Ziicube / Zcube pricing scheme

[qwr]

Does anyone know how the pricing at ziicube works?

• ZiiCube/ZCube
  Insane value for money, especially for bulk orders. One should be careful if they are ordering a large number of cubes (>100) and they choose DHL Express, as they may be charged large amounts in customs. You can get VIP membership after spending 300 RMB (around $45) which reduces prices to what they would be if you ordered 2 cubes instead of one.
  The only drawback is no free shipping, so be sure to use the discount code "sale" to get 22% off (Note: Seems like we're stuck with 20% for now). Current coupon code and vip status state as of June'2020. For not very small orders this often levels the shipping costs.

The linked comment

ZiiCube is by far the best for large orders, because shipping (per kilogram) goes down with more overall weight. There's no such thing as "free shipping", EVER. Stores that offer free shipping include the average/expected shipping cost into the item price, on the assumption that the average customer buys only 2-3 items. So, a purchase of just one lightweight item will be cheaper at Cubezz, but some 3 kilos of puzzles will be cheaper at ZiiCube.

Also, ZiiCube has a bulk discount - 2x copies of the same puzzle are sold at a lower price, 4x copies is the next discount tier, and 6x is the next one.

Most importantly, ZiiCube has a "VIP user" system. After you make about $60 worth of orders, you become a "VIP user" where you buy puzzles for "2x" prices even if you buy just one, "4x" prices if you buy two copies, etc. This, combined with shipping on big orders, makes ZiiCube by far the cheapest.

It's a good idea to take a small "loss" on your first order of about $70 in value or so, as a "non-VIP user", even if you can find that item a bit cheaper at i.e. Cubezz. If you plan to keep buying/collecting, that "loss" will very quickly pay for itself with future "VIP user" discounts.

But, RIGHT NOW, with the pandemic, they have a sale where regular (non-VIP) users get "2x" prices (the same as when buying 2 copies of an item), and VIP users get "6x" prices instead of "2x". The shipping rates have gone up for some countries due to the pandemic, and this sale supposedly compensates that.

Bottom line, don't buy the examinx from ZiiCube right away. It's not gonna get sold out in the nearest future. For a regular/new user, it's $248 + 1.8 kg of shipping. For a VIP user, it's $220 + shipping.

So after my first order of around $39, I think I was already a "VIP member"? Idk if the 300 yuan estimate is correct.

Also I can't find anywhere how the VIP discount works. Does it increase with more purchases?

For now here are some figures for some puzzles on the front page. The prices seem to fluctuate by a few cents now and then but I think that's because of conversion rate.

Cube	For me (currently)	New customer	VIP Discount
RS2M	$3.39	$3.87	12.4%
GAN11M Pro	$39.93	$44.77	10.8%
SengSo 19x19	$701.73	$725.93	3.3%
Meilong Macaron 3x3	$0.67	$0.91	26.4%

The discount is definitely not a fixed percentage. Probably based on the quantity of the cubes being sold.

If anyone else is a VIP member (@thomas.sch) let me know what prices you see and about how much you've spent.

 

[Rafaello]

I'm VIP member, and I see exactly the same prices as in original post. I spend ~600$ on ziicube.

 

[thomas.sch]

@qwr You are correct. There is still a price differcene between VIP and not VIP. For some items 1 or 2%, for some items over 10 or more %!

In the pre corona time zCube (now ziiCube) had scale prices. Price for 1 item, 2 items, 3, 4, and 6+ (some items had other scales). As a VIP member you always got minimum the price for 2 items. So if you bought 1 you had a big advantage because the difference between 1 and 2 was the biggest. And: Additionally you could use this 20% coupon as vip and not vip customer.

Now - starting with the new webpage - the coupon is no longer valid. BUT 2 or 3 weeks after relaunch the pricing changed because of Corona. The current "normal" price is the old 6+ price! So a really good price. But you do not get the 20% coupon. => So about the same as BlackFriday in 2018 and 2019, there you also got the 6+ price and could'nt use the coupon.

As VIP you get an additional discount but you don't see directly how much it is.

In the beginning of this new method I compared some shopping carts of some weeks before (so with old pricing and 20%) with the new and the result was that some orders were some percent cheaper and some were some percent expensiver. But only 1-3%. So no matter.

For your question with this items. I see this prices as logged in VIP (I spent bout 1900Euro, about 2100 US$):

RS2M 4,40
GAN11M 40,03
SengSo 19x19 703,61
Meilong Macaron 3x3 0,67

The prices are minimal different to yours, I think because the HK$<=>US$ conversion changed a little bit in the last 5 days! I think ziicube internally calculates with the HK$.

So for VIP it is nearly no difference to pre corona pricing and for all other it is cheaper than before!

