#reseller prices are ABSURD

[kellerybird]

Just a heads up, I'm going to be absolutely insufferable about the Red River reprint from here on out

Will try to tag it in with anatolia story (bc there's a movie also called red river that's entirely unrelated) in case anyone wants to not be subjected to it but some stuff may slip through

[catboynutsack]

no joke I feel like most "vintage clothing stores" are just thrift shops reinvented for rich ppl and I mean that in a bad way. like once found a place that referred to themselves as a vintage clothing store and it was like........just a thrift shop with exorbitant prices. like fuckin unsold overstock t-shirts from Hot Topic (still with tags!) on their shelves for $20. Like what the fuck are you on to think that you can justify that shit.

[revengeeragerardway]

wrote down in my journal on october 20 saying,

“MANIFESTING FOR A NEW MCR TOUR IN THE NEXT YEAR OR 2!!!”

i made this shit happen, you’re oh so welcome.

[water1oo]

cant believe i actually got tickets for CLOSING night for olivia after failing to secure tickets since her first tour

h4uyfhuyiewhciuheriwhfieqb YESSSS

[rebelspykatie]

The Gift That Keeps on Giving - Part 1

AO3

Steve’s always been generous with gifts. Growing up, he had access to money that allowed him to dote upon his friends and loved ones. His ex hated it, said he was flaunting his money, but Steve just liked showing people he cared. It wasn’t about the price of the gift, it was about how he listened and remembered their interests. It just benefited him that he never had to worry about the cost. 

He’s never hesitated to follow through on his gut instinct before, whether something will be too extravagant for the receiving party. Even when he got Jonathan that fancy new camera he wouldn’t shut up about, or Nancy that vacation to Singapore for Christmas after two years together. Even when it ended in breakups both times. He still looks back and remembers the appreciative smiles on their faces when they realized he was listening. He may not have been the right person for either of them, but he was still a good boyfriend. 

There’s no way he’s going to let this year be the first year he lets someone down. His current partner is a little eccentric. Steve was going for something different, he never really intended to find a local metalhead that was into his preppy, jock looks, but it’s been nice having so little in common. Every day he learns about something new, some new band or movie that even Robin hasn’t heard of before. It keeps things interesting. 

So when this hot new metal band Corroded Coffin comes onto the scene, it’s all Steve hears about for months. The album is on a constant loop in the car. The lead singer’s face is practically burned into Steve’s eyelids from how many times they’ve watched the music video for their radio single. He knows when they announce their first tour, he absolutely has to get tickets to the show. What are the odds that they’re playing in Indy and it’s right before Christmas? It’s perfect timing for Steve to make this the best Christmas ever for his boyfriend, who doesn’t have the extra cash lying around for an expense like that. 

Except, when he went to buy tickets, he got the date wrong. He should’ve set an alarm, instead of relying on his shitty memory. The presale happened the day prior, and tickets are gone. Resell prices for tickets are astronomical, something even Steve isn’t willing to fork out for what might not even be a legitimate ticket. He’s been burned before with scalpers, he won’t make that mistake again. He starts scouring the internet, trying to find another source for the tickets. Tries calling the venue to see if there are any available if he physically goes down to the ticket office. Nothing works. 

As the date creeps closer, Steve gets desperate. Robin throws out the idea of messaging the band to see if they’re sympathetic to his story. He never expects anyone to respond when they drunkenly reach out to the band, but he wakes up groggy to a message sitting in his inbox. He stares at his phone in disbelief when he sees the message came from the official Corroded Coffin account. 

Steve doesn’t even remember what he said in the messages from the night prior. He reads back over them and cringes. A not so coherent ramble about how he couldn’t become the worst boyfriend ever at Christmas of all times. Just word vomit everywhere about how this guy might leave him if he doesn’t get the tickets. Which is absurd, because his boyfriend doesn’t even know he’s trying to do this. Maybe he’s got some insecurities from past relationships. At least he didn’t bring up Nancy. 

