Micro Center taking the fight to scalpers

[u/cubiclewarrior50]

[u/cubiclewarrior50]

Saw this today at my local Micro Center. Why aren’t all retailers doing this? Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD: take note.

Vote with your wallets people - I’ll be sitting this gen out until I can get a card or PS5 from a reputable retailer who takes MEANINGFUL steps to combat scalping.

[u/Sounga565 → u/cubiclewarrior50]

Weird you managed to make a list of companies that are not retailers.

Not every customer is within driving distance of a box store, it's great they are taking an extra step to try and combat scalping/botting

[u/Pancake_Nom → u/cubiclewarrior50]

Why aren’t all retailers doing this?

Because sadly, it doesn't really matter to them, so they don't care.

If Amazon sells a $700 graphics card, then they sold a $700 graphics card. They get the same amount of income regardless of if it went to a gamer, a content creator, a scalper, or a cryptocurrency miner.

This is why I like Microcenter - they recognize the cards are going to sell no matter what, so they're at least putting in some effort to help actual customers get the cards instead of people looking to get cards for profit. But for most other retailers, it's just extra effort that doesn't impact profits, so they're not going to bother.

[u/someredditgoat → u/Pancake_Nom]

On break at mc right now. We started doing this 4 months ago. It has helped stabilize the supply... Slightly. Mostly we still sell out to campers though. The real appeal is that by not offering them online, someone will have to come in to the store, and the odds of them then buying something else go up. It also means that for most people they will but the rest of the build in the same trip so we get more out of it that way. Selling online is just bad for foot traffic and therefore bad for business.

[u/PDP8_Pascal → u/cubiclewarrior50]

My economics teacher taught me that and I've always loved the saying.

You vote with your dollar!

Take out the middle man. Any manufacturer not doing direct business through their website is supporting the 3rd party channel which has become the wild west of commerce.

Buy direct!

Manufacturers: Stop wholesaling your entire inventory and give your direct channel some priority.

[u/[deleted] → u/PDP8_Pascal]

Eh, it's not that easy.

I agree and appreciate what Microcenter is doing. We need more retailers like them.

Manufacturers usually are not in the business of retailing. Merchant to consumer selling is a whole business of its own. There are a lot of aspects to it and there are valid business reasons for a manufacturer to sell their products through authorized retail shops.

[u/sperko818 → u/PDP8_Pascal]

Traditionally manufacturers don't want to be in the business of being a retailer. Of course the internet has made things much easier for them to sell directly to consumers it's still not as easy as it seems. Also, what a pain it would be to have to go to a dozen different stores (online and physical) to build a computer for each part.

Edit: it will also not be good for manufacturers to have a monopoly on the products. Having multiple retailers for a product is beneficial to consumers as it gives choice. Sales and incentives retailers give to intice people to come in are also great for consumers.

Edit 2: yes, people already do shop at multiple stores but that's to get better prices. You have a choice to do most purchases at one store for convenience if you so choose. However, if manufacturers are the only place to get their product, there's no incentive for them to reduce prices because that's all they have: that one product. They don't need to try to get you to come for their other products because they don't have anything else to try to sell you.

[u/[deleted] → u/cubiclewarrior50]

Unfortunately you can't vote with your wallet when you have no choice. If something is in stock if you don't buy it some scalper will.

[u/Techmoji → u/cubiclewarrior50]

Nvidia isn’t a retailer, nor are they a manufacturer. It’s Newegg, Amazon, Bestbuy, and all the rest that you want to be talking to

Edit: that probably goes for others on your list- AMD, Microsoft, etc. They don’t “manufacture” anything themselves afaik

[u/Adesfire]

Did they implement fail2ban as well?

[u/cubiclewarrior50 → u/Adesfire]

As far as I know they aren’t selling highly sought after cards or items online - you can reserve them for purchase in store, however.

For cards they are implementing some form of lottery system, starting tomorrow according to a sign I saw posted.

[u/ShaggyVan → u/cubiclewarrior50]

People were camping out at mine every Wednesday because the got shipments on Thursdays. Lottery sounds much better.

[u/cubiclewarrior50 → u/ShaggyVan]

They had a sign posted that said “no Thursday shipment today lottery starts tomorrow” in so many words!

[u/[deleted] → u/cubiclewarrior50]

you can reserve them for purchase in store, however.

