Scalpers Target Valve's Steam Frame With Markup Prices, But Reddit Fights Back
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Resellers are listing Steam Frame reservation slots on eBay for up to $2,000, prompting the Reddit community to mass-report the listings and flag the accounts directly to Valve.
Valve recently sent out reservation and waitlist emails for the new Steam Frame VR headset, and opportunistic resellers are already trying to flip their spots on eBay. While Valve prices the 256GB model at $1,059 and the 1TB version at $1,299, scalpers are listing these reservation slots for anywhere between $1,700 and $2,000. These inflated prices hit an already pricey piece of hardware that has been impacted by the ongoing global RAM crisis, making the hardware a tough sell even at retail value.
Fortunately, the community on the Steam subreddit is mobilizing to shut down these operations. Players are actively reporting the fraudulent eBay listings and sharing instructions on how others can do the same. Some community members are even tracking down the Steam usernames attached to these listings and reporting the accounts directly to Valve, creating a coordinated pushback that has already resulted in numerous listing removals.
Valve attempted to curb reseller behavior by implementing a random lottery system for the preorders rather than using a standard first come, first served model. While this randomized approach certainly reduced the initial flood of automated bot purchases, it could not completely eliminate scalping given the high demand and hardware scarcity. As platforms and players continue to push back, the hope is that more headsets will land directly in the hands of actual users at standard retail pricing.
Original reporting by Jacqueline Thomas at IGN South Africa highlights how player communities continue to protect their own spaces against predatory marketplace practices.
Tags: VR, Valve, Steam, PC Gaming, Hardware
Original article: IGN South Africa