The reply simply reads ‘Slow down there, pretty boy.’ 

He shakes off the last vestiges of sleep and responds ‘Sorry, I was a little drunk and didn’t think anyone was going to see or respond to this.’ 

The little grey dots pop up right away. ‘You weren’t the only drunk insomniac last night.’ 

Steve huffs a laugh. ‘How crazy do you think I am?’ 

He wonders where they are right now, if it even is one of the band members answering. They probably have someone running their social media accounts. He snaps back to reality when he gets another message. ‘I don’t think it’s crazy to want to make your boyfriend happy. I wanna help.’ And that’s how it starts. 

They trade messages back and forth. He finds out it’s not an intern running their account, that they all have access to it, but only one of them enjoys it. The lead guitarist Eddie Munson is apparently the one responding to him. He sent a picture of his guitar with a hand wrapped around it painted with black nail polish. The same hand that wraps around it in their music video, decked out in a dazzling array of chunky rings. 

He’s never talked to a rock star before. Sure, he’s met famous people through his dad, but they were the boring kind of famous, senators and CEOs. Eddie talks about the tour they’re on. It sounds grueling, like their record took off faster than they expected and now they’re on this whirlwind tour that they love, but it’s daunting having people clamoring over you just a few months after anonymity. 

Before long, they’re talking every day. To the point that Steve feels like he hears more from Eddie Munson than his own boyfriend. He realizes how much of a problem it is when Robin catches him smiling at his phone and makes a joke about being in the honeymoon phase, but he’s not texting his boyfriend. He’s messaging Eddie. How did he get so wrapped up in all of this that he didn’t even see how distant they’ve been? He looks back at the messages with his boyfriend and they haven’t text each other in five days. He can’t even count how many messages have been shared between his account and Corroded Coffin’s since then. There’s too many to go back and tally up. 

Is it emotional cheating if he didn’t realize it was happening? One day he barely knew who Eddie was, the next he was grinning in the car when his music came on, thinking of the silly thing they were messaging about last night. Their messages took a turn from him asking for something to getting to know everything about Eddie Munson’s life as a guy raised in a small town and catapulted into the spotlight, and Steve’s attempts to claw his way out of his father’s grasp and build a family he could call his own. The guilt slaps him in the face. He’s been messaging with one of his boyfriend’s favorite band members, and he has no idea. Telling Eddie Munson things he’s never admitted to his boyfriend. Laid all his fears, hopes, and dreams out there to the wrong person. 

He’s lost sight of what he even started this for, to win over his boyfriend and give him the best Christmas ever. It feels weird to bring it up now in conversation with Eddie. To ask for something like a desperate fan and remind Eddie that he’s a commodity to the public feels cheap. This all spiraled out of control so fast. There’s only one thing he can do. End it. Before this gets worse and he falls stupidly in love with some rockstar he’s never seen in person.

Part 2

[penebui]

(Big news for Houseki no Kuni merch heads and the entire fucking history of the houseki no kuni manga merch ig)

There is only two instances of a clear folder manga release (note that what I have is called a Flat Case, my mistake). These were both sold/released at the same time and they both seem to have been released during the start of the run as they both feature original Phos.

Many JP sites had them for sale. So theyre ""common"". If you look up "クリ��ファイル 宝石の国" (Clear File Houseki no Kuni), you will see both of them appear in your search results, including resales up for listing (which you'll have to most likely use buyee for). There are multiple amazon relistings, one will even sell you the Phos keychain Red-dia featured above. Yahoo jp also has resale listings.

Note that the Phos with the Moon one is normal, while the one with the Lunarians has iridescent flakes

(Source - Deadlink)

The art of Original Phos with the moon behind them also appears as an illustration card, as such other manga illustrations including Shattered Moonphos, and the one art of Phos, Dia, Bort, Morga, and Jade. These I presume came as additional items for the Afternoon Manga Issues (since I cannot speak japanese). These you can find by looking up "原石〟フェア特典イラストカード". Once again, you can find resale listings of them.

