While A micro center in Dallas was the location of some depressing scenes earlier this monthWhen a huge crowd rushed at the store trying to get their hands on a new GPU, other stores in the chain took far more stringent measures against scalpers and resellers.
Reddit user Cabin Warrior50 recently took this picture from their local micro center, and comments from other customers around the country suggest that similar policies have been applied in the closest stores.
In this case, people can only buy a GPU every 30 days and have to record their ID (either a driver’s license or government-issued ID). Other users say their stores have been doing the same for a few months and also try things like large signs outside the stores saying they are no longer there [stock] so that you don’t waste your time ”.
I’ve never tried buying a GPU in these circumstances, but I am very familiar with a similar economy, that of sneakers, where some brands and retailers go to great lengths to ensure that resellers pick up all of the shoes while most don’t care as long as every pair is sold.
Take Nike for example, where almost every pair of a hyped release posted on their website is picked up by bots for say $ 200 and then sold for more days / weeks later. Nike doesn’t care because every pair is sold and an aura of desirability for their products is maintained for them.
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For fans / customers, however, it sucks and is deeply unfair. After all, if the end goal is to get shoes on (or in the collections) of real fans, then all of this scenario – and stop me capitalism fans if you’ve heard this before – creates an artificial economy for the committed Reseller who only exists to raise prices and make money out of nowhere.
But a local store that I buy a lot of shoes from, Supply, does the opposite. Whenever there is a hyped release they hold a raffle and the data entry fields (name, address, etc.) are randomized after each release to make it harder for bots to be programmed for. Many releases also require photo ID confirming the names on the listing in order to collect your shoes.
Is that a perfect solution? No! Neither supply’s nor micro centers are. Nothing can, or likely ever will, stop a single person from buying a GPU, winning a pair of shoes in a raffle and turning them over for $ 100, or enlisting friends / family for help. Wherever there is a real market shortage – be it because GPUs are currently hard to come by or because limited numbers of sneakers are made – the temptation to capitalize will always be great.
These measures are somethingas each step you add to the buying process makes it more difficult for large resellers to get their hands on dozens or even hundreds of cards at once, and Really screw up the market. Plus, shopping limits, ID checks, and raffles increase the chances that individuals will actually get what they want.
The big difference to my comparison here is, of course, that Micro Centers and Supply are outliers that presumably take care of a customer base and want to look after them, while manufacturers and many other large retailers clearly do not. As long as every product they sell outright is sold for what they ask for, they happily leave the rest to the free market, damn fans.
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