If you happen to walk into a Costco looking for a gaming PC, you might find something’s missing—literally. The RAM slots are empty, and the graphics cards are apparently gone. But what you’re staring at isn’t a broken floor model; it’s retail’s latest headache.
Shoppers are claiming that the wholesale giant has started removing RAM from its display computers, a move they believe is meant to stop customers from stealing high-demand PC parts straight off the showroom floor.
Photos shared online this week show desktop PCs on display with empty memory slots. In some cases, graphics cards are missing as well. The claims haven’t been confirmed by Costco, but multiple customers say they’ve seen the same setup at different locations.
An Ongoing Problem
According to shoppers discussing the issue on Reddit’s PC enthusiast forum, this isn’t the first time parts have quietly disappeared from floor machines. GPUs have been absent from demo PCs at some stores for months, especially on higher-end systems. What’s new is the missing RAM, which has become increasingly valuable as shortages and price spikes continue across the PC market.
Some patrons think the parts were stolen before Costco even stepped in, while others believe the retailer removed them proactively, knowing that replacing stolen components only invites repeat theft. One Reddit user claimed that their local Costco actually caught someone on camera pulling parts from a display PC, but only after the damage was already done.
Not every machine appears stripped, though. In at least one photo shared online, three of four PCs still had graphics cards installed. The most expensive unit in the showroom, priced around $2,600, was missing both RAM and a GPU.
Customers say similar setups have appeared at Walmart and other big-box stores, suggesting this may be less about one incident and more about a broader shift in how retailers handle high-value components.
Costco has not commented publicly on the claims. If the practice is intentional, it would mark another quiet adjustment by large retailers as tech hardware becomes smaller, more expensive, and easier to walk out the door with.
Sources: VideoCardz, Tom’s Hardware