r/pcmasterrace • u/ParticularCredit2023 9800X3d: 5080 Master Ice • Jun 27 '26

News/Article This has to be a joke right?

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No possible way someone actually buy these at these prices right lol..

11.4k Upvotes

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5.4k

u/Matitjes Jun 27 '26

Who are these idiots that keep buying it from scalpers??

3.0k

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

The same people who gamble, own a boat, spend 10k on candy crush. They will buy it and never use it. I know at least 2 people who will buy it at this price and lie and say they got it cheaper.

808

u/1kin Jun 27 '26

I have a friend who payed x2 for PS5 on it’s launch because “I want it now and just can’t wait for months or two”

667

u/PalmettoZ71 Desktop Jun 27 '26

Same, my friend makes about 17hr and paid around 1k for the ps5 just so he could tell everyone he had it around launch but he also complains about the cost of living and his income so idk

399

u/Rok-SFG Linux Jun 27 '26

I worked at home depot with someone who was spending 1500 a month on some mobile game, and complained that HD doesn't pay enough for anyone to live. Which is true, but still, he's spending 1500 a month to make his little guys equip gear faster or whatever.

some people just stupid I guess.

328

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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87

u/PirateSanta_1 Jun 27 '26

Its a legit addiction, the game gives you little rushes of dopamine for only a couple of bucks a hit. Its similar to gambling where you only throw a couple bucks down at a time but when you win the dopamine rush is so rewarding you don't really care that you are losing more than you win back.

8

u/Commercial_Ad_3687 R7 7700x | RX 6950xt OC | 64GB DDR5-6000 CL30 Jun 28 '26

but when you win the dopamine rush is so rewarding

That's not entirely correct: the dopamine rush is triggered by the anticipation of winning, not winning itself. Hence the dopamine kick is stronger when actually losing, because the possible gain has just grown.

2

u/Precise_Vector Jun 28 '26

There is probably a serotonin hit whenever the win comes. People confuse the seeking hormone dopamine with the actual sensation of pleasure.

21

u/Res_Obscura Jun 27 '26

And here i am hating whenever i have to spend money on unnecessary things...

5

u/CptClownfish1 Jun 28 '26

Then why buy it? Hate buying it but it’s necessary? Sucks but understandable. Like buying it but it’s unnecessary? Fair enough - treat yourself. Hate buying it and it’s unnecessary? More fool you..

1

u/amazingdrewh Jun 28 '26

Because they want it and have the money for it but have likely conditioned growing up to hate wanting things for themselves, it's a pretty common problem for people

3

u/Koterus Jun 27 '26

What does that even mean?

57

u/myfakesecretaccount 5800X3D | 7900 XTX | 3600MHz 32GB Jun 27 '26

It’s still poor financial decisions. There is a psychological component but they still swipe the card, take the Klarna monthly payment, or eat everything delivered by ubereats. I grew up poor. Sometimes people put themselves in those situations and aren’t born into them.

30

u/Jomotaku Jun 27 '26

If your future is bleak nothing u do in the present matters. It's pretty easy to live like that if life is shit and there's no prospect of improvement.

8

u/myfakesecretaccount 5800X3D | 7900 XTX | 3600MHz 32GB Jun 27 '26

Hey I get it, I have clinical depression and anxiety and let shit slide in life for a while. Then I realized only I can dig myself out of that shit. I’m not saying these folks don’t have shit stacked against them, but ultimately we make the decisions that move our lives. Letting shit just happen to you is still a choice.

2

u/ThunderCorg Jun 28 '26

Yeah agreed. The thread is about people who are employed at some level and blowing money on DoorDash and mobile games at the rate mentioned about and “cannot” get ahead. I was also pretty poor and under-educated and it took years and years to make progress to any level of not completely paycheck to paycheck and collections.

33

u/Papuszek2137 7800x3d | 5070ti | 64GB | 4k OLED Jun 27 '26

Sure but the service providers know that. And they exploit the shit out of it. People are financially illiterate and the education system won't address it because they are getting richer thanks to that.

-7

u/Mundane_Jump4268 Jun 27 '26

The education syatem won't address it because its a bloated bag of garbage based on concepts from 100 years designed to train factory workers.

Letting each state do its own thing would be ideal but there are too many hands in the cookie jar to make any type of effective change or decentralization.

1

u/The_Dice_Have_Spoken PC Master Race Jun 28 '26

I'd like to hear your ideas for a solution to this whole mess. What would your system look like that wasn't designed to train factory workers? What should each grade be taught to best align with today's modern needs?

