The moral quandary of re-selling.

I first my apologise for my humble brag. I got very very lucky and managed to pre-order a steam deck in the first 60 seconds of it going on sale.

I've had it a week and I love it. I travel lots for work so it is perfect.

HOWEVER I've started to see sales on ebay of my 512gb version go for over £2k + (actually sold at that price) That is 2 months rent, a clear credit card lots of things. I bought it because I will be a user but when do you say God that is really a big amount of money that would have a positive impact on my life even if I'm taking it away from a real user.

Be really interested to hear people's thoughts on what they would do.

It's a tough world out there, do what you gotta do. Since you didn't buy it with the specific purpose of scalping it, I'd say you're morally good to resell even without everything being terrible.

If you need the money, sell it for whatever you can get out of it. I think this only becomes questionable if you already have a ton of money. Anyone willing to pay that kind of money is probably better off than you are.

I don't see a problem with selling something you own for the market price. I think re-selling gets unethical when that's what you make your life about. Buying dozens of new items just to resell them, or buying stuff at the Dollar Store to sell it on Amazon, that's the bullshit life you gotta avoid.

You'll probably live longer than 2 months, and then you won't have anymore steam decks to pay your rent with.

We have no idea what your financial situation is like so only you can really answer this question. Does "travel lots for work" mean you have a good job, or is it some gig economy BS where your boss is a phone app? If the later, I would probably sell it. If you already live comfortably, then keep it. Things around the world just get worse all the time so who knows if you'll ever have an easy time getting a second steam deck.

There’s no problem with reselling until you are being an active participant in screwing others over. If you wanna flip something you bought cool if you turn around and start camping new product to keep reselling then you’re being kind of a shit.

Apologies I should be clear. I'm financially totally OK, to not re-sell however it would be a good financial boost and help out on life's costs.

Yeah, you didn't pre-order or buy ist to profitm you used it. So if you cna resell ist for a high price tahn that is ethical enough. I have a PS5 that si unopened, but I had such a hard time beting oen and teh prices are dropping, so I will just use mine. However, if the prices surged because a cargo ship overturnns tomorrow, so that PS5 were selling for $2K; I'd likley sell ist as unopened/brandnew - as it is that condidtion.

Hell, if the prcies of PS VR, go up you better believe I will sell my unopened PayStation®VR headset, PlayStation®Camera and PlayStation®Move motion controller for top dollar. I look at teh same wqas as an SUV, my Ford Escape is selling used for far more than ist is worth now because of the "car microchip" sistuation, SUVs are huge value...so if I sold I'd get as much as I could.

If you bought one thing and then sold that one thing, fine. You start becoming a real piece of dogshit when set up a bot to buy as many of that one thing as you can and then sell that one thing for four times its asking price.

Still, I have several things I wouldn't trade for four times their asking price unless I was in serious financial trouble. I buy things because I want them, not because I want to resell them. If you're in a good financial situation right now I'd keep the Steam Deck. You never know when a portable gaming machine that can run a good chunk of your Steam library will come in handy.

If you need the money, though, then certainly, sell it, enjoy.

So, I was fortunate enough to get a PS5 in January, so I sold my PS4 Pro in excellent condition with 4 physical discs on craigslist. I posted it at $200 and immediately got beset by obvious bots that I had to sift through to eventually find a real person that was interested, and we negotiated to make it $150 without the games. Most other PS4s in my area were listing at $350-$500 for non-pro models so I knew I was getting more than I would if this were a normal past-generation unload but still giving a better deal than anyone else was and careful not to sell to a scalper. I dunno if I'm part of the problem or not, but it would have otherwise sat in my closet until it became non-functional.

If you are gonna sell your steam deck used (even if it's only a short time), it is now depreciated, and should be sold for the same or less than the MSRP, no matter how tempting gouging some poor sucker may be. Every single price-gouging asshole started with the temptation and likely a little moral debate in their head before giving in. You gouge someone now, you will likely feel less hesitant to do it again and again. It's how people turn into bad people. Maybe I'm an absolutist, but if you need the cash, you probably should not have bought the steam deck to start with. You sell it for nearly what you paid for it, you can erase a regrettable purchase and not be an asshole. Otherwise, well, you know what you would be, that's why you brought it up.