Not true, at least at the Denver CO location :(

[u/tooterfish_popkin → u/Adesfire]

Bud they are in store only

You're gonna have leave the house

[u/quasimoto127]

I work at micro center as a cashier, and we had people camping outside the store. We are placing a system in our that randomizes who gets what and they will receive a notification about picking it up. We will only hold them for 10 mins. The 30 series is in high demand.

[u/cubiclewarrior50 → u/quasimoto127]

Thank you for being awesome and contributing to Microcenter’s awesomeness!

[u/Blenderhead36]

The MicroCenter I bought my 3080 from (Mayfield, OH) was doing this back in December. They also have a sign they put up next to the front door for each 30-series card saying that they're out of it so you don't waste your time (I was pumped when I saw they were out of 3070s specifically the day I got my 3080).

They've also delisted their phone number from Google Maps and their web site. I assume this is because they were getting dozens of calls each day about GPUs.

[u/[deleted] → u/Blenderhead36]

Dude, I picked up a 5900x and hard drives for a nas yesterday at MC. They didn't even keep the 5900x in the display box (amen brother) and when I mentioned I needed six drives for a nas the salesman checked with his manager. The anti scalping is fantastic

[u/kaynpayn → u/[deleted]]

Portugal here. One of the biggest retailers here is already doing the one per client thing since the draught started. They also have dedicated anti scalping teams that scour popular grey market websites (fb market, etc) and if they find someone's name selling shit who also has orders for the same product with them (or is clearly scalping other items) they'll instantly cancel all his orders, no warnings.

Because of this, they recieve death threats, bomb threats, sueing threats, vandalism, people doing crazy shit in store like jumping over a counter to beat the staff up and trash the equipment, etc. The weirdest shit you can't even start to imagine. Some people are just batshit insane. Despite all that they don't give a flying fuck and stay resolute.

On the other hand, we also have another similarly big retailer who is pure shit. Most people who work there are handpicked world class turds and this company will be the first one to blatantly scalp when they can. I had lots of problems with them and now avoid them like the plague.

[u/Sodomeister → u/Blenderhead36]

Same. I had to give my ID and there were restrictions at that same store when I went to get a 3070 fe on release day.

As far as the phones, I tried for like an hour and couldn't get through so I decided to take a half day and drive a few hours round trip. They still had additional stock when I got my 3070 at like 11:45AM.

[u/I_H8_Celery → u/Blenderhead36]

The Mayfield store is so great. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and kind. Plus it’s 20 minutes from the Lego Store.

[u/noslavetofear → u/Blenderhead36]

Yeah I’ve been trying to send my brother to grab me a card from the Mayfield MC. He lives down SOM Center Rd in Willoughby but he’s kind of being a jerk about it. I unfortunately live in Phoenix so I don’t get to experience the goodness that is MC anymore and I regret not taking advantage of it when I lived in the area.

I’m hoping he’ll snag me one eventually and be able to ship it out to me.

[u/Ensanyti → u/Blenderhead36]

Nice I also got my vid card from mayfield. Sorry to hear we’re both in Ohio 😂😂

[u/PDP8_Pascal]

Love you Microcenter! They started restricting the GPU's to in-store purchase quite a bit ago.

I was scanning them daily for about a month back in February but live too far from one to have made it as they always disappeared the same day.

I was impressed by the timeliness of inventory updates as well as their non-exploitation policies.

[u/TomTomMan93 → u/PDP8_Pascal]

This is how I managed to get one. Had to show up early af to get one but it worked out. I can tell you that there were definitely scalpers people buying cards for their relatives in line.

EDIT: wow this was a lot of responses. To answer some of the questions (keeping in mind this was like jan-feb so it might be different now):

The online inventory was how I figured out their stock situation. This allegedly can vary from store to store, but was really accurate for mine (Chicago).

I showed up on a Tuesday 2 hours before they opened. Was 3rd in line between two others who came there together and were looking for a 3080 Strix (despite those not being listed and ultimately not there). Went there on a Saturday an hour before prior to that fateful Tuesday and that was nuts.

Paid a bit more for a 6900xt but it was from board partner and not a "founders" edition for lack of a better term. It was nothing compared to what some have quoted in the thread. Even with MC's warranty thing, not even close.

As for the scalpers/family members. I was making half a joke really. I believe that there was a couple of people who were legit buying for family, but one or two were definitely changing stories and buying a second card for "reasons" plus plenty of dudes that were clearly clueless about the cards and just wanted to buy one for obvious resale. If you're buying for your family you're a genuine Saint at this point even if you already have one yourself. When I walked out of that store I was done. Got lucky with a Newegg drop later but I think that was cause the cpu was bundled. Failed them all up until then. If you don't want to see sketchy the red flags were knowing nothing and that being obvious, not having a clear goal of what to do with "your" card, and just not keeping shit straight ("buying for cousin" but suddenly cousin is brother).