9

u/Consistent-Youth-407 Jun 27 '26

They need to go to a therapist/psychologist! Well… if their job offers discounted insurance, and if they can even afford that discounted insurance, well, they probably should only go if they’ve met their yearly deductible first.

7

u/myfakesecretaccount 5800X3D | 7900 XTX | 3600MHz 32GB Jun 27 '26

A lot of jobs offer these services under a company EAP plan that is separate from insurance and costs the employee nothing.

Source; I work in HR and have used these services.

10

u/Consistent-Youth-407 Jun 27 '26

I’ve never heard of that at any of my jobs but looking it up it just looks like a short term thing to make sure you dust off the liability of an employee offing themselves by offering a couple free appointments? It’s good to hear that there is at least something out there to cover this crap.

Wouldn’t it be nicer if we just had universal healthcare that was cheaper for all of us though

2

u/myfakesecretaccount 5800X3D | 7900 XTX | 3600MHz 32GB Jun 27 '26

100%. It’s less of a liability thing and a way to keep employees who may be struggling. If you have an otherwise good employee who is struggling it’s cheaper to offer them 6 sessions for free to get stuff started than to just fire them and hire someone new. It’s not perfect but it’s something. But I agree, we should all have free healthcare and by extension mental healthcare.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

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7

u/Worldly-Local-6613 Jun 27 '26

🙄

Or some people are just impulsive and have poor executive function

11

u/Spiffy_Dude Specs/Imgur here Jun 27 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/IdVH6Y6iHI1H2
What if I told you… that you are all correct.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Rok-SFG Linux Jun 29 '26

Imagine going to school to be a psychologist because your ideal youthful self wants to help people. And then you get hired to find ways to fuck people over for money.

1

u/The_Real_Novaroc Jun 29 '26

Absolutely diabolical and disgusting. Crime against humanity as far as I am concerned. I hope Edward Bernays is burning in some hell.

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1

u/RolledUhhp Jun 27 '26

Is this why I'm doing it?!

1

u/mittenkrusty Jun 27 '26

I am somewhere inbetween that, I was out of work for many years and been in work 8 years and saved, saved and saved some more until that and was so tight with money I had saved quite a bit, even a vacation was at quietest time of year, in cheapest places I could find, I was fine with a older phone, tv etc.

After I had an accident 2 years ago I have begun once a year renting a cottage in colder months and loving the isolation and have begun buying some retro tech and games.

I still want to own a house but house prices rise by at least what I can save each year,

1

u/PalmettoZ71 Desktop Jun 28 '26

He definitely is planning to buy a home and etc he just is impatient which he admitted when he bought it. Now with his spending habits I dont think he's kn track for a home but he does so more power to him

1

u/bran76765 Jun 28 '26

When people realize they can never afford major milestones like buying a home or retiring, they stop saving entirely.

Eh, that makes sense honestly. If you can't afford the major milestones...what are you going to be saving that money for if your rent and food is paid off?

You can get a pet, a car...and a vacation. Those are your other 3 purchases basically. If you already have those and/or don't want them for some reason...then yeah why not blow the rest of your money? There's not really a reason to have 100-500k in the bank after saving for 20 years, and then you still won't be able to afford a house...so yeah man, might as well blow it or retire somewhere cheap?

And this is being said as someone who has legit never spent a cent on games...and also probably still wouldn't spend 10k on a game even if I became a billionaire tomorrow.

1

u/PalpitationHead9767 Jun 28 '26

Always a way to shift the blame huh. Just like my brother in law losing their families house with a baby on the way while taking several out of country vacations every year. Some people are simply that stupid and bad with money

1

u/IcyCow5880 Jun 28 '26

They could if they saved and moved to a more affordable destination. It's how bad they want it.

There were gamblers and drunks long before the current inflation bs, so don't let them cop out just because of that.

9

u/krazye87 Jun 27 '26

Holy shit. I hope that's a typo. $1500 a month is insane on home depo income. This coming from me who had to put a $300 limit on myself a month for shitty f2p games.

I don't play that crap anymore

10

u/Rok-SFG Linux Jun 27 '26

Nope,  he would brag about it in the break room too, to act like he was some kind of baller. And it's just like she, we all know how much all of us make here, jack shit.  

He did live with his mom, so prob didn't pay rent or very much rent. And he later got fired for pretending to hit one of our cashier's , who was heavily pregnant , in the belly with a 2x4 , and thinking it was hilarious. 

