Do some companies pass knockoffs of Sanwa & Seimitsu parts as the real deal?
I'm comparing rates from suppliers for authentic joystick parts. I quoted pices sold from one retailer (A) to a supplier (B) to see if they could bring theirs down to a more reasonable rate. That supplier (B) said that the retailer is likely selling mainly knockoff Sanwa parts. Retailer (A) has an extensive collection of Sanwa and Seimitsu buttons, including multicolor rim and button combinations.
I imagine it's easy to get knockoffs of any brand-name item, but has anyone heard of a retailer selling a full line of knockoffs for Sanwa or Seimitsu?
To be clear, I want to know if knockoffs were ever made for the entire line of Sanwa button colors, simply because one supplier made claims that another retailer was selling them, hence the retailers nearly cheaper-than-wholesale prices.
I don't intend to buy knockoffs and certainly have no intention of selling them.
Responses (3 total)
It is possible that one company would sell them at a lower price because if they have a good relationship with their supplier. Plus company B could have said that just for you to tell with them besides company A.
The only times a 'knock off' will be made is when it's in large quantities for use in a commercial stick (the Madcatz SE and TvC sticks use parts modeled after Sanwa for example).
It's not cost effective for factories to make counterfeit parts of entire lines, let alone ship them to the sellers in the U.S. (who are very small in the grand scheme of things).
In fact, most of the major parts makers won't even sell to U.S. sellers directly in the small quantities the sellers are purchasing. Most of the parts that come into the U.S. are from shops and sellers in Japan.
The only place counterfeit parts are even all that common are in use in Chinese sticks, most of which you can find on ebay and various sites around the internet.
It's usually easy to spot fake parts too. Sanwa buttons always have 'Sanwa' in raised print on the bottom of each button, the fakes don't. Both Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks use specific types of switches which also say the names on them (sometimes the fake parts will have names that are close or obviously derived from the real names.)
I would be interested to know which seller was accused of carrying fake parts. There are only a handful actual primary parts dealers in the U.S., and all of them sell authentic parts (Lizardlick, Modchipman, Gamingnow, and a couple of others).
I don't know if you want to go for knockoffs. I really go with authentic I purchased 8 Sanwa Buttons for my HRAP EX and paid around 28 dollars from LizardLick.com.
If you are serious about having a good stick to play with then just save the money it will be more worth it to get the authentic parts.
