Just hours after Valve began sending out the first wave of reservation emails for the highly anticipated Steam Deck, opportunistic resellers, often referred to as ‘scalpers,’ have already listed reservation slots on platforms like eBay. According to reports, prices for these reservations have skyrocketed, far exceeding Valve’s original pricing.
Sky-High Prices on the Secondary Market
The 256GB model of the Steam Deck, officially priced at $1,059 USD, was reportedly being listed for as much as $1,700 USD. The larger 1TB version, which has an official MSRP of $1,299 USD, was seen with price tags around $2,000 USD. While some listings claimed to have already sold, there were also reports suggesting these were merely asking prices with no confirmed sales at the time of reporting.
Valve’s Terms and eBay’s Rules Challenged
Valve’s terms for this limited drop program explicitly state that purchase links are tied to eligible Steam accounts and are non-transferable, directly prohibiting such reselling activities. Furthermore, as of now, no Steam Deck units have actually been shipped to buyers in the United States, Canada, the UK, the EU, or Australia. This means that buyers paying inflated prices are essentially purchasing a place in line, not the actual hardware.
Adding to the complexity, eBay’s platform rules typically require listed items to be physical goods that are ready for shipment. The sale of reservation slots, which are digital entitlements and not tangible products, potentially violates these guidelines.
Community Mobilizes Against Scalping
In response to the scalping surge, the Steam Deck community has begun to organize a boycott. Users on Reddit’s r/Steam subreddit have been sharing guides on how to report these resale listings. Early reports indicate that eBay has responded by mass-emailing sellers and has already taken down a significant number of these unauthorized listings. Some dedicated players have even gone the extra mile, finding the scalpers’ Steam usernames through the product pages and reporting them directly to Valve.
It remains unclear whether Valve has taken any specific action against the scalpers based on these community reports. Valve has not yet publicly commented on the issue of resale since reservations opened on September 14th.
A Familiar Pattern?
This situation echoes Valve’s previous Steam Machine launch, which also utilized a randomized reservation system and subsequently saw units appearing on the second-hand market. With the current high demand and limited initial supply, it appears that preventing scalping entirely might be an overly optimistic goal for Valve.
However, the proactive and organized efforts of the player community to combat scalping are a positive development and a strong indicator of their commitment to fair access to the coveted hardware.
