News Newegg listing offers up a GTX 1080 Ti for $1.63, if you ignore the $400 shipping — strange listing sparks many questions

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Are there like two shops in USA selling pc hardware? Any news related is either about Newegg or Amazon. Like there is no competition. There are hundreds of stores in my country, both online only, and ones that sell both online and the n retail stores. With real competition regarding price, delivery time and method, customer programmes etc. We have several big retailers and lots of smaller ones. This offer is laughable... How is that possible at all to offer such crap?
 
I mean, this is happing with a 3rd party seller from China. No big surprise, except it's a bit more bold.

It's defective? Oh, well, here's your $1.63 back, but only when we receive the card. Or, alternately, they will "generously" let you keep it without having to return it. They got their profit on a defective GPU, they can afford the $1.63 loss.
 
  • Like
Reactions: slightnitpick and JarredWaltonGPU
There are quite a few shops. Newegg is one of the older tech stores in the US. Basically a direct from China importer from way back.

Amazon is huge, and they usually have comparable or better prices than most other tech sellers these days.

Microcenter is still a specialty store, and most of their good deals are in person only and they have limited locations in major metropolitan areas for the most part. And we have a few holdover e-tailers like B&H Photo that carry computer components as more of a side business. They really make their money in cameras and related studio equipment.

A lot of the other e-tailers are gone or on life support. Like TigerDirect or NCIX which operated in the US and Canada. There was also a time Radioshack and Sears were a good place to get computers, and those companies practically exist in name only.

We still have Best Buy, which is a decent place to get MSRP pricing. Beyond that we have Wal-mart which is a huge retailer, they sometimes have decent component prices, but mostly they are a place to find unsold laptop/desktop hardware at a discount. Actually true of Best Buy as well.

And we still have a few specialty computer parts stores like Performance-PCs that offer more specialized things like water cooling components and other hardware.

And there are many many more larger/smaller stores, but they don't have a focus on discounts or tech in general, so they don't often show up as places to buy from. You might be able to get a few components here and there, but not build a system outside of Amazon/Newegg.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iLoveThe80s, cyrusfox, jlake3 and 2 others
There were/are a lot of ebay sellers that did the same to avoid fees.
For something to cost $400 to ship, it'd have to weigh at least 50kg and/or come on its own forklift pallet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thisisaname
I suppose I am doing Best Buy a bit of a disservice. You can build a whole computer there, your brand choice is just going to be a little limited. And they do offer assembly services through Geek Squad, but that is a costly option.
 
Review of GTX 1080 Ti for $1.63 with $400 shipping:

As a collector of expensive, unopened shipping parcels I was disappointed to find that the actual shipping for this $1.63 item was a standard UPS air shipping box. I have initiated a chargeback with my credit card company as this item is not as advertised.

P.S. In addition to expensive shipping I also collect videos of expensive handling. If your company is willing to white glove deliver a box of tic-tacs from a convenience store nearest the Ferrero manufacturing facility in Canada, and be filmed while doing so, please drop me a line.

/s
 
Eximo said:
And there are many many more larger/smaller stores, but they don't have a focus on discounts or tech in general, so they don't often show up as places to buy from. You might be able to get a few components here and there, but not build a system outside of Amazon/Newegg.
Click to expand...
As I buy most of my small USB stuff at Office Depot I typed "GPU" into their product search, and lo and behold you can buy graphics cards and motherboards and probably many other accessories from them as well.
 
slightnitpick said:
As I buy most of my small USB stuff at Office Depot I typed "GPU" into their product search, and lo and behold you can buy graphics cards and motherboards and probably many other accessories from them as well.
Click to expand...
I mean... technically yes. I just went to their website to see if it was actually them or if they do third party sellers though, and while it looks like Office Depot themselves is selling GPUs, as of this moment they only have three models listed, all from one brand (PNY), and one of the three is out of stock when I actually try to look at it.

Eximo said:
We still have Best Buy, which is a decent place to get MSRP pricing. Beyond that we have Wal-mart which is a huge retailer, they sometimes have decent component prices, but mostly they are a place to find unsold laptop/desktop hardware at a discount. Actually true of Best Buy as well.
Click to expand...
I just checked Walmart to see if their marketplace sellers had gotten any better, and to my surprise they had both good selection and competitive prices... but 75% of the under/at/near-MSRP cards I spot checked, the marketplace seller was listed as "Newegg Inc".

Best Buy seemed like they have actually gotten better since I last checked, with selection being a bit lacking but prices being reasonable and no marketplace weirdness like what happened to Newegg
 
  • Like
Reactions: slightnitpick
jlake3 said:
Best Buy seemed like they have actually gotten better since I last checked, with selection being a bit lacking but prices being reasonable and no marketplace weirdness like what happened to Newegg
Click to expand...
Yeah, I went and looked at BestBuy and they pretty much have adopted Corsair as another house brand. So you can get AIO, Power supplies, keyboards, headsets, chassis, monitors. Pretty much everything you need from a reputable brand. Not much savings to be had.

