Ever since the PS5, Xbox Series X, and the Nvidia RTX 30 series GPUs launched last year, they've been practically impossible to get hold of, but one retailer has solved the problem of websites crashing under the strain of customers clamoring for a new RTX 3080, or bots hoovering up stock of the RTX 3060 Ti with a lottery system.
It's not too dissimilar to the ballot method UK retailer BOX has employed with its Xbox Series X restock, which you can read more about in our Xbox Series X stock tracker; in this case, it's Newegg with its 'Newegg Shuffle' event.
The first such event was spotted by PCMag and went a week after Newegg's Twitter account announced it has a "long term solution coming out shortly for hot items with little supply." This week, we saw the account tweet that it had the RTX 3080, 3070, 3090, and 3060 Ti available, with customers given a brief three-hour window to access the 'event', and select the products they wanted a chance to purchase.
- iMessage finally comes to Android – but we have some concerns
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 FE is the cheap Note 21 alternative we've been waiting for
- Xbox Series Z handheld concept blows the Nintendo Switch away
Once the window closes, 'winners' are drawn from the entrants, and they're contacted via email with information on how to complete their purchase. If they don't go ahead, for whatever reason, the opportunity goes to someone else.
BOX seems to have had some success, after floating the ballot system last month. It's bringing it back the ballot this month, which adds an element of fairness as customers don't have to spend time in a queue, manically refreshing, or frantically trying to get to checkout before the bots.
You can snap up the RTX 30 series cards on their own or in bundles, and while there's no news on a confirmed second Shuffle event, it seems to be the solution the retailer was hinting at, so we'll be keeping an eye on it.
You can keep up to speed with RTX 3080 restocks using T3's Nvidia RTX 3080 stock tracker. If you'd prefer to find out which retailers are getting the PS5 back in stock, we've got you covered with a PS5 stock tracker too.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
In the meantime, you can check out our top picks for best graphics cards.
Source: PCMag
Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.
-
Is the ‘Heavy Duty’ training method best for maximum muscle growth?
Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty method is becoming increasingly popular again, but is it the smartest training tool to fast-track size and strength?
By Bryony Firth-Bernard Published
-
Missed out on the YETI Black Friday Sale? Amazon has some brilliant Christmas deals that you might want to see
Amazon's YETI sale keeps going strong – bag a deal before Christmas!
By Matt Kollat Published