Ebay Scalpers Selling DDR5 Memory Kits For Up To $2,400 Is Apparently Now Par For The Course
It was always a given that DDR5 memory would command a premium over DDR4 kits at the outset, but $2,399.99 for a 32GB package? That's just plain ridiculous. It's also what a recent kit of Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-5200 recently sold for on eBay as scalpers continue to make bank on tech items that are in hot demand and short supply.
A quick check of Newegg's DDR5 listings shows there are only 22 kits, zero of which are in stock. In contrast, there are thousands of DDR4 memory kits, with several 32GB (2x16GB) packages costing around $90, including some DDR4-3200 kits. There's even a 32GB DDR4-4000 memory kit listed for around $110.
At present, 32GB DDR5 kits range in price from around $180 to $550 at retail, at least when they're in stock. They're all sold out though, leading to listings on eBay like these...
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We're not sure which is more disheartening, that DDR5 memory kits are fetching thousands of dollars on eBay or that shipping is not even necessarily included. At least the seller was willing to foot the shipping bill on the $2,399.99 listing, which originally had a 'Buy It Now' price of $2,499.99 before it was reduced by $100. How thoughtful (on both accounts).
Those two listings (by two different sellers) are only semi-outliers. We looked up DDR5 listings that have ended with a supposed buyer and while very few have commanded north of two grand, there are many that attracted obscenely high ending bids. For example, a 16GB Oloy DDR5-4800 memory kit attracted 51 bids and sold for $890. We also spotted a 32GB Kingston Fury DDR5-5200 memory kit that sold for $1,168.
This is how it might go for a bit. A major system builder told us that when it comes to Alder Lake builds, sourcing components is the hardest part (specifically, Z690 motherboards and DDR5 memory). That will obviously change in time, but for now, opportunistic scalpers have yet another revenue stream at their disposal.
