Sanctioned GeForce RTX 5090 makes its way to a Chinese auction site, for over $4000

The GeForce RTX 5090 is effectively banned from sale in China thanks to US-based sanctions on companies selling powerful GPUs in the region. This is why you've got the cut-down GeForce RTX 5090D in China, and we're now seeing evidence of Chinese shopping tourists visiting nearby countries to source GeForce RTX 5090 cards for resale within China.

South Korean tech enthusiast @harukaze5719 posted a screenshot of ZOTAC's GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID OC model, which is currently up for sale on a Chinese auction site for approximately $4,000 USD-double the MSRP. It seems that gamers and enthusiasts in China would rather pick up a fully uncut GeForce RTX 5090 than settle for the RTX 5090D.

The Chinese auction site picture clearly shows a sticker with Korean text highlighting the card's three-year warranty and other information. However, it's safe to assume that this warranty doesn't extend to China - a region where the GPU is effectively banned from sale.

According to an additional report at Tom's Hardware, it looks like Chinese shoppers were involved in the recent GeForce RTX 5080 and GeForce RTX 5090 launch day lottery chaos in Japan. There are also reports of Chinese GPU enthusiasts flying to Taiwan specifically for the GeForce RTX 50 Series launch.

There's a news report where Chinese shoppers in Taiwan are interviewed before the GeForce RTX 5090 launch. According to their comments, they flew to Taiwan because they didn't want a GeForce RTX 5090D and didn't want to pay scalper prices for a GeForce RTX 5090 back home. Unfortunately, as we now know, due to global stock shortages, most potential GeForce RTX 5090 buyers - no matter the location - went home empty-handed. This means that scalpers are the only option for those desperate to get their hands on NVIDIA's latest flagship gaming GPU.