# How costly is cubing?



## Photon (Apr 28, 2012)

I'm curious how much of a hole cubing burns in your pocket. Where I live, the $13 odd that a zhanchi costs, would easily buy dinner for four at a four star restaurant. or it could buy groceries for a week, or almost six tickets to some movie at an upscale theatre. 

I'd point out that this thread isn't about whether you or the area you live in is poor or rich. I'd like to know how affordable, cubing is around the world. 

The stats I mentioned are just quick back-of-the-envelope stuff. They're approximate, but largely true.


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## emolover (Apr 28, 2012)

Photon said:


> the $13 odd that a zhanchi costs, would easily buy dinner for four at a four star restaurant. or it could buy groceries for a week, or almost six tickets to some movie at an upscale theatre.


 
No it won't.

It is as expensive as you want it to be.


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## thackernerd (Apr 28, 2012)

Photon said:


> Where I live, the $13 odd that a zhanchi costs, would easily buy dinner for four at a four star restaurant. or it could buy groceries for a week, or almost six tickets to some movie at an upscale theatre.


 
And where is this such place?


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## MaeLSTRoM (Apr 28, 2012)

Photon said:


> I'm curious how much of a hole cubing burns in your pocket. Where I live, the $13 odd that a zhanchi costs, would easily buy dinner for four at a four star restaurant. or it could buy groceries for a week, or almost six tickets to some movie at an upscale theatre.
> 
> I'd point out that this thread isn't about whether you or the area you live in is poor or rich. I'd like to know how affordable, cubing is around the world.
> 
> The stats I mentioned are just quick back-of-the-envelope stuff. They're approximate, but largely true.



Nowhere near true. You're saying that dinner for 1 at a restaurant costs $3, less than most fast food places. That you live on <$2 a day, which is far just over the extreme poverty line, and that movie tickets cost $2. I want to live where you do if this is true, because that is just insane.


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## antoineccantin (Apr 28, 2012)

I really want to know where you live...


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## a small kitten (Apr 28, 2012)

I am pretty sure India.


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## RNewms27 (Apr 28, 2012)

Rubikrick said:


> Get them all....I have over 1,100 twisty puzzles, over 200 diferent types. They are all fun (and usually frustrating) from the Tower of Babel (Ivory tower) to 7x7's to the Orb. All fun and I just love them all!



Be inspired.


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## CuberPanda (Apr 28, 2012)

a small kitten said:


> I am pretty sure India.


 FALSE. In india the only only way we buy zhanchis is on ebay which is like 20 dollars and and 13dollars is 850 INR in which you cant even have starters at a good 4 star restaurant and about movies, at an UPSCALE theatre is like 700 bucks and that is the bad seats the good recliners go up to 1200 so, mrs kitten, dont be so sure


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## mchedlo213 (Apr 28, 2012)

in my country u can get cube only by buying it from amazon,cube shop or stuff like that...
it will cost about 15-20$ 
f.e. my training(bball) used to cost 23-25 $ = )
so its quite a lot = )


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## a small kitten (Apr 28, 2012)

> FALSE. In india the only only way we buy zhanchis is on ebay which is like 20 dollars and and 13dollars is 850 INR in which you cant even have starters at a good 4 star restaurant and about movies, at an UPSCALE theatre is like 700 bucks and that is the bad seats the good recliners go up to 1200 so, mrs kitten, dont be so sure



The user called Photon claimed (in another thread) to be from Chennai, which I am sure is in India. People were wondering where Photon lived so I pointed out where he said he lived. I didn't say anything about how you guys buy cubes and what your restaurants and movie theaters are like. On second thought, if you really think what I said was false you need to be questioning Photon.

You need to chill your balls.


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## sa11297 (Apr 28, 2012)

All I know is that cubing is way cheaper than many other hobbies. An example would be yoyoing. If you are going to get a yoyo that is not a knock off and you want it to be good, it would cost you around 80 dollars for a new one.


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## conn9 (Apr 28, 2012)

Photon said:


> I'd point out that this thread isn't about whether you or the area you live in is poor or rich. I'd like to know how affordable, cubing is around the world.


10 replies and only 2 are answering the question provided by the OP... Who cares if he's wrong or trolling, stay on topic.
For me, it's been about £100 over the course of 1.5 years. I've kind of stopped buying cubes though.


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## PandaCuber (Apr 28, 2012)

Yes a zhanchi costs around $15, but it lasts for years. 
Dinner, food, movie tickets, etc Will only last you between a few hours and a couple of days. 
For the time you will actually own the product, $15 is a reasonable price.


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## ThomasJE (Apr 28, 2012)

sa11297 said:


> All I know is that cubing is way cheaper than many other hobbies. An example would be yoyoing. If you are going to get a yoyo that is not a knock off and you want it to be good, it would cost you around 80 dollars for a new one.



80 dollars for specially shaped plastic and some other stuff (string etc.)? A cube is basically made of specially shaped plastic and other stuff (cores, springs etc.). A little overpriced don't you think?

