As PC components like RAM continue to be gobbled up by AI hyperscalers, leading to higher prices and limited supplies, a large electronics store in Japan is running out of computers and parts and is asking its customers to please sell them some old PCs.
It has become more expensive to build or upgrade a PC over the last few months. A big reason for that is AI-focused tech companies gobbling up PC parts to build massive data centers. It’s becoming quite pricey and challenging for your average person to buy PC RAM and graphics cards, as companies like Micron stop selling to consumers and focus more and more on big companies that buy in bulk. Prebuilt PCs from companies like HP, Dell, and Asus will likely see a price increase of 15 to 20 percent as well, according to PC World. All of this, plus tariffs causing other problems, has led to fewer PC parts and computers on shelves in some stores, forcing one shop to beg people to sell them some hardware.
ゲーミングPC、中古も本当に在庫なくて今これ
あの、お願いなので買い替えたらぜひ弊社にゲーミングPCを売ってください…
結構高く買い取っていますので…
ゲーミングのデスクでもノートでも、もちろんゲーミングじゃない普通のでもPCなら大体買い取っているので… pic.twitter.com/IinBuGgRV7— ソフマップゲーミング (@sofmap_gaming) January 7, 2026
On January 7, as spotted by PC-Watch and Tom’s Hardware, Sofmap Gaming, a large electronics shop in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, posted a somewhat desperate-sounding plea. Here’s the tweet text via machine translation:
“Um, as a favor, if you buy a new PC, please sell your gaming PC to our company. We buy them back at pretty high prices. Whether it’s a gaming desk or a laptop, or even a regular non-gaming one, we pretty much buy any PC.”
Attached to the tweet was a photo of what appears to be a mostly empty shelf inside of Sofmap Gaming with only a few PCs and monitors left. “Gaming PCs, even used ones, are really out of stock right now. This is it,” claimed Sofmap Gaming. The account is also replying to nearly every user who responds with questions about what they can sell and how much it might be worth.
With some experts saying the ongoing demand for memory and other PC components, like GPUs, will be a problem for 2026 and even 2027, it might be a good time to start looking around your house to see what random bits of hardware you have lying around somewhere collecting dust. If the parts aren’t too old, they might be worth a pretty penny soon.