Pre-order workflow for GPU launches (RTX 5090), how do you stop scalpers?

Nvidia RTX launches sell out in 60-120 seconds. Bot farms hammer Best Buy / Newegg / Amazon with thousands of requests per second. The retailers that handle launches well don’t outrun the bots, they make bot inventory worthless.

Magento pattern that’s held through RTX 4090, 7900 XTX, and three Intel CPU launches:

• Deposit-to-secure, $50, $200 non-refundable deposit on the GPU placeholder SKU. Final balance charged when stock allocates. Bots don’t want to burn $200 per attempt.
• Account requirements, minimum 7-day-old account, email-verified, phone-verified (Twilio Verify), no throwaway domains. Pre-launch you publish the rules so legit buyers create accounts ahead.
• 1-per-customer enforcement, dedup keys: email + payment-method fingerprint (Stripe Radar) + shipping address normalized + browser fingerprint. Pick any combo, you’re still 1 RTX 5090.
• Queue position visible, “You’re #247 of 4,500 in line, est. ship Mar 14”. Reduces refresh-spam. Magento backend ties queue position to inventory commit batches.
• Restock notifications by queue position, not “refresh and pray.” Customers in queue get a 6-hour purchase window when their slot opens.

Saved one client a $400k reputation hit on the RTX 4090 launch, they had 600 units, bots would’ve grabbed 480, my queue logic delivered 100% to vetted buyers with sub-1% chargeback rate.