Best Buy's $200 GPU Paywall Helped Scalpers, Not Gamers

The news that Best Buy decided to effectively put Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards behind a paywall on Friday caused much controversy with PC DIYers, gamers, and enthusiasts. It might have instigated the policy to reward individual gamers who enrolled in its membership program. However, the move seems to have had some unintended consequences, evidenced by scalper social media boasts about snagging dozens of GPUs. One bragged that "I bought almost $20,000 in GPUs today," all thanks to the Best Buy membership paywall, noted PCMag.

Totaltech is a $199 annual membership subscription that Best Buy promotes quite heavily, probably due to the well-known profitability of such add-on retail services. Positive aspects of the subscription are things like extended product warranty, extended return periods, free two-day shipping, and an elevated level of service or after-sales help.

Previously, one particular highlighted benefit of Totaltech, "access to exclusive Totaltech member prices," has meant exclusive purchase access to hot tech like the PlayStation 5. Unfortunately, this same policy swept over Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series produce line, which holds some of the best GPUs on the market. Thus, being a Best Buy Totaltech member became a prerequisite for buying into the green team's latest desirable 3D acceleration products.

There appears to have been some conditions built into the GeForce GPUs paywall to prevent scalping, but they weren't thought through properly. For example, one scalper noted that "you can only buy one of each SKU" (SKU means a stock-keeping unit, so refers to a particular model). Yet, this same individual bought "almost $20,000 in GPUs" by going through Best Buy's stock, grabbing one of each model, and ordering it a minute or two after the previous order. Scalpers quickly sidestepped Best Buy's implemented obstacles. This failing is severe, with Best Buy's position in the U.S. market as the exclusive Nvidia Founders Edition GPU reseller – a fact which the scalpers gleefully highlighted to one another.

Many social media users, who were interested in buying low and selling high into this desperately distorted market, exploited the scalping loophole. Scalpers will see the $199 subscription fee as a modest cost of doing business. Still, this kind of additional payment will be enough to put off many individuals who want a modern GPU, or two, for their own, a friend or family member.

We hope that Best Buy will remedy the apparent loopholes that the scalpers exploited with such relish, investing thousands of dollars in helping to maintain the higher than MSRP pricing trend. But unfortunately, the restriction of one particular SKU per customer must be strengthened in short order for Best Buy to try and salvage some credibility with PC gamers and enthusiasts.