I can certainly recall the days where you could get Thermaltake PSUs (and other no name ones), GPUs, Sound cards, hard drives but no motherboards or CPUs in store. Though that may have been location dependent to some extent. Likely some really large stores on the West and East coast that offered that sort of thing from way back.

PNY has always been about retail. They've been at Best Buy, Fry's, Circuit City, Target, Wal-mart, etc for ages. Office Depot is one of those large stores with a limited selection I was talking about.
 
...making it barely competitive with other refurbished 1080 Ti's on Newegg.
Click to expand...
None of the 1080 Tis from Newegg sellers could be considered anywhere close to reasonably priced. All but a few of them are around $500 or more for a used card from 7 years ago that is probably on its last leg, with practically no warranty should the card fail after a few months. Even the best priced one for $340 is a bad value when you consider that brand new cards like the RTX 4060 8GB can be had for $300 while being a bit faster overall and with features like DLSS and RTX and far lower power consumption and heat output, or the similarly-priced RTX 3060 12GB or RX 6750 XT 12GB if the extra VRAM is needed.

It doesn't make much sense to buy a used 1080 Ti in 2024 unless it's priced well below those cards. The going rate for them on eBay seems to be around $200 or less, so all of the 1080 Ti listings on Newegg could be considered scams.
 
Eximo said:
Yeah, I went and looked at BestBuy and they pretty much have adopted Corsair as another house brand. So you can get AIO, Power supplies, keyboards, headsets, chassis, monitors. Pretty much everything you need from a reputable brand. Not much savings to be had.

I can certainly recall the days where you could get Thermaltake PSUs (and other no name ones), GPUs, Sound cards, hard drives but no motherboards or CPUs in store. Though that may have been location dependent to some extent. Likely some really large stores on the West and East coast that offered that sort of thing from way back.

PNY has always been about retail. They've been at Best Buy, Fry's, Circuit City, Target, Wal-mart, etc for ages. Office Depot is one of those large stores with a limited selection I was talking about.
Click to expand...
June 11, 2024 - EVGA was my first choice for a number of computer parts. Sadly, they stopped selling GPUs which broke my heart. Their customer service was the gold standard. Corsair has always been one of my favorites. It started with their RAM, but I buy their keyboards and mice also. They too have excellent customer service.
 
Eximo said:
There are quite a few shops. Newegg is one of the older tech stores in the US. Basically a direct from China importer from way back.

Amazon is huge, and they usually have comparable or better prices than most other tech sellers these days.

Microcenter is still a specialty store, and most of their good deals are in person only and they have limited locations in major metropolitan areas for the most part. And we have a few holdover e-tailers like B&H Photo that carry computer components as more of a side business. They really make their money in cameras and related studio equipment.

A lot of the other e-tailers are gone or on life support. Like TigerDirect or NCIX which operated in the US and Canada. There was also a time Radioshack and Sears were a good place to get computers, and those companies practically exist in name only.

We still have Best Buy, which is a decent place to get MSRP pricing. Beyond that we have Wal-mart which is a huge retailer, they sometimes have decent component prices, but mostly they are a place to find unsold laptop/desktop hardware at a discount. Actually true of Best Buy as well.

And we still have a few specialty computer parts stores like Performance-PCs that offer more specialized things like water cooling components and other hardware.

And there are many many more larger/smaller stores, but they don't have a focus on discounts or tech in general, so they don't often show up as places to buy from. You might be able to get a few components here and there, but not build a system outside of Amazon/Newegg.
Click to expand...
June 11, 2024 - My compliments to you on an excellent run down the various Tech retailers. I've successfully used TigerDirect years way back, and worked for Radio Shack back in the day. I still have one of their Tandy TL-2s(?) plus tilt monitor. I considered Newegg part of my family until they ratted out their customers to the various U.S. states for sales tax purposes. Without informing their customers first!😡 It is my understanding that Newegg radically changed after the original owners sold it. As I said in another post here. Corsair is my new BFF, since EVGA no longer makes anything other than PSUs I would consider purchasing. Stay well and thanks again.😊
 
Admin said:
A Newegg listing for a GTX 1080 Ti has hit the web with a sale price of only $1.63, or four payments of 41 cents. But the GPU ships from Hong Kong for $400.

