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I love eBay. Whether I’m on the hunt for an elusive anime figure that I missed the pre-order period for (that Pop Up Parade Mima Kirigoe will be mine!), or I’m looking for the last bit of kit for a LARP costume, eBay occasionally has it at a reasonable price. You’re never sure what you’re gonna find spelunking Ebay’s depths; I often find myself pining after at least one thing I definitely don’t need—like a fabled Steam Deck prototype.
One adventurous Redditor stumbled upon an eBay listing claiming to be just that (via Steam Deck HQ). That’s not the wildest part; the seller known as Storm_City_Retro initially put the alleged Steam Deck prototype up with an asking price of either nearly $3,000 or best offer. Wilder still, the prototype apparently did sell—for $2,000.
While the seller didn’t detail in the listing just how they got their hands on this bit of kit, they claimed it is a legitimate prototype, though their own testing of the device revealed there’s no OS installed. Steam Deck HQ notes that, even with the eBay prototype’s missing right thumbstick, it does look almost identical to a confirmed prototype Valve shared on page 12 of this digital booklet.
While I can see both handhelds have round touch pads and fetching blue button accents, it’s worth noting the authenticity of the alleged prototype has not yet been fully verified.
Complicating matters further, with the alleged prototype having apparently been snapped up, the original listing is now hard to track down via the eBay website itself. However, Kotaku notes you can still dig it up via sites that can peek into eBay’s API, confirming that, yes, someone somewhere really did put down 2,000 smackers for it on April 8.
The Reddit post shares images from the original listing when it was still active, showing the underside of the handheld prototype. A sticker on the back purports that the prototype is an ‘Engineering Sample’ numbered 34. Funnily enough, that same sticker also states the unit is ‘not for resale.’ Well, it’s too late now!
A Steam Deck engineering prototype was just sold on eBay today for $3000 😭 from r/SteamDeck
This is far from the first time we’ve seen fabled tech prototypes turn up in odd places. For instance, the heavily rumoured but never-released GeForce RTX 4090 Ti was apparently dug out of a bin last year before YouTube channel Gamers Nexus got its hands on it for testing. Perhaps the buyer of this Steam Deck prototype will similarly offer a closer look in the future.
Still, if you’re like our Mollie and have recently decided you really do need the Steam Deck in your life, you don’t necessarily need to scour eBay for a good deal. Last year, Valve themselves began offering certified refurbs (both for the standard LCD model and the OLED Steam Deck). That said, supplies are understandably limited so be sure to check back often.
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Kurt Indovina
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