On topic - I agree that cubing is one of the cheaper hobbies. RC cars are quite big now where I live; and a good RC car can cost over £150. Add oil, maintenance stuff and other things, and you end up around £200-£300. My cube collection totals up at around £45.


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## Reprobate (Apr 28, 2012)

sa11297 said:


> All I know is that cubing is way cheaper than many other hobbies.



That's for sure. I am a runner, and while even running is considered a pretty cheap sport, I spent $120 on my last pair of shoes, and entry fees for races range from $20 for small local 5K's to $100+ for some popular events (the NYC Marathon is over $250, I believe).


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## Edward (Apr 28, 2012)

Cubing isn't really expensive at all
$50< every year or so just to replace spedcubes.


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## sa11297 (Apr 28, 2012)

ThomasJE said:


> 80 dollars for specially shaped plastic and some other stuff (string etc.)? A cube is basically made of specially shaped plastic and other stuff (cores, springs etc.). A little overpriced don't you think?
> 
> On topic - I agree that cubing is one of the cheaper hobbies. RC cars are quite big now where I live; and a good RC car can cost over £150. Add oil, maintenance stuff and other things, and you end up around £200-£300. My cube collection totals up at around £45.


 
yes, yoyos are overpriced. Most "good" yoyos are metal and can cost between 60- 120 dollars. Decent knockoffs can be bought for around 15 dollars though. 

As for cubing, I have probably made money, because I have sold over a hundred cubes at school and this year have my own club. So, yeah, cubing is a good deal for me.


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## Stingray970 (Apr 28, 2012)

I started a cubing craze at my school.

People keep buying crappy Rubik's brand cubes and asking me why they suck. I take them and take 5 minutes to lube them with Traxxas for $5.

I've done 50 thus far.


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## ~Adam~ (Apr 28, 2012)

Speedcubing is relatively cheap for me compared to my last serious hobby, 10 pin bowling.
I was carrying around 6 balls which I was replacing roughly yearly at an average cost of £160.
However if you compete in every event with you own puzzles, say 1-4 extra puzzles per event (practice or out dated) and throw in an extra 10 cubes for multi BLD is cost soon gets to several hundred dollars.
For the people who go to 20+ comps all over Europe each year after travelling, hotels and expenses I doubt they think it's a cheap hobby.


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## soup (Apr 28, 2012)

I use virtual cubes, therefore the overall cost is $0.

I rarely get to handle a real cube.


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## Bapao (Apr 28, 2012)

It's very affordable until you decide you want to compete and need to travel to be able to do so.


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## Ninja Storm (Apr 28, 2012)

Cubing's a heck lot cheaper than my last hobby, Yu-gi-oh.

It's sad that I can't go to many competitions(can really only stay in-state or <4 hours), but starting to plan my own competitions is great. Nothing beats walking to a competition xD


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## cuberkid10 (Apr 28, 2012)

Speedcubing costs nothing compared to my music hobby. Like, $400 for a editing program, $700 for a DAW.


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## Dacuba (Apr 28, 2012)

Yeah travelling is by far the most expensive part of cubing, even if there are many competitions in your area, like here in Germany. And most people have to travel much longer distances than me.
Lol $100 for a advanced cubing collection, it's definitive about competing.


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## tx789 (Apr 28, 2012)

travelling and shipping.
Shipping is if yur in a isolated country or far way from where it is coming for ifyou want it fast it can cost a lot of money


I've been to one comp and it was a 1 and a half hour drive. If the same venue is used next time we have a comp in nz. I'll go since a can walk there now. But if it in Auckland it'slike a 8 hour or so drive


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## BlueDevil (Apr 28, 2012)

I'm lucky that I live in the northeast US, so I can go to a fair amount of comps in the year for cheap amounts. Round trip on public transport + some walking to the venue, or just a drive under 3 hours will get me to many competitions.

I think my cubes are worth more than the price of attending the 4 comps that I did.


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## FinnGamer (Apr 28, 2012)

I agree with the traveling, I spend about 100€ in Cubes, and know I have enough that I don't need to buy more for the next months. 
But travelling to German Open cost me 100€ for a one time event (Hotel+Food+Gas). 
Cubing is pretty light on the equipment, but if you want to compete, you need to pay


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## Photon (Apr 29, 2012)

Yes, India, Chennai. I don't know about the food for certain. I'm NOT trolling. The movie tickets however, I'm fairly certain. At one of Chennai's newest malls, good comfortable seats were at 120 INR. Which Google tells me is roughly $2.28. zdnet's article goes further to say the average ticket cost is $0.19, but that's probably not for "decent seats".


Spoiler



http://www.zdnet.com/blog/itfacts/cheapest-movie-tickets-per-capita-price-are-in-india-us-china/997



PandaCuber does make a good point about the value that a speedcube offers. :tu


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## emolover (Apr 29, 2012)

Wow, movie ticket cost $8 during the day and $11 at night at the sh***y theater closest to my house. At good theaters is even more. All of that does not include the overpriced popcorn, soda or sh***y drinks.


