there is no way to know how mouthpieces offered by any Chinese vendor on ebay are.
The vendors are very rarely the makers and the vendors buy form different makers , whoever offers them a product that they can sell at the best price.
You have to understand that in China something like a mouthpiece is rarely manufactured by a company specialized in musical instruments but it is generally made by a company which makes mechanical metal parts for the industry.
The level of technology isn’t different but the approach to the finished product is completely different! For all they know this is a piece of metal that could be used on a garden hose.
There would be rarely any testing and all they do is they take a mouthpiece (regardless of its “ sound” and mostly based on the shape and brand) and they copy it as best as they can.
Would the mouthpiece ever been tested as in played, to hear, feel and see if the mouthpiece is playing well? I doubt it, I even doubt that the maker knows how to play saxophone altogether!
It is possible to reface these things to a higher standard but whether this would be bringing you to have a good mouthpiece.........I don’t know.
The refacing process, although one can say that makes all the constructional elements exact ( flat table, straight rails, chamber and baffle.......), doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the outcome will be the one that you were after when you started the process!
Would this not be the case there wouldn’t be so many refaced mouthpieces of all kinds for sale everywhere.( and the worst of all are the several times refaced mouthpieces! How perfect can they be?)
Which brings me to the point I am trying to make.
Buy some well made mouthpiece second hand. Even a hand made piece could cost you an acceptable amount and if it isn’t your thing (and often, regardless from how well it was made, it might not be) you sell it on and buy another one.
In a few years I have tried many mouthpieces, at a certain point I had acquired a Ponzol and a Brancher which were my favorite. The Brancher I bought for 100€ including the ligature which in itself is expensive.
I am sure that if you would buy one of this chinese contraptions and you will have it refaced it would cost you more than that in the end, and if you don’t like it and you want to sell it on to limit your losses, you will be left with an unsellable but expensive ( by that time) pieced of metal.
True you can still use it on your garden hose.
