Valve’s recently announced handheld PC, the Switch-like Steam Deckis not out yet. But people can pre-register to buy it at a later date, and some scalpers are already trying to flip those registrations for hundreds of dollars.
The Steam deck was unveiled on July 15th, and Valve opened the store yesterday so people can spend five dollars to register for the opportunity to buy one. The device enables users to play many of their existing Steam games on the go using the powerful hardware in the device. The base model starts at $ 400.
For the first hour or so on July 16 after Valve began accepting these pre-registrations, Things broke down and people encountered error messages and crashing servers
Even when things calmed down and with that $ 5 filing fee, none of that stopped resellers, that have flooded eBay in the past 24 hours or so with offers to buy Steam Decks at high prices, including some as high as $ 2,500.
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Many of these offers claim to be confirmed pre-sales or pre-orders and say things like “CONFIRMED ORDER * PRE-SALE Pre-order shipped in December. ” Others promise that the Steam Deck will ship in December and the order will be completed. However, to be clear, none of this is true, according to Valve.
When we visit Valve’s FAQ page for the Steam Deck, You will see a number of useful answers about the Steam Deck hardware, release, purchase process, and more. You can find the most important answer in the middle of the page:
When can I order?
We aim to send out order invitations from December 2021. We will do our best to convert all reservations into orders, but we cannot guarantee availability.
This answer explains that these handheld PCs won’t ship in December 2021. Instead, Valve is aiming to send purchase invitations to people who have pre-registered this month. And while Valve claims to do whatever it takes to “convert all reservations into orders,” it doesn’t guarantee the “availability” of Steam Decks. To be clear, even if you deposit $ 5 when the pre-registration went online on July 16, Valve cannot 100% guarantee that you will receive your device by the end of the year, or even if you will get it at all .
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Compare this information with the vast majority of eBay resellers who claim otherwise. It is strange that all of this is still available on the website as they appear to be entries with potentially fraudulent claims.
Kotaku has reached out to eBay regarding these Steam Deck listings and whether they will remain on the site.
Update, 7/17/2021 2:49 p.m. ET: eBay tells Kotaku by e-mail that these entries will be removed because they violate the “Advance booking policy.“This policy states that all pre-sale items must be shipped within 30 days, which Valve’s Steam Deck does not. (Shipping begins in December 2021 at the earliest.)
Though I understand a lot of you out there feel like you are FOMO savvyIf I didn’t get into the frenzy of pre-registration yesterday, I would be holding myself back from buying any of these eBay listings and Support these resellers. Instead go to Valve’s website and place your own order. While it can take you a long time to get one, it’s a better use of your time and money.
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