The supply of hardware, especially graphics cards, has been low for months. AMD recently sold a limited edition of the RX 6800 XT. But before most “real” buyers had a chance, it was sold out.
This is what happened: Hardware manufacturer AMD informed members of the “AMD Red Team” that they would be selling a limited edition of the RX 6800 XT starting April 7 at around 3 PM. With the email announcing the graphics card, they wanted to inform interested parties in advance.
However, a targeted protection against scalpers, who could snatch the cards from potential honest buyers, was lacking.
Gamers are disappointed about this
Here was the problem: The announcement of the “Midnight Black Edition” of the AMD RX 6800 XT graphics card was made via email to the AMD Red Team. Anyone who wants to become a member can register on the website (via amd.com/de).
The special edition of the graphics card only changes visually. The technology that lies underneath remains the same.
AMD then offered the “Midnight Black” edition of the RX 6800 XT for sale on the same website that bots, scalpers, and everyone else already know. In the shop section of the AMD website.
This means that bots, which are already keeping a close eye on this page, could directly see the new product and jump on it.
In the email, there was a link that was supposed to lead to the sales page. Apparently to make it easier for the Red Team members to find the card. However, users report that this link did not work. Many could not secure a card. User @Bounty_V shared a screenshot on Twitter and wrote: “That sums up the experience. The Red Team link led to a page where you could not buy. I only saw it through the main store and adding to the cart didn’t work. Cool. I feel very included in this exclusive offer.”
What could have been done differently? The Verge (via theverge.com) also addresses the issue and wonders why they don’t cater to the fans in the buying process when they are already announcing it for the Team Red members. Suggestions include
- verifying the email addresses of buyers
- sending unique passwords to interested parties via a preliminary email
- or a raffle among the members
These measures might have given interested users a better chance of securing one of the popular graphics cards.
Our colleague Nils Raettig from GameStar believes that AMD showed no sensitivity with this “offer”. Why the limited edition of the RX 6800 XT was pure mockery for him, you can read on GameStar (via GameStar.de)
How expensive the cards are now being resold
Here are the prices: On the AMD website, the card was offered at the usual price of $649. In the meantime, some of the limited editions can already be found on eBay again. As you might guess, the prices there are skyrocketing.
Sellers are asking on eBay for sometimes three times what they originally paid for the cards.
Graphics cards are currently in high demand. Prices are soaring due to the low supply, and even smugglers have realized that they can make a lot of money from this.
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