(Source: The Afternoon Manga site itself)

BAGGU was a collab with the business (cant read the jpeg so fuck me I guess) which looks like it came from the Manga Vol 6 original release run. It may have been a reserve to buy situation. You got a regular sized bag and also a little baby one. Relistings avaliable if you look up "宝石の国 baggu".

(Both promotional arts for the BAGGU series are somewhere in my Official Art tag).

There was also an early manga merch run from kodansha that happened around the release of Volume 5! They had bags (not from the baggu event btw) were sold along side candles that imitated the crystal versions of the gems (made by NURI), shirts, phonecases (for the Iphone 5/6s), and a jewelry set of Phos. These items were sold on the natalie site.

There were multiple bags for the kodansha series. Including standalone bags of Phos, Dia, and Bort (Shinsha was also featured in this series but no standalone so Ig we hate Shinsha...)

The phone cases (We still hate Shinsha IG).

The jewelry set, from its description, is described to actually have been made from phosphophyllite and 18K gold with a warning of its obvious breakage. The earrings is actually a singular earring. Let it be known that that these motherfuckers were EXPENSIVE.

The Phosphophyllite Pendant Necklace was sold for 50k Yen/~$311USD and the Phosphophyllite earring was sold for 30k yen/~$187USD.

It seems like there were multiple pieces of the necklace since theres numbers from 1-12 for the pendants.

These listings are still up despite obviously being unavaliable/discontinued on natalie. Link to Official Webpage.

Speaking of jewelry... There was a jewelry merch run of all the characters, featuring a pearl and the actual gem type itself (and us hnk fans know this is a literal feat in itself). This was a collab event with the jewelry brand TASAKI. These released around the time of the anime back in 2017 to help promote it!

Although the TASAKI page for hnk is now defunct, it is still avaliable on the wayback machine. The page for the collab was very interactive, where you could read the concept, story, characters, and store (heres the deadlink address if you want to go check it out: https://www.tasaki.co.jp/land_of_the_lustrous/). The gems that appeared after the card art have no art to represent them btw.

Oh yeah did I say every character? Cause I mean every character. Heres an article that features this merch run from around the time it was released, including the initial tweet from TASAKI themselves. And a jp article recounts this entire merch run.

Simultaneously running alongside this event, was the Minna no Kuji Lottery event (which is what your shiro mug image is). This lotto event also came with a tote bag.

(Link to an article showcasing all the items).

Unrelated tote bag from ANIMATION ADDICT STORE

There was also a twitter raffle for a few of the actual real gems.

Not pictured here but you can find the images: Antarc (who was in a little capsule since they were liquid), Benitoite, Red Beryl, and Yellow Diamond (who was extra small, like super tiny because Yellow Diamond is rare as shit).

And last but not least before this post gets too long, is the item I own! I actually did find information on this item. This item you can find searching up "宝石の国 フラットケース" (Houseki no Kuni Flat Case). Good news for everyone searching up that little phrase, theres plenty on sale.

It was originally sold with the original release of Volume 8, however you had to set up a reservation just for it as it is limited. It was provided by ANIMATE SHIBUYA. Here is a tweet where they announced it.

All in all there are certain reasons you wont be seeing resells of certain houseki no kuni merch, according to the article that recounts the TASAKI jewelry run some people HAVE resold their phos jewelries for even more absurd prices.

Although the Minna no Kuji lottery event was limited, you could still find relistings of some of their items like the keychains and the shiro plushies (whom I saw were around ~$50USD on mercari).

It finally arrived! This a limited edition official clear folder of the 4th volume cover art. Since I own this now, it is very high quality. It feels like its made of plastic silicone(??), the button clasp is metal, and the cover is actually transparent, so you can see the lustrous laying on your documents.

There are several official clear files/folders of houseki no kuni (the manga, not the anime) floating around, yet there is barely any information I can find on them.

