Steam Controller scalpers are asking for $300+ on eBay — Valve's $99 controller demands high price as pre-orders sell out almost immediately

Valve's Steam Controller is, or at least was temporarily, officially available. The long-awaited $99 controller sold out shortly after going live on Steam, and in turn, spurred larger issues with purchases across the platform, as noted by users in the Steam Controller pre-order megathread. Scalpers have quickly capitalized, with confirmed pre-orders relisted on eBay for $300 or more.

Although it's common to see high prices from scalpers immediately after an in-demand product launches, it seems some people have bought the controller at inflated prices from resellers. Browsing through sold listings on eBay, there are dozens of confirmed orders, most of which are above $200. Over on the Steam Controller subreddit, some users are celebrating successfully checking out, while others say they aren't able to get through the process due to Steam payment errors.

We've been keeping tabs on Steam Controller inventory, and it currently appears out of stock in the U.S. Some users, however, claim that the controller has intermittently come back in stock during the time that it's been available. Valve hasn't said when the controller will be available again. Tom's Hardware has reached out to the company for comment, and we'll update if we hear back.

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We gave Valve's controller four out of five stars in our Steam Controller review, with our reviewer Andrew E. Freedman writing, "The Steam Controller is a comfortable, fully-featured controller at a sensible price point between basic controllers on the market and their more customizable counterparts. It's a bit weighty, but it's comfortable, and if you love your Steam Deck, you'll feel right at home."

However, he had criticisms compared to controllers with broad support on PC, such as an Xbox Series controller, noting that it's designed primarily to work with Steam (go figure).

The Steam Controller was originally revealed alongside the Steam Machine late last year, presumably set to release together. Valve officially delayed the Steam Machine in February, however, citing rising memory costs, and said it was reconsidering the price. Following a delay from the first half of the year, Valve changed the wording on the Steam Machine's launch page from "early 2026" to "this year," suggesting another delay.

Thankfully, the Steam Controller isn't susceptible to memory shortages. It's just susceptible to tried-and-true scalping bots. If you want to read more about the Steam Controller while you spam your F5 key, make sure to read our Steam Controller developer interview.

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