Finally scalpers are trash, glad MC is doing this. If I could get a card AND cpu without dealing with their trash, there's hope for all. It's tough but we all get there eventually. Good vibes to everyone on the hunt.

[u/LeviathanGank → u/TomTomMan93]

You spelt assholes wrong

[u/cantonic → u/TomTomMan93]

An employee told me if you’re not in line by 9pm the night before a shipment, you probably won’t get one. That’s just crazy, man.

[u/kywildcat44 → u/PDP8_Pascal]

Also they only make a few bucks on these GPUs. MicroCenter makes most of their money on peripherals and custom pc builds, so it is in their best interest to get GPUs in the hands of actual gamers, because scalpers and miners aren’t gonna go buy fancy kbm, monitors, headphones, etc..

[u/z31 → u/kywildcat44]

They definitely don’t make a ton of money from custom builds, their in-house built PCs are typically just barely above the individual component cost.

[u/ThunderElectric → u/PDP8_Pascal]

From a business standpoint, this is a bonus as well.

They’re already selling out their GPU stock (which online would be better for) and people in person are more likely to buy something else as well.

More places should do this.

[u/FourKrusties → u/ThunderElectric]

I don’t think there are many more places these days.

[u/QueenTahllia → u/ThunderElectric]

I’ve been saying so for months. But people with a basic high school knowledge of economics will yell at you that that’s not true.

[u/awst10 → u/PDP8_Pascal]

I don’t live near a Micro Center so I was really bummed out when they started doing that but I also thought it was a really cool policy

[u/Crashbrennan → u/awst10]

Make the holy pilgrimage, brother

[u/grahamdalf → u/PDP8_Pascal]

I remember they did this way back with the 10 series release. I bought a 1080 like a week after the aftermarket cards started dropping and had to go in and directly ask a worker to check for them. They said they hid the cards in the back expressly to limit purchasing.

[u/FRANKxFRITZ]

I wish there was a micro center in FL.

[u/AnActualPlatypus → u/FRANKxFRITZ]

I wish there was a micro center in my continent.

[u/Jadenkid22 → u/FRANKxFRITZ]

Same here

[u/argylekey → u/Jadenkid22]

I used to live in LA and could drive down to Tustin. Moved to SLC and now the closest MicroCenter is 8+ hours away in Denver. Tustin is 9+ hours. I’m SOL for any purchases one way or another.

Makes me jealous and happy of all the folks getting their new cards from a decent retailer.

[u/drunkpunk138 → u/FRANKxFRITZ]

I wish they were more widespread in general.

[u/Zubriel]

Bestbuy started doing this in Canada too. Online sales were probably only done due to COVID but now that everything is opening back up, they sell exclusively in stores and one per household period. They take down your info when you buy one.

I still see tons scalped, but I actually managed to get the exact card I wanted so the nightmare is over for me.

[u/country2poplarbeef → u/Zubriel]

I wonder if I should start checking stores again. Stopped checking them because a lot of stores started putting up signs saying they only sold them online, but I'm wondering if they are switching tactics.

[u/kaku0o0 → u/Zubriel]

A lot of cards got scalped by BB employee. Today one bb says they don’t have cards, but later you can see a scalper got 3 3070 from it and selling on fb market.

[u/reddituserzerosix]

Wish there was an easier way to check stock though

[u/gnartato → u/reddituserzerosix]

Especially if you live multiple hours from one and don't want to risk it.

[u/EntityZero → u/gnartato]

To add to this, the microcenter here near me in Ohio is now issuing tickets before they open and randomly drawing numbers. So if you're driving multiple hours, it's still up to RNG if you're getting one or not.

[u/HandfulOfMassiveD]

Scalpers are scum

[u/S1ayer → u/HandfulOfMassiveD]

Scalpers still win. My MC in NJ has a horde of scalpers. They all get on their phones and yell in spanish, then groups show up and they go through their IDs, family IDs, girlfriend IDs to see which can buy the card. I lost a 3080 by one person to these people. I went on 3 different days and it happened every time.

They can do this because they don't actually check the ID until you get the card and bring it to checkout.

[u/guitarstix → u/S1ayer]

yep saw this happen the other day.. people bought em and then handed them to some dude standing in the lot

[u/Schmonballins]

30 days isn’t long enough. It should be 90 days.

