As Valve sends out emails to potential Steam Frame buyers and disappoints scores of potential buyers by putting them on a waiting list, outrageously marked-up Frame listings have been popping up on eBay since Monday’s price reveal.
Count yours truly among those who got the dreaded waitlist email for the Steam Frame, as shown in this image:
Despite Valve’s best efforts to mitigate scalpers via the same registration system used for the Steam Machine, listings have been popping up on secondary markets like eBay since Frame registration first opened on September 14. Those listings are, of course, ridiculous as anyone not in possession of a Steam Frame dev kit could not possibly have the device confirmed and available to sell. This is the type of highly anticipated release that scammers and scalpers live for, hoping to take advantage of disappointed buyers who received the same email I did earlier today.
However, as waitlist emails go out today, a new wave of listings is popping up with potential scalpers posting images of reservation queue confirmations, hoping to flip their purchases for profit. The same happened, and continues to happen, with the Steam Controller. eBay listings for the $100 accessory are priced as high as $300 from a quick search as some potential buyers have been told by Valve they are waitlisted until 2027.
As always, we strongly advise extreme caution if you are considering going this route to acquire Valve’s new headset. Screenshots of reservation queue confirmations can easily be copied from the internet and altered to give the appearance of a legitimate seller for anyone desperate or gullible enough to pay twice the retail price or more.