Note: photo is badly edited to show the colors more because my entire house has bad lighting, the colors on the folder match the actual colors on the artwork.

[cptn-bluebeard]

Someday Ticketmaster will realize no one should be able to resell tickets at absurd prices…

Also a big fuck you to anyone who snagged those tickets from fans of CR just to list them and never, ever sell them again.

[pegasussomnus]

Why Bernard fails as a love interest for Tim

So this write up will explain why Bernard ultimately fails as a love interest for Tim

First off, he makes no sense to be paired with Tim. He only appeared in six issues and none of his interactions with Tim gave us insight into who Tim was as a character or lead to any meaningful developments. The whole 'he represents the War Games era of Tim in terms of uncertainity' or 'his civilian life before losing his dad' is just untrue as we never see Tim seriously appreciate his friendship like he does with say Ives, or the people at Brentwood as something that keeps him grounded or as a distraction from the hero life/normaly he needs nor do his interactions with Tim show said uncertainty like the struggle of balancing the civilian/hero life that we saw his above friends do. All of his appearances are either comic relief or a springboard/exposition for more important developments such as Tim's relationship with Darla (ugh)

There is also how he wasn't a close friend of Tim and more often than not, Tim was shown to not like him too much. At best they were casual friends and none of their interactions went beyond that. The nicest thing Tim said about him is that he "THINKS he's going to END UP LIKING" him not that he actually does so which at best shows Tim is willing to give him a shot.

At worst? Well

Yeah. The first panel is his first impression of him while the last three are the LAST interactions/mentions Tim has with him and occur after saying he 'thinks he's going to end up liking him'.

It makes no sense why Tim would even want to reconnect with him let alone date him. Tim's opinion of Bernard went from "I guess we can be friends but this guy is sus to "maybe he's not so bad and deserves a shot" to "nah screw this guy". It's telling we keep getting sold a false meta history of them being super close friends and have Bernard essentially replace Ives to try and sell the pairing.

And being honest? The notion of Tim dating the guy who perved on his stepmom who appeared in six issues and this is being pushed as his OTP over Stephanie is just an absurd concept.

 Second of all. Like it really doesn't do anything for Tim at all.

Bernard doesn't help Tim grow as a character, or even as a person relationship wise as Tim is still doing the same faults he did in past relationships with civilians not telling them he is Robin, keeping secrets, cutting dates/missing them, etc). but they are "resolved" by just making Bernard some ultra perfect guy who knows Tim's identity

Aka the resolution he had with Stephanie in terms of the civilian/hero life balance of having someone who knows both, so Tim is getting a balance he already had and not to mention you can't even say Tim progressed in this manner or learned from his mistakes as he never revealed his ID in the first place, so it requires no growth on his end) (never explained how he does, not to mention watering down Tim's competence in keeping his ID) so it's all moot.

Tim also doesn't progress in his civilian life at all. Like he lives on a boat and (it is said that Bernard helped motivate him to do this but never shown/explained at all and all we see is Bernard saying he likes it and the people there)? Like he doesn't even meaningfuly develop a connection with the people there aside from friendly neighbors at best. As an example There was this "subplot" of them being in danger of being evicted but Tim just doesn't care at all or do anything. Like why not use some of his wealth from his dad or something to like buy people's boats and resell them at a cheaper price so the people can stay?

The people on the boat don't even offer him a meaningful civilian connection as like I said he just doesn't connect with them and even then that civilian connection is kind of moot in the last issue when they all know his identity as Robin so that balance or finding a solution is rendered moot for the same reasons as above as he already found that balance with the Batfamily/YJ friends who know both aspects of his life and again he didn't even it reveal it to them.

Like what do they offer him? People to chill in a non-vigilante way? Like he can already do that with the Batfam/YJ and not to mention that as the series showed the Marina got involved in a lot of Robin related stuff because of Tim's ID, so it's also moot.