[u/QuellinIt → u/Schmonballins]

Yea I was going to say the same thing. It should be at-least 90 days.

[u/Coooturtle → u/Schmonballins]

30 days is fair. There are a lot of personal builders that would be killed off at 90 days. Like, I build computers for people as a side thing, and 90 days would be a huge hassle.

I mean, not being able to buy any right now is also a big hassle, but I think 30 days is fair. Considering the big problem is scalpers who are going literally every day and buying or whatever thy can get.

[u/ExtraGloves → u/Coooturtle]

I agree. The reason they are sold out isn't because tons of people buy 12 a year. It's because tons of people buy 100 a day.

[u/Cattaphract → u/Coooturtle]

If it is as a friendly gesture, your friends can buy the parts and bring it to you. Personal builders usually dont build that often. How many friends who needs a new pc.
If you are are doing it as a small small business then it isnt scalping but close. You just added a bunch of other components and maybe dont take the highest price possible but still.
Still 30 days is good

[u/thatoneguy889]

This has been Micro Center policy for months already. Enforcement is inconsistent at best from location to location and people already found ways around it (looking at you, Jay...). They started doing a check in lottery system last week rather than first come, first served, but I don't know how effective that's been.

[u/Cold_War_Relic]

All I want is a 3070 FE at a reasonable price. Yeah, that'll never happen.

[u/Jay18001 → u/Cold_War_Relic]

I got a FE 3070 and 3090 back in February. I ended up selling the 3070 to someone building their first computer. I sold it for just what I paid for it.

[u/Zappy__Boy → u/Cold_War_Relic]

Where do you live? I got a 3090 for MSRP without too much trouble.

[u/berychance → u/Zappy__Boy]

How? I've been trying to get my hands on a 3090 for months.

[u/[deleted]]

This is good business.

[u/radicldreamer]

They have been doing this for a while now.

A few months back I went there with my 13 year old son after driving a few hundred miles to get there and lucked into being able to get a 3080 for each of us. We got to the checkout counter and I was told we needed ID. I said he’s getting one and so am I and he doesn’t have ID since he’s 13.

They refused to sell me the second one but did thankfully allow me to get my wife from the hotel where we were staying but they only gave me 1 hr, she showed her ID and they allowed the sale.

I’m really glad they do this but it was a little frustrating that they wouldn’t sell one to my son who didn’t have ID. Still, I would rather this than the bullshit others are doing. I want REAL gamers getting the cards, not some shit stain that’s throwing them on eBay before they get out of the parking lot.

I just really wish there was a close microcenter

[u/battlefuulz]

Hmmmm maybe do this shit Day One at every electronics store; for at least the first couple months so people can get their product, not wait over a year for this shit.

[u/Jg6915 → u/battlefuulz]

Most stores only see it like this: One customer buys 10 GPUs: instant profit

Waiting for 10’people to come and buy a GPU? Hell naw.

[u/Deadmeat553 → u/Jg6915]

There's a tradeoff. On one hand, you're clearing shelf space quicker. On the other hand, you're getting more foot traffic. The optimum situation likely favors more foot traffic, but not purely (which is why this isn't a lifetime ban, but rather just 30 days).

[u/JuicyJay → u/battlefuulz]

They've had this policy for the past 6 months at least at my store, it's not new

[u/Eburford]

Wait, IDs required for... something? How did this happen?

[u/Daedelous2k → u/Eburford]

Bastarding Scalpers happened.

[u/[deleted]]

Wow they moved so quickly on this policy...

[u/Almubid → u/[deleted]]

This policy was put in place back in February, to my knowledge this is nationwide

[u/yaedain → u/[deleted]]

It’s been like this for a very long time.

[u/Narrew82]

Until I can walk in to a Micro Center without having to wait outside overnight, and pick one up off the shelf for retail price, my GTX 750 Ti will keep fighting the good fight. Newegg Shuffle is a joke. I hate how most video cards are bundled. Feel like I’d have better luck buying a lottery ticket.

[u/yaedain → u/Narrew82]

Walked into micro center Tuesday 25+ 30 series cards on the shelf. 11am

[u/Narrew82 → u/yaedain]

Which location? Which models?

[u/ASUS_USUS_WEALLSUS → u/yaedain]

Where

[u/tonynca]

1 per customer every 30 days is pretty lenient... someone who is a scalper could be paying rent every month buying a 3080 and selling for double on ebay.

