Several hours ago, Reddit posts began apearing from very angry customers who ordered EVGA GeForce RTX 3080s from Newegg.com only to find the cards did not come in their retail packaging, and even worse, the cards were barely packaged properly in Newegg's boxes. With the RTX 3080 being a highly sought after graphics card, customers are angry that their purchases are arriving without full retail packaging, and in some cases the cards are even damaged.
Jacob from EVGA and gave an assessment of the situation on Reddit, letting everyone know that a small number of cards from Newegg have been shipped in bulk, explaining the mess with the boxes.
There's a chance Newegg is doing this to keep RTX 3080s in stock by any means necessary, even if it means grabbing bulk items that were probably meant for pre-built machines.
Jacob Freeman: Global Product Management Director at EVGA "A very (very) small number of cards looks to have been shipped from Newegg as bulk. They are aware so please contact them and they will help you out." (Via Reddit)
It's good to see Newegg will respond to the issue if you let them know your card wasn't packaged correctly. Fortunately, the issue only affects a small number of cards, and because the retailer is aware of it, we expect there won't be further shipments of no-frills cards.
However, it's unclear how well impacted customers can address the cards they already have - if they want a replacement, they have to send the original card in for RMA. Given the shortages, it's anyone's guess when they'll receive a replacement.
You can choose to keep the card, as EVGA's warranty is still intact whether you got the card shipped in its retail packaging or not. However, I'd be sure to inspect your card from top to bottom for any damage, if you want to gamble with RMA's down the road.