Another point is how Bernard for a 'relationship for Tim beyond Robin' really is a relationship where the substance largely comes from Robin. Like aside from Robin is how they got together which Bernard even states in issue 3, in the beginning of issue 7 when Bernard list why he likes Tim all the things he likes about him are reflective of his role as Robin. Like his whole trusting Tim to keep him safe, Tim being special, and Tim being his lucky charm, the examples he uses are of Tim saving him as Robin/being Robin.

And issue 7 also shows like I said above that what saves the relationship is Bernard knowing that Tim is Robin. Not to mention how he really only opens up to Tim/confides in him seriously when Tim is Robin as shown in issue 3 and 9. Hell in issue 3 when he talks about wanting to help Tim, knowing that he knows his ID, when he talks about Tim 'taking too much on his own and not asking for help and loosing himself or whatever' we know it's about Robin.

And issue 10 the grand saving moment for their relationship after the 'falling out' in issue 9 was Bernard saving the day in a Robin related mission and getting the ID reveal (but not really)

Issue 7 highlights how Tim really doesn't do anything for Bernard as Tim. Like all he does is tell him that his parents suck, he's great to make him feel better, and tell us a bunch of stuff about Bernard we've never seen before.....twice and given how the issue kept emphasizing this point (to the point where villains commented on it) and how over the top his parents/with Bernards heroic it felt generic and like the bare minimum and Tim felt like an exposition device.

Tim never really talks to him about his issues with his parents or actually substantially helps him as after Tim does the above it immediately cuts back to their relationship for cute moments. Like Bernard giving him the necklace isn't even connected to Tim 'helping' as he was gonna do that anyway.

Tim as a civilain is just the BF and the real substance comes from Robin (as it was a Robin related mission and Tim saving civilians as Bernard which lead/inspired Bernard trying to save his parents and oh look Robin once again is tied to their relationship)

TLDR: Bernard doesn't make sense as a pairing, doesn't do anything for Tim as a character nor fulfill the purpose he was supposedly brought back for

[bethestars]

getting tickets to the short n’ sweet tour is an absolute nightmare.

team sabrina should not have given out codes to every single person who signed up for rsvp. i even saw an article promoting that a third LA show was added. the article included the presale code… presale codes should not be so accessible. i was very lucky to receive a spotify code. there was barely anyone in the queue and i still couldn’t get a ticket during that presale.

like always, scalpers and resellers got to the tickets first. this is unfortunately an expected issue with concert tickets nowadays. but i can’t believe it’s this bad. at my choice of venue (madison square garden - i didn’t look at brooklyn), resale tickets were at least $350 each. this would vary per venue but man is that absurd.

sabrina deserves to play arenas. her venues during the emails i can’t send tour were way too small and greatly suffered from overcrowding. it even became a safety concern at points. however, i am genuinely afraid that these arenas are only going to be half full - not because she’s not popular enough, but because these prices are so astronomical.

i went to the eras tour, in the 200s and paid around $200 for 2 tickets. i can’t remember the exact amount at this point. i went to niall horan’s the show tour a couple of weeks ago in the 200s again and paid $230. a single resell ticket for the short n’ sweet tour is $350. it’s so dystopian.

i bought the resale ticket but i can’t even bring myself to be thrilled about it because it cost an arm and a leg and i can’t bring a single person with me. i feel guilty that i might be encouraging scalpers and resellers for even buying the ticket. the fact that i could afford a single ticket is a major privilege.

as fans, we deserve better than this messed up system. sabrina deserves to play to a full, sold out arena full of fans. whether they’ve been with her for 10 years or 10 months. i’m just so dejected.

[discluded]

I was wondering if you'd have any opinions on why MileApo haven't done any fan-meetings yet (just purely them in a hall/arena with fans only doing a qna, playing games etc.)? I know we've seen them do promotional lives, the world tour, they did the FanStar event in Vietnam, ManSuang promo, Dior etc. But I would have hoped they would've done one by now. I might be projecting since I follow a lot of kpop etc. but I was thinking about it and wondered why, could a duo fan-meet not be worth planning?

