The most recent cryptocurrency crash is creating a new opportunity for gamers to buy graphics cards at even lower price.
As it is no longer profitable to mine with GPUs, miners flock the used market with their GPU inventory
With Bitcoin and Ethereum losing 30% – 40% of its value in just last week alone, miners begin selling their graphics cards as they are no longer profitable (enough) to mine with. This is creating a new problem for board partners who already had an excess of GeForce RTX 30 and Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards at their hand, but also giving gamers a lot more choice to find new graphics cards.
Now, this is where retail and used market collide creating a massive influx of graphics cards, just as we saw in 2018, reports Tom’s Hardware. It is still too early to tell how the market responds to this crypto crash in the long term, but there are many miners that are not willing to wait for Bitcoin to bounce back. Some miners who already bought the cards at a much higher price, know that the profitability and ROI (return of investment) shrinks by the hour now. The only choice they have is to sell their cards right now.
NVIDIA RTX 3080 finally dropping under MSRP, Source: eBay
Tom’s Hardware GPU market analysis shows that more and more cards are going ‘green’, which in this case means going under MSRP (suggested retail price). Some cards, mostly from NVIDIA upper mid-range segment, are still resisting the pressure, but this is where the used market can pull the pricing down.
Overall, retail GPU prices have dripped by 2% in just two weeks, but this is mainly because most AMD Radeon RX 6000 series are already at MSRP. They can only get cheaper if AMD chooses to announce a price cut.
The used market is not waiting for price cuts, people are already selling cards under MSRP. On average the price has dropped by 10% in 2 weeks on eBay, and that’s not even including the lowest prices. Tom’s Hardware’s comparison also includes “Buy it Now”, which lists the lowest price available on eBay that requires no bidding. These prices are of course lower than the average price as listed in other columns.
Interestingly, some cards can still be purchased at even lower prices. Some scalpers/miners/enthusiasts (you name it) are selling six RTX 3080 cards in one box, all for 2500 USD. That means each card costs just 417 USD. But those are just extreme examples of what you might expect to see on the used market in the coming weeks.
| Graphics Card Pricing in June 2022 in retail and used markets | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom’s Hardware | Official MSRP | Retail June 1 | Retail June 15 | Retail 15 Day Change | eBay Buy it Now | AVG eBay June 1 | AVG eBay June 15 | eBay 15 Day Change |
| GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | $2,000 | $1,900 | $1,800 | -5% | $1,670 | $1,829 | $1,672 | -9% |
| GeForce RTX 3090 | $1,500 | $1,550 | $1,500 | -3% | $890 | $1,438 | $1,265 | -12% |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | $1,200 | $1,000 | $1,000 | 0% | $850 | $1,134 | $1,000 | -12% |
| GeForce RTX 3080 12GB | N/A | $800 | $870 | 9% | $840 | $959 | $936 | -2% |
| GeForce RTX 3080 | $700 | $800 | $770 | -4% | $641 | $899 | $743 | -17% |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | $600 | $700 | $650 | -7% | $505 | $710 | $619 | -13% |
| GeForce RTX 3070 | $500 | $600 | $560 | -7% | $499 | $641 | $544 | -15% |
| GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | $400 | $523 | $500 | -4% | $425 | $579 | $470 | -19% |
| GeForce RTX 3060 | $330 | $400 | $400 | 0% | $339 | $424 | $379 | -11% |
| GeForce RTX 3050 | $250 | $319 | $300 | -6% | $285 | $315 | $296 | -6% |
| Radeon RX 6950 XT | $1,100 | $1,070 | $1,070 | 0% | $1,200 | $1,600 | $1,270 | -21% |
| Radeon RX 6900 XT | $1,000 | $880 | $850 | -3% | $778 | $875 | $774 | -12% |
| Radeon RX 6800 XT | $650 | $790 | $770 | -3% | $570 | $767 | $637 | -17% |
| Radeon RX 6800 | $580 | $700 | $700 | 0% | $568 | $655 | $575 | -12% |
| Radeon RX 6750 XT | $550 | $540 | $540 | 0% | $545 | $511 | $560 | 10% |
| Radeon RX 6700 XT | $480 | $485 | $480 | -1% | $400 | $477 | $410 | -14% |
| Radeon RX 6650 XT | $400 | $385 | $380 | -1% | $365 | $400 | $372 | -7% |
| Radeon RX 6600 XT | $380 | $370 | $360 | -3% | $270 | $350 | $309 | -12% |
| Radeon RX 6600 | $330 | $300 | $290 | -3% | $277 | $290 | $274 | -5% |
| Radeon RX 6500 XT | $200 | $175 | $175 | 0% | $175 | $192 | $159 | -17% |
| Radeon RX 6400 | $160 | $160 | $160 | 0% | $192 | $151 | $170 | 13% |
| AVERAGE | -2% | AVERAGE | -10% | |||||
Source: Tom’s Hardware
