Yes. Tips are old technology but the manufacturer had better assemble them in the right manner. Compatible Hakko tips from reputable maker Plato cost as much as original Hakko tips, but even then, its hard to say how long Plato tips survive compared to Hakko. The only way to know is to cut them in half and examine them under a microscope, or buy a set and see how long its survives.
The basic iron tip has a copper core covered with a layer of iron, and finally a thin layer of chromium.
What Hakko keeps secret is how thick are each layer? If you make the iron too thick, it will take longer to heat up, too thin, it will wear faster. If the Cr layer is too thin, the Fe will be subject to rust, be eaten by solder and rosin faster. If the machining of the copper tip is not perfect and doesn't fit the ceramic heater perfectly, it will not heat up as quickly as the genuine tip. I would suspect the Chinese have cut Hakko tips and measured the thickness of each layer, but how pure are the Chinese alloys used? How even is the deposition? How is the machining? Does Hakko dope their iron with anything they don't advertise? One subtle issue with true Hakko tips, is the rate of metal expansion, so the combination of alloys when heated bind the ceramic heater just enough, yet doesn't lock the the tip on the heater nor make it too loose. In the design is not proper, heat expansion can clamp the heater too much, making it difficult if not impossible to remove, or so much it cracks the heater, if its too loose, lack of contact with the heater will slow the heating process. Even if the Chinese copied the tips nearly perfectly, variations in quality control can still make some tips worse than others.
A problem with eBay purchase and paying full price is is the Hakko tip true or a counterfeit? Since one cannot know for sure its true except if you buy from a Hakko authorized seller, you'd be better of taking the cheaper tips, its not true Hakko, but at least you know what you are getting. Since your iron is not a true Hakko, even if you got original tips, you can't be sure it will make the copy work like a true Hakko.
In my experience with non-Hakko tips and irons, the most common issue is wear. But since they are >5x cheaper, you can experiment with what tips best work for you and in the future, when you can get a hold of an authorized dealer for a true tip, buy them then and now you have the experience to make your own comparison. I have not used non-Hakko 936 tips on a true Hakko because of the risk of damaging the heater, and frankly, my 5 tips show no wear after 3 years of use.
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