Most vendors try to recoup at least their investment on products they sell. They also tend to have less of a markup on high end vid cards versus mid and low end. So when vendors bought multiple geforce 2 Ultras, for example, a few years ago, and new generations starting coming that smoke the card at a fraction of the price, they are were still selling these for their initial investment. In fact, if you did a web search now for the geforce 2 Ultra, you'll still find vendors with these cards in stock and selling for the same price as a 7800 GTX.
You'd be surprised how many people still pay $150 for a geforce 2 equivalent card called a geforce 4 at best buy, even now when they could get something light years better for much cheaper, simply because they don't do any research.
Even a company like newegg that lists out prices and reviews still sells a X850XT for $450 and they probably still have the occassional buyer at that price.
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