Newegg listing offers up a GTX 1080 Ti for $1.63, if you ignore the $400 shipping — strange listing sparks many questions : Read more
Click to expand...
June 11, 2024 - Is sales taxes affected by shipping fees, or is it just the price of the item purchased? If it's just on the item, I wish more companies would do that. However, I will never buy anything from Newegg again. They have become so "shady" as not to be seen. Sad shadow of what was a great company a couple of decades ago.
 
FoxTread3 said:
June 11, 2024 - Is sales taxes affected by shipping fees, or is it just the price of the item purchased? If it's just on the item, I wish more companies would do that. However, I will never buy anything from Newegg again. They have become so "shady" as not to be seen. Sad shadow of what was a great company a couple of decades ago.
Click to expand...
Just the price of the item. But there are penalties to the companies for trying to evade sales tax: https://thetaxvalet.com/blog/what-are-the-penalties-for-not-paying-sales-tax
3. You may be subject to criminal penalties if you showed intent to defraud the state. This one is pretty rare, and hopefully doesn’t apply to your situation. But if you are involved in a sales tax “cover-up”, the states will not look favorably on your case.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: FoxTread3
slightnitpick said:
Just the price of the item. But there are penalties to the companies for trying to evade sales tax: https://thetaxvalet.com/blog/what-are-the-penalties-for-not-paying-sales-tax
Click to expand...
June 11, 2024 - That's fine. but everyone would have to agree on what is taxable. Do I pay tax on items I purchase from Amazon, or do I pay tax on both the item and the shipping fees? In other words, total purchase price or item purchase price? That is the question. Further, it is only because Newegg panicked, and gave the states the sales information. To my knowledge, the U.S. Congress never changed the law concerning purchases online. My understanding is that it was clear up until a about a decade ago. Online sales were exempt from taxes according to the U.S. Congress. In my opinion, unless Congress changed that. The states acted illegally, and bluffed their way through by threatening online retailers. Thank you for your comments and stay well.
 
FoxTread3 said:
June 11, 2024 - That's fine. but everyone would have to agree on what is taxable.
Click to expand...
I was wrong, shipping is taxable in some states, and in others it depends on the mechanics of the shipping price (e.g. offering the customer the ability to pick up the item instead of having it shipped). https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/nor...s-tax-on-shipping-a-state-by-state-guide.html

No, not everyone has to agree, a court just has to determine whether the charge is reasonable or not, or fraudulent or not.
FoxTread3 said:
Do I pay tax on items I purchase from Amazon, or do I pay tax on both the item and the shipping fees? In other words, total purchase price or item purchase price? That is the question.
Click to expand...
From Amazon? Probably just the item tax, though this may depend on jurisdiction as indicated above.
FoxTread3 said:
Further, it is only because Newegg panicked, and gave the states the sales information. To my knowledge, the U.S. Congress never changed the law concerning purchases online.
Click to expand...
According to what I just read, it was SCOTUS who changed the framework, and the states used SCOTUS's decision: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/state-remote-sales-tax-collection-wayfair/
But even before that states were being creative in gaining taxing authority on interstate commerce: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/state-remote-sales-tax-collection-wayfair/#_ftnref7
FoxTread3 said:
Thank you for your comments and stay well.
Click to expand...
You too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FoxTread3
e-tailers adding state taxes was overdue if I am being honest. There was that period of the early internet where no one had the mechanisms for figuring out where the transaction was coming from, but it was always going to happen. So I wouldn't consider any particular business complying as ratting out.

What was funny was the IRS thinking people would actually itemize all their online purchases and pay taxes after the fact.
 
  • Like
Reactions: slightnitpick
slightnitpick said:
I was wrong, shipping is taxable in some states, and in others it depends on the mechanics of the shipping price (e.g. offering the customer the ability to pick up the item instead of having it shipped). https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/nor...s-tax-on-shipping-a-state-by-state-guide.html

No, not everyone has to agree, a court just has to determine whether the charge is reasonable or not, or fraudulent or not.

From Amazon? Probably just the item tax, though this may depend on jurisdiction as indicated above.

According to what I just read, it was SCOTUS who changed the framework, and the states used SCOTUS's decision: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/state-remote-sales-tax-collection-wayfair/
But even before that states were being creative in gaining taxing authority on interstate commerce: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/state-remote-sales-tax-collection-wayfair/#_ftnref7

You too.
Click to expand...
June 12, 2024 - I must say you took this topic very seriously. Frankly, I never gave the subject much thought until this article about charging $1.63 for an item and a shipping charge of $400.00. Which made me wonder if a customer would have to pay tax on the shipping. As I think I pointed out. I generally shop at Amazon and have free shipping. The few other things I order from other companies are minor, and I'm not really concerned how they calculate the tax. Lastly, if my state wants to come after me for tax on a minor shipping free, so be it. Thank you again for doing the research for us here in this forum. As us old Trekkies say.. "Live long and prosper!🖖"😊
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom