Are Amazon GPUs actually new?

[unovale]

This question might sound silly: around 3 months ago I bought a powercolor red devil 6900xt. The GPU box didnt have a plastic seal over it and the tape covering both end of the box were broken evenly. The content of the box seemed new and the GPU took a 30 minute stress test just fine. 

 

I was wondering if the unsealed box indicated that the GPU was actually used. Have amazon sold GPUs that were returned directly to another customer without inspecting and resealing them? 

[Imbadatnames]

1 minute ago, unovale said:

This question might sound silly: around 3 months ago I bought a powercolor red devil 6900xt. The GPU box didnt have a plastic seal over it and the tape covering both end of the box were broken evenly. The content of the box seemed new and the GPU took a 30 minute stress test just fine. 

 

I was wondering if the unsealed box indicated that the GPU was actually used. Have amazon sold GPUs that were returned directly to another customer without inspecting and resealing them? 

Unlikely unless it wasn’t actually Amazon selling. Boxes can be opened by customs etc too when they get into the country 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Amazon is mostly a marketplace, not a retailer. You're buying from someone selling through Amazon, not Amazon themselves, so really whether they're new or not depends on the seller. 

 

Amazon is known to not really check returns, there's many instances of people getting items with rocks and such in them to give them weight. 

That said, most new GPUs don't come with a plastic wrap anyway. The tape, however, should be intact on a new GPU box, so at the very least it has been opened. Someone may have used it for mining for a bit and then returned it, or something similar, though no way to tell for sure. 

[unovale]

2 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Amazon is mostly a marketplace, not a retailer. You're buying from someone selling through Amazon, not Amazon themselves, so really whether they're new or not depends on the seller. 

 

Amazon is known to not really check returns, there's many instances of people getting items with rocks and such in them to give them weight. 

That said, most new GPUs don't come with a plastic wrap anyway. The tape, however, should be intact on a new GPU box, so at the very least it has been opened. Someone may have used it for mining for a bit and then returned it, or something similar, though no way to tell for sure. 

i bought directly from Amazon, not a third party seller. You do have a good point though. 

[William Payne]

With recent purchases  I wouldn't trust amazon with anything seriously important. Brought a boot from them the other week brand new and the only packaging it came in was a soft shell bag. By the time it got to me it looked extremely used and beat up. Sure I tend to baby stuff but I have 20 year old books that look better. 

 

I would only by Computer Parts from a reputable known seller of PC parts. 

[Middcore]

19 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Amazon is mostly a marketplace, not a retailer. You're buying from someone selling through Amazon, not Amazon themselves

 

This is misleading. Items shipped from and sold by Amazon are clearly differentiated from third-party sellers using Amazon as a storefront. 

[SiRcivic27]

2 hours ago, Middcore said:

 

This is misleading. Items shipped from and sold by Amazon are clearly differentiated from third-party sellers using Amazon as a storefront. 

Yep. I only buy direct from Amazon or the manufacturer of the item on Amazon.

[Lurking]

22 hours ago, unovale said:

This question might sound silly: around 3 months ago I bought a powercolor red devil 6900xt. The GPU box didnt have a plastic seal over it and the tape covering both end of the box were broken evenly. The content of the box seemed new and the GPU took a 30 minute stress test just fine. 

 

I was wondering if the unsealed box indicated that the GPU was actually used. Have amazon sold GPUs that were returned directly to another customer without inspecting and resealing them? 

Is anything wrong with it, now 3 months later? Were you able to register with manufacturer for warranty? (if that is what the manufacturer recommends). If all is fine, all is fine.

 

Amazon (like Walmart, Newegg and many others) has 3rd party sellers, manufacturers and Amazon itself as the seller. I have bought all 3 types and if there was an issue, Amazon ALWAYS took the item back and refunded the money. Obviously this is easiest within the 30, or 60 day return period. So really no telling what a specific seller does.

 

If it was just opened, I wouldn't worry. Look for scratches or traces of it being installed. It also is possible it is a return item (that usually is clearly declared, and priced less). I've bought a LOT of return/reconditioned items ranging from yard tools to power tools etc. They all came with the manufacturer warranty and all appeared to be unused (obviously no guarantee they were unused). Some had "recon" branded into the case. So far never had a problem. I bet 99% of the reconditioned items were returns where the customer changed their mind. The 1% where the return item may have an issue, you can return as well. 

[Mark Kaine]

yup happens all the time with returns, at retail too, if they think it still looks new it gets sold as new…  only if theres visible damage to packaging or item they will sell it as "used" or warehouse deals, etc.

 

And i dont even think this is illegal, per say, as the seller is "supposed" to check for functionality, etc (which many of course dont )

[dilpickle]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

yup happens all the time with returns, at retail too, if they think it still looks new it gets sold as new…  only if theres visible damage to packaging or item they will sell it as "used" or warehouse deals, etc.

 

And i dont even think this is illegal,

It is absolutely illegal in the USA.

 

The whole point of those stickers is to determine whether the product is new or used.

 

The OPs experience could be a fluke or could be a rogue Amazon employee. But this is not something you should ever expect from a legitimate retailer.

[LogicalDrm]

On 1/23/2022 at 1:58 AM, Imbadatnames said:

Boxes can be opened by customs etc too when they get into the country 

If customs open anything, they will have their own seal on it to show it has been opened. Plus they will send note about it along with item. Customs don't have reason to open retail boxes with factory seals, unless there's something wrong with manifestation or x-ray. They can open outer packaging without damaging internal seals.

