Alert!! Strange "overnight" GPU price hikes!

[beginner99]

Many websites, including newegg and amazon, automatically adjust their prices for a particular thing based on sales volume and availability. This can drive prices up a LOT if something is popular and close to being sold out.

Third party sellers with LOL-it-only-takes-one-sucker pricing are also a problem.

They also track you and have algorithms in place that adjust price. if they think you will buy, price will go up. On some shops it's possible to get different prices at the same time. You just need to check with say your PC and mobile (through mobile network = different IP address). Check out some GPUs over couple days on your PC. Look at one kind of often /multiple times. If price changes take your mobile and check again.

 

[throwa]

They also track you and have algorithms in place that adjust price. if they think you will buy, price will go up. On some shops it's possible to get different prices at the same time. You just need to check with say your PC and mobile (through mobile network = different IP address). Check out some GPUs over couple days on your PC. Look at one kind of often /multiple times. If price changes take your mobile and check again.

Is this true? What a bunch of crooks :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

 

[3DVagabond]

throwa, do you need to justify your purchases more? By the way I don't agree with you. You sound like a jealous person.

Some people buy the most expensive cars because they can and they want, of course they might only need a bicyle, but if they can afford a Ferrarri, why not get it... I would if I had the money. And you would too, don't lie to yourself.

Some people are more materialistic than others. They like to have nice things to show off and rub in other people's faces. Not everyone needs their possessions to prove their status. There are people with heaps of money who would never spend as much on video cards as you do. Nor would they be at all interested in a Ferrari.

They tend to justify their extravagance by claiming if others could afford it they'd be just as materialistic as they are. It's simply not true. Most people outgrow those types of feelings.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Some people are more materialistic than others. They like to have nice things to show off and rub in other people's faces. Not everyone needs their possessions to prove their status. There are people with heaps of money who would never spend as much on video cards as you do. Nor would they be at all interested in a Ferrari.

I agree. I don't know if you are implying that I like to show off my rig... yeah I love it but my PC is in my basement and my Nissan Sentra is in my parking.

 

[3DVagabond]

I agree. I don't know if you are implying that I like to show off my rig... yeah I love it but my PC is in my basement and my Nissan Sentra is in my parking.

No that was a general statement. But this, "You'd own a Ferrari if you could afford it" isn't true of everyone. I could easily buy $10K-$15K rig, but I don't use my PC for anything that would remotely justify it, so I don't. Same with expensive cars. The roads here in NZ, and especially Christchurch since the Earthquakes, makes owning an expensive sports car foolhardy.

 

[Mike64]

Best Buy. I needed a cable. I forget what kind. Either HDMI or USB or something, but they were charging like 4 or 5x the online prices.

Yeah, but like Staples (let alone OfficeDepot) or Radio Shack, that's just their usual pricing... Whenever I'm in their brick & mortar stores (looking for a sale item (that they probably don't have in stock despite what their website claims) or checking out the clearance section [lol]) and see people browsing and actually buying stuff there, I wonder "why"? I mean, it's not like they're even getting worthwhile advice from the salespeople to account for the big price differential...

 

[SteveGrabowski]

It did sound awfully like Canadian prices and it was so

Terrible error on newegg.com, I see what you mean. It just suddenly redirects you to .ca.

Yeah, I was looking at a 16GB DDR3 kit that was $68 one day and then it's $105? That must have cost them so much business, since all the links on newegg.com were redirecting to newegg.ca for at least half a day.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Ya, I think there are definitely good/great, just OK and bad times to buy certain cars, houses, electronics, appliances, clothes, sporting equipment, etc. That's why if you recall when Maxwell launched, I was recommending 970 or 970 SLI right off the bat. Once time passes, I find it harder and harder to recommend older tech products if their prices remain stagnant.

Recall GTX580 that was $500 when it came out November 2010 and more or less stayed around $440-450 all the way until January 2012. By Sept 2012, GTX660/7870 offered ~ 580 level of performance for just $250-260. Today 7870 is flat out faster than 580 which means it took less than 2 years to get $500 580 level of performance in a $250 card. With 780Ti -> 970 it happened in just 10 months!

That means there is a big difference buying a GTX580 for $450 around December 2011 vs. November 2010. This is just an example that can be used for AMD cards as well.

It makes me feel for anyone who pays $650 for a 980 Ti right now with the 16 nm gpus 6 months away. And my brother wants to buy SLI 980 Ti in March, I guess after getting his tax rebate. You gotta think with a node shrink coming the 980 Ti will age even worse than the 780 Ti. At least based on looking at 28 nm vs 40 nm, where Titan was the real successor to the GTX 580.

 

[frogspawn]

Then they can 'reduce' the prices for the January sales after they have scalped enough people in the run up to christmas

 

[fourdegrees11]

390 - $270 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

970 - $290 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

390X - $375 AR
http://www.microcenter.com/product/450883/Radeon_R9_390X_GAMING_8GB_GDDR5_PCI-e_Video_Card

980 - $440 AR
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MSI-980G4G&c=CJ

Prices look fine for these cards. The market's going to fluctuate...