Yes, I feel like if you are in real financial trouble you obviously sell what you need to for whatever price you can get, but it would not sit well with me to sell an unused (or used) consumer product above retail value without it being necessary. Yes, because of the desensitization aspect, but mainly because I am a pretty big leftist, and selling it for an inflated price would only make it available to the rich or desperate.

selling it for a markup is kinda shitty. that said shame on the person buying it for that markup also. that being said as a person with a fair amount of CC debt i wouldn't blame you for wanting to make yourself a bit better off than just ok either.

Shit, I'd sell my 2080 Ti for $2,000 if I didn't need it. Get yous, playa.

That said, someone buying a banana duct taped to a wall for $120,000 exists within my occupation, so forgive me if I'm a little more opportunistic than most.

Anybody that buys the first batch of something has the potential to resell top of mind. Here's hoping the purchaser scams you back with claims of nothing in the box.

You didn't plan it so I'd say you're good to go. The buyer however might accuse you of scalping so that interaction may be unpleasant and make sure you get your money first.

I was in a similar situation when my preorder PS5 finally came in, I hadn't paid for it in advance and eventually decided not to buy it at all. It did occur to me that I could just pick it up and flip it, but decided against that for these reasons.

Asking others to point your moral compass is always a double edged sword. You'll get a range of replies, some of which align with what you already thought, others that don't. Do what you feel is right for you. If you can't reconcile re-selling something for quadruple its initial worth, don't do it. If you can reconcile it and you want to get some easy money, then do it. I'd say that if you sell it, then you waive the right to complain about Steam deck prices if you eventually *do* want one again, but that's not really up to me.

I don't see an issue here. As long as you're not the kind of person that joins buy groups to buy 1000x of an item with the aim to resell it for a large profit to the people that actually wanted that item, you shouldn't feel like you're morally doing something bad.

It sounds like you got your Steam Deck fair and square and understand you shouldn't scalp other people. I see nothing wrong with you selling what you got with the terms you have shared in your post.

I'd jump on reselling it right away if I were you. A newer better version will probably be out in a year or two anyways. You don't owe anyone a reason. If someone is going to pay $2k on eBay for it, do it. Better yourself.

Reselling as a habit is scalping. Scalping is price gouging. Price gouging is an evil act, where I hope anyone who participates it gets scurvy, so they can feel the constant burrowing of tiny organisms crawling under their skin forever.

Reselling as a sole exception is just life. Sometimes the thing just isn't worth it to keep. At that point, pay your bills, get something more valuable to you; whatever you gotta do. It's one sale, not five and not a consecutive siphon; the user base will be fine. Though in that regard, if sympathizing with others is truly a concern to you, then I wouldn't be aiming for maximized profits. As a comfort sale, however, it's very easy for that to transition into the habit where I hope you get the scurve.

If you're not scalping people, then it's okay.
If you're scalping, then imagine when food or water becomes scarcer, and you decided to hike a price for the food you hoarded. Then you're evil greedy scheming person, especially when you start to justify it, Martin Shkreli.

You didn't do anything shady to get the thing so I have to wonder who it is you think you would be hurting?

The person that buys it from you is an equal participant in the transaction. The can on their own accord decide if it's worth the price you are asking.

The vast majority of things you own will only go down in value. Why are you conflicted now that you happen to own something that has become more valuable then when you bought it? If the Steam Deck were some old console that you bought in 1995 that happened to be worth more now than then it was new would you have the same quandary about selling it?

The only advice I can give you is the standard advice given to anyone selling anything which is you can always start with a high price and if it doesn't sell work your way down but you can't do the opposite.

It's not you that determines how valuable your Steam Deck is. It already has value but you don't know exactly what it is. You can do one of three things:

1. Price it too low. Basically giving free money to the buyer.

2. Price it too high. Which means it won't sell.

3. Price it correctly. The buyer pays exactly what it's worth. This price can only be found by starting high and working down.

In the end it's important to remember that as much as people want them the Steam Deck is just a luxury toy and whether you sell it or keep it or smash it in your driveway it doesn't matter in any real way.

update. I didn't sell. Very much the right desicion, love it and use it all the time, had much more than monetary value of out.