Valve detail their plans to combat Steam Deck OLED scalpers
Valve detail their plans to combat Steam Deck OLED scalpers
With the release of the Steam Deck OLED and the Steam Deck OLED Limited Edition tomorrow, Valve has given out a little bit more info on how they plan to combat scalpers.
Some desperate scalpers on ebay are already trying to sell the 512GB version for 1000€. Despite the fact that you can still order one for half the price and receive it within 6-10 days.
31Yep, the extra sad thing is that there are actually sold listings too: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=steam+deck+OLED&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1
Some people just can't be helped, I guess.
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You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Simply add waiting lists and a max limit of one order per person. Sucks for large families but only until the initial hype is gone.
19scalpers often recruit straw purchases in those situations. they have ways man, I'm all for Valve finding innovation in fucking those fuckwits up
10Hmm kinda like what they did before. It worked. I knew I was going to get one and the community built a spreadsheet tracking estimates dates.
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There's a reliable way to combat scalping in general. Start selling the item at a high price or in larger quantity and then cut the price whenever sales drop off.
Scalpers can only make money by scalping something when it is being sold below what the market is willing to pay for it in the quantity in which it is available.
On a non-economic note, I'd add that I don't think I'd want to buy an easily-modified Linux computer system from some random person unless I planned to wipe it. How do you know that the thing hasn't been rootkitted?
13There’s a reliable way to combat scalping in general. Start selling the item at a high price or in larger quantity and then cut the price whenever sales drop off.
That alone might be effective at reducing scalping, but would also put the item beyond the reach of entire income classes.
16At first, sure, but the price drops off as existing demand is met.
4The higher price isn't permanent.
I've worked in camera retail and the local shops do just that, actually, and it's effective. The FOMO people get their stuff first at a higher price, the shop gets a boost in margins, and everyone else gets to enjoy cheaper prices three months later (and have the early adopters sit through the bugs and first-run issues).
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Can’t really do that with such a hot product. Would cause too much PR damage and outrage. Companies don’t do it because this way they basically outsource the PR problem to the scalpers while allowing them to play innocent.
The level of outrage over supply issues for a video game console is disproportionate a lot of the time. Outrage that would be better directed elsewhere, but I digress.
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I'm stoked, it took an hour and a half but I managed to get the limited edition OLED :) loooots of errors later, but yay :)
7Cooooool, so they're gonna release it in Australia to stop the scalping here, right?
Right?
5How bad is the scalping? I'm in Singapore and the price premium is about 10%.
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With the released of the Steam Deck OLED and the Steam Deck OLED Limited Edition tomorrow, Valve has given out a little bit more info on how they plan to combat scalpers.
I've seen a surprising amount of people confused on this across the net thinking the Steam Deck OLED as a whole is limited but it's not.
Additionally, their FAQ also notes for the normal 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLED models you will only be able to purchase "1 model of Steam Deck OLED per customer per week" but they plan to relax that when they're confident they can meet demand.
They will switch to the reservation queue if needed and email people when it's ready but Valve also said "we will be refreshing inventory of Steam Deck regularly, and do not foresee long queue times like we saw with the Steam Deck LCD launch".
All models go live at the same time at 10AM PST / 6PM UTC on November 16th on the Steam Deck store.
Be sure to follow GamingOnLinux on YouTube for regular Steam Deck videos!
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2Bad Bot! You stripped out the only important part of the article:
For the special Limited Edition version Valve has said:
You need to be in the United States or Canada. Your account needs to be in good standing. Your account needs to have made a purchase on Steam before November 2023. Only one unit may be purchased per account.If their experiment with this extra Limited Edition model goes well, we may see others come in future.
Additionally, their FAQ also notes for the normal 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLED models you will only be able to purchase "1 model of Steam Deck OLED per customer per week" but they plan to relax that when they're confident they can meet demand.
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