Allow owners of used Steam Decks to purchase the exclusive goodies

[Anna Banana]

Backstory

Hey y'all. I bought my 64gb Steam Deck used on eBay for ~$350 for myself for my Birthday in October 2023 to try and save a little money because I really wanted a Steam Deck but I have student loans to pay so I need to be mindful of my spending. I even got a cheap 256gb hard drive and installed it myself just for a little extra storage to avoid paying $100 more for the 256gb model. Within the next month Valve announced the Steam Deck OLED and dropped all the prices of the Steam Decks. Needless to say, this felt like a massive slap in the face; I could've paid less for a refurbished model, avoided installing my own hard drive, and gotten the Steam Deck rewards. I know, I know, sucks to suck

Anyway, I keep getting a reminder on my Steam Deck to claim rewards, but I can't because the original owner already did. I've contacted support and they were adamant that due to internal policy, my scenario doesn't fall under accidental redemption, so I could not get the rewards, and I should just press the "ignore forever" on the claim notification. This is disappointing because I would've bought from Valve if the prices had dropped when I was ready to buy, and it makes me feel like a second-rate Steam Deck owner to have that claim rewards message pop up and then not be able to. Nonetheless, I get it. It's for new purchases from Valve only to entice people to buy more expensive models and get more goodies. It stings, but it's nothing personal. In my opinion, it'd be nice if you could unlock the rewards in some other way such as playing for x amount of time on your Steam Deck. Which brings me to my suggestion.

Suggestion

Since the Steam Deck has been out for a while, it'd be nice to be able to buy the exclusive keyboard and profile themes with our own points. I have some points from the Steam Shop sitting in my account. I'm interested in the classic Steam keyboard skin that's a throwback to the color scheme of Steam I used to use way back in 2009 when I first joined. Maybe 5,000 points just like the rest of the available keyboards, or maybe ~7,500 since they're the exclusive ones.

Thanks for reading.

[Satoru]

I mean that basically defeats the purpose of 'exclusive' when you didn't buy it from steam

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Only the original owner can contact support and ask to release the exclusive items back for the new owner to redeem them.

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di Satoru:

I mean that basically defeats the purpose of 'exclusive' when you didn't buy it from steam

Video games do this with preorder items all the time. Get it at launch or unlock/purchase it later.

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Only the original owner can contact support and ask to release the exclusive items back for the new owner to redeem them.

:winterbunny2023:

Support told me that's not actually the case, that can't be done.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Only the original owner can contact support and ask to release the exclusive items back for the new owner to redeem them.

Support told me that's not actually the case, that can't be done.

You were told the incorrect information.

[William Shakesman]

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

Support told me that's not actually the case, that can't be done.

You were told the incorrect information.

:winterbunny2023:

It is always funny when people who are not valve employees say "No, the literal valve employee is wrong."

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Messaggio originale di William Shakesman:

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

You were told the incorrect information.

It is always funny when people who are not valve employees say "No, the literal valve employee is wrong."

I love it when users have no clue as to what they are talking about and force themselves to be off topic, derailing threads for no reason...

Added ability to re-claim Steam Deck rewards if they were accidentally redeemed by another account, and Steam Support has removed those items.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/3220648637502115303

"The situation as is has great impact to marginalized communities that Steam should do better to support." - the fake William Shakesman

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Messaggio originale di William Shakesman:

It is always funny when people who are not valve employees say "No, the literal valve employee is wrong."

I love it when users have no clue as to what they are talking about and force themselves to be off topic, derailing threads for no reason...

Added ability to re-claim Steam Deck rewards if they were accidentally redeemed by another account, and Steam Support has removed those items.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/3220648637502115303

"The situation as is has great impact to marginalized communities that Steam should do better to support." - the fake William Shakesman

:winterbunny2023:

As I touched on in my post, that update specifically mentions "accidental" redemption, which I do not qualify for. The owner redeemed the rewards and held them for an extended period of time, since whenever they had bought the deck, and then I purchased it used. This does not fall under "accidental" so I do not qualify for what you're describing.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

I love it when users have no clue as to what they are talking about and force themselves to be off topic, derailing threads for no reason...



https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/3220648637502115303

"The situation as is has great impact to marginalized communities that Steam should do better to support." - the fake William Shakesman

As I touched on in my post, that updated specifically mentions "accidental" redemption, which I do not qualify for. The owner redeemed the rewards and held them for an extended period of time since they had bought the deck, and then I purchased it used. This does not fall under "accidental" so I do not qualify for what you're describing.

