RTX-30xxx - price gouging in the UK - I thought it was illegal?

[EasterEEL]

RTX-3070 for instance typically out of stock but retailers asking for £580-£650. Price should be £100 less. It's a bloody disgrace. If a seller on Amazon or ebay tries price gouging they get closed down.

Remember all the fuss about the hand wash gouging during lockdown?

[kompukare]

Remember all the fuss about the hand wash gouging during lockdown?

Let me see: during a pandemic having soap could save your life, while not being able to buy a graphic card at certain price can do what?

[spacein_vader]

RTX-3070 for instance typically out of stock but retailers asking for £580-£650. Price should be £100 less. It's a bloody disgrace. If a seller on Amazon or ebay tries price gouging they get closed down.

Remember all the fuss about the hand wash gouging during lockdown?

Lots of fuss but nothing legal happened. Free market sets the price, gouging is not illegal.

[ik9000]

Lots of fuss but nothing legal happened. Free market sets the price, gouging is not illegal.

It is in rugby.

Nvidia... the way it's meant to be played...?

[SexyPotato]

Yeah I echo others saying that it is a free market. These are not essential items (e.g. if it's say basic food or masks at the beginning of the March then that would be pretty bad).

I think what naturally happens is the mind-share of Nvidia is slowly eroding away with these horrendous launches.

[Saracen999]

It never ceases to amaze me when people think a company not selling something at the lowest price they could is "gouging". It's actually Economcs 101 - basic supply and demand. If demand > supply, for virtually any reason, price goes up (except if demand is perfectly elastic, and that rarely if ever happens in a duopoly situation.

Having spent 35 years in business, mainly self-employed, I certainly never told a buyer "no, no, I know you'll pay £x, but £x - £50 will do. You're paying me too much, please cut my salary". I charged the market rate. How many people thinking it's gouging went to their employer and told them to cut the employee's salary by £50 because they'll wait a few months for a graphics card? Right, none.

At the end of the day, if £50 extra is too much, don't buy it. Buy something else, or just wait a bit.

If you're going to end up paying the £50, that just proves the "market price" point - getting gratification now rather than in a few months is worth that £50 to you or you wouldn't pay it.

Also, I'd point out, again, supply and demand. If nobody was willing to pay the extra £50, supply > demand says price will come down, or sales=0.

The mere fact that enough people will pay it proves the "market price" point. It might even suggest the market price is higher than that, or there would be available stock. Maybe be happy it's £50 not £100 more.

[Savas]

The mere fact that enough people will pay it proves the "market price" point. It might even suggest the market price is higher than that, or there would be available stock. Maybe be happy it's £50 not £100 more.

....

Would you happen to know how many new nvidia GPU's were sent to the UK?

First of all, If you're a PC gamer then you kind of need a GPU to play games on your PC, they know that so when they barely make enough stock that creates the higher "demand", none of this would happen if the stocks were normal.

It feels like you've been doing what's happening here (of course on a much much lower scale) and you think it's "business". It's actually cheap/dirty tactics and to me it just feels like round 2 of nvidia screwing over people for profit. First it was setting super high prices in the 20xx generation, then now claiming they're not going to increase the price, but not making enough so price levels don't actually change so they can argue it's not their fault.

Comparing yourself (self employed years) with nvidia - or to give another different but mayble understandable example - a big big seller who can dictate the market price and claiming to know business but not seeing this baffles me. If you were in the business of having control of a certain product and being able to dictate the volume of the market and knowing the average sale per year/month and limiting that volume to create a demand then you wouldn't be talking like this.

I think AdoredTV is right when he was talking about people kind of deserving to be conned as they're so naive that they literally defending these actions.

[chj]

....

Would you happen to know how many new nvidia GPU's were sent to the UK?

First of all, If you're a PC gamer then you kind of need a GPU to play games on your PC, they know that so when they barely make enough stock that creates the higher "demand", none of this would happen if the stocks were normal.

