This is not acceptable…

[Cubing_Marmot]

Like many people have been saying Gan is not forcing you to buy their cubes. If you want a Gan cube it really is not that much compared to other hobbies like a private lesson for soccer may cost you anywhere from 50 to 300 dollars. If you feel like you would use the cube a lot I would not be against buying it.

 

[Eli Apperson]

Like many people have been saying Gan is not forcing you to buy their cubes. If you want a Gan cube it really is not that much compared to other hobbies like a private lesson for soccer may cost you anywhere from 50 to 300 dollars. If you feel like you would use the cube a lot I would not be against buying it.

We aren't comparing gan to private lessons in a completely different hobby, we're comparing it so cubes within the same hobby.
The main reason I agree with Ben is I would like Gan cubes to be cheaper so I can justify buying them. And a large scale boycott would certainly accomplish that. It seems however, that most of the online community is fine with their ridiculous prices, so I suppose people who hold my opinion will just have to not have gan cubes. Thankfully, qiyi and moyu are better anyway. XP

 

[turtwig]

Is refusing to buy something because you think it's too expensive a boycott? It seems like you just think the product is not worth the price, which is the normal way people decide what they do and do not buy, hardly a boycott.

 

[Eli Apperson]

Is refusing to buy something because you think it's too expensive a boycott? It seems like you just think the product is not worth the price, which is the normal way people decide what they do and do not buy, hardly a boycott.

A boycott is meant to change something, simply choosing not to buy something is an individual action. So no in most situations one person not buying something wouldn't be a boycott

 

[turtwig]

A boycott is meant to change something

But what do you expect to change? You already were not going to buy it (at least I'm assuming that if you are saying the cube is too expensive), GAN does not lose anything by the fact that you say it is because you are boycotting it.

 

[Eli Apperson]

But what do you expect to change? You already were not going to buy it (at least I'm assuming that if you are saying the cube is too expensive), GAN does not lose anything by the fact that you say it is because you are boycotting it.

Like I said, one individual not buying something isn't going to change anything. A boycott has to be the loss of enough sales to impact the company revenue. So, for sake of correctness, I'll say I'm "not buying Gan cubes" instead of saying I'm boycotting them.

 

[Silky]

Like I said, one individual not buying something isn't going to change anything

Furthermore, telling OP to not buy Gan cubes is a non-argument. Telling someone who doesn't buy Gan cubes to not buy Gan cubes does nothing ( you can't buy negative cubes afterall ). They have no effect on the profit margin since they aren't a part of it in the first place. So the only way to be successful in collective action is to have people that are currently buying Gan cubes to stop buying Gan cubes. And, I mean, that's the whole point of the post..

 

[baseballjello67]

Gan is not meant to be for anyone. It is a luxury brand. Why do you think they price their cubes at such high prices?

 

[Garf]

Here are my thoughts on this argument:
I have my own GAN puzzle the 11 m pro. Some people say it's flimsy; at some settings, it is so. Some people might say that it has bad corner cutting; it is average for me. It is fast and unstable; you should make the settings tighter. Now, the settings are not the most optimal, but they do. The Tornado V3 may have the most optimal settings, but that is not the point of this. It is the cuber, not the cube or the people who made the cube. However, GAN does create a situation where people think it's good and buy it, only to find out it isn't breaking every pb they have. This is why you do research.
Ben, you put up an argument on boycotting against the prices of cubes that GAN puts them at. I believe the reason why GAN puts their cubes at such a high price is potentially because of research, resources, production, machinery, etc. So many factors goes into each puzzle. No 2 puzzles are exactly identical. They need plastic that is strong, yet light and high quality. They need magnets, and a whole bunch of other things that I can include in the sentence above this one.
You guys have to remember, the price is just there because of stuff that GAN had to do to make the puzzle, not just the puzzle itself.

 

[PapaSmurf]

Another thing that has been mentioned, but worth reiterating. Older Gan puzzles drop in price over time. The Gan X v2 costs $30, while when it was released, it cost $50 (according to this Cubicle video). So you can get the same cube for $20 less, and it's still a really good cube that won't slow you down.

What happens is that cubes go down in price over time because they lose the "this is new" factor. If you wait for a bit, you can still get a really good flagship cube for less. So buy new Gan cubes, as it makes the ones that are (basically) equally as good more accessable for everyone else, and you help drive innovation. I'm not gonna join you and you shouldn't really either, but again, I'm not your dad - do what you want.

 

[Imsoosm]

I'm not your dad - do what you want.

 

[Kaiju_cube]

Another thing that has been mentioned, but worth reiterating. Older Gan puzzles drop in price over time. The Gan X v2 costs $30, while when it was released, it cost $50 (according to this Cubicle video). So you can get the same cube for $20 less, and it's still a really good cube that won't slow you down.

What happens is that cubes go down in price over time because they lose the "this is new" factor. If you wait for a bit, you can still get a really good flagship cube for less. So buy new Gan cubes, as it makes the ones that are (basically) equally as good more accessable for everyone else, and you help drive innovation. I'm not gonna join you and you shouldn't really either, but again, I'm not your dad - do what you want.

yes that's why I always say the 356 Lite M is probably the best Gan deal. It's a fantastic magnetic cube. It has that soft/smooth Gan 'feel', and it's only like $25.

(I like the whole 356 line, I think the 356 X and XS are great also)

Out of all the Gans I've tried though I have to admit I really, really like the 11 M Pro.

