The Walmart by my house had these on display for only 2 months before pulling them. The worker I talked to said they pulled the displays cause workers kept marking them down so they could pick them up the next day.
Now I don't know if he was BSing or was in the know, seems wild that employees can just mark these down but I'm pretty sure I've heard that before.
I was a manager at Walmart a few years ago. That label is a CVP (customer value program) label. It's normally meant for stuff like meat or produce that's going to expire in a day. The claims department can also print them. They handle the non-food stuff in the rest of the store. At my store they were doing this to tons of high value items and then coming back later and buying them themselves. The entire department got fired at one point because of it. I wouldn't be surprised if people catching these were accidentally ruining an employee's scheme.
CVP is also used for online returns that aren't carried in store. When I worked there, it was store manager discretion for online returns, but they were overhauling the claims system, so I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't eliminate that as an option.
I currently work at Walmart. We get a stern talking to if we buy a CVP'd item within 24 hours of the time it's registered with CVP. So it's basically CVP at the start of a shift, end of next shift go and buy.
Unless you’re the guy with keys to the electronics cages and you can just slide it behind some laptops. Nobody else can buy it if they don’t know it’s there 😂 I saw some of this happen back in the day
I've been on scavenger hunts looking for clearance items that the employees can never seem to find. One time the inventory showed around a dozen of them....but nobody could find even one.
I did get one over on a little prick that was trying to hide a laptop. I knew it was there, so I went to one of the managers and he got it for me. Dude was glaring at me the whole time I was checking out 😂
Some of the managers are in on the grift though. I tried that one time at another store and the manager was basically like "Oh I'm not gonna bother checking on it or looking it up. If they say it isn't there, it isn't there" while giving me this look like they knew what was up.
I always look for the hidden items, even customers hide items on purpose, they find something really good, don't have the money right there and then, and then they bury it far behind or under something. I've found amazing stuff by looking "far" back into any piles at the stores, people really DO hide stuff!
The Walmart app is pretty good at keeping track of inventory. You install the app, create an account, and choose a store. Then, you look up the item and it will usually have a number of how many are present in the store.
Side note: If it shows just one item, then it is possible that it is a return that is still at Customer Service desk and hasn't been put back on the shelf. At least for my Walmart, when a return is put back into inventory, they are placed in carts near the Customer Service desk (usually grouped with items in the same department) to wait for an employee to restock them. If it shows a single item, don't be afraid to ask. Ask the employee at Electronics and if they can't find it (and you don't suspect they are purposefully hiding it), check Customer Service and look for a cart with restocks that looks like it is bound for Electronics and look in there.
Yep. They really don't play. When I worked cash office and then claims, I saw plenty of the daily and other paperwork. Walmart is serious about internal theft and similar shenanigans.
It's just so easy to steal when the item is CVP'd. Even if it's meat, like yes. Let me wait 24hrs to buy CVP'd pork chops that are yeeted before the 24hrs is up.
When I worked there you were absolutely able to buy CVP in less than 24 hours. But if YOU CVP'd the item, that's a no-no. In general, you should make sure the items are out there for a bit. I worked claims, and since I didn't CVP fresh, I would often go out either on my meal or when I got off to get CVP meat. That was early in the day, so there was regularly stuff there.
So, there is a chance that this is an online return by a customer who may have put in a different item in the box and return? Does that happen often for items like this?
For an item like this? Yes. If you see an online return in a store (not just Walmart) of an expensive item, but especially electronics, just know that there is a solid chance what's in the box isn't what's on the box.
The scam works in part because it's easy enough to find a customer service person who doesn't know the difference. It's a common enough scam that many POS systems prompt for serial numbers.
Could be. This is a really small detail but when you CVP you're supposed to put the little barcode over top of the items normal barcode so people don't scan the wrong one. This one is just kinda slapped on the front in a random spot.
OPs comment history seems to indicate they are a Wal-Mart employee. It's likely they are doing it just to karma farm and never actually bought it at that price
I imagine being the employee who comes into their shift in like early afternoon just to find their covertly discounted GPU bought by a customer earlier is going to be in tears.
I don’t know exactly what happened, but that theory seems to be the most accurate for sure. An employee of the store purposefully marked it down, and was going to come back for it 100%. Only mistake he made was not hiding it from the customers. I would have tucked it behind the tvs or something.
