As we stated in our
GeForce RTX 5090 review, NVIDIA's new flagship graphics card for gamers is "unchallenged at the top of the consumer GPU market," even if the biggest performance gains over the
GeForce RTX 4090 come from AI-assisted technologies. The argument over rasterized rendering versus upscaling tech like DLSS is a whole separate debate. What's not debatable, however, is nobody should be feeding scalpers the ridiculously inflated prices they're seeking on eBay before the card is even available to purchase.
Being relegated to shopping for a GeForce RTX 5090 on eBay should be one of the circle's of Hell in Dante's "Inferno" with scalpers looking to burn a scorching hole through buyers' pockets. So far, the
highest-priced listing we've seen is an ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 with am ambitious $7,000 'Buy It Now' price. That's an egregious 250% markup over the base MSRP (for a Founders Edition model).
It's not the only high-priced listing, though. Scalpers are preying on rumors and fears that the GeForce RTX 5090 will be in short supply and are effectively offering preorders for select models for around double the MSRP. Several of the listings also explicitly state that there are no refunds or returns.
As
spotted by Videocardz, in a
$3,800 listing for an MSI Suprim GeForce RTX 5090, the seller/scalper claims to have an inside connection.
"I am an employee of a certain technology retailer and have guaranteed slots for a few of these GPUs. I have no interest in upgrading my current build and am looking to sell my guarantee slot for the card," one of the listings states.
Asking prices are one thing, but is anyone actually paying double for a presale? The answer is yes, if narrowing the search for GeForce RTX 5090 listings to ones that
ended with winning bidder. Looking at the most recent ones, buyers have forked over between $3,200 (plus shipping!) to $6,190.
It makes you wonder how high prices will balloon at places like eBay if and when there ends up being a shortage.