Webcams are hard to come by at the moment. These sudden necessities have sold out across major retailers, with remaining stock going for inflated prices through third-party and eBay sellers.
All is not lost, however—you might still be able to cobble together an equivalent setup with a digital SLR (dSLR) camera, camcorder, GoPro, or premium point-and-shoot you already own. Provided that the device passes muster, you just need to buy a capture device and possibly a few accessories.
The cost? About the same amount of cash as those opportunistic webcam listings (currently between $130 and $180 for models with MSRPs of $100 and below). And you’ll very likely end up with better picture quality, too.