you get what you pay for with sticks. If you're looking into competitive gaming, it would probably help to know/learn how to fix a stick. These things break eventually.
X-Arcade has a lifetime warranty on their stuff(I believe they are still the only ones with that).
A lot of people build their own sticks and/or import Japanese sticks because they have a different feel.
Someone in these boards pointed to someone who builds them for people, I just dont remember which thread it was in.