So ziiCube is cheap and very reliable! Their packaging of the items is excellent safe! Also the customer service react very fast and is helpfull.

 

[qwr]

Hmm why would they use HK$ if they are located in China?
I haven't ordered from them much but so far all my cubes have arrived correctly and safely. They offer the best price in bulk although I don't usually acquire cubes in such large amounts.

 

[Rafaello]

I'm pretty sure that they use Chinese Yuans (CNY). Look at their prices in that currency.

 

[thomas.sch]

Ok. Then CNY and not HK$. But the result is the same. The Prices (no matter if EUR or US$) changes over a week. Some cents up and some cents down and the logical reason is that the calculation currency is not US$ and not EUR.

 

[Atomixcc]

.Wait hold up . Your saying that I could get a cube for $1

 

[thomas.sch]

.Wait hold up . Your saying that I could get a cube for $1

If you order let's say 60 Meilongs you pay 34,20 Euro for the cubes and 34,00 Euro for the delivery. So 68,20 Euro for 60 cubes => ~ 1,14 Euro per cube or in US$ 79,76 so 1,33 US$ per cube. So a little bit more than $1.

I fill up my orders with this Meilongs. Sometimes you can add 1 or 2 or 3 of them without paying more for the delivery.

 

[qwr]

.Wait hold up . Your saying that I could get a cube for $1

not including shipping. ziicube is most cost effective when you buy kilograms of cubes

 

[qwr]

I wish I could buy from ziicube, however, I am not allowed to buy from chinese stores

why

 

[qwr]

Unlike other stores, ziicube doesn't offer free shipping, so it's one of the only stores where buying more still saves more. So you could potentially add a low cost low weight item such as a Meilong for free to an already large order as @thomas.sch says.
For TC and SCS, once you get free shipping, there's not more discounts you can get, and other stores like cubezz offer free shipping on everything.
Ziicube also sometimes has crazy cheap clearances on old cubes to look out for. However I'm not entirely in the mood of acquiring cubes for the sake of getting more quantity.

 

[cuber314159]

Unlike other stores, ziicube doesn't offer free shipping, so it's one of the only stores where buying more still saves more. So you could potentially add a low cost low weight item such as a Meilong for free to an already large order as @thomas.sch says.
For TC and SCS, once you get free shipping, there's not more discounts you can get, and other stores like cubezz offer free shipping on everything.
Ziicube also sometimes has crazy cheap clearances on old cubes to look out for. However I'm not entirely in the mood of acquiring cubes for the sake of getting more quantity.

I would suggest checking your countries import taxes for that though.

 

[qwr]

I would suggest checking your countries import taxes for that though.

US does not have any VAT/import tax (at the amounts I am purchasing - I believe the threshold is $800). You're correct that it differs for other countries.

 

[qwr]

I was curious to see what the cheapest puzzles were on ziicube, a site known for its low prices.

For 3x3, it's a tie between the ZhuoWeiDi 3x3x3 Tiles Cube (which I've never heard of) and the Qiyi Sail W at $0.63. This is cheaper than what I could find on aliexpress and taobao which is pretty impressive.
The piece design of the tiled cube is pretty weird and like nothing I've seen before. Probably won't pop but would be quite locky.





The next cheapest at only $0.70 are the Shengshou Legend, GuanLong v3, Warrior S, Meilong 3C, Sengso Legend S, and Meilong Macaron.

For 2x2, cheapest is the "Yuxin 2x2 Golden Unicorn" at $0.63 - I'm guessing that's the original yuxin 2x2?
Then the Qiyi Cavs and Meilong at $0.76, Meilong Macaron at $0.78, and Qidi at $0.82.

For 4x4, cheapest is the Shengshou 4x4 Legend at $1.27, Qiyi 4x4 Sail at $1.52, Shengshou wind at $1.65, Qiyuan at $1.78, and Meilong at $1.78.

 

[Fukuoka Kengo James]

Does anyone know how to enter the discount code when placing order on ziicube?

 

[abunickabhi]

Does anyone know how to enter the discount code when placing order on ziicube?

Do you see the textbox during the checkout on the ziicube site?

 

[lucazdoescubingstuff]

do you guys think ziicube is a good store? i live in the Philippines which is close to china.

 

[Fukuoka Kengo James]

Do you see the textbox during the checkout on the ziicube site?

There is a message box saying “leave a message to this order “

 

[Fukuoka Kengo James]

Do you see the textbox during the checkout on the ziicube site?

Would you mind showing a screenshot of where the text box is?

 

[OldSwiss]

I would tell you to support your local cubing store and try the cubes there first.
If you don't have that, Ziicube is really good.

Shipping is fast for the fact that I live far away from china, selection and prices are very good.

I can recommend it!