 

[Kaedenthecuber]

My opinion on Gan
if you have the money and you are sure you will like it, buy it
if you think that no other cube is good for you, buy it.
just remember that top cubers use gan because it is good and they are sponsored so they get them for free.
I think if Gan wants to stay the apple of cubing, they should stop raising prices as it is only going to give them lesser sales. i think no speedcube should be more than 100 dollars as those cubes are good and many more deserve to have them. (it already is 100+ dollars where I live)

 

[baseballjello67]

Hey everyone. Following the release of the Gan 13, I think that something needs to be done to keep these ever-increasing prices in check. The Gan 13 Maglev UV just dropped at 83.99 USD. In my mind, this is absolutely not okay.

We need to stop buying Gan cubes. I have been doing this since the release of the Gan 356 X, and I encourage you all to do it too. I understand that all the propaganda that Gan puts out may be tempting. I know that some collectors will want to add to their collection. I encourage you to refrain. I know that the fastest speedcubers in this community think it will make you faster. Even people my speed and slower think that it’ll make them faster. This is not true. There are plenty of cubes that arguably perform better than Gan cubes for about 25% of the price. (Weilong WR M 2021, Tornado v2, etc.) If you are my speed (to be blunt), your cube is not the problem (unless you’re using a very bad cube, in which case, please consider purchasing one of the cubes I mentioned above), your skill level is.

Even though our Speedsolving.com community may only make up a small part of the total cubing community, maybe, just maybe, we will be able to create a downwards curve in the prices of Gan cubes.

Thank you everyone for reading this rant (that would be labeled an “opinion article” on a news website), and I really hope that you all consider boycotting the new Gan 13s. Thanks again, and happy cubing.

What I think is not acceptable is:

1) You are saying we should boycott when we have our own choice
2) You are treating GAN like everyone must buy their cubes and GAN is forcing us to buy it. They aren't! They are adding features we have never seen before in a 3x3, like edge-core magnets as well as corner-core magnets, and if you don't want to buy it, don't! If you wanna buy it, go for it! You shouldn't care about what other people do.

 

[cuberswoop]

What I think is not acceptable is:

1) You are saying we should boycott when we have our own choice
2) You are treating GAN like everyone must buy their cubes and GAN is forcing us to buy it. They aren't! They are adding features we have never seen before in a 3x3, like edge-core magnets as well as corner-core magnets, and if you don't want to buy it, don't! If you wanna buy it, go for it! You shouldn't care about what other people do.

This is the most I've ever wanted to eyes up a post In my life.

 

[baseballjello67]

This is the most I've ever wanted to eyes up a post In my life.

Then why don't you do it?

 

[cuberswoop]

Then why don't you do it?

Because I don't want to huwt yowr feewings.

 

[Thom S.]

Let's try to clear the trauma up a bit.
There were many good arguments and some of them compared the market of cubing to the market of Supercars. Some of you didn't like that either, although it goes with the same principle. Koenigsegg for example is a key innovator(kind of the only brand besides Hyundai that haven't dropped the manual without any reason) and therefore it's understandable they have such a big pricetag and we can argue that many design elements have originated from GAN. But enough of that.

There have been many arguments but I think the most compelling are that it leads kids and adults with either no experience or bad judgement to believe it will solve their cube selection problem. On the other side development and quality needs more funds than closing a gap that has already been forming.
If a kid sees this good cube, all the(sponsored or "advised") reviews praise it as the solution to speedsolving, that's the cube they are gonna want. Convincing parents to buy that won't be too hard I imagine. And so bad judgement of money begins. But, due to allowance and cost of living, you can often see posts of teens with their own money wanting the new GAN so badly not being able to afford it.
GAN has a brand reputation that is only strenghtend by the vommunity and this indeed needs to change.

On the other hand, what has GAN made in their time? The cubes Feliks used in his prime before he got sponsored(kind of a bad move to Moyu, but whatever). The lightest of cubes. The first 3x3 that came with magnets from the factory. Corner-Core Magnets. MagLev. And more that I don't need to list.
So there Pricetag is high, maybe a bis unjustified if you can see what other brands charge but not completely. When magnets were new, I destinctly remembet the WuQue costing 17€(20$ at that time) and the non-setup Cubicle Magnetic WuQue costing 45€. Because magnets were new, we haven't figured out the best practices and mass implementing them wasn't invented yet. Now, of course, magnets are cheap. And so will be a 3x3 with exactly the same features a GAN 13 has now in a couple years.
As for me, I can't relate to broke teens enough. I don't earn much as a farmer but enough that I bought Non-WCA Puzzles for 450€ in January after being suicidal again for a vouple months as a treat. So I do have bad judgement as well, but my last 3x3 purchase was a thunderclap and I can refrain from buying a new 3x3 ever since.
Feel free to argue with this post, the ones above me only lead to fighting.

 

[the_chad]

be wise. those big companies are just exploiting our weaknesses. be aware that there will be another version soon after you buy the latest one.

Spoiler

the current state is as follows:
- youtubers recommend it
- sponsored cubers sometimes use it
- the packaging is nice
- it feels premium

it won't give you an advantage over $10 RS3M 2021. and both of them will last you for a lifetime.

 

[Kaiju_cube]

On the other hand, what has GAN made in their time? The cubes Feliks used in his prime before he got sponsored(kind of a bad move to Moyu, but whatever). The lightest of cubes. The first 3x3 that came with magnets from the factory. Corner-Core Magnets. MagLev. And more that I don't need to list.
So there Pricetag is high, maybe a bis unjustified if you can see what other brands charge but not completely

Pretty sure I remember the RS3M and Meilong having Maglev before GAN.

I'm sure GAN has innovated some things but they seem to get credit for innovating everything. And I'm not sure that's deserved.