It feels like you've been doing what's happening here (of course on a much much lower scale) and you think it's "business". It's actually cheap/dirty tactics and to me it just feels like round 2 of nvidia screwing over people for profit. First it was setting super high prices in the 20xx generation, then now claiming they're not going to increase the price, but not making enough so price levels don't actually change so they can argue it's not their fault.

Comparing yourself (self employed years) with nvidia - or to give another different but mayble understandable example - a big big seller who can dictate the market price and claiming to know business but not seeing this baffles me. If you were in the business of having control of a certain product and being able to dictate the volume of the market and knowing the average sale per year/month and limiting that volume to create a demand then you wouldn't be talking like this.

I think AdoredTV is right when he was talking about people kind of deserving to be conned as they're so naive that they literally defending these actions.

But it's the retailer's getting the extra profit, not Nvidia. Besides why would they want to artificially limit stock when they'd want to sell as much as possible before AMD released their RDNA2 cards? For whatever reason Nvidia's stock is crap and with a high demand it's like Saracen said, prices go up. It's frustrating but you can choose to wait, there are other options.

[Saracen999]

But it's the retailer's getting the extra profit, not Nvidia. Besides why would they want to artificially limit stock when they'd want to sell as much as possible before AMD released their RDNA2 cards? For whatever reason Nvidia's stock is crap and with a high demand it's like Saracen said, prices go up. It's frustrating but you can choose to wait, there are other options.

Well, maximising sales doesn't necessarily maximise profit. Take a look at marketing strategies for 'designer' brands, like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Silhouette, Rayban, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin and so many more. In many such markets, you can be selling at extremely high prices because supply is limited. Of course, in many brands, manufacturing costs are extremely High as well, meaning end-user prices are always going to be higher than mass-manufactured products. Exclusivity and very limited supply is a marketing method in it's own right.

....

Would you happen to know how many new nvidia GPU's were sent to the UK?

First of all, If you're a PC gamer then you kind of need a GPU to play games on your PC, they know that so when they barely make enough stock that creates the higher "demand", none of this would happen if the stocks were normal.

It feels like you've been doing what's happening here (of course on a much much lower scale) and you think it's "business". It's actually cheap/dirty tactics and to me it just feels like round 2 of nvidia screwing over people for profit. First it was setting super high prices in the 20xx generation, then now claiming they're not going to increase the price, but not making enough so price levels don't actually change so they can argue it's not their fault.

Comparing yourself (self employed years) with nvidia - or to give another different but mayble understandable example - a big big seller who can dictate the market price and claiming to know business but not seeing this baffles me. If you were in the business of having control of a certain product and being able to dictate the volume of the market and knowing the average sale per year/month and limiting that volume to create a demand then you wouldn't be talking like this.

I think AdoredTV is right when he was talking about people kind of deserving to be conned as they're so naive that they literally defending these actions.

Do I know how many units NVidia shipped to the UK. No. Nor do I need to. It's not the first time I've seen this happen, and it can happen for quite a few reasons.

But if you asked have I had meetings with senior executives and CEOs, and/or sat in the boardrooms of Microsoft, Epson, HP, IBM. Intel, AMD, Canon, Lexmark and many, many more, then the answer is yes, and over several decades.

You also seem to have missed the point about my years, including self-employed. It wasn't about whether I could dictate the price or about a comparison with a major manufacturer. It was that virtually everybody maximises profit.

NVidia are not a charity, or social services department. If, and I stress if they introduced a leading edge product at an early-adopter premium price, then certainly in the technology world they are following a decades old practice. But it's not the only reason that can happen.

It's certainly not new for limited stock to be released, charging a premium, until demand at that price slows down. Then cut the price a bit and release the next trench of stock, soaking up second tier demand. And so on.

What I don't get is the presumption that people are entitled to anything else. If you don't like it, buy something else. What? There isn't anything else? That's why they can (if they did) price at a premium.

