So at various threads so far we've discussed ebay and Amazon 3rd party vendors for RTX 30 series scalper sales but have you ever heard about StockX?

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RareAir23

Limp Gawd
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Hi all. A Tom's Hardware article pointed me to this site that I think is potentially driving more scalping of the RTX 30 series than ebay and Amazon 3rd party vendors combined. It's called StockX. Many of you haven't heard of it because it's usually a site that specializes in the sales of sneakers and sports collectibles. I have because I do have a nice sized Air Jordan collection. Here's the site link:

https://stockx.com/

How the site works is scalpers will take all of their inventory (which creates a pool of product amongst all scalpers participating), sell it to StockX and from that supply comes a "stock price" that the site expects you to pay for even 1 card. You think ebay has an inventory? StockX has many, many more than ebay (they never give the exact amount of quantity by number though) and will become the main driver of scalper sales for these cards if it hasn't already. If there's going to be 1 site that drives scalper sales the longest it is this one. Don't believe me? Visit the site, search for GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3070 (yes they have a stock page all ready for it already). You'll laugh, you'll cry, you might think, "Well, I'm not seeing anything from nVIDIA being available until next June right?" Thought I'd get the word out about this site. Out!
 
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Think someone mentioned it in one of those other threads.
 
They want $1,500 for an Nvidia FE. Seriously they can shove it up their rears. All that money and no warranty
 
Well, that 8 of that one card does paint that picture to a degree. Remember though, that site sells every manufacturer and model released to this point who has sold them a card. Take that 8 and then combine with all the others they sold of the other manufacturers and models and it'll likely be a larger number. The thing that worries me the most about this site is the consistent profit margin you get selling product to them. Take the eVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Gaming card for example I used without naming it earlier: StockX will give scalpers $1350 per card they sell to StockX. At $750 before taxes and shipping MSRP for that card? That's $525/$600 of consistent profit per card! Keyword being "consistent" That is what will drive scalpers (at least the smart ones): ebay can net you bigger profit margins per card but getting someone to actually buy in? That's the hard part about selling on ebay. It isn't as consistent as StockX where when you sell to them that $1350 for the moment is there with every card you sell to them of that manufacturer and model...until the price goes down again because of say too much supply and not enough demand...like a real stock market. Out!
 
It’s economics in action unfortunately. You can’t fight it. Side markets will always appear, it’s been like that in most things basically since we started trading. If you tie your distributor in legal knots to stop them doing it, it just goes one step down to grey market.

One of the reasons for the massive price bump on Turing was because nvidia had left so much “money on the table” and all the retailers and AIBs banked the crazy margins on Pascal that were driven by demand spiking prices. NV were not happy, they took the reputation hit of crazy prices and didn’t get the payoff that salved that pain so they fixed that for next gen.

Only way prices come down is to increase supply or lower demand. One will happen over time, the other will happen if AMD are competitive.
 
RareAir23 said:
That’s the hard part about selling on ebay. It isn't as consistent as StockX where when you sell to them that $1350 for the moment is there with every card you sell to them of that manufacturer and model...until the price goes down again because of say too much supply and not enough demand...like a real stock market. Out!
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It’s literally what a market maker is.

Benefit to the sellers in taking some risk out of retail arbitrage as you say.

The joy of evolving business models.
 
I don’t see anything wrong with this site, it’s basically an escrow service for goods.
 
The point I provided this information was not that the site was bad in the sense of nobody should buy or sell here or that it is managed improperly somehow. The point I was attempting to make was that it will likely be this site that keeps PC hardware scalpers motivated to continue to combine together to empty stock of all retailers the longest and keep us from getting cards at MSRP. The smart scalpers already know about StockX (because they've worked with them before) and are selling cards to them consistently because of the consistent profit margin they provide for selling to them (due to StockX's Sell Price on the product). I have a hunch when ebay auctions really start to fail hard on the RTX 30 series for resale those scalpers who counted on ebay will go to StockX as long as selling to them can net them at least $200 per card in profit on the Sell Price. One can only hope that StockX's Sell Price falls like a bolt of lightning from the clouds when stock of the RTX 30 series normalizes to the point of "nominal" or "optimal" level stock for all retailers. However; because StockX is so new to this game (concerning the sale of PC hardware) I can only speculate. StockX before this was known for selling athletic shoes and sports collectibles not PC hardware. So this is going to be something to watch as we go on for sure. Maybe they become a giant success at this, maybe they become a giant failure. Too soon to tell. Out!
 
