You can get them secondhand, that’s not the issue. What would be the point of making a Steam controller from Steam controller parts? We already have that.
They have mechanical components that will wear out over time (though I suppose some people probably use them lightly enough that it’s less of an issue).
Especially when this is all steam controller 1 parts.
From the article, I believe that it’s Steam Deck parts.
Which makes sense, because you can get a Steam Deck, but the Steam Controller 1 has been out of production for some years.
EDIT: Wikipedia says that production ended in 2019.
You can get them secondhand, that’s not the issue. What would be the point of making a Steam controller from Steam controller parts? We already have that.
They have mechanical components that will wear out over time (though I suppose some people probably use them lightly enough that it’s less of an issue).