Steam Hardware Gets 14 Days From Delivery, Not 2 Hours

Valve gives you 14 days to cancel a hardware purchase made on Steam, and the clock starts when the box arrives, not when you pay. There is no two-hour limit like the one on games; the test is whether the unit is still in new condition.

That makes it a different rule from the one in Steam’s refund window for games, which runs 14 days from purchase and stops at two hours played. Valve keeps the hardware terms on a separate page, its Hardware Refund Policy, and they read like a shop’s returns desk rather than a game store’s.

The rules, by what you bought

What you bought, or where you are	Window	Condition	How to start it	Return postage
Steam Deck (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), Steam Controller or a dock (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), from Steam	14 days from delivery	No more use than a shop test would allow	“I’d like to request a refund” at help.steampowered.com	Yours, says the policy; Support usually sends a prepaid label
Steam Machine or Steam Frame, from Steam	14 days from delivery, by the policy’s general wording	The same	The same	The same
An order that has not shipped	24 hours from ordering	Any	The Help Site	Nothing to send
A reservation email you do not act on	72 hours to buy	Not applicable	Let it lapse, or cancel it	Nothing to send
In the EU or UK	14 days from taking possession	Liable only for handling beyond checking how it works	The Help Site, or Valve’s withdrawal form	Yours
From Komodo or another retailer	The retailer’s	The retailer’s	The retailer	Valve does not say
A fault after the window	Warranty: 1 year from shipment, or local law	A defect, not misuse	An RMA through the Help Site	Prepaid label in the US; elsewhere, as Valve directs

From Valve’s Hardware Refund Policy and Steam Support articles, read 21 September 2026.

Two cells need a word. The Steam Machine and Steam Frame are not named in the policy. Its opening says it covers “hardware products offered for direct purchase on Steam”, which takes them in, but its cancellation clause lists only Valve Index and Steam Deck (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab), with their “related components and accessories”. The Deck and Controller store pages link the refund policy and the warranty at the foot; the Machine and Frame pages carry neither link. Neither a later Valve page nor a Support article we found carves the two out, so we read the policy as covering them.

Komodo’s return postage is a real gap. Valve’s RMA guide sends non-Steam buyers to their retailer “to arrange for a replacement, repair, or refund”, and says nothing about who pays to post it.

What “new condition” means here

Valve’s wording is specific. The return may not be available if the hardware “has been modified, abused, or is otherwise no longer in new condition as a result of your testing of the Hardware exceeding what would be possible to you when buying the Hardware in a retail store.” If it is, you “may be liable for the diminished value”.

So the question is not how long you played. It is whether you did more than a shop would let you do with a demo unit. On that wording, opening it, setting it up and trying a few games sits inside the line. Swapping the SSD is a modification, which the policy names as a reason it may refuse.

The EU and UK wording is narrower, and it favours the buyer. There you are “only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods”.

How to return Steam hardware bought on Steam

1. Check the date on the delivery, not the receipt. The 14 days runs from the day you, or someone you named other than the carrier, received it. A Deck shipped straight to a friend starts its clock on their doorstep.
2. Back it up and wipe it. Valve’s packaging guide asks you to save anything you want to keep to a microSD card or other storage, then reset it at Settings › System. Valve says it is not responsible for data left on the device. The full routes, including one for a Deck that will not boot, are in how to factory reset a Steam Deck.
3. Ask for the refund before the 14 days ends. Log in at help.steampowered.com, pick the order and the problem, and press “I’d like to request a refund”. Valve says sending the request before the deadline is enough.
4. Wait for the RMA form. Valve’s packaging guide says “Do not return items without contacting us first.” Support sends a Return Merchandise Authorization form for inside the box and, “in most cases”, a prepaid label.
5. Pack it. The original box if you have it, the Deck in its carrying case, without the mesh pouch or cloth. Valve says it is not responsible for damage in transit. In the UK, Ireland and some EU islands, Support may tell you not to use the original packaging, to avoid customs delays; follow the ticket.
6. Send it within 14 days of asking. That second 14 days runs from the day you told Valve, not from delivery.
7. Watch for the money. Valve refunds within 14 days of receiving the hardware, to the original payment method, or to your Steam Wallet if you paid from it. It also refunds the outbound delivery charge for the cheapest option, which on Valve hardware is nothing: Valve’s shipping FAQ says “Shipping is free for all Valve Hardware products.”

