launch.
wonder if nvidia has it in them to admit they made a mistake and start lowering msrp.
i doubt it, but a man can dream every now and then. :)
i don't see any of the 4000 series ever being worth the price as is. sure eventually a card will come out at $500 but it'll be the card that should have been $250 and so on down the line.
Your calculations are off though. At an average of 5% sales tax, a 4080 FE bought at $1199 would cost $1259, and if that card were sold on eBay for $1350 they would end up with $1161 after fees, net loss of $60.
Was wanting to purchase a 4080 but I think I'm going to wait until the release of the Radeon 7900 XTX. If I can get my hands on one of those I'll buy one, if not I'll go with the 4080.
I guess nvidia and the scalpers didn't get the inflation, salaries lost and recession memo.
This is very simple, many people will love to buy this new RTX cards, but not many of us have the money for this new price points.
Listen to me ngreedia! I got an RTX 2070 for $499 and I was very, very happy with it, for a month, then you #$&%/d me up (and many other people) with the launch of the "Super" models at the same price.
And you will soon want us to pay probably +$700 for a RTX 4070... I don't see that happening, not for me.
Lucky me I realized my RTX 2070 was not to blame for its father greediness, and Ive been very happy with it.
