Question Need advice on buying a used 1080 Ti card from a stranger

Caveman

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,525
33
91
I'm into flight simulation and found a used EVGA 1080 Ti on a flight sim forum from some guy who lives in Canada. We've exchanged a few PMs on the forum and an email. He's got a decent presence on the forums post-wise and seems to be a power user based on his specs and his experience with VR so his story about upgrading to a 2080 Ti seems perfectly plausible. He also said the card has never been used for mining and has never had any issues. There's really no reason for me not to believe him. That said, I want to be sure I'm not going to get hosed out of $400. I'd guess he's a little nervous too. He suggested PayPal 1/2 when the card ships and then I give him the balance on delivery. In this case, it may take me a week to test it after delivery so paying immediately on receipt doesn't thrill me.

I know people do this sort of used video card transaction all the time... What is the usual protocol? Any advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thanks.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,271
323
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Well that seems overly generous considering there's nothing that holds you to paying the other half...as for the story...not sure flight sims are that GPU limited but meh. Maybe hes running 5k surround.

Just fund the purchase with your credit card and you have 120 days to dispute the purchase...
 

Caveman

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,525
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91
Yeah, used to be that flight sims were more CPU-bound but about equal now to CPU. More Vulcaan-based code coming for many sims will make the GPU more important yet... VR is especially taxing - eeking out 50 FPS can be a challenge in DCS. Good idea on the Credit Card via PayPal. Thanks.
 

Stuka87

Diamond Member
Dec 10, 2010
6,240
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Paypal has buyer protections in place, splitting the payment up would impact those protections. If you really want extra protection, have him throw it up on eBay as a private auction and buy it through them.

Although $400 for a 1080Ti seems awfully cheap consider what their average used price is right now.
 

4K_shmoorK

Senior member
Jul 1, 2015
464
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Verified paypal, have him invoice you for the card. Paypal has the best buyer/seller protection.

I've bought and sold tons of used PC parts/gear off of Reddit r/Hardwareswap and exclusively deal with Paypal.

Although $400 for a 1080Ti seems awfully cheap consider what their average used price is right now.

Agreed, perhaps a deal too good to be true. Especially when willing to take half the cash. This would generally be against the rules on most trade forums, not to mention a red flag. Product should be demonstrated working, in described condition with timestamps to prove ownership. Food for thought
 
Last edited:

Headfoot

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2008
4,444
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i only buy off of trusted forums, so basically here, Hardocp, ArsTechnica and I have never had a single issue with any of the sellers. But I dont wander off those beaten paths
 

fastamdman

Golden Member
Nov 18, 2011
1,335
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To good to be true mate. Anyone willing to sell a card for half now and half later, is probably going to scam you of the half now lol. However, buy protection and credit cards can protect you from this. I would recommend getting several pictures of the card with certain things. Like "Write my name on paper and then place the card on it". "Write my name on paper and hold it next to the 2080ti you bought" etc etc. If you don't feel comfortable with it, don't do it.

If it were me personally, I would buy it, but I am a risk taker.

See if he has any ebay feedback, heatware feedback, etc. Is he on these forums?

Last but not least, it should never take a week to test a gpu. It's either going to work or not. If you get the card, payment should be sent to him within 24 hours of receiving it. Simply toss the gpu in, run it through a benchmark and or fuzzy donut and ensure there are no issues. It doesn't take a week to test a card, it takes about an hour.
 

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,096
640
126
As others have said, buy through known channels for one. I also look at the seller's Ebay and Heatware feedback to determine how long the person has been selling stuff. Paypal is a pretty safe route and would be my preferred method.

One note if the guy is selling from Canada. I once bought a Dell monitor from a guy in Canada. Monitor arrived in great shape and everything seemed to be as stated from the sales ad. However, about a month after the purchase, I got a bill from Fedex for the tariff/tax charges going across the border (which was about a 1/3 of the total cost of the monitor). I tried calling the seller (he answered claiming to be another person and said the seller was dead), tried emailing him, and tried explaining the situation to Fedex to no avail. I'm not sure how you ensure the taxes have been paid upon delivery but thought I'd throw out that word of caution.
 

killster1

Banned
Mar 15, 2007
6,208
475
126
He suggested PayPal 1/2 when the card ships.. so he is at least going to ship you a box of rocks or fake tracking for someone else? i would do it but just get his ID and match it to the Paypal send him the half after the package is shipped sounds good to me.
 

CP5670

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2004
5,508
586
126
I would go for it since Paypal has strong buyer protection. However, you're better off paying it all up front as a single transaction (which is the standard), in case you need to take it up with Paypal later. These cards go for more like $600 on ebay, so this is a good deal. It's possible that he didn't look at the current prices, or simply wants to get it off his hands quickly.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,271
323
126
Supply and demand...

You ever look at 90s Acura NSX prices? They used to be cheap as hell in 10 years ago. Now they are a collector's item.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,323
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$400 too good to be true? Thought a bunch of you guys got some for $350 each just a couple months ago.

There were some used/refurb cards around that price, briefly. Probably dumped by panicked miners. But I doubt more than a few dozen were ever sold at that price, and I'm sure they had no warranty coverage.

Most of the used ones (good cooler, with warranty) are selling around $550+ on r/hardwareswap and elsewhere now that the 1080 Ti is out of production and the RTX 2080 is available near MSRP ($699+) while offering comparable performance (with the caveat that the 2080 only has 8GB of RAM to the 11GB of the 1080 Ti). Out of warranty or no warranty or mediocre cooler usually means a bit cheaper.

400 USD is around 535 CAD at current exchange rates, so it seems a bit low, but not necessarily in the realm of too good to be true.
 

Caveman

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,525
33
91
Well, I bought it. The guy made a PayPal invoice at my request and said I can test it out all I want to confirm it's working to my satisfaction before he does the 2nd invoice for $200. I got the shipping tracker number today. My gut feel is that he's just a hobbyist looking to get some money for the card and that he may have been looking at pricing when it had dipped into the lower ranges on the 1080 Ti before it rose again and/or just giving a great deal to someone in "his flight simulation community". Most of the guys in this community are 50+ years old with a military bent and tend to care for one another. He dabbles in VR and is obviously a power user based on his specs.

So, what benchmark program(s) should I run to ensure the card isn't a lemon? How long must I run, etc?

It is an EVGA card... If it is a lemon and I'm out $200, does EVGA have any warranty service for a card like this (which is not from the original purchaser)?
 

Caveman

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,525
33
91
I ended up installing it last night and running many iterations of "Superposition" and playing some of my favorite sims (BOS and DCS). The card is an EVGA SC version and definitely does what it's supposed to do without a glitch. Really see a dramatic difference from the 970 GTX which was a GREAT card for the price at the time, but no contest for the 1080 Ti. Thanks to all for the advice.
 
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Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
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Congrats OP! I scooped an Aorus 1080ti for $400 just before Christmas, worth every penny for sure. Was a crazy day of driving, drove clear across the metroplex to get an awesome PC for $200, then another 90 minutes away to get the Ti. Great deals seem so random, so it's good to jump on the ones you can when they come by, as long as you are aware of the risk.
 
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