Those of you who follow GPU announcements quite closely will know that one of the biggest features of a new card will be its price point.
When it comes to buying these cards on release however – we almost always pay above this price.
Why?
“We typically provide an MSRP for the retailers, but this does not always hold as some retailers have increased the pricing due to high demand and limited availability,” said Zotac’s marketing manager, Buu Ly to Digital Trends.
“Also, the other thing that causes confusion is marketplace sellers who list at some ridiculously high prices. These show first when the item listed at MSRP is out of stock.”
AMD graphics partner Sapphire confirmed this was the case but acknowledged that it was simply a case of economics at work.
“We maintain a price to the channel customer, but it is the market and its forces that dictates the MSRP to the end user. This is simply a case of supply and demand,” said global marketing lead at Sapphire, Philip Wynn Jones.
Quite simply, graphics card prices are inflated because people are willing to pay them.
Of course South African retailers have their own list of issues to account for, considering South Africa’s relatively small market.
“In an ideal world, all products would cost of the same per region and the only conversion required is the simple application of the exchange rate. This is not the case,” said Rebeltech’s Rune Ravnsborg.
“The basic math of Buy Price (Dollar) x Spot Rate of Exchange (RoE) gives a very inaccurate value and does not entirely account for the retail price.”
“In order to arrive at a more accurate price, we must include factors such as transportation costs, customs duties, VAT and markup.”
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I managed to get an 8GB 1070 from Frontosa (via a buddy) for R7200 incl VAT. That was a deal I could not pass by even though I now find myself an NVidia user. I’m not a massive fan of NVidia’s practices, but value for money is the overriding factor for me.
For me it became necessary to go that way, because although the 480 which I was aiming for should be cheaper in SA, the reality is that the 1060 is much cheaper. Therefore I do not see demand playing as big a role as supply. How can there be demand if the card is not being sold at a price point that makes sense? AMD originally stated that they would be launching the 480 at high volumes. Not sure if they managed it or not, but in SA the availability is atrocious. It’s definitely harming AMDs sales for what would otherwise be a very popular card. If it is purely the doing of the importers and retailers I believe they failed to follow what’s really going on in the industry. And they missed an opportunity.
So yeah… Since there was no value to be had in the mid-range (I just don’t think the 1060 will hold up well in the DX12 transition, but that’s just me…) I decided to find value on the higher end of things. And I think I did. The 490 will only be launching end of this year or early next year and I had no desire to wait.