THREE BUSINESS MODELS
Resellers buy at wholesale ($2.50-2.80/hr H100) and resell at $3.50-4.50/hr (25-40% margin). Marketplaces take 10-20% commission without inventory. Subletters recover 50-70% of reserved cost when utilization drops below 70-80%.
Resellers need $2-10M capital. Marketplaces need $500K-2M. Subletters need $0. Market valued at $12B in 2025, projected $45B by 2028.
| Model | Capital | Gross Margin | Risk | Complexity | Scale for Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reseller | $2-10M | 20-35% | High utilization | Very High | $500K+/month |
| Marketplace | $500K-2M | 10-20% | Low (no inventory) | Medium | 100+ tx/month |
| Subletter | $0 | 50-70% recovered | Low (surplus) | Low | Any |
| Managed service | $1-5M | 30-50% | Medium | Very High | $200K+/month |
RESELLER UNIT ECONOMICS
Buy at $2.60/hr, sell at $3.80/hr: $1.20/hr margin. At 80% utilization, revenue per GPU-month is $2,188, cost $1,497, gross profit $691. For 500 GPUs: $345,500/month gross.
OPEX: support ($15-25K), billing ($13-26K), monitoring ($20-40K), engineering ($60-120K) = $108-211K/month. Net profit: $134.5-237.5K/month. At 60% utilization (oversupply), resellers lose $33-67K/month.
MARKETPLACE ECONOMICS
$10M monthly GPU volume at 15% commission = $1.5M gross. After payment processing ($300K), hosting ($50-100K), fraud ($50K), engineering ($200-350K), net profit $700-900K/month.
Critical threshold: ~200 providers and ~1,000 active customers for 85%+ matching efficiency. Quality assurance (GPU benchmarking, escrow, reputation) drives 3-5x higher transaction volumes.
| Metric | Reseller | Marketplace | Subletter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 20-35% | 10-20% | 50-70% recovered |
| Capital at Risk | $2-10M | $500K-2M | $0 |
| Monthly OPEX | $108-211K | $600-900K | $2-5K |
| Breakeven | 65-70% util | 30-40% liquidity | Any |
| Key Risk | Utilization + price drops | Liquidity + adverse selection | Low resale price |
FUTURE EVOLUTION
Three stages: Shortage (30-50% margins), Balancing (10-20%), Commoditization (5-15%). Pure GPU brokers see margins under 5% by 2028. Specialized niches: regulated GPU (30-50% premium), supply-constrained regions (20-30%), pre-configured clusters (40-60% premium).