MSI Scalping Their Own Video Cards & Mobos On eBay??
MSI scalping their own 3080s on ebay, links included.
reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/j6idky/msi_scalping_their_own_3080s_on_ebay_links/
MSI scalping their own 3080s on ebay, links included.
MSI Responded
EDIT: MSI has responded to this directly.
Starlit Partner is an individual sales subsidiary working under MSI. They carry excess inventory and Refurbished items and would not be given newly released products such as the Geforce RTX 30 series GPU. As such, we have conducted an investigation and found out that an error allowed them access to inventory they were not permitted to handle.
Starlit Partner has been instructed to contact the individual customers who purchased these GPU and offer 2 options - return the product and receive a full refund, or a partial refund of the amount paid over MSI's MSRP.
Moving forward, MSI will enforce a stricter policy to Avoid situation like this happening again.
Essentially, an error allowed the MSI ebay seller subsidiary, which exists to sell excess and refurbished items on ebay, to accidentally access the newest and most popular piece of hardware on the market directly, and sell it on ebay. An error. Mystery solved, we can all stop looking into it now, totally normal.
Also, FWIW, some folks believe it's only four 3080s that this happened to. Turns out there were 3090s sold by the same seller, also for inflated prices. Listings have been removed, damage control is in full effect, as just some random guy I have no idea how widespread this was before the story took off.
Original Post
As said, MSI is scalping their own 3080s on ebay under the name Starlit Partner. Browsing the Starlit Partner seller reveals that everything they sell is MSI, most (maybe all) new in a box. They have the nerve to say "We work closely with the manufacturer." Because they are literally the manufacturer.
Starlit Partner trademark
Link to 3080 being scalped
A card retailing for 759.00, potentially being sold by the manufacturer on ebay for 1359.00, and they are absolutely selling out of them. There were some available when I started looking into it and now the auction simply says 0 available, 4 sold.
Even if it's legal, it's certainly dirty, and how are they not being absolutely crucified for it already?
This was first posted a different sub and it was deleted. It has since been restored. r/hardware allowed it to remain for visibility while it was unavailable at the original location.
Edit: Here's an initial impressions video from the owner of the discord where this was noticed. He's been trying to help a bunch of clowns find their own 3080s, so you can imagine several being potentially scalped by the manufacturer didn't go over well. Obviously.
I'm editing this in here as well. This was sent from the mod of another sub. I have no way to independently verify it, I'm not a journalist, or a youtuber, I don't have industry contacts, all that jazz.
from XXXXXXX via XXXXXXX sent 2 minutes ago
This is confirmed to be incorrect. Post is being flagged as Misleading.
Thanks to /u/PCBUILDQUESTIONS200 post below
Stop posting this, it is inaccurate. The seller is a scammer.
The evidence covered in the original post can all easily be debunked.
First, the trademark holder MSI Computer Corp. holds no other trademarks. Suggesting it is not actually MSI.
Second, the website of the selling store is poorly made and last went under copywrite in 2016.
Third, there are forum discussions about people being scammed by this company:
ZorratOW
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9 minutes ago
Can Confirm this as Amazon India Official MSI Retailer was spotted selling the 3080 for a whopping 1,05,000 Rs The FE Costs around 72,000 Rs according to Nvidia Website.
The Price has since then been removed however certain reviews remain.
https://www.amazon.in/MSI-GeForce-3080-10G-320-bit/dp/B08HM4V2DH/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Msi+rtx+3080&qid=1602080439&sr=8-1
Screenshot proof:
https://i.imgur.com/Gl3Y9PN.png