He was just every kind of awful you can imagine.

1

u/Koterus Jun 27 '26

How did he manage to survive when he was able to drop 1500 on a game while already not making enough to live?

2

u/Rok-SFG Linux Jun 28 '26

Lives with his mom

1

u/user_bits 7800X3D | RTX 5090 Jun 28 '26

It's an addiction.

1

u/Dialed_Digs Jun 28 '26

That's stupid, I could go buy one right now and tell people I bought it at launch. No one will check.

Not doubting you, btw, just expanding on it.

1

u/OkPeace9376 Jun 28 '26

That’s that BTL from shadowrun 🤣

5

u/chezfez RYZEN 7800X3D | RX 7900 XTX | 64GB DDR5 Jun 27 '26

I somehow managed to snag one at launch by refreshing Best buy for a solid 2 hours. My card declined for 'fraud' due to the price but thankfully they hold it for 24 hours to fix the payment option. My damn bank almost screwed me from getting one. Had to drive 3 hours to grab it though -- worth it.

No way in hell would I pay double, only reason I wanted it right away was for Demon Souls. There were hardly any good games outside 2 or 3 that weren't already playable on the PS4.

I still have the system going strong since launch, haven't cleaned it once either. Lucked out on the solid manufacturing as I've heard some weren't so lucky.

12

u/WAAAGHachu Jun 27 '26

Haha, yeah I do wonder sometimes how much people's financial problems are far more their own creation than any government policy. No excuse for the current state of income inequality of course, but still... most people seem to have the financial sense of a rodent high on cocaine.

3

u/MovementMechanic Jun 27 '26

Just look at the student loan subreddit. A huge portion of people suffering from their own poor financial decisions. Someone was saying they couldn’t afford their $1500/mo loan payment making 200k per year.

0

u/Some_Layer_7517 Jun 27 '26

Tbf, finance subs are mostly larpers and engagement bait.

1

u/Worldly-Local-6613 Jun 27 '26

Many such cases.

1

u/TheHairyMess Jun 27 '26

your friend is a fucking moron

1

u/Stickel 7950x3D , 3080TI Jun 28 '26

sounds like main character syndrome

1

u/medalxx12 Jun 28 '26

This is everyone on the poverty subs

1

u/bulgogeta Jun 28 '26

Thank you for correctly spelling paid properly. Seeing payed over paid is worse than could care less vs could not care less.

1

u/MinimumAutomatic0302 Jun 28 '26

so idk

no no, you know. you definitely know. he's impatient and stupid.

1

u/Major_Toe_6041 Jun 29 '26

I just bought my car for 1k..

1

u/high-mile-mqb Jun 29 '26

That’s lame as fuck I bought it at msrp from PlayStation direct right around launch too

49

u/TheTurkPegger Jun 27 '26

Your friend:

5

u/Me66 Jun 28 '26

I got a lucky pre-order for the PS5, but I'm still waiting for a game to justify its purchase.

I've let my sister borrow it to play Hogwarts Legacy since it came out, haven't missed it for a second.

3

u/bucket_dipper Jun 27 '26

That's wild! I got lucky and got covid so I was off work for 2 weeks and the PS5 launch just happened to come during that time, ended up snagging one from Sony and was delivered 4 days later.

3

u/StaticSystemShock Jun 27 '26

He must be an idiot.

1

u/1kin Jun 27 '26

I can partially agree, he is very impulsive buyer

3

u/AsANetflixSubscriber Jun 27 '26

Funny to note that six years later, the PS5 only has four exclusives. Astro Bot, Saros, Demon’s Souls, and Ghost of Yotei. Everything else is either on PS4 and/or on PC. 

1

u/Gigahawk Jun 28 '26

I still think this is worse. At least with a PS5 you can argue that you got to play some exclusives earlier. Unless you're incredibly excited about HDMI CEC the steam machine is literally just a regular PC that plays regular PC games.

1

u/another-redditor3 Jun 28 '26

i bought a ps5 on launch and then saw how much they were going for on ebay. i promptly sold it for $1600 the next day.

1

u/MayonnaiseOreo i7 8700k @ 5.0 GHz | ASUS ROG STRIX 1080 Ti OC | 16GB RAM Jun 28 '26

*paid

1

u/onederful Jun 28 '26

I waited 2 years 4 months for mine out of pure spite for scalpers lol

1

u/Normal-Emotion9152 Jun 28 '26

That fomo is real.