 

[DeathReborn]

In the UK at least sudden price hikes are normally tied to a upcoming sale so people think they get 50% off but really just 10% for example. I don't know if this happens in the US as well but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

In the UK at least sudden price hikes are normally tied to a upcoming sale so people think they get 50% off but really just 10% for example. I don't know if this happens in the US as well but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

That's the norm in the US too.

 

[Mike64]

Maybe Newegg has just finally seriously lost it... Their latest "Winter Closeout" promo looks more like a freaking April Fool's Day promo than a year-end clearance-type sale. Yeah, a lot of the stuff is being sold by third-party sellers, but Newegg itself is affirmatively pushing the stuff... I gave up after glancing at the first dozen or so items - I wonder if there's anything worth buying among all that stuff at all?

 

[Arachnotronic]

It makes me feel for anyone who pays $650 for a 980 Ti right now with the 16 nm gpus 6 months away. And my brother wants to buy SLI 980 Ti in March, I guess after getting his tax rebate. You gotta think with a node shrink coming the 980 Ti will age even worse than the 780 Ti. At least based on looking at 28 nm vs 40 nm, where Titan was the real successor to the GTX 580.

If somebody buys a 980 Ti today to replace something that simply cannot play the games he/she wants to play, then it's probably worth it. After all, for all one knows, one could get hit by a bus and die in the months before 16nm GPUs launch, so if a person can make his/her life substantially better now then why wait?

 

[Headfoot]

It makes me feel for anyone who pays $650 for a 980 Ti right now with the 16 nm gpus 6 months away. And my brother wants to buy SLI 980 Ti in March, I guess after getting his tax rebate. You gotta think with a node shrink coming the 980 Ti will age even worse than the 780 Ti. At least based on looking at 28 nm vs 40 nm, where Titan was the real successor to the GTX 580.

I knew a guy who spent the full $1000 on a QX9770 literally a week before Nehalem came out. He didnt bother to check rumors or anything like that before dropping a grand

 

[throwa]

Maybe Newegg has just finally seriously lost it... Their latest "Winter Closeout" promo looks more like a freaking April Fool's Day promo than a year-end clearance-type sale. Yeah, a lot of the stuff is being sold by third-party sellers, but Newegg itself is affirmatively pushing the stuff... I gave up after glancing at the first dozen or so items - I wonder if there's anything worth buying among all that stuff at all?

I noticed this as well, and not just "Christmas sales" but also the so-called "Black Friday" tech sale back in November as well.

In both cases, I didn't see anything that made me go "wow! OMG!!1" or "time to bust out the credit card!!". These sales ain't as exciting as they used to be.

Instead the response I had to the so-called 2015 sale was "meh" and "not impressed". On Black friday eve I briefly skimmed thru Newegg, Amazon, Tigerdirect etc after dinner - yawned - and then simply went to sleep.

These so-called "tech sales" lately have been weak sauce and not impressive in the least. Strangely 2014 holiday season did have some steals here and there, but 2015 holiday season? Seems 2015 was overall a "weak" showing from retailers and these various tech outlets such as Newegg.

And of course as has already been mentioned, the scammy 3rd party re-sellers are out in full force like feeding frenzy sharks during these "tech sales", only exacerbating the problem of the boring deals.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I noticed this as well, and not just "Christmas sales" but also the so-called "Black Friday" tech sale back in November as well.

In both cases, I didn't see anything that made me go "wow! OMG!!1" or "time to bust out the credit card!!". These sales ain't as exciting as they used to be.

Instead the response I had to the so-called 2015 sale was "meh" and "not impressed". On Black friday eve I briefly skimmed thru Newegg, Amazon, Tigerdirect etc after dinner - yawned - and then simply went to sleep.

These so-called "tech sales" lately have been weak sauce and not impressive in the least. Strangely 2014 holiday season did have some steals here and there, but 2015 holiday season? Seems 2015 was overall a "weak" showing from retailers and these various tech outlets such as Newegg.

And of course as has already been mentioned, the scammy 3rd party re-sellers are out in full force like feeding frenzy sharks during these "tech sales", only exacerbating the problem of the boring deals.

I saw pretty good deals on cpus, boards, and gpus for Black Friday, though there was nothing as good as the $200-$240 R9 290s from 2014.

 

[master_shake_]

I knew a guy who spent the full $1000 on a QX9770 literally a week before Nehalem came out. He didnt bother to check rumors or anything like that before dropping a grand

Oooooh that is bad lol.

 

[throwa]

I saw pretty good deals on cpus, boards, and gpus for Black Friday, though there was nothing as good as the $200-$240 R9 290s from 2014.

Man I hear ya, Black friday 2014 had some strangely good deals.

In addition to the $200 R9 290's you mentioned, I saw $60 Gtx 750.... $85 Gtx 750 Ti.....$60 Gtx 650 Ti..... $90 core i3 4150..... $85 HD 7850... to name a few.

A MSI motherboard went as low as $18 after $10 MIR and was sold out within hours. Also saw an Acer gaming laptop dip down to $500 on Thanksgiving day, was also sold out within hours.

