Starlink ends dish flipping with up to $300 regional penalty fee

Starlink is trying to put an end to the practice of buying satellite Internet dish kits on the cheap and reselling them for profit.

Those who get a Starlink Standard or Mini kit in a place where they are cheaper or subject to a running promo to sell them in another region, will now face a penalty fee.

The new Outside Region Fee is meant to discourage flipping hundreds of Starlink dishes by exporting them to places in Africa, Asia, or the Middle East in search of the highest bidder. Those Starlink kits that are activated outside the global region that they were initially bought from, can all be subjected to the new resale penalty fee.

"If you purchased a Starlink Kit from an unauthorized reseller, it is possible that the Outside Region Fee may apply to your order," warns the fine print.

In other words, if a Starlink dish is bought in one of the six main regions - US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, or Oceania - and then activated in another, Starlink may flag the sale and apply an Outside Region Fee upon activation.

The fee ranges from $200 for the Standard and Standard Actuated kits, to $300 for the Starlink Mini Kit that is now very popular, but still not available everywhere, and is priced accordingly.

Currently, one can get a Starlink Standard Kit at Best Buy for just $299, or a Mini Kit for $599, and export them to the highest bidder in places without official coverage or authorized resellers for a tidy profit.

In addition, buyers in 28 states can take advantage of an extra $100 service credit. Such running promos make dish flipping a rather attractive pastime, so Starlink is trying to make the effort rather pointless.