Is this ethical?

[TokyoKeebs]

I was just wondering, would it be considering scalping and would it not be accepted to write a code to just get one GPU? This is just hypothetical as I can't get a job and am nowhere near to affording a gpu but if the chip shortage extended too long would this be ethical?

[Slottr]

Desperate Times = Desperate Measures 

 

If you have the knowhow and skill to do so, might as well benefit from it 

[Hairless Monkey]

I fail to see how this could have anything to do with either scalping or ethics.

[Alder Lake]

21 hours ago, TokyoKeebs said:

I was just wondering, would it be considering scalping and would it not be accepted to write a code to just get one GPU? This is just hypothetical as I can't get a job and am nowhere near to affording a gpu but if the chip shortage extended too long would this be ethical?

I'd only consider it scalping when you either buy it just to sell it, or buy it just to mine with it

 

if you buy it just to use it, then that's perfectly fine

[YoungBlade]

The issue with bots was never individuals using a bot to get a single card. The reason bots are unethical is that it allows a single person or small group to buy large amounts of cards so quickly that others have no chance to buy one.

[Quackers101]

sounded like you wanted to "hack buying one?" or stealing, as in the statement of not being able to afford one etc.

in those terms, that would be illegal and so on. As for a bot to get an single order? might not be too bad, but can suck for others.

[Quickstrike]

40 minutes ago, TokyoKeebs said:

I was just wondering, would it be considering scalping and would it not be accepted to write a code to just get one GPU? This is just hypothetical as I can't get a job and am nowhere near to affording a gpu but if the chip shortage extended too long would this be ethical?

It's not without risk on your part.
The shortage is abating and prices might start to fall, especially with Intel joining the GPU market.

 

Also, it's not ethical. You don't add any value to your product, you just contribute to the shortage.
The ethical way to do it is to have a mandate from someone willing to buy and pay and have you time paid for.

[Middcore]

Absolutely nothing wrong with using a bot to get individual parts for personal use, I've done it. Assuming that's what you mean by "write code," although you'd be reinventing the wheel. 

[Middcore]

2 minutes ago, Quickstrike said:

Also, it's not ethical. You don't add any value to your product, you just contribute to the shortage.

 

Anybody buying a part for any reason is "contributing to the shortage." Why does he need to "add value" to a product he's going to use? 

 

2 minutes ago, Quickstrike said:

The ethical way to do it is to have a mandate from someone willing to buy and pay and have you time paid for.

 

So he should pay someone to sit in a stock alert Discord server all day or something and try to buy for him manually when a bot could do a better job for free? FOH. 

 

I really think you've totally misinterpreted what OP is saying. 

[dimforest]

The entire market is currently "unfair" and being largely dominated by bots and scalpers playing dirty so if you're only trying to "ethically" obtain a GPU then you're at a massive disadvantage. If you're doing it for a single card then I don't think anybody is going to bat an eye at it right now. 

 

Side note: depending on your experience, if you can code you shouldn't have too hard of a time finding something. Our company can't keep a full dev team for more than a year without them bouncing around to other gigs. I'm on the systems/operations side and even in our more traditional IT world, there are a ton of places out there struggling to find solid candidates. 

[wasab]

hm... i can actually write a guide on how to scalp gpus with a bot. Anyone interested? 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

7 hours ago, Alder Lake said:

I consider it scalping when you either buy it just to sell it, or buy it just to mine with it

 

if you buy it just to use it, then that's perfectly fine

But…

buying it to mine isn’t scalping, that’s just buying it to use it…

there is a real definition to scalping though

scalping in the sense used here is the first one

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, TokyoKeebs said:

I was just wondering, would it be considering scalping and would it not be accepted to write a code to just get one GPU? This is just hypothetical as I can't get a job and am nowhere near to affording a gpu but if the chip shortage extended too long would this be ethical?

What exactly are you asking? That will determine the answer.

 

If you're talking about writing code to make a bot that will buy you a GPU at retail MSRP before it goes out of stock, and you're gonna keep and use that GPU personally? Yeah, no issues there.

 

If you're talking about buying a single GPU to resell it at a profit? That's a douche move. Do not recommend.

[Zodiark1593]

The market isn't built on one's interpretation of what's ethical. Competition for limited goods often toes the line of legality, let alone ethics. The market does not really care what you deem right or wrong. If you want it, do what you must to get it, within the letter of the law of course.

