Costco removes RAM from its display PCs to prevent tech-savvy shoplifters, customers claim — GPUs also absent across stores as PC parts become a hot commodity

The ongoing memory shortage has spiraled so out of control that even the spacious aisles of Costco are no longer safe from its RAMifications. A customer has just shared photos from their local store, where the demo units on display no longer have any memory installed in them, suggesting the store may have removed them to prevent them from being stolen. Shoplifting is a common issue at large retailers like Costco, but the vendor has only done this for GPUs previously.

Many of the comments theorize that the theft may have already occurred and that Costco, like other stores, simply doesn't replace the stolen parts with new ones because they know they'll just be stolen again. Three of the four computers in the image above still have GPUs mounted inside, possibly hinting that this wasn't foul play. The PC on the right, though, has no GPU or RAM, likely because it's the most expensive offering at $2,600.

The top reply to this post is from a shopper who saysthe Costco near them actually caught someone on camera stealing from PCs, but the deed had been done by that point. Many other people in the thread also chimed in with personal anecdotes about how their local Costco (and Walmart) also has no memory or graphics cards installed, so this is a widespread security measure, or indeed a widespread shoplifting issue.

Items that haven't been stolen will usually be sat safely in the warehouse, just waiting for someone to actually buy the system. Stores had to take similar preventative actions during the pandemic-era mining boom that caused GPUs to be scalped at an unprecedented level. This crisis, however, is "natural" such that the prices have skyrocketed from the manufacturer level, so even someone like Costco has to go out of its way to protect RAM these days.

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