If you’re desperate to buy Nvidia’s RTX 3080 card on eBay, get ready to encounter some hilarious and nasty trolling.
PC gamers have been circulating fake listings for the card on eBay to protest “scalpers” who bought up Nvidia's RTX 3080 inventory using automated bots during last Thursday’s launch. The fake listings have been crowding out actual attempts by resellers to hawk the $699 RTX 3080 card for up to $2,000.
(Credit: eBay)
For example, you can now find dozens of listings for a special “paper edition” of the RTX 3080, which promises to sell you a hand-drawn sketch of the graphics card on a piece of paper.
Others are offering a potato edition of the card, an RTX 3080 printed on a thank you card, and a “TP” edition, which is actually just a roll of toilet paper. The listings then go on to call out the resellers.
(Credit: eBay)
“Paying inflated prices only incentivizes the scalpers,” wrote one user, who created a fake listing featuring a stick of deodorant. “Please be patient, wait for restocking of authorized retailers, and help the community dry up this grey market."
Annoyed PC gamers are also review-bombing actual reseller listings for the RTX 3080. You can now find many listings for the card with one-star ratings and nasty comments that call out the inflated pricing.
“Don't buy an overpriced card and support the bots/scalpers who cleared out stock,” wrote one user in a review for an RTX 3080 card that sold for $1,450.
“Scalpers have small penises,” wrote another.
PCGamer also points out one angry consumer may have decided to fight fire with fire. On Nvidia’s forums, one user claims to have created a bot to submit “ridiculous” bids on RTX 3080 cards sold on eBay with the intention of never paying.
Unfortunately, the RTX 3080 remains out of stock on Nvidia’s website and at many major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg. However, Nvidia is indicating it’ll have more units of the RTX 3080 Founders Edition this week. The company also says its manufacturing partners are shipping out new units to retailers each day.
But the big question is whether Nvidia can stop the bots from buying up stock. Resellers have told PCMag they've come up with numerous ways to defeat the bot-detecting techniques on retail websites. That doesn't bode well for Nvidia's RTX 3090 card, which is launching on Thursday for $1,499.
Further Reading
- Nvidia Signals RTX 3080 Founders Edition Will Be Back in Stock Next Week
- How a Bot Bought Dozens of RTX 3080 Units Before Consumers Could Grab Them
- Nvidia Is Manually Reviewing RTX 3080 Orders to Stop Scalpers
- Here's What AMD's RX 6000-Series Graphics Cards Will Look Like
- More in Graphics Cards
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