Scalpers Get Their Claws Into Steam Deck Preorders With Prices Eclipsing $5000

The hugely anticipated Steam Deck from Valve isn’t far away now, however, getting your hands on one might not be as easy as you may think. Scalpers have come out in force once again, buying up preorders and relisting them for over 6 times the MSRP – rising yet another wave of incredibly angry consumers.

Like always, eBay is the playground for Steam Deck scalpers, with recent listings reaching ludicrous heights of $5000. Valve’s Steam Deck was officially announced last week, with preorders available via the Steam website. Three models will be available to consumers, with each model differing in terms of available storage and panel coating. Pricing will range from £349.00 to £569.00.

• Where to buy Steam Deck

Steam Deck Preorders List For $5000

Whilst GPU scalping seems to be coming to a halt, the same can’t be said for Valve’s Steam Deck. The new hand-held console is set to challenge the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in terms of raw performance thanks to the arrival of AMD’s Van Gogh APU. The console will also feature RDNA 2 graphics that will allow it to pump out 4K gameplay to a decent standard. It will go toe-to-toe with the latest Nintendo Switch OLED model, bringing an incredibly similar design to the table.

Despite this sounding like an excellent arrival to the gaming sector, preorder sales have already sold out – leaving eager buyers no choice other than to venture to eBay’s playground. Recent listings of the console have been seen retailing for over $5000 on various eBay accounts. And if anyone does decide to go for that incredible price, the scalper will effectively be making a profit of 666% – not bad.

If you’re keen enough to purchase a console at that price, then fair play to you. However, with availability and MSRP likely to get better over time anyway, I think I’ll just wait out the storm.