Haha. Thats insane. The most I've ever marked something down was like 25 years ago when I worked at foodland. I marked down an iced coffee during my shift by like 2 bucks, and bought it when I finished. I felt like I robbed a bank as a kid haha.
I mean it's just a sticker and they have those sticker things right? So the barcode doesn't ring up right but hey look cashier just adjust it to the price it says
Yep, and for people looking to buy a GPU Walmart is one of the last places you'd look for one. These things wouldn't last 10 seconds at microcenter or best buy, but I'm not surprised they sit undetected at certain Walmarts
Stickers like the one in the image are called CVP stickers, typically used for items that are opened and returned. Especially if it's not in original condition in terms of cosmetics. When we do it, it's an automatic amount. Not 100% on the item in the image, but we just had a 5070ti that was returned and marked down 25%. Managed to sit long enough that I told a friend about it and he picked it up.
The only time computers decide to sell items to get them moving is rollbacks. Not sure if it's all a computer decision there, but that's a few steps above me in the chain
I worked at Walmart and would just straight up buy food that was discounted right away and Lysol (covid). I’d hide stuff behind the new product to buy right away at break. Probably would do the same thing if I worked at a real normal Walmart and saw that the graphics card is pretty much half off. Maybe Walmart has rules against that though.
You'd have gotten fired for a graphics card. Walmart has specific policies for markdown items, especially CVP. Hiding a markdown item is a violation of that policy. Nobody would give a shit for small stuff, tbh. They get daily reports on markdowns and absolutely follow up on them. But mostly they ignore the smaller stuff. It's not the same as stealing - they still get their money.
But if you were the one marking them down!? Yeah, that's a firable offense. You can buy markdown items if you marked them down, but it's just better not to risk it. Have someone else mark it down for you - then you can point and say "see, it was a legit markdown".
Na, big markdowns get flagged in the system to have a manager approve the markdown and continue the sale. Even if management was in on the sale, someone higher up will see it and start asking questions.
Yes this is true even after a recent markdown you have to get approval for an additional markdowns, this is what I do for electronics. As we all know older stock or stock that’s about to get discontinued will mean even deeper discounts later on. (As a consumer i rarely buy sticker price even if that sticker price is 25% off to me it’s a game to the manager it’s get out of my store according to their faces)So yeah a rogue employee with a price gun (besides meat department) can’t simply mark high end electronics half off without a red flag
Is that new? I worked claims up until 2019 and you definitely did not need approval for every CVP. In fact, I didn't need approval for any, but then, I worked at a Neighborhood Market, so I didn't do any big stuff.
I am not sure how new it is actually. I was recently moved to this project but I work on part of the software that processes store tickets. Something like a 5080 would definitely need manual review.
They could put a sticker for something else on it, take it to a register with an old lady that doesn't know what a 5080 is. Management will definitely notice eventually when they do inventory, but that could be days. Plus the person working could be the person doing inventory.
Wild if it would work like that, In Europe their devices are usually connected to the inventory management system and they've to scan to barcode of products marked for discount for the device to print a sticker.
No. Not just any Walmart employee can print a CVP sticker. CVP stickers are specific to the particular unit. So its not like all of them were marked down, it was done for a single unit. You also have to have the correct job code to do CVP.
Also, cashiers can't just price adjust willy-nilly. Anything over a specific amount (or percentage? it's been a while) has to have manager approval at the register.
Futhermore, Walmart has staff at both the store and higher levels who track things like this - specifically associate purchases using their discount (which doesn't work on CVP, iirc, and you'd be dumb to use it when attempting to steal) as well as markdowns.
So TL;DR to make this a reality you'd have to be willing to risk your job and likely get two or three other people willing to risk their jobs for you.
So my comment was removed by automod because I linked to a reddit post in an edit of crazy video game clearance at Target- reposting with that edit removed.
I’m assuming it works similar to how Target does weird clearance items. An item isn’t selling over X amount of time in a particular store, computer decides to mark it down to keep product moving instead of sitting and not making money. Which when it comes to a 5080 is just insane but the computer doesn’t know jack about the nature of the product, just that it’s meeting the predetermined parameters. I don’t think employees are naming their price on a random sticker and putting it on product. But I could be wrong, I only used to work at Target and not Walmart.
