Steam Deck Targeted by Scalpers Again, Prices Hit $2.5K
Scalpers do not forgive gamers. In addition to PlayStation 5 and GPU, „ambitious” sellers are also buying up Steam Decks, which they then try to sell for absurdly high amounts of money.
Did you miss the reports about scalpers? Neither did we, but - unfortunately - "bargain hunters" have found themselves another target. Debuting in February Steam Deck can be found on eBay - of course at prices much higher than suggested.
Steam Deck at "special" prices
The cheapest version of Valve's portable computer costs 399 USD in the the company's official store. On eBay, prices start at $600 and there is no shortage of sellers demanding well over $1000 for the device (in one case even 1500 dollars).
- The most expensive variant of Steam Deck with 512 GB is availble officially for $649. eBay sellers charge either a little more (or even cheaper, i.e. $ 400-800) or much more for this version (more ambitious "business sharks" demand as much as 2500 dollars).
- In the case of auctions of a Steam Deck with a 512 GB hard drive, bidders can easily top the amount of $1000 or even $1500.
Buy a reservation for Steam Deck
As in the case of consoles, GPUs, etc. scalpers count primarily on the impatience of buyers. Although Steam Deck can be ordered officially (read: cheaper and without risk), orders placed now will be fulfilled not earlier than "after the third quarter of 2022" (meaning October).
Funnily enough (in a way), some people want to make money even on reservations. On eBay, there's no shortage of sellers showing pictures of "dibs called" on Steam Decks with orders expected to ship in early April. Of course at a bargain (for the seller) price.
To be fair, scalpers are showing restraint now. Long before the debut of Steam Deck there were cases when sellers wanted from 3 to 5 thousand dollars for the most powerful variant of the device.
