A dealer sells you high-end GPUs from Nvidia starting at 1,500 euros. But you won’t have much joy with them. Because the seller emphasizes that the devices are supposed to be defective. In the best case, you get a working graphics card; in the worst case, you’ve bought electronic waste for a lot of money.
LDLC is a leading online retailer from France, which has been around for 30 years (founded in 1996). The French company currently offers several models of the RTX 5090 starting at 1,499 euros.
We checked the official shop of LDLC ourselves; currently you can still buy an RTX 5090 from MSI for 1,699 euros.
This seems absurd at first, because if you look at the prices at Geizhals, you have to pay at least 3,500 euros or more for the graphics card. Therefore, LDLC is initially asking for only a third of the original price. The reason for this is several catches that you should know about.
Manufacturer sells graphics cards intentionally as defective and you have to forfeit any refund
What is the problem? The seller explicitly states that these are supposed to be defective graphics cards. In the description, the provider also writes that the goods are not only damaged but that additionally you have no possibility to return the purchased graphics card. LDLC emphasizes that they are consciously addressing professionals or private individuals who know how to properly disassemble or restore such a damaged graphics card:
This product is aimed exclusively at professionals or private individuals who have the necessary knowledge to repair the card or recycle its components. Since the product’s malfunction is known and clearly stated, no returns or refunds will be accepted.
You might get lucky and end up with a still-functioning graphics card with minor damage that can be repaired with little effort; in the worst case, however, you buy a model that is not only broken but also leaves you stuck with the costs of 1,500 euros. And that is a lot of money in current times when everything is getting more expensive.
Moreover, even this form of gambling probably wouldn’t be worth it to anyone: Because according to Geizhals, you can already get an original RTX 5080 for 1,500 euros, which is “only” 30% slower than the RTX 5090, but will be sufficient for most games. Moreover, the graphics card works perfectly, and you can also return the device.
A user sends his broken RTX 5090 to the manufacturer, who returns with a bill of 2,900 euros. Because the manufacturer ASUS found a fracture on the graphics card that can only be seen under a microscope. You can read more about this on MeinMMO: Player sends broken RTX 5090 for repair, the manufacturer sends him a bill of 2,900 euros back
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