GuanLong Repackaged as... The Cube

[DeeDubb]

How do you feel about bottled water?

I will usually buy a bottle and refill it until I lose it (I used to buy aluminum ones, but i have a horrible habit of leaving things places, so it got spendy). I think bottles of water are hurting the planet, but at the same time, it's better for people to drink water than sugary terrible stuff. Much like lubix, there is a convenience factor of having a quantity needed in a form that's easy to use, which at least gives the consumer SOMETHING.

Regardless of my feelings on bottled water, there's very little I can do to make a difference. However, with one small company exploiting people, there's a lot that I and our community can do if we work together.

 

[GuRoux]

reselling, i'm assuming without permission, is bad enough. putting your name on it is even worse. definitely immoral and should not be promoted.

 

[cashis]

I'm not meaning to argue, but the other companies are also doing the same thing. The only difference between the New Island cube and the QiYi cube is the box.
Heck, rubiks themselves just did it with a witeden 4x4

 

[DeeDubb]

I'm not meaning to argue, but the other companies are also doing the same thing. The only difference between the New Island cube and the QiYi cube is the box.

Ok, we should do the same thing to them as well. I wasn't aware of that situation. The Cubicle at least put a notice on their website informing people of the rebranding, and New Island admits it. It seems like it's possible that New Island is working with Qiyi and possibly has their permission. I don't know about the situation with "The Cube", but it seems like they are just doing it on their own. Especially considering exactly HOW MUCH Cheaper the GuanLong is at wholesale (as low as .50 directly from Moyu + shipping, or .80 from zcube), there's no reason to work with YJ/Moyu when you have that kind of profit margin.

If YJ/Moyu gave permission to do this, then whatever. It's still a horrible ripoff, but at least it's working in coordination with the original manufacturer.

 

[Stefan]

reselling, i'm assuming without permission, is bad enough.

What the...? Why would you need permission to resell something?

 

[GuRoux]

What the...? Why would you need permission to resell something?

yeah, i guess you're right, wasn't really thinking there.

 

[Ordway Persyn]

I'm not meaning to argue, but the other companies are also doing the same thing. The only difference between the New Island cube and the QiYi cube is the box.
Heck, rubiks themselves just did it with a witeden 4x4

To my knowledge the new rubik's 4x4 is just based on the witfour, and not a repackaged cube.

 

[DeeDubb]

If anyone cares enough, they can leave a review similar to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1IXL7M8FA7MBD/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00OKIFV3Y

It took me about 5 tries to get one accepted. You CANNOT mention anything about the company in your review, or Amazon reviewers will reject it. You can only talk about the cube itself.

 

[cashis]

To my knowledge the new rubik's 4x4 is just based on the witfour, and not a repackaged cube.

Oh. I was under the impression it was exactly the same.

 

[Stefan]

You CANNOT mention anything about the company in your review, or Amazon reviewers will reject it.

Yeah, it's really annoying if people downvote a product when their problem is actually something else. Kudos for doing something about this abuse, Amazon!

From here:

At the time of this review, the company has not responded to any of these claims, but they have responded to almost every positive review. This shows that they are reading these, but afraid to reply.

All their responses were 11 days ago. Those claims were posted 5 days ago and later. Thus this does *not* show they've read them. And they only responded to the first four out of the 14 positive reviews, that's not "almost every" like you claim. That they stopped after the earliest four also contradicts your point.

From here:

I'm trying to let people know that this ISN'T "The Cube"

Well actually it is. The fact that it's likely also something else doesn't change that.

From here::

It seems they don't even provide instructions! If they printed out a booklet with English instructions and included that, it would at least be SOMETHING.

Um, what? From the cuber buyer you tried hard to make him angry:
"Just look at the wonderful packaging. I seriously love how aGreatLife designed it, this is my first time seeing a box like that"
"Comes with online guide if you need help"
link
How did you miss this?

You can also see the indeed nice box and the reference to the online guide in the pictures of the top review, which is shown right on the front sales page:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2KYFB0ZZTMALA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00OKIFV3Y
How did you miss this?

Quotes from the buyer you tried even harder to make him angry:
"I feel his price is actually very reasonable given all the info."
"He is actually giving the cube at a great deal."
"Just buying at low cost and selling at the price they want to sell it at, is free marketing."
link, link and link with good points.

TL;DR You're sloppy, misleading, and can't even convince the "victims", but are a source of lulz (I really had to laugh when I read steve's last replies to you containing the above quotes).

 

[DeeDubb]

Stefan's stuff

A. I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A because I don't like the stance they took on gay marriage. It doesn't matter how the food tastes. Amazon doesn't allow me to downvote a seller without buying their product, which I'm not going to do.

B. What the hell is an online guide? Something I can google myself? I said it should INCLUDE a guide in the box, which would be something. New Island actually puts a guide in the box. I still don't think it's worth the extra cost, but it's better than nothing.

C. I'm just trying to inform people so they can make a more educated decision. If they think $10 is fair for a YJ GuanLong, that's fine.

D. You're right about me not noticing how far back the replies from the company were. I'll edit my comment to reflect that.