Who pays to send it back

The policy is plain: “You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the Hardware.” The EU and UK wording repeats it.

Valve’s own packaging guide, updated in May 2026, then says Support will “in most cases” send a prepaid label. Valve does not say whether a label sent for a change-of-mind refund is deducted from what you get back. Ask in the ticket before you post it, and keep the tracking number.

Cancel in the first 24 hours, if you can

Valve’s shipping FAQ says you can modify or cancel an order “within 24 hours of placing your order”. After that it is allocated to a shipment and cannot be recalled, and the route is to wait for delivery and then ask for a refund.

For the Steam Machine and Steam Frame, there is a step before that. Both are sold through reservation queues: when your turn comes you have 72 hours to buy, after which Valve cancels the reservation and moves on. Valve says cancelling a reservation or leaving the waitlist releases your spot, so a place you give up is gone rather than paused. How the queue runs is in Steam Frame is sold by lottery.

After 14 days: the warranty

Past the window, a problem is a warranty claim. Valve’s limited warranty covers defects for one year from the date of shipment, and Valve chooses whether to repair, replace or refund. It does not cover damage, misuse or unauthorised modification that caused the fault. Its Certified Refurbished Decks carry the same one-year warranty as new ones.

In the EU, UK, Quebec, Australia and New Zealand, Valve’s own warranty does not apply at all; Valve says you get the statutory rights of the country you bought in. The warranty also moves with a gift: Valve says it transfers to a person who receives the hardware as a gift from the buyer.

Valve’s main refund page adds, for purchases on Steam generally, that even outside its rules “you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look”. That is a promise to look, not to pay.

Gifts bought early

A Deck ordered to your own address in a November sale starts its 14 days when it lands on your doorstep, not on Christmas morning. The same trap catches the big retailers, whose return windows run from the purchase or the delivery, never the unwrapping. Shipping it straight to the recipient moves the start to their delivery date, though Valve’s refund button sits on the order in the buyer’s Steam account.

Questions people ask

Does Steam refund hardware?

Yes. Valve’s Hardware Refund Policy lets you cancel a hardware purchase made on Steam within 14 days of delivery and send it back for a refund. It is a separate policy from the two-hour rule for games.

Can you return a Steam Deck?

Yes, within 14 days of the day it is delivered, if it is still in the condition a shop test would leave it in. Start the refund at help.steampowered.com, then send it back within 14 days of asking. Valve says to back up and factory reset it first.

What is the Steam Machine return window?

Valve’s hardware policy gives 14 days from delivery for hardware bought directly on Steam. Its cancellation clause names only Valve Index and Steam Deck, so the Machine is covered by the policy’s general wording rather than by name. You can also cancel any order within 24 hours of placing it.

What is the Steam Frame return policy?

The same Hardware Refund Policy: 14 days from delivery, in new condition, with return postage yours under the policy’s wording. Valve’s Frame page does not link the policy, and a reservation you do not buy within 72 hours is simply cancelled.

Can I get a Steam Deck refund after 14 days?

Not under the cancellation right, which ends 14 days after delivery. A fault is then a warranty claim: Valve’s warranty runs one year from shipment, and in the EU, UK, Quebec, Australia and New Zealand your statutory rights apply instead.

Who pays return shipping on Steam hardware?

Valve’s refund policy says you bear the direct cost of returning it. Its packaging guide says Support sends a prepaid label in most cases, and Valve does not say whether that label is deducted from a change-of-mind refund.