After months of waiting, the Steam Controller finally launched yesterday (on May 4). It was available only through the official Steam store, and demand was clearly very high. As expected, the controller sold out quickly, and unfortunately, it didn’t take long for scalpers to jump in and take advantage of the situation.

The Steam Controller went live at 10 AM PT, and fans rushed to grab one as soon as it became available. Within less than an hour, the controller was already marked as sold out on Steam. Some users even reported facing errors during checkout, likely due to heavy traffic hitting the store at the same time. With the Steam Machine possibly up next, we may see a repeat of the problem.

Steam Controller was quick to sell out at Valve’s official store

Once the official stock was gone, resellers quickly stepped in. Listings started appearing on eBay almost immediately after the controller sold out. What’s worse is the pricing, as the Steam Controller originally launched at $99, but on eBay, it is now being listed for $200 to $300 in many cases. That is already more than double the original price.

In some extreme cases, a few sellers even tried to push the price past $500. While those listings did not last long, as users were quick to report them, it still shows how aggressive scalpers can be. Even at the $200-$300 range, the price is still very high for a controller that just launched.

This situation is not new in the gaming world. We have seen the same thing happen with consoles, GPUs, and even handheld devices in the past. Whenever supply is limited and demand is high, scalpers move in quickly to flip products for profit.

Valve is also preparing to launch the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame, and there is a good chance the same situation could happen again. The Steam Machine, in particular, is expected to attract a lot of attention, which could make it a prime target for resellers. The cubed mini-PC also has the highest memory requirements, so it’s likely more affected by ongoing RAM shortages.

For now, if you missed out on the Steam Controller, it might be better to wait for a restock instead of paying these inflated prices.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.