GPU bundles have been one of the only ways to get a Graphic Card in 2021, met with mixed feelings. Claims of endless profits and offloading of undesirable products have run havoc, painting retailers as nothing more than money hungry pirates.

Why Graphic Card Bundles Make Sense

Unless you’ve been lucky enough to get your hands on a new GPU at one of Best Buy’s/ Currys in-store restocks, there’s one main way to buy a new graphics card in 2021: through a bundle. Specifically one led by Newegg’s shuffle lottery program, retailers have stated selling graphic cards exclusively with other PC components or accessories

Antonline is one example. They sell bundles of EVGA Graphic Cards along with other EVGA components and accessories at a slight markup (much less than the markup of Graphic Cards along elsewhere). Newegg restricts all but the most expensive Graphic Cards to bundles, too, with many bundles exclusively part of Newegg Shuffle.

I think its fair to say that Graphic Card demand is still very high and will remain high for the foreseeable future.. At least until the crypto pipe dream dies a death, the supple chain confusion is unconfused and the chip shortage is… unshortaged…

Ted Pollak, senior gaming analyst at Graphic research firm Job Peddie Research, said that “bundling makes sense”. Scalpers and bots snatch up Graphic Cards quickly and Pollak says that bundling can be an effective way to deter them from Graphic Cards. “Nothing can circumvent scalpers and bots, but bundling makes the economics much worse for people trying to flip product.”

Its not just a case of pointing the finger at the bots and scalpers, though. The price increases of GPU’s that we recently talked about have lead gamers to seek out Graphic Cards to resell. Gamers likely don’t account for a large portion of the million resellers have raked in through Graphic Cards.

“The retailers don’t really have control here no matter what they do on unbundled cards sales,” Pollack said. “Even gamers will take advantage of arbitrage situations, and if they can buy something for $500 that they can instantly sell for $850, they will do it.”