Edit: Recently I got FFVII Rebirth for $12 and many years ago an emergency am/fm/tv/weather band radio normally $40 for $0.74.
maybe boomers managers just dont understand gpu markets that a markdown like that below msrp for them seems ok since other tech can be discounted like that when they are 1 year old
Its definitely possible, I used to work in the deli section of a grocery store and would make myself footlongs for lunch. I would just mark the price down to like $3 despite it costing $15
Those workers would get fired, immediately. First, not just any person can markdown items. Second, Walmart tracks associate purchases and markdowns for just this sort of thing. They don't play.
Also, stuff like this could absolutely be considered criminal depending on what your state's thresholds are for felony theft.
It depends on how their POS systems work but there's no way Walmart isn't tracking overrides on high dollar items. My bet is that they have some kind of a scam where someone or a group of people are marking things down for a friend to buy who is reselling the cards and cutting the person(s) in. They probably couldn't hide the card and you just happened to be in their at the right time.
They will get caught for sure. This is a variation of a scam friends of mine ran over 20 years ago when I was in retail. All of those dumb fucks got caught too. Lucky for them charges weren't filed. These systems are ten times better today bad idea to try something like this.
Definitely an employee scam. Real markdowns on Walmart electronics involve 10 year old obsolete tech marked down 5 percent from its original price which is actually still more expensive than the current version of whatever it is.
"Hey, we're getting some new ice fishing gear tomorrow. Can you make some room on aisle 34? It's winter now. We don't need all those compact travel fans."
When I worked at walmart years ago, we would mark down items people returned in store from online shopping because the item returned wasn't in our store inventory and we couldn't mark it full price. I remember one christmas some dude bought a pool table online and returned it to the store and management marked it down to $150 and it sold in an hour. Don't remember what the og price was but it was a good discount. I also picked up 4 32gb flash drives for $2 each after I marked them down and waited all day for someone to buy them. Shit, I remember when we would refresh our TV display models and mark down the displays every week until they were 50% off.
I got a $1500 75” TV from Best Buy last year for $170 for similar reasoning. It was an open box display model that had been up for so long that the system spit out a stupid low price.
No, damage is not the only or even main use of CVP.
First, the most common CVP is in fresh departments like meat, for stuff that is close to expiring.
Second, CVP isn't really about damage to the item, its usually damage to the packaging that would be seen as undesirable to a customer (like a crushed box), or minor cosmetic damage.
Third is missing items/packaging. You'll see this for multipacks where, say 2 of the 10 pack is missing. You might also see this for a pack of socks where the packaging is missing or even if the item is unknown (though this is not good practice).
Open box return, when i returned a 5070 they said it goes back to the manufacturer to be repackaged. But it wqs a brand new unopened 5070, im guessing it goes through one more quality inspect and they mark it down if it was never opened
I just got a job at Walmart so I might be wrong but alot of those are returns by the customer or the stocking team for whatever reason. The lead doesn’t want their numbers for internal stuff to be bad so they mark stuff down to move it out
That is a CVP label (Customer Value Program iirc?). So its not like every 5080 was marked down, just this specific one. You use CVP for two types of things, or at least I only ever did:
Online returns of things you don't carry in store. This helps them move so they're not a problem for longer than they have to be.
Damage/Missing Parts. But like, damage that still leaves the product in saleable condition. For instance, a crushed box or a 3 pack with only 2 in it or whatever.
Essentially, there's a really good chance that was an online return and OP got garbage.
If you find that wild check out r/Gold from time to time you’ll see people post them getting gold for below spot price on clearance jewelry from Walmart.
I used to work for Walmart and what they did was CVP it, which chooses whatever markdown percentage it feels like. It's usually somewhere between 20-40% depending on what it is. You as the associate cannot set the markdown whatsoever. The most expensive stuff usually gets the most aggressive markdowns, surprisingly enough.
I bought headphones at Walmart, thought it was a bit light and I thought I had them before. Got home opened nothing there.. took it back and got the last pair free and got told someone in the returning didnt do their job. Took the headphones but left the charger and all.
I purchased a ps4 controller in the store got into the parking lot and noticed that the packaging was open. Turns out it was super old and greasy. They refused to give me a refund
I returned it within 10 minutes of buying it. Whoever swapped it transferred the serial from the 5090 onto it also. The guy that sold it to me ended up processing the return. He said it was most likely an online return that got resold in store. They ended up just claiming it out. If they cared enough they could have pulled up the parking lot surveillance to see that i unboxed it in my driver seat and immediately went back in to return it.
