Buying official wii remote/nunchuck from Ebay

[gtmtnbiker]

I'm looking to buy a Wii remote/nunchuck off Ebay. I'm carefully going through the listings to make sure that I get an official one, not a knockoff.

One ad that I saw is for a Japanese version

It looks legit. Some completed auctions went for around $25/free shipping. Any gotchas that I'm overlooking?

This one on the other hand seems to be a knockoff. The posting doesn't say anything about it being an official product so I have to assume that it's a knockoff.

EDIT: I wrote to the seller of the "knockoff" one. He claims that it's an official one. Still I'm skeptical of it.

EDIT2: The seller actually posted my question here

Maybe I'll take a chance and get it? Worse case, I'll do the chargeback with my credit card company if I'm not satisfied.

[molotovwars]

I would pay a few extra dollars and buy from an individual who took pictures of the item.

[gtmtnbiker]

I just bought a nunchuck/wiimote from a seller for $23 including shipping. I'll report back in a few weeks if it's not official Nintendo product.

[molotovwars]

I just bought a nunchuck/wiimote from a seller for $23 including shipping. I'll report back in a few weeks if it's not official Nintendo product.

Cool, if its legit I could buy that to get my 4th wiimote and 3rd nunchuck.

[gtmtnbiker]

I just got the package today and it appears to the real thing. It's the Japanese or Chinese version of the Wii remote (there's a sticker on the back with Japanese or Chinese characters). Everything was new. They just shipped the two controllers in their plastic wrapping (no boxes) in a bubble package.

I'll see if I can take some photos tonight and post them. I'll test them out.

The auction that I won can be found here

I paid $28 (Australian) which is about $23+ US. I think the cheapest you can buy them new off Amazon is around $54, right?

So far, I'm impressed. AAA+++ transaction

[gtmtnbiker]

I took a closer look at the controllers, comparing it to the ones that I have at home. My conclusion is that they're unauthorized copies or knockoffs of the real controllers.

I must say that they're very good copies. It seems to have the same look and feel, right down to the use of Tri-wing screws.

The crucial piece of evidence is the lack of a serial number inside the battery compartment which you can see from this picture. Look closely at the Nintendo logo. The official controller is on the right.


The other evidence is the lettering is slightly different and not as "crisp" in my opinion. Here's an example of the worst case (knockoff nunchuck is on right):

And another shot:

The knockoff controller is on the left

Here's the package that it came in:

The customs declaration cracks me up. It says electronic sample with a value of $10.

So my advice is to stay away from the Hong Kong sellers on Ebay unless you want to save some money buying a fake. I will contact the seller and state that I want my money back because it's a fake. I will report them to Ebay/Nintendo. Thoughts on this strategy?

[MrPopo]

The strategy can't hurt.

[gtmtnbiker]

I can't believe that it was a year ago that I bought this. Up until recently, I haven't used it at all. The issue is that my rechargeable battery (the one that allows you to put the controller into a charging station) won't fit into it.

I put some regular batteries into the controller and decided to try it out. First thing I noticed is the rumble feature. It sucks. It rattles versus the official version which is more subtle.

Playing Wario Smooth Moves, there were times when the controller seemed unresponsive.

All in all, avoid these knockoff controllers as best you can.

I bought two more used controllers (one spare) from Amazon to replace this POS.

[glynnahab]

What's the nunchuck like?

My 4 month old puppies managed to get ahold of both my nunchucks. (Of course they couldn't chew up one of my 6 or 7 PS1 controllers! )

I'm considering buying a Hong Kong nunchuck to save some cash. My biggest concern is that the counterfeit product won't quite "fit" with the official one.

[gtmtnbiker]

I never used the counterfeit nunchuk but I can't imagine that it would be good as the official one. After the bad experience with the wii mote, I threw both in the garbage.