Well, that was a terrible launch.
On Thursday, consumers spent hours refreshing Best Buy's website in the hopes of obtaining Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti graphics card. But in the end, the product sold out immediately.
“Went from Coming Soon to Out of Stock. Instantaneously. Like no time at all. Like not even a chance,” wrote one user on Twitter.
I too tried to buy a Founders Edition RTX 3070 Ti card during Thursday’s launch. From 6 a.m. PST to 1 p.m., I continually refreshed Best Buy’s listing for the product. But for over seven hours, the listing remained unchanged. Best Buy’s web page merely said the GPU was “coming soon.” It was only at 1:12 p.m. when internet users began finally reporting the product was on sale.
But I had no chance. The RTX 3080 Ti was listed as sold out when I visited the page at 1:15 p.m. while on my way to the dentist.
The sale occurred as Best Buy decided to sell the RTX 3070 Ti exclusively online, which angered consumers struggling to obtain a PC graphics during the great GPU shortage.
Last week, Best Buy took a different approach with Nvidia’s RTX 3080 Ti: The retailer decided to exclusively sell the Founders Edition card at retail stores only. This gave consumers a way to avoid competing with scalper-run bots for the GPU supplies. Instead, they could wait in line in-person for a chance to buy the product.
However, the event also generated massive lines at company stores across the country. At the West Los Angeles Best Buy store, dozens of people even camped out through the night.
Unfortunately, many Best Buy stores only had 64 units or less of the RTX 3080 Ti. As a result, hundreds of customers who waited overnight or in the morning for the graphics card came away empty-handed. Still, a few consumers told PCMag they hoped Best Buy will keep offering the GPUs exclusively in stores.
Best Buy hasn’t commented on whether it’ll resume the practice. But at least in Canada, the retailer is going to sell Nvidia's RTX 3000 cards at select retail locations, according to a blog post the company published on Wednesday.
In the meantime, scalpers are starting to sell the RTX 3070 Ti on StockX, but for as much as $1,900, or three times more than the normal price.
Best Buy wasn’t the only retailer to sell Nvidia's RTX 3070 Ti on Thursday. Newegg offered various models through its raffle system.