It is a perfectly valid, and far from uncommon technique to maximise profit rather than revenue. It also only works if there isn't a direct competitor to which potential buyers will shift. Which of course, is another possibllee motivation. Manufacturing ready for a mass-market release doesn't happen in 5 minutes. It takes time to make, and then fill the channel, in order to avoid shortages. Why do it, then? Maybe to spoil a competitor's lead if you think they will launch before you have the channel full, because if they do, they will likely relieve you of nanny or most of those high-margin early adopters.

What I don't get is why some people think a company should provide maximum product at minimum price, unless that is their chosen strategy. And sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. If they want to dribble it out and maximise profit, those buyers STILL have the option to buy something else, or simply wait until the price reaches a point they can or will pay.

[Savas]

But it's the retailer's getting the extra profit, not Nvidia. Besides why would they want to artificially limit stock when they'd want to sell as much as possible before AMD released their RDNA2 cards? For whatever reason Nvidia's stock is crap and with a high demand it's like Saracen said, prices go up. It's frustrating but you can choose to wait, there are other options.

My point was their angle is to keep the prices high and achieve avoiding the blame like you're logically doing now. Long term plan may reveal itself in the future but as I don't have strong evidence I'll retreat to the bench on that.

I personally am waiting and not choosing to hit the buy now or going on ebay, but I think my whole point in this discussion here is it's scummy for people to do it, but when it comes to retailers it's "business"? Na, no way, it's still dirty and low, can't save face and if you defend it you're gullible.

People just think about the short term and care about themselves, while ironically screwing themselves over. Like for example I imagine someone saying well It's OK, I'll pay the price this time because they just want to upgrade or setup and be done with it for a few years, but long term they've set them and everyone up.

What I don't get is the presumption that people are entitled to anything else. If you don't like it, buy something else. What? There isn't anything else? That's why they can (if they did) price at a premium.

It's not entitlement to have these views, it's not entitlement as customers to desire healthy competition or not accept dirty tactics. Anyway I think we can agree to disagree. I view this as the poor wanting tax cuts for the rich, because one thinks they're part of the 1%.

[EasterEEL]

Although I have already decided I am not paying £500 plus for an RTX-3070, I would pay £469 for the 3070 FE on the Nvidia site, or possibly purchase 3060 ti FE if the price is right. I haven't seen in stock in the Nvidia UK online store (check most days and registered to be notified by email). I do need to replace my current card and pass on my old one to a family member.

Is the store a complete fabrication? I mean will Nvidia ever have them in stock in the UK store? Or is this just a time wasting exercise?

[atemporal]

Nvidia store on Amazon has a "sale" on apparently, funnily enough only listing up to the 2000 series and even those aren't competitively priced. What a joke!

[SilentSnake]

There were 3070 FE and 3090 FE drops 2 days ago and yesterday iirc.

Definitely doable but gotta be quick.

Still waiting for a UK 3080 FE drop...

[easyrider]

Nvidia store on Amazon has a "sale" on apparently, funnily enough only listing up to the 2000 series and even those aren't competitively priced. What a joke!

With the lack of cards available The 2000 series is all we have....

[rs4847]

Although I have already decided I am not paying £500 plus for an RTX-3070, I would pay £469 for the 3070 FE on the Nvidia site, or possibly purchase 3060 ti FE if the price is right. I haven't seen in stock in the Nvidia UK online store (check most days and registered to be notified by email). I do need to replace my current card and pass on my old one to a family member.

Is the store a complete fabrication? I mean will Nvidia ever have them in stock in the UK store? Or is this just a time wasting exercise?

I have seen the store go live with the 3070/3090 FE, I'm waiting for the 3080 FE personally but may go with the 3090 FE if I can't get hold of one before the end of the year. They tend to go live in the afternoon on a weekday. There were two drops last week. Scan UK handle the logistics so make sure you have an account and all the single click ordering and payment set up with them.

I am more worried about the upcoming customs duty and other taxes on these and other high end parts as they are landed elsewhere in the customs union then shipped here at the moment, might make scalpers seem like good value.

[easyrider]

I think a big shipment is due 30th November...but they’ll probably get swallowed up with pre orders...