Scalpers Already "Offering" the Steam Deck for $5,000 on eBay

[maxfly]

I so hate scalpers.

I say keep these knuckleheads and let the mob deal with the clever ones
Hopefully steam will see the dungstorm coming and prepare accordingly.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I cant even be mad at scalpers, for the last year consoomers have been willing to pay 2-3x MSRP for electronics of all kinds. It's their fault, not scalpers, that these things are so expensive. If nobody bought, scalpers wouldnt be buying up inventory constantly.

I get scalper's mentality, greed has always been with us, but I don't understand today's consumers. People would send you to a shrink if you'd try to sell them a console or a dGPU for 2-10 fold the MSRP just 2 decades ago and now that's kind of normal. Something is seriously wrong with today's retail buyers. Is instant gratification syndrome, FOMO, brainwashing or something else to blame?

Decades of teaching people to rely on the government/handouts/their parents for a bailout, total absence of financial education, a culture of instant gratification and narcissism being rewarded, social media profile sbeing taken more seriously then real life, a year+ of pumping free money into the economy, and locking people away from activities for a year+ can cause soem serious psycological damage.

 

[lexluthermiester]

And it sure is happening already - eBay listings for "pre-order confirmed" Steam Deck variants are already being set at €4,324 (roughly $4,989) - though we'd say they're tentatively set at that ludicrous pricing.

This is why scalping needs to be criminalized world-wide and actively prosecuted.

 

[Space Lynx]

How could any of these people know their pre-order is confirmed? Valve did not sell any pre-orders. They sold you a reservation ticket to access the ordering queue when devices are shipping. It could be cancelled at any time, or you could be left out of the first draw on inventory, or you could miss the order window and the reservation lapses.

This smells like a ToS violation, but eBay's "Presale" listing practice is incredibly vague and likely not useful here for removing these listings.

Best practice if you want a Steam Deck is just purchase the reservation still. You may be fairly far back in line but you won't be 2.5-10x the cost of the device to maybe-sorta-have-a-chance your eBay gamble gets you a device.

Also the wording on some of these listings...

View attachment 208791

So if dudeman doesn't get the thing, you get bent. 6-12 months after you buy one of these "pre-orders" you're stuffed if they don't deliver.

yep until Congress gets its act together and makes stronger laws against ebay/craigslist this scalper crap will never end.

the law is very clear for a lot of scalping sports tickets, etc... but not so much other stuff. it's time to update the laws again is all, but congress is slow as crap... as usual.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Ebay certainly don't give 2 fucks, the higher the sale price, the more cash they make, so they have no reason to stop it. Someone needs to stop them though. But hey American company American ethics

 

[phill]

Ebay needs a kick in the nuts

I don't feel it really helps with all the inflated prices... For pretty much anything... It's not really the bargain place it was originally... It's definitely more a cash cow for most now...

 

[boidsonly]

LOL

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

At new preorders are already getting "Q1 2022" delivery dates.

I got Q3 2022 last night, be 2030 by now.