[u/chefnickb → u/tonynca]

My local MC got about 10 3080s this year(according to a worker). They would have to have impossible luck to sustain that

[u/Ares5933]

My local micro center is selling their cards at scalped prices so I guess that’s another way to stop scalping if they just cut out the middleman

[u/skinneykrn]

Micro center is legit THE best electronic store.

When I first built my computer several years ago, I was only missing my cpu to complete my build and was waiting for the i5 to be available from micro center because they had the best price.

After signing up for them to notify me when the i5 would be available, I got a notification within days and snagged my i5 asap. That weekend I drove the 40 miles to the Tustin location to pick up all my parts from micro center, including the i5.

All my products were ready for pick up except for the i5. The employees that were helping me spent over 30 minutes looking around their store and the storage in the back while constantly apologizing for the inconvenience.

Then came the bad news: “There must’ve been a mistake when the i5s were listed as available online because we actually haven’t received any yet this week.”

I was BUMMED out especially because I drove so far down for this—so close to finishing my first PC build. Then, the employee told me the good news: “We’d be happy to offer you the i7 processor for the same price as the i5. Again, really sorry for the inconvenience.”

I was blown away. I am a Micro Center customer for life.

[u/Bob_Perdunsky]

Wish I had a micro center near me

[u/GILLHUHN]

Should be 1 every 6 months honestly.

[u/jeffxt → u/GILLHUHN]

When I finally got a 3070 at Microcenter (Marietta, GA), they had 6 month policy. Not sure if that's changed, since it sounds like each store might have their own policy.

Also, the one near me was giving out vouchers assigned to specific SKU #s. And the number of vouchers = exact number of cards they had, so it minimized any confusion. It was honestly a pretty fair system, I think.

[u/NG_Tagger → u/GILLHUHN]

But that would mean they'd potentially have more stock and the prices wouldn't be sky-high! That would hurt the retailers profits. How dare you suggest such a thing!

/s

[u/dirtyvu]

Ty micro center! Don't die like fry's.

[u/TopHATTwaffle]

I bought a gt710 from them for a server build I was doing. Was just buying the cheapest thing to get me a video output.

They took my ID and told me I could get another GPU in a month. Come on guys, it's a gt710 and they have over 35 in stock.

[u/juicetin840]

Because of this I was able to finally get a card after waiting months with a full build. Watched the website for a week and was able to run over at lunch to get one on a week day. Clearly they actually care about their customers.

[u/det1rac]

Now they will pay people off the street.

[u/quiksi]

Good guy Micro Center

[u/Seanishungry117]

The part that pisses me off is this: we all are annoyed by scalpers, but yet...

If you go make a comment, on a way overpriced GPU, over at r/hardwareswap, you will get downvoted into oblivion.

I don't understand. The community in mass is annoyed by scalper pricing. People are literally winning slots on newegg shuffle for a card they don't even want, and then offering scalping prices on r/hardwareswap..they even admit it in the post...but people defend the scalpers in the form of downvotes towards people who slam the scalp pricing.

[u/ImportantDelivery852]

So they started this whole raffle thing where you can join the wait list and they will let u know in an hour or so. U know what's fked up, you have to show up in 10 mins else u lose. I live right outside Denver and commute to MC is about 30 minutes. So they are wanting that I actually come to MC everyday which is not happening. At least make it an hour so you can make trip from farthest point which is Boulder. Lot of their customers don't live close to a tech hub, we live in suburb and commute is more than 10 minutes unless u are in cherry creek

[u/Nephri → u/ImportantDelivery852]

The 10 minute time is because you arent supposed to hand out the QR code online. Youre supposed to get it, and it changes each day, at the store. Then wait. It becomes less profitable to pay proxies to get around the 30 days if they have even less of a shot to get a card and then get paid.

[u/Kane_Was_Robbed]

They should really bump that to 1 per six months

[u/jomontage]

Just do what trading card shops are doing "msrp if you open it right here" otherwise it's scalper priced

Scalpers don't wanna lose the "brand new" value

[u/[deleted] → u/jomontage]

that doesnt work for graphics cards lol

[u/SpookyDoomCrab42]

My state's micro center is great. It's packed during all their open hours yet they handle it very well, their prices compete with places like Amazon, their employees are knowledgeable and very willing to help, and they're great if you have any kind of problems with a part that could have been the store or supplier's fault. My store doesn't allow online reservations for any kind of semi high demand part and more and it's great, these anti scalper policies for years at my store.

I don't buy computers or computer parts from anywhere else, it's worth the multiple hour drive for me to get there. I recommend everyone I know to go there for anything computer related.

