Want a Steam Deck right now? You wont with these ridiculous eBay prices

Date:
Fri, 18 Mar 2022 10:25:53 +0000

Description:
Steam Decks are ready to ship from eBay now, but your wallet will be
seriously gouged.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Steam Decks are now selling on eBay from scalpers who got in quick with a pre-order and already have their device, promising a shortcut to the front of the very long queue for Valves handheld gaming PC but at a predictably eye-watering cost.

PC Mag has been trawling eBay and found Steam Deck listings promising that the device is in hand (as opposed to sellers who are flogging their spot in the pre-order queue), but some of those scalpers are charging $1,600 or
$1,700 over in the US (for the top-end model, or even the 256GB version in some cases).

The tech site observes that buy it now pricing can be as high as $2,500 or even more, though bidding is pitched more around the $1,300 to $1,600 mark. Whatever the case, these are sky-high demands compared to the actual retail price of the Steam Deck which starts from $399 / 349 for the base model (the high-end version of the handheld is $649 / 569).

Looking at eBay now, we can see a couple of Steam Decks pitched at $1,800 in the US, and in the UK, theres a flagship model with a buy it now price of 2,000, and one listed at 3,700 (eek and dont forget the 15.99 for shipping, as no, you dont even get free postage for stumping up that kind of cash). For a base model, theres a listing that asks for 850 (which is a little more reasonable, dare we use the word at least relative to that high-end
listing).

There are still scalpers who are selling their place in the queue, such as a confirmed pre-order for Q2, which is basically a promise to ship the handheld as soon as its sent to the seller (complete with a scheduled date).
Obviously, anyone whos tempted to go this route needs to be even more cautious, and sometimes the prices arent all that different to in hand models anyway. Analysis: Desperation around getting on board the Deck

As PC Mag points out, these units are actually selling to gamers desperate enough to want the Steam Deck right now , and the report observes that in excess of a dozen Decks are being sold daily on eBay, with an average price
of around $1,500 in the US.

So, there is demand, even with this massive level of price gouging going on, and of course thats what scalpers rely on, sadly. While folks are prepared to pay an exorbitant premium for hard-to-get devices, opportunists will inevitably move in and try to make a quick buck (or two thousand).

The obvious problem with the Steam Deck is that supply really doesnt meet demand for the popular handheld, and if you order a device from Valve now, it wont ship until after Q3 at the earliest so October, over six months away,
is your best-case scenario. Some people just wont wait that long (as we can clearly see from how many units are selling on eBay).

Really, though, if youre going to plonk down a grand and a half, or maybe
even more, you may as well look at buying one of the best gaming laptops , as youll get an impressively powerful portable for that kind of cash (just not a handheld gaming device). Or just put your name down with Valve now and wait
it out for some months, at which point the Steam Deck will doubtless be a
more honed device (with many more supported games , to boot). These are the best Steam games



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/want-a-steam-deck-right-now-you-wont-with-these -ridiculous-ebay-prices/


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