[Mark Kaine]

4 hours ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

But…

buying it to mine isn’t scalping, that’s just buying it to use it…

there is a real definition to scalping though

scalping in the sense used here is the first one

its also a bit of both because by buying  unusual high numbers scalpers will also create a defacto shortage, thus manipulating the market, driving more customers towards them, the alledged "solution" to the problem (they created) 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

8 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

its also a bit of both because by buying  unusual high numbers scalpers will also create a defacto shortage, thus manipulating the market, driving more customers towards them, the alledged "solution" to the problem (they created) 

But, it’s not fraudulent .

there’s nothing illegal or fraudulent about buying lots of something rare and sellling it for a higher lrice

[wxxdy]

IMO there's nothing wrong with that as long as you use it for what it's made for, as long as you don't buy it specifically for mining and enjoy gaming or rendering or whatever it's completely fine.

[LogicalDrm]

2 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

its also a bit of both because by buying  unusual high numbers scalpers will also create a defacto shortage, thus manipulating the market, driving more customers towards them, the alledged "solution" to the problem (they created) 

I've read this couple of times, and it makes no sense as reply to post you are quoting.

 

1 hour ago, wxxdy said:

IMO there's nothing wrong with that as long as you use it for what it's made for, as long as you don't buy it specifically for mining and enjoy gaming or rendering or whatever it's completely fine.

They all are essentially doing same thing, running calculations on graphics cores. Just because you don't like mining as activity done on GPUs doesn't really make it different from other end results of calculations.

[Mark Kaine]

14 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

and it makes no sense as reply to post you are quoting

it makes all the sense because its exactly how the market works, just because its maybe not illegal (depends on the goods btw because if its food or something it suddenly becomes illegal) doesnt change how it works. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

But, it’s not fraudulent .

there’s nothing illegal or fraudulent about buying lots of something rare and sellling it for a higher lrice

as per this definition its not fraudulent, (although obviously the definition lacks some important factors such as food and is therfore too broad) but the act itself remains the same so why would  the term change, it doesnt?

i never said scalping is illegal (unless it is in some cases)

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

34 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

t makes all the sense because its exactly how the market works, just because its maybe not illegal (depends on the goods btw because if its food or something it suddenly becomes illegal) doesnt change how it works. 

Ah, you mean both definitions.... You really should have made that more clear. Here, it really isn't both. Not in large scale at least. There might be some parties that are trying to inflate prices on purpose, but I would say most are still just taking advantage of situation.

[Beerzerker]

5 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

its also a bit of both because by buying  unusual high numbers scalpers will also create a defacto shortage, thus manipulating the market, driving more customers towards them, the alledged "solution" to the problem (they created) 

 

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

Ah, you mean both definitions.... You really should have made that more clear. Here, it really isn't both. Not in large scale at least. There might be some parties that are trying to inflate prices on purpose, but I would say most are still just taking advantage of situation.

To me it's both - Manipulation/control of the stock and prices of these items.
Classic black market/criminal gang behaviour in action here.
 

16 hours ago, Quickstrike said:

It's not without risk on your part.
The shortage is abating and prices might start to fall, especially with Intel joining the GPU market.

 

Also, it's not ethical. You don't add any value to your product, you just contribute to the shortage.
The ethical way to do it is to have a mandate from someone willing to buy and pay and have you time paid for.

And please explain HOW they are contributing to the shortage when the OP said "One unit"?
Just one mind you, NOT the entire stock of a site.

I call that having to fight fire with fire just to even have a shot at getting one for anywhere near a fair price.
As long as it's "Just one" as the OP said I have no problem with it, it's when the greed takes over and you buy another as a spare, then.... Maybe.... Another to earn a bit of change on the side for something else....
Hey!
That was easy and paid for my entire upgrade.... Maybe one....Two.... Three more...

Slippery slope and it's due to our nature of just being human.
Don't let it go there and you're fine OP.

[Spindel]

I don't like gamers they buy GPUs for useless entertainment driving up the price for my mining equipment that I use to make actual money from. 

 

 

 

This is a sarcastic post but I'll bet, from some answers in this thread, that the point will pass over several heads. 

[Alder Lake]

13 hours ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

But…

buying it to mine isn’t scalping, that’s just buying it to use it…

there is a real definition to scalping though

scalping in the sense used here is the first one

I mean, strictly speaking, you are trading your GPU power for crypto, though I'm aware that's a bit of a stretch