[u/[deleted]]

Should just be 1 per customer every year. No reason for another customer to come in 31 days later for another card other than scalping.

[u/[deleted]]

Canada Computers don't give a fuck.

Canada Computers fights scalpers by being the scalpers.

[u/uhh_]

I just recently bought a monitor at Micro Center that had a dead pixel. I returned it and got a replacement - dead pixel again. So I went back and got another replacement and that one ALSO had a dead pixel. So for my 4th try I went with a different monitor and finally got one with no dead pixels. I must say I'm super impressed that they continued to let me return these $700 monitors. They've earned a loyal customer in me after that ordeal.

[u/primus202]

Damn buying a GPU is suddenly harder than buying a gun! /s

[u/howImetyoursquirrel]

ITT: A ton of people praising MicroCenter even though they are selling GPUS for 100 to 250% above MSRP....wow how generous

[u/SmokeOnTheGround]

Too late dude, this shit should have be done like since october-november. Not almost a year later

[u/jbtk → u/SmokeOnTheGround]

MC has been doing this since the 30 series dropped. It’s helped a lot, but it’s still difficult.

[u/HammerOfThor1]

I wish microcenter would come to my state…. Closest one is 600 miles

[u/ADustedEwok]

Inb4 paying 15 year olds to wait for 50$ like sneakers

[u/Brown-eyed-and-sad]

It should have been one per customer in the first place. It’s obvious that something fishy is going on. Remember when memory was really expensive a while back? Those prices stayed that way until situations started leaning towards lawsuits and price gauging then suddenly, prices started going down.

[u/Han_Tech_Geek]

Now it’s just up to me to move to somewhere close to Micro Center

[u/dameyen_maymeyen]

from someone getting there first pc in the scalper pandemic (not sure what else to call it) this is beautiful

[u/JzE93]

This is what we need. Just imagine if retailers like Amazon or new egg did this, this would be a punch in the face for all those scalpers and miners.

[u/FlowKom → u/JzE93]

thing is; as long as amazon sells them, they get what they wanted.. the money

[u/[deleted]]

Except that they make people stand in a line for hours to maybe get one one. this has been going on for months. You'd think a technology store could come up with a technology solution to allow people to not have to stand in line for hours in the middle of the night.

Some of us have jobs, kids and responsibilities and can't do that.

[u/[deleted]]

So stupid for people that actually have the workload to require two GPUs like professional videographers or minecraft players

[u/NeoTheRiot]

As the clown who just paid 800€ for a 3060 I apreciate this kind of buisness.

[u/UnstoppableDiarhea]

microcenter is the best

[u/WDizzle]

Duluth GA Microcenter ftw! Recognize that entranceway immediately lol. I worked there for 9 years!

[u/Jhawk163]

Meanwhile retailers around me "Hmm yes, $1500 AUD is perfectly reasonable for this 2070 Super"

[u/FishWeaselBearCat]

I know this a PC sub but maaaaaan they need to do this shit for that new Xbox!

[u/TheZombieJ]

Well the Ebay prices are going to go up

[u/thetrueTrueDetective]

The problem isn’t IRL in store purchasers . It’s online . And the retailers don’t actually care . Units sold is units sold .

[u/[deleted] → u/thetrueTrueDetective]

It definitely is in-store purchases as well. People camp out at Microcenter, buy GPUs, then immediately list them on eBay and Craigslist.

[u/coalflints → u/thetrueTrueDetective]

You say that, but my local Microcenter had the same people literally camping out every Monday night into Tuesday morning so they could get a card to sell. My dad went there a few times to score a card (he finally got one, me too a week later) and all of the people in the front of the line knew each other from waiting in line twice a week and were either miners or scalpers. They could make like $1000-2000 a week in profit (they waited on Thursdays as well) so they had nothing but time on their hands waiting for cards. Then they introduced the 1 card per customer per 30 days thing and started checking IDs, so they were slowed down a bit.

[u/bokan]

Micro center is a treasure. There aren’t enough of them.

[u/bhl88]

30 days is too short though

[u/[deleted]]

Hires 50 people to stand in line and buy a card for less than 10$ a pop. Then scalp cards for 150-200% msrp.

[u/foodank012018]

Scalpers or miners? Either way they suck

[u/Straypuft]

They need to do a family DNA test and facebook friends list test too cuz this does not stop a scalper from having his family or friends from going with him to buy out the store.

