Posted by It’s been 3 months since I started buying, repairing and reselling Xbox One controllers. So far, I have fixed and resold 7 controllers. People seem to be looking for model 1708 and special edition controllers because they sell quickly. The newer model 1914 controllers are not selling as well, most likely because they are the latest model and cost a bit more. It might also be because people don’t realize that they also work with older Xbox One systems. I came across one controller that would not power on. I haven’t figured that one out yet but have isolated the issue to the thumb-stick PCB. I tried swapping in a good power board and the controller still won’t turn on. I also found that the newer 1914 controllers have a different version of the Alps thumb-stick. I found a website that shows the differences. I only have the older Alps model 3318 that is commonly found on the model 1708 controllers. I have a model 1914 controller with stick drift and put in a pot from a 3318. It tested good on my PC and on the Xbox, but as soon as I started game testing, the stick drift came back. That’s why I think that the pots are not interchangeable. You need to use a pot from one of the newer Alps switches.
I could either replace the whole thumb-stick with a 3318 or take a pot from the controller that won’t turn on. I could buy some of the newer Alps or remove the thumb-sticks from the board that isn’t working and use them as spares. Scrapping controllers for parts can eat into profits, but it is unavoidable. I see a lot of controllers on Ebay listed for parts that are priced almost as much as a used working controller. Some sellers are also selling used parts from controllers for inflated prices. If you pay $12 for a trigger assembly, you will end up selling the repaired controller at a loss. After you add up the cost of tools, parts and labor, you need to sell a lot of controllers to make any money. I spent $24 on soldering supplies this week. I also need to get a variable temperature soldering iron, a heat gun, and a better multimeter. It is getting hard to find fairly priced repairable controllers. I tried bidding on a few this week and they all sold for about $10 more that I was willing to pay.
Still, it is satisfying to fix something and be able to extend its useful life. The 7 controllers I sold gave me a $56.26 profit. Thats only about $8 per controller. I can’t pay more than $14 for a broken controller and that includes shipping. So, if I bid on a set of 4 controllers and the shipping is $12, my bid can’t exceed $44. If I bid on 2 controllers, my max bid would need to be less than $18. If I overpay, I am wasting my time. If I try to make up the difference by raising the price on a repaired controller, it isn’t going to sell. I don’t want to have a bunch of unsold controllers sitting around. Right now, I have 2 of the newer 1914 model listed on Ebay for $36.50 with free shipping. They have been on there for a week with only a few views. I sold a 1914 last month for $29.50 +shipping. This time I included the shipping fee, which is actually a better deal. Maybe I need to go back to not including the shipping. That way the lower list price might attract more interest. Ebay takes their cut after a sale. Typically, around a $5 transaction fee for each controller.