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.
I understand wanting to get your hands on a Frame as soon as possible, but who in their right mind would pay double the price, especially considering that Valve’s own price isn’t exactly cheap? And it’s even worse that these listings are just for spots in the reservation queue. It could still take weeks or months until the spot turns into a chance to purchase, and there’s no way of knowing how long it will take beforehand. So you would be paying 1k extra for nothing basically.
So you would be paying 1k extra for nothing basically.
Well not quite. Even if it takes a month for the first units to ship, you’ll be along the first to get it. People that have thousands to throw at shit like this aren’t just worried about how long it’ll take, they need to know they’re getting it before everyone else.
That’s the thing, Valve made it so there’s no way to guarantee you’ll get it before anyone else. A spot in the reservation queue only guarantees that you’ll get a Frame from the first production batch, but the order within the queue is randomized and not known. The first orders will start shipping next week, but personally I predict it’ll take weeks at minimum before everyone in the queue even gets the option to pay, let alone actually have their orders shipped. So you could pay a scalper 2k and still be the last person in the reservation queue to get the device (or don’t get it at all, if the seller turns out to be a scammer…)
It makes a bit more sense if you didn’t make it into the reservation queue in the initial lottery and were waitlisted instead. That probably means you won’t be getting a Frame from Valve within this year. But I still wouldn’t pay double the price just to move from one queue to another.
I understand wanting to get your hands on a Frame as soon as possible, but who in their right mind would pay double the price, especially considering that Valve’s own price isn’t exactly cheap? And it’s even worse that these listings are just for spots in the reservation queue. It could still take weeks or months until the spot turns into a chance to purchase, and there’s no way of knowing how long it will take beforehand. So you would be paying 1k extra for nothing basically.
Well not quite. Even if it takes a month for the first units to ship, you’ll be along the first to get it. People that have thousands to throw at shit like this aren’t just worried about how long it’ll take, they need to know they’re getting it before everyone else.
That’s the thing, Valve made it so there’s no way to guarantee you’ll get it before anyone else. A spot in the reservation queue only guarantees that you’ll get a Frame from the first production batch, but the order within the queue is randomized and not known. The first orders will start shipping next week, but personally I predict it’ll take weeks at minimum before everyone in the queue even gets the option to pay, let alone actually have their orders shipped. So you could pay a scalper 2k and still be the last person in the reservation queue to get the device (or don’t get it at all, if the seller turns out to be a scammer…)
It makes a bit more sense if you didn’t make it into the reservation queue in the initial lottery and were waitlisted instead. That probably means you won’t be getting a Frame from Valve within this year. But I still wouldn’t pay double the price just to move from one queue to another.