It still does qualify. Tested 2x when purchasing Decks off eBay for a couple friends. But the original own must provide ample proof of ownership for their account, just like a lost or stolen account would and ask to release the items.

YOU would have to contact the original owner and ask them to do all of this. Support won't do it on your behalf, which is what they told you when YOU contacted them to have the items released without the original owner going through the process first.

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

As I touched on in my post, that updated specifically mentions "accidental" redemption, which I do not qualify for. The owner redeemed the rewards and held them for an extended period of time since they had bought the deck, and then I purchased it used. This does not fall under "accidental" so I do not qualify for what you're describing.

It still does qualify. Tested 2x when purchasing Decks off eBay for a couple friends. But the original own must provide ample proof of ownership for their account, just like a lost or stolen account would and ask to release the items.

YOU would have to contact the original owner and ask them to do all of this. Support won't do it on your behalf, which is what they told you when YOU contacted them to have the items released without the original owner going through the process first.

:winterbunny2023:

Regardless, I was told by support that this was not possible. So either you're lying, or they were wrong. No idea.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

Messaggio originale di cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

It still does qualify. Tested 2x when purchasing Decks off eBay for a couple friends. But the original own must provide ample proof of ownership for their account, just like a lost or stolen account would and ask to release the items.

YOU would have to contact the original owner and ask them to do all of this. Support won't do it on your behalf, which is what they told you when YOU contacted them to have the items released without the original owner going through the process first.

:winterbunny2023:

Regardless, I was told by support that this was not possible. So either you're lying, or they were wrong. No idea.

Or they can see the owner claimed the exclusives and used the device, so it is not eligible for transfer.

Keep in mind that Support is still not Valve. They are a 3rd party that Valve pays to provide support and may not have access to all the information, so give simple answers.

But yes, either way, you are not likely to get it that way and current Deck owners would throw a fit if Valve sold it for points or money.

That is the down side to buying used. You may be out some of what new purchases got with the product.

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di Spawn of Totoro:

Messaggio originale di Anna Banana:

Regardless, I was told by support that this was not possible. So either you're lying, or they were wrong. No idea.

Or they can see the owner claimed the exclusives and used the device, so it is not eligible for transfer.

Keep in mind that Support is still not Valve. They are a 3rd party that Valve pays to provide support and may not have access to all the information, so give simple answers.

But yes, either way, you are not likely to get it that way and current Deck owners would throw a fit if Valve sold it for points or money.

That is the down side to buying used. You may be out some of what new purchases got with the product.

Right, that's what I was thinking. Support can see the amount of time the original owner had them redeemed for and know that it clearly wasn't accidental redemption.

I'm not sure if current deck owners would exactly throw a fit if valve sold it for points or money this long after release, but I see your point. Most users I see discussing it in forums say that they're just throwaway freebies.

Again, I wouldn't have bought used if the prices came down literally a month sooner. It's an unfortunate situation, hence why I'm proposing the ability to get the rewards in some other way than purchasing a whole other Steam Deck. If the issue is Valve wanting my money, I'd consider paying $5 for the bundle. I'm sure plenty of people would. Games do this with preorders all the time, exclusive for a time past launch and then they let you buy them.

[William Shakesman]

Messaggio originale di Satoru:

I mean that basically defeats the purpose of 'exclusive' when you didn't buy it from steam

So? Who cares? Valve has the right to change the exclusivity at any time. If it makes them money, why not? There is no benefit to creating two classes of Steam Deck users.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Messaggio originale di William Shakesman:

Messaggio originale di Satoru:

I mean that basically defeats the purpose of 'exclusive' when you didn't buy it from steam

So? Who cares? Valve has the right to change the exclusivity at any time. If it makes them money, why not? There is no benefit to creating two classes of Steam Deck users.

If they want the exclusive items, they can just 'git gud' and purchase one directly from Valve.

[Anna Banana]

Messaggio originale di SlowMango:

Messaggio originale di William Shakesman:

So? Who cares? Valve has the right to change the exclusivity at any time. If it makes them money, why not? There is no benefit to creating two classes of Steam Deck users.

If they want the exclusive items, they can just 'git gud' and purchase one directly from Valve.

I would have if I wasn't poor lol