Meta's Xbox-Branded Quest 3S Just Sold Out for All the Wrong Reasons

Gizmodo

19 hours ago

Everyone loves limited-edition stuff. There's Sony's 30th anniversary PS5, or Analogue's many limited edition Pocket handhelds, or— I don't know—the Shamrock f***ing Shake. But there's one type of person who loves limited-edition stuff more than your average consumer, and it's a scalper. For proof of that, see Meta's recently released Xbox-branded Quest 3S.
See Meta Quest Xbox Edition at Best Buy
In case you missed it, Meta's new limited-edition Quest 3S bundle just recently sold out, which on the surface sounds like a great thing for VR and XR. You may be tempted to say, 'Oh, wow! People really like XR headsets, huh?' But before you do that, it may also be worth taking a short gander at eBay, because the resale market over there paints a slightly more cynical picture. It's full of Xbox-branded Quest 3S bundles, folks—and they ain't just giving them away. This bundle, for reference, retails at $399, and the average price I'm seeing on eBay is about $600, though sometimes a little more or a little less.
Here is the sad state of affairs on eBay as of the time of typing these words:
The list goes on and on, unfortunately, which tells me one thing: the scalpers had a field day with this thing. And that's just kind of sad. It's not sad that someone would want to make money from reselling a limited-edition gadget—as annoying as scalpers are, I can't blame anyone for having a side hustle in this economy. But it is sad that Meta seemingly didn't do much to preserve its limited-edition Quest 3S for XR nerds who unequivocally deserve first dibs. It's also maybe a little sad—as someone who borders on said XR nerd identity—that the race to being out of stock may not actually be driven by real demand. XR headsets, while not the most crucial gadget in the world, are pretty cool and deserve more shine than they get, in my humble opinion. It would have been nice to see them really break through with a little help from an Xbox marketing gimmick. But as always, the almighty aftermarket prevails.
To be fair, I'm sure not all of the sales were scalpers trying to make a buck off the XR headset's rarity. Some people, I presume, bought it because it's a pretty good deal for getting into XR—you get a sleek black headset with Xbox green details, Meta's Elite Strap for your head, and a limited-edition Xbox controller to top it off. Based on the retail price of all of that, this bundle saves you somewhere in the ballpark of $95. Some people bought this bundle because of Xbox, too. Here's one instance in which someone seems to have pulled the trigger on this bundle just for the controller. Honestly… respect. That's much more pure than trying to spin the whole thing around for $200.
The idea that someone buys the new Quest colorway just to nab the limited edition Xbox Controller and sell the rest is really comical.. pic.twitter.com/b5ER1xIfqe
— SadlyItsDadley (@SadlyItsBradley) June 27, 2025Listen, scalpers are an inevitable fact of life nowadays when you're buying any gadget that's even slightly in demand. Like it or not, that's just the world we live in—one colored by bots and dropshipping. But I'd be lying if I said that it wouldn't have been nice to see a little effort on Meta's part to prevent that. It can be done! Just look at the Switch 2 launch. People have been resorting to cartoonish levels of robbery to get their hands on it—that's how in-demand this thing is—but Nintendo, with a little bit of forethought, has kept the scourge of scalpers to a dull roar. I guess Meta probably doesn't care that much either way, though. A sale is a sale, whether it ends up on eBay or on your dorky XR- and Xbox-loving head. Sadly, if you're in the latter camp, it looks like the aftermarket is your only option right now. Thanks, Zuckerberg. Just because you look like a dropshipper doesn't mean you have to act like one.
See Meta Quest Xbox Edition at Best Buy