[deleted]
Don’t feed the scalpers people
[deleted]
Submitted 6 days ago by mr_MADAFAKA@lemmy.ml to steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
Comments
Malyca@lemmy.zip 6 days ago
ramble81@lemmy.zip 6 days ago
It wouldn’t have cost them anything to say “we’re opening up orders to users who have had a Steam account for at least 2 years, limit 2 per account. After 30 days we’ll open it up to everyone. “
That alone would have stopped so much scalping, and garnered goodwill with the players.
Malyca@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
That’s a really good idea
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 6 days ago
But do offer them a carrot they can never quite reach but seems worth going out of their way for.
DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 5 days ago
You can report scalpers and get their listings taken down on ebay.
makyo@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I’m a bit miffed they didn’t handle the release better. Not sure what restrictions were in place but judging from eBay scalper screenshots it wasn’t much.
Orygin@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
It was limited to two per purchase, but I could still add (and maybe buy) more after I bought my 2
lemmyng@lemmy.world 6 days ago
If only there were two other console SKUs they sold in the past that would’ve better prepared them for this.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 6 days ago
PSA: don’t buy any from eBay. fuck scalpers.
if you don’t buy it they won’t sell it. if they don’t sell it, they won’t buy more.
Bael422@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Should report them on eBay too. Force eBay to stop allowing this behavior!
Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
Technically, if they don’t list it as a “Pre-sale” or “Pre-order”, they can be reported.
GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 6 days ago
REPORT scalpers on ebay.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Scalping is legal in lots of countries.
DiarrheaSommelier@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
An absolutely based strategy would be to launch a highly anticipated product with falsely constrained supply. Then right as the scalpers start posting their shit release the real supply with like a $10 price reduction and make a big announcement. Scalpers get rekt when everyone who wants one can get it for $10 less.
jedibob5@lemmy.world 6 days ago
What I don’t understand is why they don’t just let everyone place orders regardless of current stock over a certain time window, then once the ordering window is closed, arrange for production to meet demand? Or at least do something like a first-come, first-serve waitlist after the initial stock sells out.
Sure, it would take significantly longer to go from order to delivery, but the customer experience would be so much better without having to deal with the mad scramble to try and get an order in the minute they open up. Letting people stake their claim even if stock hasn’t caught up yet would also deter scalpers.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 days ago
A) You’ll have people selling their place in line, which means that those who can afford to take a large quantity of orders in advance can profit from the difference
B) It’s not exactly good PR to order something and having to wait a variable window of time for it to finally arive at your door (see almost all Bethesda merch incidents post Fallout NV)
C) Valve doesn’t operate like a dropshipper. There is no “white label” steam controller being made in china that they can slap their logo on and sell as soon as people order for it. They have to contract volume in advance, since it’s a bespoke product.
nialv7@lemmy.world 6 days ago
If only they limited it to 1 per steam account and made it only available to accounts that are sufficiently old.
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Because market conditions are fucking insane right now. If they allow backorder and their production price doubles they would have to either honor the orders and take a huge loss, or refuse to honor the price and take a reputational hit.
ech@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
$5 to get in queue. Price adjusted as needed when order is available. Done.
This free-for-all system is bullshit and has been extra shitty for everything since 2020.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 6 days ago
One thing that comes to mind is that even if they get hit by a space rock tomorrow, your order is on it’s way. There’s guarantee it exists and is already destined for you. Seems fair and safe.
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Seems like they are sacrificing revenue to guarantee they’ll be able to execute in the delivery. It’s not the highest bar, but it is a bar.
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
They don’t even know how to price it they have to reorder everything and cost it out, prices are fluctuating a lot right now throughout the supply chain.
ClassyHatter@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
Scalpers are already selling it like double the MSRP.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
There’s one listed for $500 on Ebay
kossa@feddit.org 6 days ago
Are they offering or selling at that price? I mean sure, I really want to play with that controller, that’s why I ordered it. But I also kinda offer it here, in this community exclusively, for like, idk, a million dollars? Offer negotionable 😅
quack@lemmy.zip 6 days ago
I saw one that sold for $300 on eBay.
DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 5 days ago
To everyone complaining about scalpers: if you report them on ebay, they will get taken down. Go make their lives harder!
phx@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Any listing that went up before the official release date should automatically be flagged and removed
DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 4 days ago
Agreed, but we do what we can.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Yeah, agreed. eBay is notorious for being brutal on sellers, taking them down rather easily.
Scam listings are still everywhere though.
echodot@feddit.uk 6 days ago
Did they not limit pre-orders to people with existing steam accounts and one controller per account because that would have been an excellent idea and I assumed that they would have thought of that.
Anyway I have zero interest in the controller until the VR headset comes out.
Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
They did it with the Deck, but apparently didn’t think the controller would garner the same reaction, somehow.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
They did do it with the controller though
DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world 6 days ago
At this point, I’m not really even going to bother. I’ll just wait another year or so until people get enough then snag one.
ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 days ago
Man, if anyone reeaaallly wanted one and didn’t get it hmu and maybe I could ship you my v1
But this reeks of scalpers to me, if you really need a controller save some dosh and pick up a Vader Pro
tiberius@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
My eyes lit cup when you mentioned the Vader Pro, but I was left with disappointment due to the lack of dual trackpads.
otacon239@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Yep. The trackpads are 90% of why I want this controller. It’s such a killer feature.
BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Fucking consumerism. Everyone really NEEDS brand new controller now. Because valve…
Tiger666@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
You are 100% right despite the downvotes.
Consumerism will be the end of humanity.
46_and_2@lemmy.world 6 days ago
It is a quite unique controller for PC with those trackpads and highly customizable functions, and most people with similar first gen Steam Controller are on the point of breaking or wanting a little bit extra of those same functions they’re used to. It’s normal to have high demand, and if many of those are scalpers they’ll get fucked by that problem.
yuri@pawb.social 6 days ago
this reads like “more than a month” and i’m so bummed. i really want one :c
Tattorack@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Steam hardware selling faster than Nintendo hardware.
Rainbowblite@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
Why not just take all the orders now and increase the estimated shipping date? Cut scalpers off at the knees by eliminating FOMO.
I love my original steam controller. I want one of the new ones for when my original eventually breaks. I don’t need it now though. So I would be happy to wait, if I knew they weren’t going to abandon it like the old controller.
Joelk111@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Honestly I don’t even blame them for underestimating demand. Based on comments here and my own personal intuition, I would’ve guessed that it would’ve sold great, to a very niche audience.
Maybe it has more widespread demand than expected, those track pads make it amazing for any couch PC usage, gaming or not, and many existing SteamDeck owners like myself are already aware of this.
Stupendous@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Really should have just let people preorder to get ideas for day one demand. I expect after one major restock, the resale value tanks and things are normal in gamepad land again. I’m always annoyed with these companies not taking backorders. They did that with the Deck. It’s a controller sold by the company it’s from sold in its store that has already had backorders done for the Deck launch. This isn’t Nvidia and AIB partners. This is fully Valve controlled in a proven storefront. They could have handled this way better
BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I want one, but I’m not sure I $100 want one.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
Nobody cares
BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 6 days ago
True lol
golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Is the controller a limited run kind of thing or does valve intend to continue selling them indefinetly?
grue@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Indefinitely.
golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Thanks!
pyre@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I’m excited about this one; i can’t wait for it to go out of production before it becomes available in my country!
dragonfucker@lemmy.nz 6 days ago
I’m normally on Valve’s side amidst the criticism because of their great work on proton, but using Xitter is a reason to question that.
AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net 6 days ago
Yeah that sucked, I was at work and missed it.
Kwakigra@beehaw.org 6 days ago
I hope this wasn’t deliberate, but if it was Valve is going down the dark Nintendo path.
dom@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
They do not want to over produce. Its very likely they just under estimated how many people would want it at this price point.
They’ve been burned sitting on stock that they have to fire sale to get rid of.
4am@lemmy.zip 6 days ago
I got two Steam Links for $10 back in the day
ech@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
And they had an excellent system with the Deck that for some damn reason they opted not to emulate. Fucking stupid.
thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 6 days ago
Valve has no reason to do this with intention. I just think they didn’t a good job preventing or slowing down scalpers. I think they didn’t think it would sell out like this, because they know the price is a bit on higher side. And compared to the Steam Deck, they don’t “need” to sell those controllers immediately.
At the end I believe it was just miscalculation. That’s all to it.
GammaGames@beehaw.org 6 days ago
Im not following, why would they want to make less money?
Kwakigra@beehaw.org 6 days ago
It’s marketing. Nintendo deliberately under stocks new hardware to make the value of the device explode on the secondary market. Scalpers know this and usually buy out most of the first run. When you can’t get the new Nintendo device because it’s unavailable and scalpers are selling it for 2-3x retail price, you are far more likely to buy is asap when it comes back in stock. They make less money initially but in a way that makes the value of the product extremely high, giving people extremely high motivation to buy while they can. Also, a sale to a scalper is worth as much to Nintendo as sale to a consumer. Nintendo is notorious for doing this every time.
defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 days ago
They just just open up a permenant preorder system for all of their hardware and avoid the bullshit to begin with.
Joelk111@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Yeah, I mean, at this point valve has proved to be trustworthy. I wouldn’t mind placing a pre-order or backorder with them.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Plus hardware preorders actually still make sense because it can’t just be digitally copied and a key generated without anyone even needing to press a button. Which was also the case for games at one point.
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
How the did it with the steam deck was nice. It wasn’t a pre-order in the usual sense, since you didn’t pay anywhere close to full price. Just a refundable $5 that would go towards the cost of purchase when you bought it.
I don’t mind that for hardware, since it cuts out scalpers and doesn’t obligate you to purchase something before you know the quality.
deeves@lemmy.world 6 days ago
As someone who waited 6 months for their Framework 13 pre-order batch to ship, let me tell you, there are drawbacks to that system as well!
defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 days ago
I already waited a few years for a new Steam Controller, so what’s another half a year?
fluffycats@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
Looks to me more an endorsement of preordering when stock is limited. If delivering laptops in the order it received took 6 months then a first come first serve would have meant no laptop at all within 6 months for many people who wanted one.
It’d come down more to who is the luckiest and has the best bots.