Facebook owned Oculus is yet to release a consumer version of its Rift virtual reality headset though for the past few months it has been shipping developer kits. These kits are primarily meant for those who want to develop software that works with this VR headset. Unfortunately there are Oculus Rift eBay resellers who sell off the developer kits for a cool profit online. The company is now taking action and shutting them down.
The move comes after Oculus announced that it is cancelling orders from China due to extreme pressure from scalpers. Those units were likely going to turn up online as well or would have been sold through the company’s grey market. Oculus doesn’t want that which is why it cancelled Rift DK2 pre-orders from China.
As the developer kit 2 starts shipping several listings have already appeared online on eBay with sellers demanding as much as $5000 for a unit. Word reached Oculus’ official forums and the company announced there that it is actively cancelling pre-orders for people who have listed their units online for resale.
“We don’t allow resale of the development kit,” Oculus says, also adding that no warranty is provided on second-hand sales, meaning if you pick one up from eBay, you will have no recourse with the company should anything go wrong.
This is not the first time that a product in the development stage is causing such a ruckus. During the early days of the Google Glass Explorer program many units were sold on eBay for fat profits. No one would need to go to such lengths if people simply stopped purchasing hardware that was not meant for them, but then again, they never listen do they!
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