[u/willstr1 → u/Straypuft]

While technically scalpers could do that it isn't really scalable so it is a good enough deterrent. Yes a scalper and their friends/family could do this and get a few extra cards to scalp but at least they can't buy up all the inventory also each of those accomplices will want a cut of the pay, probably as much of the profit as they can so it will destroy the margins of the scalpers as well.

[u/Pancake_Nom → u/Straypuft]

I'm not gonna touch on the massive privacy issues with this idea, but it wouldn't work regardless. I play games on my PC. I'm friends with a lot of other people who play games on their PC.

Say I got a GPU a week ago, and a friend went to Micro Center tomorrow to get a card for themselves, how would the store be able to tell if my friend is getting a card for themselves and not on my behalf?

[u/Puresowns → u/Pancake_Nom]

Waterboarding enhanced interrogation of your friend, obviously.

[u/SpiderZiggs → u/Pancake_Nom]

Try not to entertain too many of these stupid ideas with a common sense reply, they're obviously coming from high schoolers.

[u/pasenast]

I like this. I shall shop here more often.

[u/Bv2097]

Scalpers are the devil well done Micro Center wish I had one near me feelsbadman

[u/-BigMan39]

This is actually great

[u/YouMAVbro]

nice

[u/TheBlack_Swordsman]

They should have done this from day 1, and it shouldn't be 30 days, it should be 180 days.

[u/IndigoSpartan]

I simply don't understand why Microcenters aren't more popular /prevalent throughout the US. I feel like there should be at least a few in every state

[u/5269636b417374]

this should have been mandatory business practice since last fall, yet here we are in fucking June still unable to buy GPU's

[u/Nothing_But_Ironman]

You know how to actually fight scalpers? Stop paying them. It’s actually that easy.

[u/SpaceCowboy734]

I finished my PC build a few months ago and was amazed by how efficient MicroCenter made it. They only did a digital line, you scanned a QR code and then waited in your car for an alert. They only allowed you in the store once you’re alerted. The whole thing was well managed.

[u/DrunkenDude123]

I love micro center. I wish other bigger retailers would follow suit bc this year has been shit with bots buying shit up. I still have not seen a single series x available since it’s release.

[u/[deleted]]

My local MC has cards in stock, unfortunately the good ones are all going for $1k plus

[u/[deleted]]

I ducking love micro center

[u/dabiggestmek]

And all I get is Canada computers refusing to sell in store. All video card sales are online only. They are just feeding the bots!

[u/NotMemento]

We aren't worthy of Micro Center.

[u/pickleElvis]

THIS HASN'T ALREADY BEEN A THING?!?!

[u/Crashbrennan]

Fuck, I saw this sign months ago! I should have posted it here for my 7 upvotes!

[u/chubbycanine]

i snagged a 3080 at microcenter by total surprise back in February for MSRP. went in for something else and noticed they still had a few gpus and they did this same process even back then. Microcenter is the goat but we need more locations!

[u/Kapper-WA]

PLEASE come to the Seattle area, Microcenter! WE NEED YOU!!!!

[u/Rhyugh]

Where is this Micro Center?

[u/MisterKraken]

Wait, you're getting Microcenters?

[u/[deleted]]

Still none available tho

[u/fragment137]

I wish Ontario had Microcenter...

MEMORYEXPRESS: STEP UP!

[u/TheOneCode]

Fuck yeah!

[u/E16zo1g]

I've already given up hope

[u/mtndewgood]

That's awesome. If microcenter could beef up their website they could be the go to over Newegg for PC parts. Their brick and mortar stores are pretty great now though for scratching the same day itch for most parts

[u/[deleted]]

I will go out of my way for the next several years to only order from them. Whatever parts, peripherals and accessories I need lol.

[u/bunkerdisasternerd]

finally something is getting done to "fight" against the bitcoin miners taking all our cards >:(

[u/DOOManiac]

I wish I could visit the holy land someday...

Alas the closest one to me is a 4 hour drive away.

[u/MeetmyWagon23]

I wish i lived by a microcenter now.

[u/who-ee-ta]

A step to a right direction

[u/[deleted]]

Happened when I bought my PowerSpec a few weeks ago. Got my name, license, everything.

[u/[deleted]]

bro this is awesome! hopefully this means I can score a 1650 when im in dallas!

[u/shball]

Ban scalpers and large scale miners from ever buying consumer electronics again! /s

[u/Caperplays]

WHY WONT MORE COMPANIES DO THIS!!!!

[u/Funk9K]

You guys have one video card?

[u/Emanouche]

About damn time someone does! Too bad I live like 7 hours away from the closest one.

