Micro Center offers just $700 for $1,400 RTX 4090 - offer came via store's GPU trade-in program

MSI RTX 4090 Gaming Trio
(Image credit: MSI)

WCCFTech reports that Micro Center is pushing very low trade-in offers for Nvidia's RTX 4090 through its new GPU trade-in program. A WCCFTech reader reports that they checked the trade-in value of their MSI RTX 4090 Gaming Trio through Micro Center's trade-in program and received an offer of just $700 — that's not even half the card's value, and the RTX 4090 still reigns as the fastest of the best graphics cards currently available.

Incidentally, the average sold price on eBay for RTX 4090 cards is also $1,789 for the past month. For the MSI RTX 4090 Gaming Trio, the lowest sold price was still $1,350. To call this a low-ball offer from Micro Center would be kind, at best.

GPU trade-in programs are notorious for providing bad resale value compared to selling the GPU yourself. However, Micro Center's offer is criminally bad. In a best-case scenario, Micro Center's offer comes out to 44% of the value of an RTX 4090 at MSRP. With today's higher prices — the least expensive, in-stock RTX 4090 costs $1,799, the same MSI model we're talking about here — that $700 offer only amounts to 39% of the card's going rate.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
VendorOffer/Price
Micro Center$700
Newegg$1,500
eBay (averaged used price)$1,790

We aren't sure how Micro Center is calculating its values, but it makes its competitor's trade-in programs look fantastic by comparison. For instance, Newegg's GPU Trade-In program today provides an estimated $1,500.00 trade-in offer for RTX 4090 GPUs. You might not actually get that price, but certainly you'd get far more than $700.

If Micro Center wants to compete in the world of GPU trade-in programs, it needs to at least offer prices as good as Newegg. We don't expect GPU trade-in programs to offer the same price that you paid for your GPU when it was brand-new, but we do expect a GPU trade-in program to at least be competitive with common used market prices.

To say that the RTX 4090 used market is hot right now would be an understatement. If you check eBay, you'll discover that virtually all RTX 4090s are selling above the original MSRP, new or used. In fact, virtually all of the RTX 4090 listings are selling at prices similar to Newegg or Amazon listings for new cards.

Hopefully, anyone who had the money to pick up an RTX 4090 in the first place would also have the sense to not get suckered into Micro Center's "deal." Not that there's anything faster than an RTX 4090 available right now, though we suspect there's a good chance that RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 'Blackwell' GPUs could land by the end of the year.

Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

  • JamesJones44
    Are people truly getting $1500 from NewEgg ($99 dollars off MSRP)? Just running some basic math, the cost of inspection and taxes for flipping it at $1800, assuming they could get that in auction or resale of a certified used product, isn't a great risk/reward return. This is especially true when Nvidia could announce 4090 Super tomorrow and turn a profit chance into a loss.

    $700 is definitely absurd, but equally it seems crazy to think NewEgg would shell out $1500 for something less than a sealed box, but maybe NewEgg is in desperation mode and the risk is worth it to them, IDK.
    Reply
  • valthuer
    JamesJones44 said:
    This is especially true when Nvidia could announce 4090 Super tomorrow and turn a profit chance into a loss.

    4090 Super, Ti, or whatever you wanna call it, was cancelled like 9 months ago.
    Reply
  • JamesJones44
    valthuer said:
    4090 Super, Ti, or whatever you wanna call it, was cancelled like 9 months ago.
    Sure, but that doesn't mean Nvidia won't resurrect it or come up with some other variant that could affect pricing. It's a gamble for such small margin, if the quoted pricing is true.
    Reply
  • NedSmelly
    We don't expect GPU trade-in programs to offer the same price that you paid for your GPU when it was brand-new, but we do expect a GPU trade-in program to at least be competitive with common used market prices.
    It could also be their way of saying "we don't really want to do this, but if it works for you then sure why not." Kinda like those ludicrous builder or mechanic quotes.
    Reply
  • MergleBergle
    Admin said:
    Micro Center is giving criminally low offers via its GPU trade-in program, and reportedly offered just $700 for an MSI RTX 4090 Gaming Trio that typically sells for over $1,350 on eBay — for a used card.

    Micro Center low-balls RTX 4090 owner — Store's GPU trade-in program offers just $700 for Nvidia's flagship GPU : Read more
    GPU trade in programs offer what you would get if you sold it yourself? I don't think so. How does that benefit the company? They're in the business of making money, not losing it. Generally speaking, selling (which is was this basically is) to a reseller, you can expect to make about half of what they can sell it for. Been that way forever. Total disclosure, I'm haven't done a trade-in with any company, so I don't know what the offers would normally be. But in the "selling used item to store that will resell used item", you can generally speaking expect about half of what they'll sell it for.
    Reply
  • ingtar33
    JamesJones44 said:
    Sure, but that doesn't mean Nvidia won't resurrect it or come up with some other variant that could affect pricing. It's a gamble for such small margin, if the quoted pricing is true.
    nvidia has no motive to do so. it looks like the next gen AMD card will compete in the midrange only. doubt we'll even see a 5090 next gen. nvidia will likely launch the 5080 at 4090 prices (or slightly higher, since it's supposed to be like 10-30% faster) and move their whole product stack up the price chain. Probably won't bother with a 5090 unless amd can put something on the market to challenge the 5080.
    Reply
  • brandonjclark
    You should've seen what my local car dealer offered me for my Mustang after I was ready to sell it.
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    NedSmelly said:
    It could also be their way of saying "we don't really want to do this, but if it works for you then sure why not." Kinda like those ludicrous builder or mechanic quotes.
    Aye very much a please do not sell that to us kind off offer.
    Reply
  • watzupken
    Trade in value is usually unattractive. If it is too low, just walk away.
    Reply
  • jlake3
    We don't expect GPU trade-in programs to offer the same price that you paid for your GPU when it was brand-new, but we do expect a GPU trade-in program to at least be competitive with common used market prices.
    That's... not really how this works?

    If they're taking trade-ins they have to test them, which involves paying a technician even if they don't accept the card in the end.
    They appear to be offering a 90-day warranty on used cards that go through their trade-in program, and since the buyer is not the original purchaser and likely cannot be given a reprint of the original purchaser's receipt for privacy reasons, that means they've gotta average out the cost of repairing/refunding any cards that die during that window out of pocket.
    While it seems unlikely they'd be unable to resell a RTX 4090, they are taking on a risk with a trade-in program that they could end up with some inventory that just doesn't move, or there could be a rapid swing in pricing.
    They've got various retail overheads to cover.

    And after you account for all that, as well as added some markup because you probably want to make a profit on this program instead of just shuffling GPUs around for fun, the sale price needs to be in line with common used market prices. That means they need to aquire the card for less.

    They might be able to do better than $700, but I kinda suspect there's an additional "we don't really wanna do this" factor applied? My local Micro Center has 81 RTX 4090s currently on the shelf, which seems high. That's about equal to 4060 inventory, and more than double the combined 7600/7600XT stock. Locally, the demand might not justify carrying even higher levels of stock.
    Reply