Subj : Re: Nintendo Classic Mini consoles
To   : Nightfox
From : Accession
Date : Sat Jun 28 2025 07:50:31

Hey Nightfox!

On Sat, Jun 28 2025 02:00:34 -0500, you wrote:

 > The SNES Classic Mini I bought on eBay arrived a couple days ago, and 
 > it turns out it's a fake.  :( Some things were a little 'off'..  I 
 > saw a guide online on how to spot the fakes, and I think the biggest 
 > giveaway is that when running, the menu looks a little bit different.  
 > Also there's an odd message displayed when resetting the device.  
 > Also, I wanted to hack this one and add more games (like I did with 
 > my other one), but the software used for hacking these things didn't 
 > recognize it.

So the entire console and controllers look exactly like the original, but the hardware/software is fake?

I've ran into this kind of shady stuff on Amazon recently when ordering parts to fix our RV. These parts would look /exactly/ like the original, except without the official brand name/original company name mentioned on it. Then it would be about 1/3 of the price. In my specific case, it was a dual motor slide out controller, and even the motors that connected to it. The controller, from the original company would have been around $250, but the 'replica' I found was about $60. Same for the motors. I needed two of them, and they were about $200 a piece. I got a two pack from Amazon for about $80.

At the time, I was troubleshooting and didn't want to spend a bunch of money if I didn't have to, as well as fear of buying from the original manufacturer that if you open the item and actually plug it all in you wouldn't be able to return them.. so I bought all of the replicas, tried the parts (which all worked fine), realized none of those three parts were the issue (it ended up a wiring issue where a squirrel got into the RV in the winter and chewed through a wire). 
So I used Amazon's return policy within 30 days and got all my money back. Ended up spending about $3 for about 15" of new wire and come wire crimps and we're good as new. ;)

 > The seller overall looked okay (there were a few negative feedbacks, 
 > but it seems a lot of sellers end up having some people complaining 
 > about something, so I wasn't sure that was a big red flag).  I took a 
 > couple photos of my screen with this device running to show the menu 
 > screen & odd message, and took a screenshot of the guide to spot a 
 > fake to back me up.  I also reported the item on eBay, so hopefully a 
 > good resolution will come.

Was there any kind of mention of a return policy? Or is it backed by any of eBay's return policies? 

Did any of those negative feedbacks mention the unit being fake or not being able to 'hack' it? That's kind of where I was going with my mention of reading up on the seller (even their history with other sales) as well as buyer's feedback on the specific item. I usually don't deal with anything under like a 98% seller rating. You can usually deal with the 2% of people that will just never be happy with anything they purchase. 

But anything under 98% I start getting leary about them. Usually if anything goes wrong, like the item was damaged on delivery or the item didn't work as expected, etc.. as long as the seller backs a return policy and handles that well with the customer, I don't think it affects their 'rating'.

Regards,
Nick

.... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
 * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/700)

.