the serial number is tied to your steam account, and you can always tell them to shut off access to the device if you think its been taken.

You can ask what part of it does he want to know.

If he wants to know the start or the end it may design some Decks that are produced somewhere or have a particular spec (like the Switch), and it may end like that.

If he wants to see the whole serial, it’s a no. People can register and report things as stolen or “the usual” scam stuff.

I’d ask why. The maybe not send it to them, and just walk through whatever process they want to do with them, on your device.

Geez no there’s no threat. You have messages from him wanting to see it. Not to mention if you bought it off steam then that model deck will be associated with your account. If he claims it stolen he will be charged will falsifying a police report

If they want it to confirm the model version, just leave the last coiple digits off as X’s, so they don’t have the one specific to yours, but close enough to get anything else they need from it.

I know for older Switches this helps if you’re trying to get one of the original models for modding purposes.

It’s a steamdeck not a car Why’s he asking for the sn#?

I say walk and find another buyer

There is no risk what so ever. I sell tons of stuff. iPhones are a commonly asked serial number. There are various electronics brands with websites to check warranty via serial number. There isn’t much you can do with a serial number by itself.

Noooo, I wouldn’t give that out. There are other buyers, move on.

I would like to ask serial to know the version of hardware (lcd etc.) is used on product. In case of Nintendo, I would definitely ask for serial to know if it’s “hackable”.

I sold a switch on eBay a few years ago and ran into this. For the switch it made sense because he wanted to make sure it was hackable. Can’t think of a single non malicious reason someone needs your SD serial number

I remember when the switch came out people did this a lot. Not sure if the deck had a software or hardware change at some point in its production but the old Switch models were easy to hack.

pretty sure its about checking for stolen item. giving a serial number is no risk.

What would a potential buyer even do with the serial number?

Same with a vin number when buying a car. The buyer wants to know if it’s stolen and what the actual specs are. It’s not like they all of a sudden own your deck because you gave them the serial number.

This is done all the time for consoles when people are looking for a specific hardware revision.

Fear-mongering about him reporting it stolen is way over the top. This guy probably wants to make sure it either isn’t stolen, wants a specific hardware revision, or wants to make sure you haven’t upgraded any of the components (eg selling the base-model with an upgraded SSD as the higher model).