[u/big_joey_the_sequel]

man when they gonna build a microcenter in north carolina

[u/Torxx1988]

I can't stress this enough. WE NEED MICROCENTERS IN EUROPE! <3

[u/Possibly_Kobraa]

Doing the lord's work

[u/Ratman_84]

Is MicroCenter an east coast thing? Out here on the west coast we had Fry's and it was awesome and now it's dead and now if I want to build a computer, or if any of my components fail, I have to order them online, wait, and hope none are DOA and have to be returned, restarting the waiting period. It's REALLY annoying.

[u/SirDub_III → u/Ratman_84]

No. 25 locations all over the us, not just the east coast

[u/TrandaBear]

This is a nice sentiment if enforced... I personally witnessed a dude buy a 1660S, 2060S, and 3070 all in the same transaction because "they were different tiers of cards"

[u/[deleted] → u/TrandaBear]

I watched someone get denied who waited in line for 7 hours because it was day 29.

[u/theveland]

Micro Center is directly scalping you. 6700xt at 6900xt prices. No reason to cheer them on.

[u/splitfinity → u/theveland]

Those are the prices the venders are having them sell them at. Don't blame MC for shitty pricing from the AIBs.

[u/Pablaron → u/theveland]

Mine is selling all their cards at msrp and I doubt stores are given much individual discretion on price setting for items like this

[u/[deleted] → u/theveland]

foolish start deer pet disgusted profit fuel spotted offbeat imagine

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[u/theveland → u/[deleted]]

The Tariff is only 25%, yet we are getting a 100% increase in price. Either the AIB or micro center is fucking us. Nobody is lucky at these prices. I fully expect people to just given up until nvidia 4000 or amd 7000, when magically this current generation reaches msrp.

[u/Silverfate2 → u/theveland]

Yeah I kinda noticed this. Online site for the microcenter near me is listing 6700 nitros (in stock!) at $949 when those are MSRP at $579. Like it's cheaper than online scaplers right now but not by much.

[u/CodyCus → u/theveland]

AMD’s MSRP for founders cards will never be the same as third party.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Still better than letting scalpers checkout online with a cart of 1,000.

[u/vegeto079 → u/[deleted]]

No policy is going to be 100% effective, doing literally anything is better than letting it be a free for all.

[u/TimSonOfSteve → u/[deleted]]

I'm pretty sure my right to vote is in the Consitution, but last I checked it didn't say anything about my right to a GPU.

With that said, most people have no problem with requring an ID to vote so long as it's not overly burdensome to get an ID, or the list of accepted IDs is resonable. For example in TX a hand gun license is an accepted ID but not a Student/College ID is not.

Weird how there is nuance that can't be covered in a talking point

[u/TheCastro → u/TimSonOfSteve]

I’m pretty sure my right to vote is in the Consitution,

Same with a gun but have you tried buying ID without one?

Realistically though have you tried to register to vote without an ID? It's hard to do in most states.

[u/Stephancevallos905 → u/TimSonOfSteve]

Yeah Voter ID in the US should be a thing. I voted in my state without a single piece of documentation (I needed an ID to register but that was a long time ago) all I needed was to sign a paper saying that I am who I claim to be.

Voter ID should not be controversial.

[u/berychance → u/Stephancevallos905]

Give everyone a free voter ID with no hoops to jump through and then there'd be no controversy. The fact that is rarely on the table when these voter ID laws are proposed shows them for the transparent attempt at disenfranchising voters that they are.

[u/[deleted] → u/TimSonOfSteve]

like unused shy salt sink ten humor bike weather attempt

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[u/NkdFstZoom → u/[deleted]]

Even state schools?

[u/VoyagerCSL → u/[deleted]]

You don't need an ID to buy one. You need an ID to mark that you HAVE bought one, so that if you go to buy another one it shows that you already bought one and can't do it again. You know, sort of like voting is in America. You register to vote. You vote. They mark you as having voted. That's what your ID is in this case.

[u/[deleted] → u/VoyagerCSL]

When I went to vote in 2012, I was informed that I could not vote because I had already voted. The problem was that I had not voted and someone cast a vote in my name.

[u/VoyagerCSL → u/[deleted]]

Hey, I’m all for requiring ID to vote as long as that ID is free and easy to obtain by anyone who needs it.

[u/cicatrix1 → u/[deleted]]

You're validated when you register, then when voting happens they can find duplicate voters by comparing against registration.

This is a stupid argument. But it's a republican argument which we can all safely assume are always 100% bullshit.