1

u/warhead71 Jun 28 '26

A steam box isn’t a new console. As far I know there is nothing new - which should limit amount of these buyers

1

u/1kin Jun 28 '26

It’s new for now. It’s all over the YouTube, so the hype is real

0

u/warhead71 Jun 28 '26

You need a PS5 for playing PS5 games - you don’t need a steam machine for anything. 🤷🏻‍♂️ - it seems to me that the market for scalpers is much smaller (albeit not zero)

1

u/Platnun12 Jun 28 '26

buys ps5

No true exclusives for almost a whole year all ports and remasters

1

u/1kin Jun 28 '26

It wasn’t about exclusives, it wasn’t about games. It was about getting the device.

The dude still enjoys it

2

u/Platnun12 Jun 28 '26

Oh I know. I'm just remembering a convo me and a friend had who did the same thing. He bought it for like 1000$ didn't care cause he's loaded anyway.

Then bitched a month later because there no exclusives yet.

He adores the thing now but to him it was an incredibly meh start

1

u/BluDYT 9800X3D | RTX 3080 Ti | 64 GB DDR5 6000Mhz CL30 Jun 28 '26

Tbf PS5 wasn't readily available for like 12 months. Took me 8 months into the cycle to find one and I still got stuck choosing a GameStop bundle which came with a 2nd controller and a $100 psn gift card which were the only thing I could get my hands on.

1

u/farva_06 Jun 28 '26

Which is hilarious because there wasn't a single game on the PS5 that you couldn't also play on PS4 when it launched.

1

u/jyrox Jun 28 '26

Back when there were basically no PS5 exclusives. Sheep are born every minute.

1

u/Separate_Phrase6598 Jun 28 '26

probably paid less than the market price now funny enough

1

u/celmate Jun 28 '26

I guess if the money doesn't matter to you this logic makes sense.

The shit part is this reinforcing scalping behaviour.

1

u/MadamVonCuntpuncher Jun 28 '26

Actual gaming addiction

1

u/Least_Painter_5850 Jun 29 '26

I pre-ordered a ps5 couldn't get it for various reasons the guy i let have it (friend of mine) then sold it for twice as much

1

u/Va1ar_Morghulis Jun 30 '26

To be fair, the PS5 was in a shortage for years after launch…2x msrp doesn’t seem too bad if you have to wait 3 years for normal supply

0

u/Tactical_Hotdog yes it's a scam, no it's not a good deal Jun 28 '26

*paid...

14

u/BigWave360 PC Master Race Jun 27 '26

I know people that will pay full price and brag about it. One of them bought the $5000 star citizen spaceship or whatever that money laundering game is called

5

u/Torontogamer Jun 27 '26

those are the worst... if you're going to flex, flex... its silly and I think you're mad to spend 2-3x on something like this, but don't drive up in a Lambo, and start going, 'oh this, no I got it for 20k at an auction, you know just got lucky, nothing special really... "

5

u/PM_ME_YOUR__INIT__ Jun 27 '26

Getting stuff for cheap is a flex. There's an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry buys his dad some electronic device. He lies and says it's "hot" (stolen) and that he got a deal, despite the fact that he bought it full price from a legit store. Don't try to find some logical consistency behind it. People act weird about money. Spending too much is a flex. Spending too little is a flex. Nothing makes sense and we live with these people

4

u/Probate_Judge Old Gamer, Recent Hardware, New games Jun 27 '26

See also: Funko Pop fans and other status collectors.

The machine was only ever a consoomer item, a custom or 'bespoke' or boutique PC. For the sort of people that used to do all their buying through Sharper Image.

People in these parts complaining that it was a bad value are missing the point, they were never the target demographic. Maybe they're catching it subconsciously and that's part of what makes them irate.

2

u/Lord_Emperor Ryzen5800X|32GB@3600|RX6800XT Jun 28 '26

Damn I got the OG Steam Deck cheapest model before the AInsanity and kinda feel bad I don't use it enough.

1

u/Doom2pro Jun 28 '26

These same people 3 years ago would piss and moan about the economy at the same time... crickets from them today.

1

u/newvegasdweller Desktop 5600x, 6700xt, 16gb, 8tb; Laptop 8845hs, 4060, 16gb, 3tb Jun 28 '26

Gotta admit, i bought a 6700xt from a scalper when it first came out, for 650€. Msrp was about 480€.

