Newegg reintroduces scalper-beating 'Shuffle' lottery for premium-priced RTX 5080s

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Are you lucky enough to get to spend over $1,000 on a GPU?

Newegg Shuffle with RTX 5080
(Image credit: Newegg)

Nvidia is seriously undersupplying the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs, leading to a shortage that the company has finally acknowledged. Because of this, retailers and manufacturers are finding ways to ensure that everyone has a fair chance of getting a GPU directly from them and avoid scalpers who use bots to buy these graphics cards en masse and then sell them online for over twice or thrice the selling price. Because of this, Newegg posted on X that it’s reinstating its Shuffle program, which it first introduced in 2020 during the launch of the RTX 30-series GPUs during the pandemic.

The last Shuffle occurred at 10 a.m. PT on February 15, and Newegg raffled off three RTX 5080s for purchase. The retailer offered the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming OC 16G, Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition, and ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition at premium prices. Gigabyte's model has gone from $1,199.99 to $1,399.99, whereas the Asus TUF Gaming and ROG Astral have increased from $1,349.99 to $1,484.99 and $1,499.99 to $1,649.99, respectively. Newegg has previously blamed the U.S. tariffs for the price hikes.

Unfortunately, the retailer said it doesn’t know when the next Shuffle will run, as each event depends on the arrival of GPU stocks in its warehouses. Nevertheless, you can receive notifications when it launches by signing up for notifications under your account or downloading the Newegg app to your phone. Alternatively, you can follow the company on X and other social media platforms, as it posts events like these there.

If you join the Shuffle program and are selected to purchase the GPU, it will automatically be added to your cart. You must then complete the transaction within the given window. Do not move the item to the Wish List or Save For Later, as you will lose your allocation (although you can get it back by clicking the link in the “You have been selected” notification).

Moves like this show how retailers work hard to ensure end-users get their hands on these GPUs. That way, they can thwart scalpers who use bots and other tools to gain an unfair advantage and then sell these in-demand items at way more than MSRP. While this is an admirable move, the onus to improve the situation is still on Nvidia, as it’s seemingly the bottleneck. After all, borders are now open, and we no longer have a graphics card supply chain problem brought on by lockdowns, unlike during the global COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Jagar123
    I'll pay them $750 for a 5080. Oh, they are twice that price? No thanks.
    Reply
  • AtrociKitty
    Moves like this show how retailers work hard to ensure end-users get their hands on these GPUs.
    I wouldn't give Newegg that sort of credit here. I still have an RTX 3060 I bought from their previous Shuffle era, and it wasn't close to a deal. Newegg used the Shuffle to sell "bundles," where you were forced to buy an under-performing item with the graphics card, rather than the card alone. In my case, it was 24" 1080p monitor that added $180 to the cost of the order. I'd be very surprised if Newegg doesn't take the same approach again, assuming the new shuffle sticks around.
    Reply
  • atomicWAR
    Jagar123 said:
    I'll pay them $750 for a 5080. Oh, they are twice that price? No thanks.
    Read my mind on pricing. Nvidia has gotten greedy and we gamers need to start pushing back against insane pricing with what are now extremely poor performance increases to boot. I fear the 40 series is the last big jump in GPU horse power will ever get with the death of Moore's law.

    Had the 5080 dropped for 750 USD it would have been a much better card than it is now. If Nvidia had also used a cut down 102 die like 80 class of yesteryear and gave it a 30% performance increase vs the 4080 super... we might of had a really solid GPU to rival the reputation of some Pascal cards. Honestly with the advent of the "Titan/90" class naming scheme Nvidia simply rebadged the 80 class as 90 then rebadged the 70 class as 80, 60 class as 70 and so on and so forth. Milking their gaming consumer space along the way. You know that same consumer base who built the company up in the first place. Frankly it is insulting.

    Raffles like these are just a reminder of how Nvidia and everyone else in the GPU chain are fleecing consumers. Appearing (?) to send out more 5090s out to reviewers/influencers than stores to build 'excitement', using MFG to artificially inflate the 50 series cards poor raster performance increases and charging absurd prices for what is the worst performance increase I can remember in my 30 years of tech experience... It boggles the mind. Thanks Newegg for rubbing salt in the wound!!
    Reply
  • fiyz
    atomicWAR said:
    Read my mind on pricing. Nvidia has gotten greedy and we gamers need to start pushing back against insane pricing with what are now extremely poor performance increases to boot. I fear the 40 series is the last big jump in GPU horse power will ever get with the death of Moore's law.

    Had the 5080 dropped for 750 USD it would have been a much better card than it is now. If Nvidia had also used a cut down 102 die like 80 class of yesteryear and gave it a 30% performance increase vs the 4080 super... we might of had a really solid GPU to rival the reputation of some Pascal cards. Honestly with the advent of the "Titan/90" class naming scheme Nvidia simply rebadged the 80 class as 90 then rebadged the 70 class as 80, 60 class as 70 and so on and so forth. Milking their gaming consumer space along the way. You know that same consumer base who built the company up in the first place. Frankly it is insulting.

