The shipment delays for the highly anticipated virtual reality (VR) headsets from Oculus and HTC have led to an escalated selling price on eBay for these products. The prices now range between $1,000 and $2,000.
This is a sharp jump from Facebook's $600 Oculus Rift and the HTC's $800 Vive, which means that you just might be tempted to sell yours if it were a gift and double your profits through eBay.
"We're working as fast as we can to get Rifts to customers who pre-ordered," stated a recent Oculus blogpost.
The preorders that opened on January 6 for the Facebook products shipped on March 28. The makers attributed this delay to "an unexpected component shortage," which was not accompanied by any further explanation. In an effort to sweeten the deal, the company has declared free shipment for all the delayed headsets, while the new Oculus VR headset orders are supposed to ship out in July.
Meanwhile, the delay in HTC Vive is not because of any mysterious shortage of headsets, but things like disruption in payment processing and communication. Some Vive delays also pertained to certain banks perceiving the product being a potentially fraudulent charge on the credit cards, which HTC is striving to rectify. The company has also stated that it is handling its hot market products on a first-come-first-serve basis in different countries.
HTC claims to have stuck to its original date of April 5 for starting shipment. However, one shouldn't really expect their April 1 preorder to arrive before the end of the month, provided HTC has given you the green signal for an April delivery.
But none of the reasons really explain the massive delay the first-day preorders are facing. People who have ordered within 15 minutes of the rollout are still yet to receive their shipments. On top of that, it is rumored that people who have ordered an Oculus Rift bundle with a gaming PC (not necessarily preorders) will be prioritized over those waiting for their VR headsets for months.
While the two players deal with their delivery issues, you can, in the meatime, head over to eBay to take a closer look at Oculus Rift and HTC Vive along with their escalated prices.
Photo: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung | Flickr
