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.
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.
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.