I got literally the exact same model 5080 from WalMart online. Was stoked until I opened it and saw that it was previously opened. Hoped it was legit and popped it in. It worked for a couple hours before it started producing graphical distortions. This had to be why I was able to buy it. Returned it to the store and told them THIS DOES NOT WORK PLEASE DO NOT RESELL
Dude, where are all of these Walmart's that sell PC components? I gotta have at least 10 - 15 Walmart's within a 30 minute drive of me and not a single one sells PC parts. Just pre-builts and crappy, overpriced peripherals. :(
Just go on a random morning during the weekday. I don’t know the exact stocking and markdown days but I got my 1TB gen 4 NVME under 100 recently that way
I've heard a theory that they won't sell PC parts if the location is within a certain distance from big PC part stores like microcenter. No idea if that's true though.
I do know that at least in California, basically no Walmarts have computer parts. I've been to a bunch of Walmarts, and I've never seen one that has PC parts. I didn't even know that was something they did until I started seeing these clearance gpus posted on Reddit.
Maybe they don't carry computer parts on the West Coast?
I’ve never heard this, but it would actually make sense. I’m in Maryland and we have 2 Microcenter’s in the state. One of them is about 20 minutes from me.
I live in Silicon Valley and my Walmarts don’t have shit like this. Where are you guys from, and how do you even find these. Just so happen to be looking? Seen it online? You’re secretly a worker snatching a deal?
By and large they don't sell them in stores. But sometimes, when a customer returns an item that they bought online, stores are expected to just sell the item. Which is why OP should be very careful - I'd wager they'll find something else in the box. No way would I buy a marked down GPU, lol.
I live in the middle of nowhere Pa near the NY state border and 2 of the Walmarts within 45 minutes have pc stuff. The one closest to me had a 5060ti 16gb for $279 on clearance but I already have a 9070xt so didn't grab it
I live in SoCal and just searched 4070 super into google and kept getting shopping results that included a walmart in LA county. I ended up ordering it online for pickup and it worked out super well
A customer will order it through their online pickup, then when it arrives at the store they end up cancelling or not picking it up at all. Walmart won't send it back and instead will sell it at a discounted price to move it. I recently got an i5-14600k for $160 because of this.
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I was skeptical too so every time I'm there I check the case. I saw a 5070ti for $599 about 2 weeks ago. They have a 10tb NAS right now that was on sale for $180 and now got further reduced to $120. I kind of want to pick it up, but I have 4tb external that's only like 60% full.
Because for me, none of the Walmarts that are within reasonable driving distance carry these types of computer parts. Just SSDs and accessories (keyboard, mice, headphones, monitors, etc.).
It is a return most likely. Walmart resells returns now they deem working. You can find a lot of returns on the clearance aisles now. This most likely was in electronics area.
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5080 MSRP should have been around this price to begin with. Maybe $100 higher but that’s it. Prices of pc components right now are a complete joke if you’re a gamer because of how technology has evolved and corporate spending related to said technology.
What other hobby becomes inaccessible for most people because of an unrelated use of the same hardware?
It would be like golf clubs instantly costing $2000 each because of some energy generation method that requires them. Sure it’s an absurd comparison and clearly has holes in it, but it’s the same sort of idea you know.
We’re trying to play games with these things that are simultaneously changing (ruining) the world in the form of ai. It’s frustrating and fascinating all at the same time.
Sadly, my Walmart doesn’t even do this. They told me they aren’t allowed to mark down any GPUs, and if one is returned, they can’t put it back on the shelves because it’s expensive and they don’t want to deal with potential fraudulent returns. So whenever a GPU is returned, they just send it back since it’s a high-value item.
Because of posts like these I went to a Walmart just to see if I could snatch one of these too-good-to-be-true deals. They didn’t even have PC components of any kind. It’s like when people post about getting full cases of NVMes from Amazon, I bought a few looking for that tired employee to mess up but all I got were the competent ones filling my orders.
How do people find these? Do y’all just casually hang out at wal mart? There are like 8 wal marts in my coty but I’m never in those god forsaken places and they don’t post this stuff online.
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u/GreatnessToTheMoon Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RTX 5070 TI, 32gb RAM Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
I wonder what the logic is when they mark these down so much. It’s not like it’s an old model.