Retailer Newegg is offering a new trade-in scheme in the US, where you can get some money for an old GPU when you’re buying a new graphics card.
It works pretty much how you’d expect – find the upgrade of a graphics card you want, and then enter your existing model, and the condition of the GPU, to receive a trade-in offer.
The final trade-in value may end up lower than estimated, and if that’s Newegg’s fault, it offers to return your item at no cost (assuming you decide not to accept the lesser value). If a valuation problem is your fault, though, then you’ll have to cover the cost of having the GPU sent back to you.
Analysis: A question of convenience
Naturally, you absolutely will get more for your second-hand GPU on an auction site, or by selling it yourself elsewhere. What Newegg is counting on is that it is offering a far more convenient option, with no hassles (or less chance of them anyway).
Dealing with another person as a buyer could throw up all sorts of problems, potentially, after all – including scams, or disputes as to whether hardware was working when it arrived, and other nastiness – so some folks will make the judgement that it’s worth something of a hit to the value just to work with a trusted party on a trade-in deal.
How much can you expect to get for any given GPU? Newegg lists a bunch of example trade-ins, though monetary compensation will of course vary depending on the condition of the product, as well as how far up the ranking of the best graphics cards it sits performance-wise.
At the top-end of the Nvidia scale, an RTX 3090 GPU has an estimated worth of $457, with the 3090 Ti pitched at $561. A more modest RTX 2070 will get you $120 (not much more than a 2060 Super at $110).
With AMD’s line-up of GPUs, the RX 6950 XT will bag you $375 (estimated) and further down the range, the RX 6600 XT is valued at $108. So yes, all these prices are invariably quite a lot less than what you might typically expect to get selling yourself at auction – even after sales fees are deducted – but the hassle factor is considerably less with Newegg, as already observed.
In the end, it’s always useful to have options when upgrading your graphics card, and it certainly doesn’t hurt for those in the US to have this kind of facility available when purchasing from a major retailer. For those who want a relatively no-hassle choice for upgrading, here it is, albeit with a considerable financial penalty compared to doing the sales legwork yourself.
Perhaps the trade-in ability will be offered to Newegg customers outside of the US eventually, but for now, it remains exclusively available to those in the States.
Via VideoCardz