Buyer of $1,600 second-hand RTX 4090 finds it has no GPU, missing VRAM chips

midian182

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Facepalm: Imagine paying $1,660 for an RTX 4090 graphics card only to discover it was missing some vital components, including its GPU and several VRAM chips. That nightmare scenario was a reality for one Hong Kong gamer, who purchased Nvidia's consumer flagship on the second-hand market.

The unfortunate Mr. Hong bought the RTX 4090 from the Carousell online second-hand marketplace at the beginning of the month, writes HKEPC. He paid HK$13,000 for the card, around $1,660, a reassuringly expensive amount that made the item appear less likely to be a scam.

The card's listing showed photos of its lighting effects activated. Mr. Hong met the seller in person, which is generally regarded as the safer option when carrying out these sorts of transactions, and visually confirmed that the card was the one from the photos, at which point he handed over the money.

The awful truth only started to reveal itself when the buyer got home and installed the RTX 4090. The card's RGB lights did illuminate, but it seems they were the only component that worked; the fans failed to spin and there was no output to the attached display.

Hong decided to take the card to a local repair shop to see if the problem could be remedied. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the 4090's GPU was missing. Several of its VRAM chips had also been removed, and those that were left seemed to have been stuck to thermal pads.

The victim could not contact the seller of the card. He get in touch with the police, who told him that second-hand transactions where one party had vanished were difficult to follow up, so the case would not be investigated.

It's likely that the scavenged RTX 4090 came from one of the Chinese factories that had been buying the cards in bulk before they were banned in the country. These factories stripped them of their main components, and reused the parts in different boards with blower-style coolers so they can be sold to Chinese AI firms desperate for accelerators restricted by US sanctions. We heard at the time that the leftover parts from the original cards were being sold, though we never imagined some were being passed off as working RTX 4090s.

The moral of the story, of course, is to be extra vigilant when buying second-hand hardware, especially when it's as expensive as an RTX 4090. But even purchasing components from reputable sellers can come with risks. Just ask the person who bought an RTX 4090 from Newegg and was sent a box filled with weights. Or the Amazon buyer who was sent a putty-filled fake graphics card.

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Stuff like this is why I basically only buy used off of eBay. Those guys are so buyer friendly (too buyer friendly?) that it's virtually impossible as a buyer to lose money there.

Makes the market a bit more expensive than something like Craigslist or FB Marketplace but the buyer protection is worth it.

Got scammed once and got a dud of a card next and got all my money back both times.
 
Stuff like this is why I basically only buy used off of eBay. Those guys are so buyer friendly (too buyer friendly?) that it's virtually impossible as a buyer to lose money there.

Makes the market a bit more expensive than something like Craigslist or FB Marketplace but the buyer protection is worth it.

Got scammed once and got a dud of a card next and got all my money back both times.
eBay is great for buyers, horrible for sellers.

I once sold a "for parts" laptop that happened to still work. Got returned to me because the GPU "didn't work" (the guy took it apart and didn't even seat the heatsink properly). The best part? The Unreal Engine game he tried playing (as his excuse of it not working) didn't work because the drivers no longer worked (classic UE stability).
What a f***ing waste of my money because eBay sided with him.
 
Stuff like this is why I basically only buy used off of eBay. Those guys are so buyer friendly (too buyer friendly?) that it's virtually impossible as a buyer to lose money there.

Makes the market a bit more expensive than something like Craigslist or FB Marketplace but the buyer protection is worth it.

Got scammed once and got a dud of a card next and got all my money back both times.
yeah and if you get burned then ebay buyer protection is on the spot
 
Another one who pays lots of money on a product and he doesn't video record while unboxing and without video cut, to put it at work as a assurance for those money.
 
I'd never purchase any used product from websites that don't have any buyer protection, without testing it in loco first. And I don't recommend selling anything without showing it works as intended in front of the buyer either, even if only for a clear conscience.

About 10 years ago I sold an used PS3, fully working in perfect condition and looking brand new, which I advertised in a local Craigslist-style website (100% caveat emptor). Met the buyer in person in a public spot, the transaction went well. I even suggested him, and insisted at his first refusal, that we took a 3-minute walk to a nearby electronics store (which I was friends with the manager and employees), to hook up the PS3 to a tv and test it, so he would be assured it was working fine. But he seemed to be in a rush and said it wasn't necessary.

The next day, I receive an irate call from the guy saying the PS3 wasn't working (DOA according to him) and accusing me of having scammed him. I even attempted to give him some tech support to see if he actually hooked up everything right, but he was too pissed off, so I just hung up and blocked his number.
 
I just bought a 4090 FE off Facebook Marketplace about 2 weeks ago and Im very happy with it. I paid $1850. If I would've been able to get it from best buy, it would've been $1770 after sales tax, so he only scalped me for $80. Not bad considering theyre at least $2200 anywhere else. The guy I bought it from had the receipt, it was still sealed in the box, and he wanted to meet at a police station, and I didn't object to that idea. For these type of transactions, meet in front of a police station.
 
I just bought a 4090 FE off Facebook Marketplace about 2 weeks ago and Im very happy with it. I paid $1850. If I would've been able to get it from best buy, it would've been $1770 after sales tax, so he only scalped me for $80. Not bad considering theyre at least $2200 anywhere else. The guy I bought it from had the receipt, it was still sealed in the box, and he wanted to meet at a police station, and I didn't object to that idea. For these type of transactions, meet in front of a police station.
Meet in front of a police station? How would that help? I doubt any police officer has the time, interest or onsite equipment to confirm that an unpowered GPU is intact and legit.;):D
 
Stuff like this is why I basically only buy used off of eBay. Those guys are so buyer friendly (too buyer friendly?) that it's virtually impossible as a buyer to lose money there.

Makes the market a bit more expensive than something like Craigslist or FB Marketplace but the buyer protection is worth it.

Got scammed once and got a dud of a card next and got all my money back both times.
They are definitely too buyer friendly. Consistently get people that say something was DOA even though we have video proof it worked prior to shipping. eBay will never side with a seller. Half the time they don't even go through eBay with an issue. They just do a charge back and disappear with the item.
 
I bought a second hand AM4 motherboard from an ebay sellers, he got good reputation. The problem was USA customs... It got missed there.... Thank you US Customs.
 
It's about not getting shot and ripped off, not about verifying the GPU.
Well, as the "not getting shot" part goes, it's not a bad idea.

As far as getting ripped off, well, that GPU being sold may still be a complete fake. No way to know until it's powered up.

I've bought a few GPUs on ebay, but only because of the buyer protection. Doing a street deal is a bad idea.
 
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