Hi! they actually did do a fan meet last year.

It was in November and in collaboration with a Line Friends promotional event.

if you remember these outfits.

I can't find the announcement press release, which was in Thai anyway, but it was at Central Pattana mall (what I tagged it as) and called Embracing Happiness 2023 (what @nattaphum tagged it as) if you want to look through our tags for it. It should turn up quickly with a search.

This fan meet didn't require tickets and the turnout was genuinely huge... so I'm guessing you mean something else? I looked up some variations on what a fan meet vs. fan sign vs. concert is for kpop just to try to get an idea of the nuance you're looking for I'm missing... if you're talking ticketed event where they play games and take audience questions, the Woody interview was fairly close to that. Mile had a fan sign to make up for missing the KPWT send off (it's tagged under mile send off on my blog) but those were from random raffle winners and not available through buying tickets. The Planet of Stars event in Vietnam had more of the concert element and I think they were supposed to interact more with fans who bought certain levels of tickets but that was, um, kind of a mess.

maybe you can clarify what specifically you qualify as a fan meet? I'll answer based on what I'm thinking right now anyway:

1) financially, I think doing events with sponsors makes more sense for them. it's not as intimate for fans, but it does allow more people to attend events, which is better for sponsors. additionally opening it up to a larger audience avoids the element of fan scalping / reselling tickets at absurd prices for fan meets (which was an issue with some of the man suang showings with actors in attendance).

2) for foreign fan meets, the logistics are challenging and BOC isn't really sized to scale to handle that.. for various reasons. working with a third party to coordinate is risky: see Planet of Friends concert and the JeffGameplay fanmeet in France that didn't include Jeff in the end, and the sponsors made off without even hosting the meet.

3) The air is poisonous right now. there's already been instances of fan photos or fan engagement where the person invited up was openly nasty to Mile or Apo (see: Woody interview when Apo invited up a greeny rose, or a recent fan photo event where an apc was openly hostile to Mile). why open the door to more of that?

I mean, look at Bible's fan meet today... I really sympathize for him right now. He doesn't deserve this for his first fan meet and no one deserves to be treated like an accessory to someone else's career. (I'm not posting it but check @blramblingx2's blog. they posted it because I sent it their way...)

but we'll see! I wouldn't mind seeing a large scale fan meet like embracing happiness again. that was fun... for me... mile and apo were going through it in those 3 layers of sweaters and jackets 😂

[iapotmf]

How does one aquire footy tickets? Liverpool ones more specifically. Ones that do not cost £450 each bcs what devilish price is that???

Really want to buy some for next year but it looks like you need a membership (you can become a member at any time according to the website but how tf does that work when you have thousands of people and limited seats? That's why it says that demand is bigger than the availability ig... and obv I don't have one now but if that will get me cheaper tickets next year sure will pay for it bcs those resellers have no souls 💀).

So do i just get a membership and wait till they drop the fixture I want and pray that i'm able to buy it? Bcs the prices on liverpool's site are good ngl, I would gladly pay that but what I see everywhere else is absurd.

If someone has dealt with this or you've seen a guide somewhere pls send link!

just asking here bcs it's so much easier to ask people rather than just do it on my own 💀 (also i may or may not just be lazy...), also advice the topic would be appreciated!

[saltminerising]

there's this one user who I am SURE is multi accounting. They're buying my commissioned skins, even copied one themselves, and are now trying to sell the skin they got from me for 1kg more than a five bundle blueprint is even worth ???? you know who you are. I got one of them blocked but the other one just keeps merrily posting the exact same posts everywhere. ALSO tf why buy an UMA if to resell it at such an absurd price??? Someone put a lot of effort into that!!!

