The launch of Nvidia’s RTX 50 series has left gamers frustrated and empty-handed, with scalpers reselling the RTX 5090 for as much as $6000—three times the MSRP. Not to mention, the situation has left many questioning if they’ll ever be able to get their hands on these next-gen GPUs at a reasonable price any time soon.
Notably, retailers like Best Buy and Newegg listed the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 at 9 AM EST, but stock vanished almost instantly. Only a lucky few managed to grab a card, but most were met with disappointment as checkout errors and sold-out notifications became the norm. Nvidia’s own store didn’t even list the Founders Edition cards, which added to the disappointment.
Meanwhile, eBay scalpers are having a field day. The RTX 5090 is listed on the platform for jaw-dropping prices, with some sellers asking for over $6000. Even the RTX 5080, with an MSRP of 1999, is being resold for 1,800 to 2,200. Some sketchy listings have even been removed for violating eBay policies. But sellers with verified stock are raking in massive profits. Check out the benchmark listings of the RTX 5080 here.
The reason behind this price hike
The root of the problem lies in a combination of high demand and limited supply. Reports suggest a design flaw in Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU chips caused production delays, which has resulted in the limited availability. Third-party manufacturers like MSI received far fewer chips than expected, further reducing the supply of custom cards.
Unfortunately, the situation may not change soon. Analysts suggest not to expect significant stocks any time soon. And even when it finally happens, scalpers are likely to dominate the market. If past GPU launches are any indication, demand will remain higher than the supply for months, if not longer.
For now, gamers can only hope that Nvidia ramps up production as soon as possible and find ways to curb scalping. Until then, the dream of upgrading to an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 remains out of reach for most.
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