 

[Mike64]

This latest promo wasn't even just a case of "meh prices" for tech stuff - what I saw among the first page or so was a lot of no-name "brand" home & auto products at prices that actually made me cringe... I assume they were hoping people desperate for last minute gifts would go for it just because it said "big sale"? Sad... very sad....D:

The only tech things I was really in the market for recently were a hard drive, a TV, and a wireless mouse (lol). I'd already bought the HD a month or so before Black Friday when it showed up as a Newegg Shell Shocker (turned out I could've saved $5-10 if I'd waited, but I can live with that) and about a week before BF, Best Buy had a daily special on a TV (that I'm still very happy to have jumped on even after all the BF/CM/GM dust settled) and I wanted a specific, old-model mouse to replace one I really like and am very used to, but that's started to show it's age, so that wasn't really BF material in the first place...

I did see a few good prices on Newegg around BF, but nothing that made me want to order things just for "inventory," as it were... I do hope to put together a new desktop some time in the not-too-distant future, but my plans are too nebulous at this stage to have "bought first and asked questions later..."

 

[RussianSensation]

Edit: Oh I see you are from Toronto, I never knew you were from there RS. Never noticed in your avatar.

I am not from T. I just live there from time to time but not with the intention of living there permanently.

I always thought russiansensation was Russian

I am.

Is it a lot cheaper in Quebec? I'm still paying off my loan I used at UofT lol...I even went to school in Sydney, Australia for a semester and the local students paid WAAAYYY less than what I paid in Toronto.

Haven't checked the recent tuition costs but the Quebec residents paid way less than a typical UofT/Western grad would.

Here you go:

Bachelor of Engineering/Software Engineering
Quebec Resident = $4444 per year
non-Quebec = $9181 per year
International = $37,055 per year

Doctor of Medicine/Master of Surgery
Quebec Residents = $6935 per year
non-Quebec = $16,882 per year
International = $39,748 per year

^ and this is one of the best universities in the world.

A 100$ discrete GPU is as much of a luxury item as a 600$ discrete GPU.

Depends on your monthly income and the purchasing power of your currency. In Kiev, it would take an average worker ~627 hours to earn enough $ for a $650 dGPU.

But when you'll want to buy a GTX 1070. You'll have to sell your GTX 970 200$ and will have to pay 475$ for a GTX 1070... while the GTX 1080ti will be 900$ and the GTX Titan XX will be 1350$. Price gouging will never make you win.

Ya, it could get unhealthy. AMD price/performance this gen is one of the worst in years given where Fury/Fury X sit. R9 290 was $399 and AMD raised that successor card's price in the Fury to $550.

If cards like 970/980 barely fall in price after more than a year and they continue to sell well, it only reinforces the view in the eyes of GPU makers that these prices are 100% justified. Sounds like $500-600 next gen mid-range chips are almost set in stone now.

Some people are more materialistic than others. They like to have nice things to show off and rub in other people's faces. Not everyone needs their possessions to prove their status.

I don't think it applies to KaRLiToS though. He has 2x2560x1440 + 1x4K monitor. He actually uses his GPUs to the fullest. Such a monitor setup has the capability of taking Fury X Quad-fire or 980Ti Quad-SLI to its knees.

No that was a general statement. But this, "You'd own a Ferrari if you could afford it" isn't true of everyone.

That's true.

Yeah, but like Staples (let alone OfficeDepot) or Radio Shack, that's just their usual pricing...

Good thing some regulators haven't lost their minds yet unlike others.

It makes me feel for anyone who pays $650 for a 980 Ti right now with the 16 nm gpus 6 months away.

Could be longer than that.

And my brother wants to buy SLI 980 Ti in March, I guess after getting his tax rebate. You gotta think with a node shrink coming the 980 Ti will age even worse than the 780 Ti. At least based on looking at 28 nm vs 40 nm, where Titan was the real successor to the GTX 580.

The situation is a bit different. While 980Ti will get pummeled in price/performance by future 2016-2017 GPUs, it won't become outdated as fast as 580 did because of the nature of the console life cycle. 980Ti is about 3X more powerful than the GPU in PS4 while 580 is less powerful. That means there is a high chance 980Ti could easily last until the next gen consoles unless GPU demands skyrocket. I'd at least let your brother know where he is buying in the GPU cycle and suggest EVGA 980Tis for a Step-Up option just in case.

. I gave up after glancing at the first dozen or so items - I wonder if there's anything worth buying among all that stuff at all?

With current prices on i7 6700K and stagnation of 28nm node, stagnation of price drops on SATA SSDs since Q2 2015, BW-E and 16nm GPUs launching in 2016, predicted price drops on DDR4 in 2016, Dec 2015 isn't exactly a great time to build a new PC.

I knew a guy who spent the full $1000 on a QX9770 literally a week before Nehalem came out. He didnt bother to check rumors or anything like that before dropping a grand

Baller. What about people buying last gen's iPhone in August or people buying last gen's Samsung Note in July/August? What about the 15" rMBP or the Mac Pro? Both haven't seen major upgrades in almost 2 years.