A player pays only 26 euros for a gaming PC, although it is worth much more. He takes advantage of the seller’s ignorance. The user has greatly benefited from this, but in the worst case, he could have cheated a social project out of revenue.
A user reports on Reddit how he bought a gaming PC for $29.99 (approximately 26 euros). This is an older gaming PC from the manufacturer Alienware, which features an exclusive design for the PC case.
But this very design became the seller’s downfall. The local thrift store apparently did not realize that it was a gaming PC and thus offered it for only $29.99. And the hardware of the PC can still be impressive in 2025:
- CPU: Intel i7, no further description
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, 8 GB video memory
- RAM: 64 GB DDR4
- Storage: 1 TB M.2-SSD + 2 TB HDD
At the time of its release, an Aurora R11 from Alienware with Intel Core i7-10700KF and GeForce RTX 3070 cost at least 2,100 euros. Today, the price is significantly lower: you now pay about 200 euros for a used RTX 3070, and a used Intel Core i7-10700KF is also still between 150 and 200 euros (via eBay.de).
What will the user do with it? He explained in his post that his current computer is still significantly faster than the purchased model. He wants to dismantle the device and sell the components to family members (via reddit.com):
Since my current PC is still better, I will sell the internal parts very cheaply to friends and family members who still use older systems like this.
Many thrift stores support social initiatives
What is the problem with such actions? The so-called “thrift stores” in the USA are the common secondhand shops here. You can purchase used items significantly cheaper. Many of these stores often fund social initiatives, helping impoverished individuals or people in difficult situations with the revenue.
And the profits from thrift stores are an important source of revenue to finance this. In the USA, well-known examples include Goodwill and America’s Thrift Stores. In Germany, examples would be Oxfam or Fairkauf (Caritas), which are present in many cities.
The user, who expresses such enthusiasm for the purchase, may have cheated such a store out of potential revenue that would otherwise have gone into a social project. This cannot be definitively established, as you can only see the sales sticker but not the store itself.
A photographer recently made a similar find in a secondhand store. Here he found a very expensive camera lens for only 6 euros because the seller thought the model was junk. For the photographer, it may have been a great find, but the damage to Goodwill was significant: A photographer makes his purchase of a lifetime: gets 1,500-euro lens for 6 euros because the seller thinks it’s a drinking cup
