Fans Hit Back at Steam Frame Scalpers

After putting up the Steam Frame for reservation on Monday, Valve has finally sent out its emails letting people know if they’re on the reservation list or on the waitlist for the new VR headset. And, predictably, scalpers are already listing Steam Frame reservations on eBay.

While Valve lists the 256GB Steam Frame kit for $1,059, the eBay listings start at $1,700 for the lower storage tier. If you want to get the 1TB model, that’s being listed at around $2,000 by scalpers, despite Valve’s $1,299 asking price.

What’s especially egregious about these listings is that the Steam Frame is already expensive for what it is, due to the ongoing RAM crisis. While I’d have some wiggle room for a VR headset with Valve’s open platform and incredible wireless PCVR, I’m not sure I’d spend that much money on something without OLED optics.

Unfortunately, it looks like at least some of these listings have already sold.

Scalpers are trying their luck with Steam Frame. Screenshot: eBay / IGN.

Luckily, the community is fighting back. Folks on the /r/steam subreddit are mobilizing to report these listings, and it seems like eBay is taking action. After sharing instructions on how to report these listings, user /u/obscenemexican added: “Update: I’m now getting flooded with emails from eBay that the reported content has been removed, huzzah! Many down, many more to go, keep it up guys!”

Meanwhile, other users in the thread have found some of the scalpers’ Steam usernames in the eBay listings and have reported them to Valve. User /u/noonyIRL said: “If you want to hurt these scum more, contact them and ask for the Steam ID tied to the reservation to check their VAC/Ban status to ensure its legitimate. If they provide it, report them to Valve, if they refuse, report to eBay for failing to provide suitable evidence. Either way, this hits their account, not just their listing.”

Valve did try to mitigate the risks of scalpers when it released both the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame, implementing a random lottery system tied to its preorders. When the Frame was announced on Monday, Valve opened up a sign-up system, where anyone with a Steam Account could select which version of the headset they were interested in. Then, Valve randomized the entries and split them into a bucket of reservations and a waitlist.

I’m sure that did mitigate how many scalpers would otherwise be able to get the system if it was available on a first-come, first-serve basis, but it clearly did not stop scalpers from trying to profit off of the system’s scarcity. Hopefully, either eBay, Valve or both get this situation under control, so that more people are able to get the Frame at a somewhat reasonable cost.