Preorder Slots Are Selling Before the Console Even Ships

Valve went out of its way to make the Steam Machine launch as fair as possible. Scalpers, predictably, didn't get the memo.

How Bad Are the Markups?

Less than 24 hours after the randomized reservation queue closed, eBay listings for Steam Machine preorder slots started popping up — with sellers asking anywhere from $1,363 all the way up to $3,000. To put that in perspective, the 2TB model retails directly from the Steam Store at $1,499. Some of these listings are asking double that. For a queue spot. Not even the console itself. The 512GB model isn't faring much better, with listings running between roughly $1,363 and $2,800 — anywhere from 30% to 167% above retail. It's the kind of markup that makes your stomach turn, especially if you spent days refreshing your inbox hoping your reservation would come through.

Valve Tried to Stop This

To Valve's credit, they clearly saw this coming. The company built the entire reservation system around discouraging exactly this kind of behavior. Rather than a first-come-first-served launch — which historically just rewards bots, people with lightning-fast internet, and anyone with nothing better to do than hammer F5 all day — Valve spread the signup window across several days with no advantage to being first. They also ran validation checks to weed out fake accounts, and limited purchases to one unit per household, requiring a Steam account in good standing with at least one purchase made on or before April 27, 2026.

So Why Didn't It Work?

It's a genuinely smart system. And it mostly worked — the fact that we're not seeing hundreds of listings suggests the bulk of reservations landed with people who actually want the thing. But "mostly worked" doesn't mean "completely worked," and a handful of opportunists are clearly willing to cash out their slot rather than wait for the hardware. Whether anyone actually pays $3,000 for a preorder reservation is a separate question. Listings aren't sales. But the demand signal is real — Valve has already confirmed that supply is limited, and there's no clear timeline on when a second wave of units will be available.

Should You Buy From a Scalper?

If you're tempted to pull the trigger on one of these eBay listings, it's worth pumping the brakes for a few reasons. Beyond the obvious risk of handing money to a stranger on the internet for something that doesn't exist yet, there's also a practical hardware consideration: the first batch of Steam Machines ships with a single 16GB RAM stick, meaning single-channel memory and a real-world performance hit compared to a dual-channel setup. Valve has hinted this could change in future runs — so waiting might actually get you a better machine at retail price.

Same Story, Different Console

Scalping is a tale as old as the PS5 launch, the RTX 30 series, and every Nintendo console drop that's ever caused a minor public incident. The Steam Machine is just the latest chapter. Valve did more than most to prevent it. The market, as usual, found a way anyway.