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WTF?! It’s a sad truth that there are always risks when buying and selling second hand. But one would assume dealing with an eBay store that has lots of positive feedback wouldn’t be dangerous. The person who sold their RTX 4090 to the company, only to have it returned without the GPU or VRAM chips, would likely disagree.
The graphics card industry right now is as bad as it was in the pandemic/chip crisis era of sky-high prices and nearly no stock. It’s led to the second-hand market becoming a Wild West of opportunists and shady businesses.
A Redditor called piscian19 discovered this when he sold his RTX 4090 on eBay a couple of weeks ago. He writes that the buyer had feedback from over 30,000 previous transaction and a storefront.
Piscian19 notes that there were some elements of the sale that raised suspicions, including why a business would pay retail price for a card. The California-based business’ name, which isn’t revealed, also seemed “odd.”
Out of caution, the Redditor protected himself by taking plenty of pictures of the Lovelace flagship and purchasing the most comprehensive insurance and tracking. It turned out to be a wise decision.
On the same day that the business received the card, it started a return due to the problem of “no video.” But the RTX 4090 was apparently “pristine” and barely used.
All was revealed when the card was returned to the seller. The mounting bracket was bent and a couple of wires were crossed on the RGB, indicating it had been taken apart by the buyer.
Piscian19 called eBay, who told him to keep the card and the money he was paid for it. The auction site also gave the buyer a one-time refund.
In the hope that the card could be salvaged, piscian19 repaired the bracket, started an RMA, and then decided to strip the card before shipping it. Exposing the internals revealed that the buyer had removed the GPU and VRAM chips.
A follow-up comment on Reddit reveals that the buyer has been reported to the Better Business Bureau several times for fraud. It also sells RTX 4090s for up to $4,000. The amount of positive feedback does seem strange, leading to some suggestions that it may have been a hacked account.
Piscian19 reported the business to eBay’s fraud department and a couple of investigative organizations.
Back in November 2023, it was reported that Chinese companies were stripping RTX 4090s of their components. These ended up in makeshift “AI” solutions with blower-style coolers destined for China’s artificial intelligence market.
What was happening to some of these stripped RTX 4090s became apparent early last year when a buyer of a second hand model found it had no GPU or VRAM chips.
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