RareAir23 said:
The point I provided this information was not that the site was bad in the sense of nobody should buy or sell here or that it is managed improperly somehow. The point I was attempting to make was that it will likely be this site that keeps PC hardware scalpers motivated to continue to combine together to empty stock of all retailers the longest and keep us from getting cards at MSRP. The smart scalpers already know about StockX (because they've worked with them before) and are selling cards to them consistently because of the consistent profit margin they provide for selling to them (due to StockX's Sell Price on the product). I have a hunch when ebay auctions really start to fail hard on the RTX 30 series for resale those scalpers who counted on ebay will go to StockX as long as selling to them can net them at least $200 per card in profit on the Sell Price. One can only hope that StockX's Sell Price falls like a bolt of lightning from the clouds when stock of the RTX 30 series normalizes to the point of "nominal" or "optimal" level stock for all retailers. However; because StockX is so new to this game (concerning the sale of PC hardware) I can only speculate. StockX before this was known for selling athletic shoes and sports collectibles not PC hardware. So this is going to be something to watch as we go on for sure. Maybe they become a giant success at this, maybe they become a giant failure. Too soon to tell. Out!
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It’s demand and supply. Why do people become so communist when it comes to something that affects them? Yeah it sucks for those that miss out but it’s not a life or death situation, it’s a luxury product that’s in high demand and these guys figured out how to get it. I see nothing wrong or “immoral” here.
 
If there wasn't scalping going on the same people who didn't get a card now would still be crying because they weren't fast/lucky enough to get a card at the normal price. With the scalping instead leaving it to luck it's whoever is willing to spend the most money because they want it the most. In a way it is maximizing the happiness. Scalping is just part of the free market when it comes to scarcity.

The only way to fix it is for nvidia to increase the supply. If you want to be mad at anyone be mad at nvidia.
Apple doesn't have these problems when they release new iPhones. Nvidia could have waited until more supply is built up before releasing, but they must have reasons not to and preferred to do it this way. Or maybe they miscalculated, who knows.

I'm personally not mad at all. If nvidia would have waited X months to build up supply so everyone could get one at launch that wanted one it just means no one would get it until X months instead of some people getting to enjoy it earlier. It also means people are finding issues and those issues are getting fixed before I'm able to get one.
 
StockX was known for sneakers first and foremost. They started branching out as they got bigger and bigger. I saw the NVIDIA cards on there and couldn't believe it. I wonder how they QC, do they have a rig that they install these cards to ensure that they are good?

The whole thing about StockX and sneakers was that they act as the middleman and ensure that the sneakers you are purchasing are legit. You do pay a premium both as a buyer and seller. I personally sold a few of my deadstock sneakers on there but these are one off, not crazy bot stocks. Just my personal pair that I decided to part ways with.
 
Chelica I think I know how StockX takes these RTX 30 cards to sell. They likely require the sellers to keep the product NIB (New In Box) and not even take the shrink wrap off. In other words, scalpers buys product online from eTailer of choice. They get it out of the shipping box (without doing anything to open the box at all) and immediately go to StockX to "Sell" it to them for the "Sell Price". They then complete the selling of the product to StockX and ship them the card (again NIB without even the shrinkwrap taken off) and then StockX sells the card like Amazon/Newegg/Best Buy/eVGA Store and many others would: NIB but for about double the price. Out!
 
RareAir23 said:
Chelica I think I know how StockX takes these RTX 30 cards to sell. They likely require the sellers to keep the product NIB (New In Box) and not even take the shrink wrap off. In other words, scalpers buys product online from eTailer of choice. They get it out of the shipping box (without doing anything to open the box at all) and immediately go to StockX to "Sell" it to them for the "Sell Price". They then complete the selling of the product to StockX and ship them the card (again NIB without even the shrinkwrap taken off) and then StockX sells the card like Amazon/Newegg/Best Buy/eVGA Store and many others would: NIB but for about double the price. Out!
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Close but not quite. StockX doesn’t sell to anyone directly, they’re a middleman. You repackage the card to their specifications AFTER someone has put in a bid that matches your ask. They then pay StockX who then give you a shipping label and you send the card to them for verification. Once they get it, they open and test it on an open bench system, repackage it and send it off to the buyer. As soon as it passes verification, your funds are released and you can never be charged back. It is MUCH better than eBay for sellers in that regard.
 
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