Micro Center requires photo ID and no export pledge for RTX 5090

Electronics retailer Micro Center is requiring customers who purchase Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics processing units to present government identification and sign a no export declaration. Kotaku, Tom's Hardware, TechPowerUp, and Wccftech all reported on the retail paperwork requirements in October 2026. [1][4][5][6]

According to Tom's Hardware, the mandatory agreement forces buyers to disclose the exact installation location of the graphics card and promise that the hardware will remain within the United States. Finance Biggo and TweakTown reported that Micro Center is conducting photo identification scans alongside the signed declarations for all RTX 5090 sales. [2][3][4]

Kotaku reported that a buyer in California purchasing a PowerSpec Ai90 prebuilt desktop computer containing an RTX 5090 graphics card was asked to sign a loyalty pledge. The paperwork contained the clause NO EXPORT - NO EXCEPTIONS and tied the transaction directly to the customer government identification card to prevent flipping and reselling. [1]

An export in international trade is defined as a good produced in one country that is sold into another country. Kotaku reported that the artificial intelligence race has created heavy competition for high performance hardware, as commercial data centers secure as much equipment as possible, leaving individual consumers paying premium prices for technology. [1][9]