Those who want to buy a new Nvidia RTX 50 series card have faced an uphill battle since launch, though things are certainly improved, especially in Europe. One manufacturer has a solution that involves a trade-in scheme, but it is limited to only one region: China.

If you want to build a new PC or upgrade, your options are ultimately limited. New Nvidia cards cost a hefty chunk of change, and that is assuming your desired model is even in stock. Customers in China do have an option available to them, as Colorful is offering a promotion that lets customers trade in an older GPU for a brand new one.

Colorful offers an Nvidia GPU cashback program in China

To qualify for the promotion, customers need to check if their old graphics cards are eligible for cashback. They then need to buy an RTX 50 series graphics card and then send their older card to Colorful. The money will then be refunded to the customer once the old card is received.

The offer applies to RTX 16, 20, 30, and 40 series cards; newer and more powerful cards are eligible for higher refund rates. The promotion is only available for a limited time between May 7 and May 13, and only customers in China can apply. You can find the full list of eligible models here (or translated into USD by VideoCardz). They range from the GTX 1660 Super to the RTX 4080 Super, which will earn you 650 RMB ($90) and 7,800 RMB ($1,080) cashback, respectively.

Though Colorful doesn't sell cards globally, other vendors could benefit from setting up a similar scheme in different regions. This is particularly true for the USA, where the supply issues combined with price hikes driven by the low stock situation and anxiety over the trade tariff situation have made it very hard for many customers to buy an RTX 50 series card.

A vendor launching a trade-in scheme in the USA could benefit from a flood of new customers who want to upgrade their gaming rigs. Providing, of course, that enough RTX 50 series cards are available.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.