[Imbadatnames]

11 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

If customs open anything, they will have their own seal on it to show it has been opened. Plus they will send note about it along with item. Customs don't have reason to open retail boxes with factory seals, unless there's something wrong with manifestation or x-ray. They can open outer packaging without damaging internal seals.

They also have random checks and searches, not saying it’s what happened but wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility for it to be checked and the custom seal removed by the retailer to avoid looking “dodgy”  

[LogicalDrm]

6 hours ago, Imbadatnames said:

They also have random checks and searches, not saying it’s what happened but wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility for it to be checked and the custom seal removed by the retailer to avoid looking “dodgy”  

? You mean when stuff arrives to retailers? I thought you were talking about after it leaves retailers.

 

If retailer sells something that has broken seal without disclosing it, that's misleading advertising. Now, I only know how things work here. And yes, customs does random checks. But they don't open all the packages of pallet. Only few at most. And IIRC those units wouldn't be given back, they stay as collateral damage.

[dizmo]

24 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

? You mean when stuff arrives to retailers? I thought you were talking about after it leaves retailers.

 

If retailer sells something that has broken seal without disclosing it, that's misleading advertising. Now, I only know how things work here. And yes, customs does random checks. But they don't open all the packages of pallet. Only few at most. And IIRC those units wouldn't be given back, they stay as collateral damage.

It's highly, highly unlikely they'd open anything at all. Especially for Amazon shipments. It would, at most, be xrayed.

[FalseControl]

On 1/22/2022 at 5:10 PM, William Payne said:

With recent purchases  I wouldn't trust amazon with anything seriously important. Brought a boot from them the other week brand new and the only packaging it came in was a soft shell bag. By the time it got to me it looked extremely used and beat up. Sure I tend to baby stuff but I have 20 year old books that look better. 

 

I would only by Computer Parts from a reputable known seller of PC parts. 

I would say the same thing but I got some stuff from Newegg recently and they only sell computer parts and electronics so you would think they got their packing game down to keep from RMA's well I got a MB with some massive damage to the IO shield that made all the USB ports unusable. Packing material was terrible and I got it from Newegg warehouse. 

[William Payne]

5 minutes ago, FalseControl said:

I would say the same thing but I got some stuff from Newegg recently and they only sell computer parts and electronics so you would think they got their packing game down to keep from RMA's well I got a MB with some massive damage to the IO shield that made all the USB ports unusable. Packing material was terrible and I got it from Newegg warehouse. 

That’s unfortunate I live in New Zealand so don’t use Newegg but when I buy parts from they are actually annoyingly overkill on their packaging. Boxes inside boxes inside boxes with so much bubble wrap. Protects the parts but make dealing with the packaging a huge pain. 

[William Payne]

2 hours ago, William Payne said:

That’s unfortunate I live in New Zealand so don’t use Newegg but where I buy parts from they are actually annoyingly overkill on their packaging. Boxes inside boxes inside boxes with so much bubble wrap. Protects the parts but makes dealing with the packaging a huge pain. 

 

[Imbadatnames]

9 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

? You mean when stuff arrives to retailers? I thought you were talking about after it leaves retailers.

 

If retailer sells something that has broken seal without disclosing it, that's misleading advertising. Now, I only know how things work here. And yes, customs does random checks. But they don't open all the packages of pallet. Only few at most. And IIRC those units wouldn't be given back, they stay as collateral damage.

Nah I mean when they’re shipped to retailers.

 

with the currently GPU issues I wouldn’t be surprised if they took them back and sold them as new or even have some fine print on them, a 6900XT is what over a grand still. 

[Montana One-Six]

On 1/23/2022 at 12:56 AM, unovale said:

I was wondering if the unsealed box indicated that the GPU was actually used. Have amazon sold GPUs that were returned directly to another customer without inspecting and resealing them? 

Did you buy from Amazon or Amazon Warehouse?

 

Because Amazon sells already opened, damaged but functional and/or used stuff under the name of Amazon Warehouse. Which often gets you items at a lower Price depending on condition. I got my 3080Ti for a lot less (paid less than what the equivalent 3080 was going for at the time) from an amazon warehouse deal. So if you paid a lower price than usual it probably was an amazon warehouse deal. In that case it is normal to not be factory sealed.

 

[SirWendall]

Before the pandemic, my 2080 Super came in plastic wrap and box was sealed from Amazon. Bought straight from Amazon. I can't say how they are packaged now since I haven't bought one recently.

[XGoodGuyFitz]

30 minutes ago, Montana16 said:

Did you buy from Amazon or Amazon Warehouse?

 

Because Amazon sells already opened, damaged but functional and/or used stuff under the name of Amazon Warehouse. Which often gets you items at a lower Price depending on condition. I got my 3080Ti for a lot less (paid less than what the equivalent 3080 was going for at the time) from an amazon warehouse deal. So if you paid a lower price than usual it probably was an amazon warehouse deal. In that case it is normal to not be factory sealed.

 

Amazon warehouse is promising. I didnt know it existed until just now. Sadly, they dont have that many decent gpus that arent 1000$ or more. 

[Montana One-Six]

22 hours ago, XGoodGuyFitz said:

Amazon warehouse is promising. I didnt know it existed until just now. Sadly, they dont have that many decent gpus that arent 1000$ or more. 

They occasionally have very good deals. But you have to be quick and need some luck especially with GPUs these days. I looked about once or twice a day for different GPUs for about 3 months before I got lucky.

[dilpickle]

BTW I've bought multiple motherboards and GPUs that had no seal on the box at all. (they still had a seal on the bag inside) All from legitimate online retailers. Most recently a Z690 ACE from BHPhoto that shipped directly from MSI.

 

But having a broken seal is another matter entirely.