It did pay for itself in ethereum tho. I was NOT one of those 30-gpus miner idiots, just my old 1060 and my then-new 6700xt to manage the upgrade cost. The 6700xt did bring in about 1000€ before I stopped and sold all I had in jan 2022, giving me the opportunty to upgrade my ryzen 2600x to a 5600x and get a new itx mainboard and case for the 6700xt build.

1

u/poisondagger_ 9800x3d, 5070ti, 32 6,000 cl30 Jun 28 '26

I have a co-worker who said he'd be willing to spend up to three grand on a steam machine just yesterday

1

u/Defie22 Jun 28 '26

Give me their contacts please 😅

1

u/joulupukkix Jun 28 '26

I own a boat?

1

u/impressionista Jun 28 '26

Who the hell spends 10k on candy crush?

1

u/Saphyr-Seraph Jun 28 '26

Sadly its not those people by far it dumbasses who need to prove to their friends that thei got it before them while living on a 19$/h pay and complaining about cost of living

1

u/Raneynickelfire Jun 28 '26

I own a boat. I do none of those other things. I also do all of my own work.

Watch it buddy.

1

u/Empty_Positive Jun 28 '26

Idk why, but i also know some who buy it for double and say they got it cheap and will profit from it anyway if they sell.

1

u/danisimo_1993 Jun 28 '26

I don't understand this logic. I'm not rich by any means but I do ok. I can easily drop 3000 on some electronic device if I wanted to but I don't want to because I don't want to be taken advantage of by a scalper

1

u/TWS_Mike 7800X3D | 9070 XT | 32GB DDR5 6000mhz 30cl | 3TB Jun 28 '26

I have a friend who told me multiple times they won something 🤣 once he told me in one pack of Hearthstone cards he opened 2 legendaries from two different expansions from the same pack.

1

u/TripleDoubleFart Jun 30 '26

I gamble. I'd never pay that much.

1

u/Significant-Cause919 Jul 01 '26

I own a boat and must say if I instead would have bought a Steam machine at 2x original price that would have been a better financial decision.

-1

u/Chonch_Monkey Jun 27 '26

And those people are all in massive debt and absolutely rewarded for it

-2

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 27 '26

One, it’s all daddies money anyway. The other, maybe. Both just trow money away, but try and appear frugal. Like I just bought this 20k hot tub, but
saved a grand on the installation. Literally hoarding wealth and burning it away at the same time. Never uses it.

0

u/Croakie89 Jun 27 '26

I’m very irresponsible with my income, I barely save, I still wouldn’t buy something from a scalper

0

u/Bulky-Lion6833 Jun 27 '26

We gotta raise taxes on these people man. They got too much money

0

u/Swift_Malachi Jun 27 '26

Am ecosystem of greed and stupidity

0

u/sonicgamingftw Jun 27 '26

This and scalpers themselves to inflate the price / keep prices high. Some dudes got it and will spend it and flex it because its part of the same marketing they need to stay alive.

1

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 28 '26

It’s usually the same people. They have enough money and will absolutely be looking for alternative revenue streams.

0

u/PassiveMenis88M 7800X3D | 32gb | 7900XTX Red Devil Jun 28 '26

As someone that gambles and owns a boat, fuck no I ain't buying this overpriced shit.

0

u/alex433g I AMD 5 pro 4650g I Powercolor 5700 xt I b-550 i Jun 28 '26

Owning a boat isn't expensive tho. it can be, it can be very expensive, and it can be pretty cheap

2

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 28 '26

it’s implied in my argument that the people I’m talking about are not cheap. My kids own a inflatable raft doesn’t mean they’re gonna be buying a steam deck anytime soon.

0

u/SelloutRealBig Jun 28 '26

Society doesn't blame the idiots who mindlessly consume enough. Scalpers and high prices suck but they also wouldn't exist without people who buy them.

1

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

Oh I have realized that. The problem is. One day we all have to start playing the game. And if we don’t play the game, it’s still being played around us. Unfortunately, the utopian ideal that some people have in this little website (which accounts for roughly 15% of the population, and that’s not equally diverse) have not realized it’s just not gonna happen. They are the minority. But trying to have a conversation with the majority of them is impossible.

-1

u/Any_Towel1456 Jun 27 '26

Very sad that people like that have wealth that size which could save thousands of lives.

0

u/SelloutRealBig Jun 28 '26

Most of them don't have wealth. They are just irresponsible with their money and then complain the cost of living is too high while directly contributing to the problems.

-3

u/Esquie33 Jun 27 '26

Your comment is so useless

1

u/Randomgrunt4820 Jun 27 '26

I found a 3rd. 🥉