E. I wasn't trying to antagonize anyone.

The first one clearly knew it was a rebranding, but barely mentioned that in his review. He says "This cube is a rebrand and brings better satisfaction." So I asked him "How in the world does a new box bring better satisfaction?" Is that not a fair question?

The second one you reference made his points and I made mine. He seems to be a professional Amazon reviewer. He's not a cuber. He was given a heavy discount ($1.99) to make his review. He said even said: "I wouldn't have paid for it." and "If I could buy the same product for less; I would buy that. I feel for the person getting ripped off but if the option to pay less is availble; I will pay less."

EDIT: His last comments, which I just read retract this a bit. He's saying that the guy isn't actually making that much money, but other's are selling GuanLongs for as low as $5.53 on Amazon with free shipping (and the Cube isn't even free shipping unless you spend over $35, unless I'm understanding incorrectly), so I think he's still wrong in saying that $10 is a fair deal, but he's done with that argument and so am I. Anyone who reads through those comments will be able to make the judgment themselves and decide if they want to buy The Cube.

Like I said, some people will think it's wrong, others won't. If you want to get your lulz from that, it's fine.

My main point is: Would anyone who is informed, knowing EXACTLY what they are paying for still buy this product based on what they'll receive. I feel like the vast majority wouldn't. If I'm right about this, then the vast majority of this company's sales will be due to consumer ignorance. This feels very wrong to me. If you disagree, and don't feel like this is wrong, that's fine, but at that point it becomes a completely subjective matter of morality, which everyone has their own personal feeling about, so it'll be hard for you to convince me or me to convince you otherwise.

I'm only asking for the people who agree with me, and want to do something about it, to write a review and help educate people.

 

[jms]

My main point is: Would anyone who is informed, knowing EXACTLY what they are paying for still buy this product based on what they'll receive. I feel like the vast majority wouldn't. If I'm right about this, then the vast majority of this company's sales will be due to consumer ignorance.

Yeah, but would any informed person buy a Guanlong from, say, Amazon and pay $5.99 when they could buy from zcubes or something, and pay perhaps $2, for example.

I'd say probably not, but the reason they buy from Amazon is they are ignorant about the fact they can get the same cube cheaper elsewhere.

By logical extension of your argument, the whole profit motive is immoral.

Or am I missing something?

 

[DeeDubb]

Yeah, but would any informed person buy a Guanlong from, say, Amazon and pay $5.99 when they could buy from zcubes or something, and pay perhaps $2, for example.

It ends up being pretty close to the same cost with shipping, and also there's a trust factor, so I can't blame people too much for buying their first cubes from Amazon. At least they have an opportunity to look around for better prices on the same cube if they know the name of it.

By logical extension of your argument, the whole profit motive is immoral.

Or am I missing something?

You are missing something. Profit is important. People have to make a living in a capitalist society. However, when profit is made primarily through misleading the ignorant, I find that to be immoral. I would personally never run a business that way.

 

[Stefan]

New Island actually puts a guide in the box. I still don't think it's worth the extra cost, but it's better than nothing.

An online guide isn't nothing. Neither is the box.

the Cube isn't even free shipping unless you spend over $35

Oh, I didn't see that last night. Sorry if that was there and I missed it.

 

[SpeedCubeReview]

So the reviews on the Amazon page pretty much doubled in the past few days. All 5-star reviews. Suddenly after a few 1-star reviews went up saying it is a GuanLong.

 

[molarmanful]

I love how the Amazon product title is so big. And I love how all the non-cubers/beginners are wooing the cube in the reviews.

 

[DeeDubb]

So the reviews on the Amazon page pretty much doubled in the past few days. All 5-star reviews. Suddenly after a few 1-star reviews went up saying it is a GuanLong.

Well, I did what I could. We have the community to dominate their artificial inflation of positive reviews and downvoting of all the negative reviews, but not many seem to be as concerned about this as me.

EDIT: Not meaning my last sentence to be positive or negative, just a statement. If this doesn't bother you, I don't think you're a bad person or anything. We just have a different way of thinking.

 

[supercavitation]

Well, I did what I could. We have the community to dominate their artificial inflation of positive reviews and downvoting of all the negative reviews, but not many seem to be as concerned about this as me.

EDIT: Not meaning my last sentence to be positive or negative, just a statement. If this doesn't bother you, I don't think you're a bad person or anything. We just have a different way of thinking.

Just got my response from Amazon, they won't post my review. Didn't mention the Guanlong once.

 

[DeeDubb]

Just got my response from Amazon, they won't post my review. Didn't mention the Guanlong once.

Yeah, I had a few rejected. You CAN mention the GuanLong, you CAN'T mention the company.

Just say something like "Repackaged Chinese Cube" or something like that. Avoid talking about "them" repackaging it. It's really annoying. Amazon does a good job of protecting the sellers.

 

[SpeedCubeReview]

I have uploaded a video talking about "TheCube" This will probably be the last I will say on it. Although I dislike what is happening, I want the SpeedCubeReview site to say positive.