Purchasing consumer electronics at retail stores is becoming a strictly bureaucratic process. US retail chain Micro Center has started requiring buyers of its flagship GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card to provide identification and sign a legal document prohibiting the export of the device outside the United States.
The discussion stemmed from a complaint from a customer in California who purchased RTX 5090-based components off-the-shelf. The store manager asked him to scan his driver’s license and fill out a special declaration for purchasing the HPC system. Among them, the customer is obliged to indicate the accurate installation address of the equipment and make a written commitment not to resell or illegally export the accelerator to sanctioned countries.
The reasons for such measures are obvious: Due to huge demand from AI labs and strict export restrictions, NVIDIA flagships have been targeted for large-scale international smuggling, with prices on the secondary market skyrocketing. With the help of official receipts, retailers seek to protect themselves against claims by regulators, shifting all legal liability for possible gray exports directly onto the shoulders of the final buyer.