Buying or selling second-hand gaming hardware can feel like a coin toss. Sometimes you land a bargain and walk away smiling. Other times, you end up on Reddit, venting about how your “brand new” GPU arrived looking like it had been through a war. We’ve all heard the warnings, but nothing drives the point home quite like real stories from real people who’ve been burned.
Here are five horror stories of pre-owned gaming gone wrong, straight from Reddit.
1. The “brick in the box” fear
One Redditor shared their frustration after selling a graphics card on eBay. The buyer immediately requested a return, claiming the GPU “doesn’t work”. The problem? The seller had been using it daily before shipping, and it was working perfectly.
The fear was obvious: what if the buyer sends back a dead GPU, or worse, just a box with a brick in it? eBay’s process offered little reassurance, with only two options: accept the return or offer a refund. Suddenly, what should have been a straightforward sale turned into a nightmare of uncertainty.
It’s a common fear among sellers: you do everything right, only to risk being scammed out of both your hardware and your money.
2. The first PC nightmare
Not all horror stories come from sellers. One Redditor shared the devastating experience of buying their very first PC through Facebook Marketplace. The listing promised an i7 11th Gen CPU, an RTX 3070, 64GB of RAM, and plenty of storage, a dream build for $700.
But when they got the system home, reality hit hard. Inside was a far weaker RTX 2060, a single 8GB stick of RAM, and just a fraction of the promised storage. Even worse, the fans lit up but didn’t spin, and the machine wouldn’t produce any video output at all. To top it off, the seller blocked them immediately after the sale.
For a student saving up to get a rig powerful enough for university work, the scam wasn’t just a financial blow; it was an emotional one. Their dream build turned into a useless box and a painful lesson in how cruel second-hand markets can be.
3. The gutted RTX 4090
If the fear of getting a brick in the mail wasn’t bad enough, one Redditor had their nightmare confirmed. They sold a pristine RTX 4090 on eBay, only for the buyer to claim it “had no video output” and demand a refund. When the card came back, it was in rough shape: a bent bracket, crossed wires, clear signs of tampering.
But the real shock came when they took it apart. The GPU chip and RAM modules had been physically removed. In other words, the buyer stripped the card for its most valuable components and returned the empty husk...
In this case, eBay refunded the buyer but also let the seller keep their money, leaving them with a useless PCB. While the seller wasn’t left out of pocket, they were left with a strong sense of violation and a reminder that even the most secure-seeming platforms can let scams like this slip through.
4. The dismantled return
One long-time eBay seller shared a shocking experience after over a decade of smooth sales. They shipped out a working GPU, only for it to be returned completely torn apart. Screws were missing, the PCIe bracket was bent, and even the repair seal had been cut.
Despite providing photos to prove the damage, eBay sided with the buyer almost instantly. Within minutes of filing the complaint, the platform approved the refund, leaving the seller out of pocket and stuck with a card that looked like it had been pulled apart by a curious child.
For veteran sellers, it was a harsh reminder that even years of experience and a spotless record don’t protect you from getting burned. Sometimes, the platform itself feels stacked against you.
5. The empty husk
The final story is almost unbelievable, and that’s what makes it so painful. After saving for four years, one buyer thought they’d finally found their upgrade: a gaming PC that looked like a fantastic deal. The seller seemed genuine, the meeting was arranged, and cash changed hands.
But the moment the money was shown, the “deal” turned into a scam. The buyer was left with a PC case filled with little more than scrap. There was no CPU, no RAM, and no usable hardware at all, just an empty husk held together with bits of wire. The scammer vanished with the cash, leaving the buyer with nothing but frustration and a dream shattered.
So, how do you avoid becoming the next horror story?
The risks are real, but that doesn’t mean gamers should avoid the second-hand market altogether. In fact, when it works, buying or selling pre-owned hardware is one of the best ways to stretch your budget, fund upgrades, and keep tech in circulation. The key is trust.
That’s exactly where AEM Labs comes in. Our dedicated marketplace is designed specifically for gamers, with safeguards that make scams and ghost sellers a thing of the past. Sellers are verified, buyers are protected, and every transaction is handled with transparency in mind. Whether you’re upgrading your rig or cashing in your old parts, you can trade without fear of becoming the next Reddit horror story.
If you want to explore more about the second-hand PC world, check out:
With AEM Labs, buying and selling used gaming hardware doesn’t have to be a gamble. It can finally be the safe, affordable upgrade path that gamers deserve. But, we’re not just here to be a marketplace; we’re here to build a community. So head on over to our Discord and check us out on all our social channels to become a part of our growing family.
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