    Raffles like these are just a reminder of how Nvidia and everyone else in the GPU chain are fleecing consumers. Appearing (?) to send out more 5090s out to reviewers/influencers than stores to build 'excitement', using MFG to artificially inflate the 50 series cards poor raster performance increases and charging absurd prices for what is the worst performance increase I can remember in my 30 years of tech experience... It boggles the mind. Thanks Newegg for rubbing salt in the wound!!
    Yes, I agree, but let's also think about the meta-gpu economy. More people upgrading, would also mean more 4000 series cards on the second hand market place, further devaluing Nvidia hardware.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    The Way You're All Meant To Be Played.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • wbfox
    Newegg starting the Shuffle lottery up for an item should be one of the, "Am I being scammed?" warning signs.
    Reply
  • Mcnoobler
    atomicWAR said:
    Read my mind on pricing. Nvidia has gotten greedy and we gamers need to start pushing back against insane pricing with what are now extremely poor performance increases to boot. I fear the 40 series is the last big jump in GPU horse power will ever get with the death of Moore's law.

    Had the 5080 dropped for 750 USD it would have been a much better card than it is now. If Nvidia had also used a cut down 102 die like 80 class of yesteryear and gave it a 30% performance increase vs the 4080 super... we might of had a really solid GPU to rival the reputation of some Pascal cards. Honestly with the advent of the "Titan/90" class naming scheme Nvidia simply rebadged the 80 class as 90 then rebadged the 70 class as 80, 60 class as 70 and so on and so forth. Milking their gaming consumer space along the way. You know that same consumer base who built the company up in the first place. Frankly it is insulting.

    Raffles like these are just a reminder of how Nvidia and everyone else in the GPU chain are fleecing consumers. Appearing (?) to send out more 5090s out to reviewers/influencers than stores to build 'excitement', using MFG to artificially inflate the 50 series cards poor raster performance increases and charging absurd prices for what is the worst performance increase I can remember in my 30 years of tech experience... It boggles the mind. Thanks Newegg for rubbing salt in the wound!!
    Oh people are still not getting it. Slow learners. These are AI GPUs, gamers aren't necessary for success. AI, scalpers, then desperate gamers. "Gamers" dug their own hole through desperation, and if not desperate, jealous/entitled. And/or all of the above.

    We both know gamers entitlement is irrelevant. These cards will sell out regardless of comment section pitches that no one takes advice from. Nvidia owes you nothing, AMD owes you nothing, Intel owes you nothing. You are but a consumer, to consume. Don't want it? Don't buy it... someone else will. You are not necessary. Anyone reading this, you know I'm right. Lets give it 6 months and see what happens.
    Reply
  • TheyStoppedit
    Mcnoobler said:
    Oh people are still not getting it. Slow learners. These are AI GPUs, gamers aren't necessary for success. AI, scalpers, then desperate gamers. "Gamers" dug their own hole through desperation, and if not desperate, jealous/entitled. And/or all of the above.

    We both know gamers entitlement is irrelevant. These cards will sell out regardless of comment section pitches that no one takes advice from. Nvidia owes you nothing, AMD owes you nothing, Intel owes you nothing. You are but a consumer, to consume. Don't want it? Don't buy it... someone else will. You are not necessary. Anyone reading this, you know I'm right. Lets give it 6 months and see what happens.

    This is the way of it, unfortunately. The only way to solve the problem is to stop buying, which we all know is never going to happen. Gamers will sit there and cry about prices, then line up like cattle to the slaughterhouse on launch day. That's how its always been. Multi-flame generation doesn't appeal to me, so I went a got a like-new condition, used 4080S for $850 USD. For $850, I got 92% of the performance of a 5080, and no multi-flame generation.... instead of $1500+ on a 5080. If the 5080Ti can beat the 4090 at 24GB at a reasonable price, and they remove the multi-flame generation feature, I will consider it. In the meantime. I lead by example: voting with my wallet. NVidia ain't gettin my money until they start charging reasonable prices for good products. Hopefully AMD comes through for the gaming community. It the 9070XT can take on the 5080 at $699, that would be perfect. Away from me, NVidia! And take your fire-hazard fake frames with you
    Reply
  • Dementoss
    I've said this before, don't buy the latest products as soon as they come on the market, don't be an early adopter. Buy later and you will get a better price, as you won't be hampered by deliberate stock shortages aimed at keeping prices high, or be competing with the scalpers. Added to which, you won't be one of the buyers finding the defects, which weren't found during the manufacturer's product testing, e.g. melting power connectors etc.
    Reply
  • Jabberwocky79
    I don't know why but the idea that a marketplace as big as Newegg raffling off THREE whole GPUs is just hilarious to me. I'd be better off searching for unicorn farts I guess :LOL:
    Reply