AMD issuing guidelines to prevent scalping, report

AMD is issuing guidelines to retailers in order to prevent scalping of their new Ryzen 5000 CPUs and RX 6000 GPUs, according to a report obtained by RedGamingTech.

According to the document, the company is telling shops that “some purchasers may initially try to buy large quantities of our new graphics and processors cards and re-sell them at higher prices.” They went on to say that want to work together with their partners to ensure these products get into the hands of gamers and enthusiasts.

Several recommendations have reportedly been given, including implementing software and CAPTCHAs to prevent bots from making bulk purchases. They also suggest that retailers implement a queue process, and a one-per-customer policy.

Late last month, rival Nvidia faced pandemonium when they released their new RTX 3080 and 3090 cards for sale. Units were quickly scooped up by bots and scalpers only to appear on eBay at grossly inflated prices. The company eventually apologized and issued similar restrictions on their own store.

Nearly every major tech company has faced a debacle this year due to CCPVirus related supply issues, and scalpers looking to cash in on hot new products. It seems AMD is trying their best to avoid yet another PR disaster. Though with Zen 3 CPUs already in high demand, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, and whether retailers will actually go along with these recommendations.