🧹

[galaxymooing]

i do think the argument about “is it art” killed the conversation forever though because it doesn’t matter if it’s Really Art or not. even if it is art, that doesn’t mean it suddenly stops being exploitive during a time where the industry it’s exploiting is very vulnerable. this is not inherently the tool’s fault, it’s a tool. it is just one that’s being taken advantage of in ways that don’t give proper compensation to people who need it (and often can make better work)

but also spending every bit of energy talking about how it can’t possibly be art because x y z does make you sound like someone who’s mad at a canvas entirely painted red im sorry LOL. “it has to be made with intention” this is why people hated ready mades (among other reasons ofc). “it has to be made by a human” do we not call it art when an elephant paints? or any of the amazing things animals create? “it’s a mishmash of existing things” collage. photography. digital art at some level depending on your process

and then it’s like. so we have the ai art being sold at a convention space thing. very bad obviously! but how different is it from people printing images they found on google to sell, or badly reproduced merch, or reselling at an inflated price, or tracing existing work… are those things bad because they Aren’t Art or is it because people are stealing things

* pulling my hair * and this thought doesn’t even go into how fucked up it is to side with copyright law for this stuff, something that will fundamentally hurt artists so much more than AI will in the longterm and AAAAAAAAUUUGHH

i just think most arguments against it being art do make you sound like a modern art hating weirdo if you think about how those points have been previously used but some people are way too comfortable being smug about those “evil blue haired bourgeois artists getting what they deserve” like that isn’t an absurd thing to say when the people most in danger from this are routinely hurt by the companies they work for

[ashyfurz]

there is a special place in hell for people who buy up concert tickets and then resell them at absurd prices

[buzz-headlines]

Nvidia RTX 5090 Prices Surge to $9,000 on E-Commerce Platforms as PC Gamers Fight Back Against Scalpers

Nvidia’s latest flagship GPUs, the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, officially launched on January 31, 2025, and have seen unprecedented demand. These high-end graphics cards were almost instantly sold out across all major retailers, leaving many PC enthusiasts unable to purchase them. As expected, the RTX 5090 quickly became a target for scalpers, with prices skyrocketing to absurd levels on resale platforms.

The RTX 5090, which has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,999, has been listed on platforms like eBay for prices exceeding $6,000, with some listings even surpassing $9,000. The outrageous pricing has fueled frustration among PC gamers, who have grown increasingly weary of scalpers. In response, gamers have devised creative and unorthodox tactics to fight back against these resellers.

Fake Listings to Trick Scalpers and Bots

Recently, eBay has seen a surge in “fake listings” for the RTX 5090. These listings claim to sell the coveted GPU but actually offer nothing more than a photo of the graphics card. The aim is to deceive scalpers and bots that rely on automated purchasing systems.

One product description humorously states, “Bots and scalpers welcome to buy. Humans, please do not bid, as you will only receive a framed photo of the RTX 5090, not the actual GPU.” Another listing priced at $2,457 clearly labels the item as “GeForce RTX 5090 Photo Only, Not a Physical Product” and warns buyers that no refunds will be issued.

These fake listings have become a clever way for gamers to waste the resources of scalpers and automated bots, while also highlighting the absurdity of the situation.

Production Issues Behind the Shortages

The supply shortage of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 seems to stem from design flaws in Nvidia’s Blackwell processors, which power these GPUs. Reports suggest that the Blackwell architecture suffers from manufacturing defects, leading to low production yields and limiting the availability of these flagship GPUs.

As a result of these challenges, the production issues are exacerbating the already high demand, further driving up resale prices and intensifying the battle between gamers and scalpers.

For now, PC gamers are resorting to creative ways to address the scalping issue, but it remains to be seen whether Nvidia can resolve its supply chain challenges and bring the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 back to shelves at reasonable prices.

[stolencenturies]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to bring attention to this user on redbubble whom is reselling other artist’s work as their own for absurd prices. Please do not purchase any of their products if you stumble across their page and report them. Thank you for your time.