Buying pre-owned FightStick. Yay or nay?

[masii07]

Using keyboard currently. Looking to get fightstick and get better , but don't want to waste a lot of money incase it doesn't make me better player. Never owned one b4.

There are a number of used Horis and other tournament editions for less than 200 bucks on ebay. Are these good purchases? What to look for when buying used fight stick? [\b]

[breadman]

don't, you never know what fingers touched that fightstick

[nwad]

Fight stick won't make you a better player.

With that budget (assuming it's USD), you can afford a new stick if you really want to try one out. The Qanba Drone 2 is about $125. Hori Alpha SF6 Edition is $230 on Amazon.

If you want Sanwa arcade parts, you could get the stick I use, the Mayflash F500 Elite, for $160. Mayflash has cheaper options as well, but the parts aren't that great. You could even get a cheapo PXN stick, which are surprisingly decent for the price.

If you're already used to keyboard, it might benefit you to get a mixbox or hitbox controller instead. They're considered by some to be superior to arcade sticks, and you already have transferable skill from keyboard. I picked up a FIghtbox F3 for half the price of an official mixbox, and it's served me well so far.

[Yukani]

A stick won't make you a better player directly but it might make you enjoy the game and that will motivate you get better.

Not sure about buying a used one.. but i know if you buy a high quility one it will last you a long time, i know people that still use sticks they bought during SF4 and Xtekken.

[Dio]

If you arent used to playing stick you will have a long time of getting used to it and it won't make you a lot better. I'd suggest a good pad or a hitbox if you want to spend lots of money. Sticks are mostly for the old school feel (and they are of course great for playing, but no really superior to pads and definitely worse than a hitbox)

[Flatearth_aintnoplanetx]

you have to practice. there are no shortcuts to getting good.

[C1REX]

I personally wouldn’t worry about used sticks - especially decent quality ones.
Hori makes Sanwa based sticks and their own Hayabusa parts. I like both and currently have the Hayabusa one. I think Arslan Ash (Tekken player) was using this one.

Stick alone definitely won’t make you a better player but if you will enjoy playing more then yes - it will help you to improve.

I personally recommend to buy an octagonal gate and a bat top as well for that stick. Both are rather inexpensive and some people prefer them. Worth to try as you may hate square gates but like an octagonal one. Hayabusa stick have very cool optional octagonal gate that feel a bit rounded. I personally prefer it over Sanwa.
You can also buy silent Sawna buttons and fill the stick’s body with bubble wrap to make it a lot quieter.

[Jimmy James]

It won't make you better. Only get one if you think it will be fun to use and are up to the task of practicing quite a bit just to get to the point you were at with a controller.

I love fight sticks and the satisfying clicks and movement and prefer a 6 button layout over controller paddles but to be honest if you want something that actually has an advantage you might want hitboxes.

If you have a good mechanical keyboard you can try that out and see if you like it.

If you don't, I'd get a good mechanical keyboard first because they're great and will make pretty much any game you play on keyboard better.

[ryu600RR]

use and wear are usually very easy to spot, i.e. palm sweat, grime stain, or just the paint or metal rubbing off,
is the square gate hard and sharp, are the buttons responsive or loose, are there screws missing, dont' forget to check wirings, extras, boxes etc if you care
usually hand off by cash you just throw down a few games to see if it works

but some ppl sell sticks over buyers remorse, or no room, or barely used,
those near deadstock conditions are pretty good to pick up,

but i'd never buy one online without in person inspection

it won't make you a better player, that's "skill issue", what you should guage is if keyboard helps you execute the commands you want to do better, or on stick

generally speaking sanwa buttons are light years ahead compared to keyboard, so you also wanna try whether 3 fingers on d-pad is good for you, or an entire hand over a joystick

[ryu600RR]

and FYI there different ways to grip the stick too haha,
i.e. wine glass hold, palm grip, finger on ball top
those are the usual 3

[Zoid13]

as others have said. a stick wont make you better.
BUT
imo it will be more fun! i grew up in arcades in the 80's and 90's and have used a fight stick since i bought CVS2 on ps2.
i find stick so much more fun than any other controllers for beat'em'ups.

as for a second hand stick. i wouldn't recommend it just to save a few bucks. the buttons and levers go through some punishment over years of use that you cant see at a glance.

better off getting new. there's plenty of good affordable options around with the same genuine parts (levers and buttons) in them as some of the top end premium sticks.

the general standard that a tonne of premium sticks are the Japanese Sanwa arcade parts.

Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT for the stick, and Sanwa OBSF-30, 30mm Pushbuttons

these are what you find in most of the Madcatz, Qanba, Victrix, Razer, hitbox, line of sticks (im sure there's more that i missed)

just look for something that has proper Sanwa parts and you'll be getting a decent product. its also nice because the Sanwa parts are easy to find if you ever need to fix / replace something.

stick is also fun to use for emulators to get that authentic arcade feeling :D

[StuffedPlatypusLuvsOrigamiRabbit]

I would never buy a used fight stick, 98% chance it's worn out, so unless you want to buy repair parts I'd stay away. If you didn't grow up using an arcade stick I would either learn to play controller or leverless.

[Doc Holiday]

It won't make you a better player, it's just feels fun to play on.

I have a Hori Hayabusa RAP V bought in 2016. It still feels like new but I didn't abuse it much through these years.

So maybe check with the seller how long he played with the stick. I bet some of them were barely used.

[Nearlydead]

Sticks are made to last for a long time. even if some stuff is worn out, you can always replace the buttons or gate or whatever easily (depending on your stick I guess).

I think you can buy a used stick and not be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over, in most cases at least.

[CZI]

MayFlash F300 or F500 Elite are less than US$200 as new. Both Elite version has Sawan parts and works most of the console and PC.

[Higon]

Buy used fighting sticks ONLY IF its parts are exchangeable. Think you are buying a steel box and an electric board with USB cable. It's not a complicated electrics. Problem is that each moving parts of fighting sticks wears over time. Enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen hit buttons LITERALLY MILLION TIMES sometimes WITH FISTS ENRAGED. There's good chance you will have one button which feels very light and funny soon or later. Customizing and changing buttons and a stick in DIY fashion is an absolute joy because you are making something you think the best in the world so I'm not against buying second-hand ones.

(p.s. i use ps4 controller lol.)