News GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 Bundles Hit Newegg

HyperMatrix

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For the record...tying purchases of a product to the forced purchase of another product is illegal. Newegg knows people want the 3080/3090. So instead of putting the inventory for sale as it otherwise should, it’s basically saying it’ll only sell it to you if you buy another item from them as well. This is illegal in both the United States and Canada.

Just because you call it “bundling” instead of tied selling doesn’t make it legal, unless there is a legitimate reason for that bundling. For example, selling the card as part of a full computer system or a barebones computer system build would not be tied selling. But bundling the video card with just a computer case or just a motherboard is. You could also make a case for bundles where you get both a video card and a high wattage PSU as that’s a requirement that would make that bundle logical in nature and outside the scope of tied selling.

Newegg in general is trash and I’d recommend people buy from manufacturers or more direct distributors when possible. For example Newegg here in Canada prices the ASUS ROG Strix 3090 at $2499 with $10 shipping while BestBuy sells it for $2379 and free shipping and my local (smaller) computer shop sells it for $2459 with free shipping.
 

Loadedaxe

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Yes it is illegal. But they get away with it because no one reports them.
I haven’t bought from NE in years. There are better alternatives. But as long as people keep buying these bundles, NE will keep doing it.
 
Oct 14, 2020
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Newegg had various bundles with the RTX 3080 nearly since its launch. I'm pretty sure the combos just pull from the same inventory as buying the items individually so you aren't being forced to buy as a bundle to gain access to some special inventory allocation; you just get a little bit of a discount.
 
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spongiemaster

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Yes it is illegal. But they get away with it because no one reports them.
I haven’t bought from NE in years. There are better alternatives. But as long as people keep buying these bundles, NE will keep doing it.
It's not just Newegg. Bundling is a common practice, especially during big sales like Black Friday with video game consoles. No one is going to waste their time reporting a retailer for something like this.
 

King_V

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I thought the intent was to discourage scalpers, much like during the crypto-craze when they did similar bundling to discourage cryptocurrency miners.

Why is it suddenly "nefarious" THIS time around?
 
Oct 14, 2020
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Tying is illegal is some circumstances:

"For competitive purposes, a monopolist may use forced buying, or "tie-in" sales, to gain sales in other markets where it is not dominant and to make it more difficult for rivals in those markets to obtain sales. This may limit consumer choice for buyers wanting to purchase one ("tying") product by forcing them to also buy a second ("tied") product as well. Typically, the "tied" product may be a less desirable one that the buyer might not purchase unless required to do so, or may prefer to get from a different seller. If the seller offering the tied products has sufficient market power in the "tying" product, these arrangements can violate the antitrust laws."

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...s/single-firm-conduct/tying-sale-two-products

For it to apply in this situation, Newegg would need to have a monopoly on the video cards.
 

ajr1775

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For the record...tying purchases of a product to the forced purchase of another product is illegal. Newegg knows people want the 3080/3090. So instead of putting the inventory for sale as it otherwise should, it’s basically saying it’ll only sell it to you if you buy another item from them as well. This is illegal in both the United States and Canada.

Just because you call it “bundling” instead of tied selling doesn’t make it legal, unless there is a legitimate reason for that bundling. For example, selling the card as part of a full computer system or a barebones computer system build would not be tied selling. But bundling the video card with just a computer case or just a motherboard is. You could also make a case for bundles where you get both a video card and a high wattage PSU as that’s a requirement that would make that bundle logical in nature and outside the scope of tied selling.

Newegg in general is trash and I’d recommend people buy from manufacturers or more direct distributors when possible. For example Newegg here in Canada prices the ASUS ROG Strix 3090 at $2499 with $10 shipping while BestBuy sells it for $2379 and free shipping and my local (smaller) computer shop sells it for $2459 with free shipping.

There is no stock specifically set aside for these bundles. These bundles have been available on their site since day one.
 

ajr1775

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Newegg had various bundles with the RTX 3080 nearly since its launch. I'm pretty sure the combos just pull from the same inventory as buying the items individually so you aren't being forced to buy as a bundle to gain access to some special inventory allocation; you just get a little bit of a discount.

Exactly. There is no stock specifically set aside for these bundles. These bundles have been available on their site since day one.
 

HyperMatrix

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Exactly. There is no stock specifically set aside for these bundles. These bundles have been available on their site since day one.

Then the article is incorrect as it says the cards are available, but only as a bundle. So either you’re wrong or TomsHardware is wrong. I’m not really leaning towards one of the other in this case.