Nvidia RTX 5080 and 5090 Prices Surge Due to Shortages

Many gamers had braced themselves for a letdown on the day Nvidia launched the RTX 50 series. Just a few days earlier, Nvidia had dampened expectations, cautioning consumers about potential shortages in GPU stock. Unfortunately, these worries have come true, as inventory at stores has either vanished quickly or is completely absent. Unsurprisingly, scalpers are exploiting the situation, reselling the scarce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 GPUs for several hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than their original prices.

Retail Availability

Retailers like Best Buy and Newegg released Nvidia’s newest GPUs this morning around 9 AM EST. However, only a handful of buyers tracking stock on platforms like Reddit and Discord reported any success. While locating a product page with a card available wasn’t particularly hard, hopes faded fast once consumers reached the checkout stage. Other frustrated gamers directed their anger towards Nvidia’s official store, which still hadn’t listed the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 Founders Edition for purchase.

Scalper Success

At first, scalpers took a gamble by investing in the RTX 50 series when the market was still uncertain. But soon, eBay’s closing prices clearly showed that they could earn significant profits, even after accounting for steep selling fees. Many dubious listings that violate eBay rules are swiftly taken down. Meanwhile, sellers who post images holding an RTX 5090 are reaping the highest sale prices. One seller with a good reputation on eBay showcased a Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 Solid outside a Micro Center, and it closed at just over $6000—far above the expected price of $1999.

RTX 5080 Pricing

The Nvidia RTX 5080 is not fetching as high a price above retail as the RTX 5090. Most sales hover around $2000-2200, with a few Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5080 GPUs sold for about $1800. While this price is still inflated, it’s not nearly as extreme as the triple MSRP for many RTX 5090 units.

The outlook for any meaningful restocks of the RTX 50 series isn’t bright. Many experts attribute this to a design flaw in the Blackwell GPU chips, which caused delays in production. Companies like MSI received only a small fraction of the units they anticipated, significantly lowering the availability of custom cards.

Future Supply Challenges

If history serves as a guide, the supply of certain graphics cards may never fully satisfy demand. Nonetheless, after another frustrating launch, buyers are hopeful that Nvidia will find a way to accelerate the production timeline.

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