Valve has finally opened Steam Machine reservations, and like clockwork, scalpers have already taken to eBay to sell the new tech for more than double its retail price.
It was better than clicking “Next” every second for 45 minutes trying to check out, and then failing to get one. Nothing can truly stop scalpers except the original seller doing the scalping themselves with a silent auction.
What I mean
I’m not suggesting this is a good system. Hence I’m hiding it in a spoiler.
Imagine if Valve launched the sale, and everyone names their own price (with a minimum price). Everyone bids their maximum amount, and Valve just picks the top N people to get one. The rich idiots who just have to have one buy it for whatever price, and more normal people buy it for less, but probably more than the minimum.
Would you have bid $50 more than the min to get one right away? I might have. I dunno. Do people with more money deserve a machine more? Well, no, but that’s the world we live in. The lottery is the best alternative we have.
It was better than clicking “Next” every second for 45 minutes trying to check out, and then failing to get one. Nothing can truly stop scalpers except the original seller doing the scalping themselves with a silent auction.
What I mean
I’m not suggesting this is a good system. Hence I’m hiding it in a spoiler.
Imagine if Valve launched the sale, and everyone names their own price (with a minimum price). Everyone bids their maximum amount, and Valve just picks the top N people to get one. The rich idiots who just have to have one buy it for whatever price, and more normal people buy it for less, but probably more than the minimum.
Would you have bid $50 more than the min to get one right away? I might have. I dunno. Do people with more money deserve a machine more? Well, no, but that’s the world we live in. The lottery is the best alternative we have.