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## izovire (Apr 29, 2012)

It'll cost you an arm and a leg... hopefully you don't have to use an arm because you'll need it for cubing. 

As low as ~$15 and up to ~$300. If you start collecting other puzzles and crap... like 11x11's you might spend more than 1k. It's totally different if you want to compete too!


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## CuberPanda (Apr 29, 2012)

izovire said:


> It'll cost you an arm and a leg... hopefully you don't have to use an arm because you'll need it for cubing.
> 
> As low as ~$15 and up to ~$300. If you start collecting other puzzles and crap... like 11x11's you might spend more than 1k. It's totally different if you want to compete too!


You can give an arm and leg and do OH solving XD


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## SweetSolver (Apr 29, 2012)

It depends. I you want to be a full-on collector, then it's obviously going to cost you a fortune. But if you just want to be a regular speed cuber like myself, then you'll probably only spend the odd $15 here and there. So compared to other hobbies, yes, it can be quite cheap.


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## RCTACameron (Apr 29, 2012)

I have a decent sized collection of about 70 cubes, and I'm guessing it would be valued at around $1000 (less than $15 per cube), though I have got a lot of them as presents, prizes etc. Considering I barely use most of them, the equipment needed to compete is fairly cheap. The other factor of being able to compete is travel, which is generally more costly. It is about a 35 minute drive to most competitions to me, so relatively cheap, but the 2 I have travelled to have probably together cost more than all of my cubes. So generally, equipment is cheap, and getting to competitions is cheap if you live close (and most entry fees are $10 or less too), but travel can make it quite expensive.


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## applemobile (Apr 29, 2012)

Expensive as you want it to be /thread.


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## Genesis (Apr 29, 2012)

It definitely boils down to how many puzzles you want to buy and your sources of cubes


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## Enter (Apr 29, 2012)

Cubing is cheap compared to other things! I have spend about 250€ for my cubes. And these is not a lot! If I remember buying games for N64 15 years ago huh the price was astronomical for one game about 80€ and I still have 20 original games in my collection. Every sport-hobby costs something and I know that in some countries people are not paid well and because of that it is hard to pay for toys when you need money for food!


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## Litz (Apr 29, 2012)

It's by far the cheapest hobby I ever had. Some people do like to collect tons of cubes though, so it does get a bit more expensive, but I still consider it a pretty cheap hobby.


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## TimMc (Apr 29, 2012)

*My cubing related expenses for the past 12 months...*

Transportation (6 flights, buses, taxis etc): $3,200
Accommodation (2 hotels): $1,300
Speed Stacks Equipment (2 timers, 2 mini mats): $90
Puzzles (w2, ss4): $20
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Rough total: $4,610

I'm probably missing a few things from this list...

To put this in perspective? It's about $18 for a ticket to a movie ($25 for a larger screen). A ~500ml bottle of water is about $3.

Tim.


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## MalusDB (Apr 29, 2012)

Holy crap you guys are sheltered. I can't believe you thought he was trolling by saying movie tickets/groceries were that cheap. You do realise that the value of a dollar in India is more because things cost less but people also earn alot less right? I actually am kinda shocked at the amount of childish responses in this thread. Not even childish, ignorant.


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## Reprobate (Apr 29, 2012)

I didn't mention travel, because I figure flights and hotels are going to be similar no matter if you're going to a cubing meet or a knitting convention.


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## RNewms27 (Apr 29, 2012)

MalusDB said:


> Holy crap you guys are sheltered. I can't believe you thought he was trolling by saying movie tickets/groceries were that cheap. You do realise that the value of a dollar in India is more because things cost less but people also earn alot less right? I actually am kinda shocked at the amount of childish responses in this thread. Not even childish, ignorant.


 
I've never been taught anything about India. It's not common information in my area.

To repeat again, depends on collecting speedcubing, and when speedcubing, depends on how often it is practiced and whether or not you compete, where you live, and those prices.


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## MalusDB (Apr 29, 2012)

RNewms27 said:


> I've never been taught anything about India. It's not common information in my area.



Its nothing to do with India specifically. Its a disgrace that so many called BS on the prices quoted and called troll. The fact it's not common information in your area that people can live off less than 1 buck a day in certain regions of the world is just sad.



PandaCuber said:


> Yes a zhanchi costs around $15, but it lasts for years.
> Dinner, food, movie tickets, etc Will only last you between a few hours and a couple of days.
> For the time you will actually own the product, $15 is a reasonable price.


 
If the prices were proportional to each country the zanchi would cost in excess of 100 bucks in many countries. Is that reasonable? Price is relative, value is not.


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## Photon (Apr 29, 2012)

Yay, some backing. The tripe did stop though. close thread?


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## palash_du (Apr 29, 2012)

15$ = INR 750
In India
You can surely get groceries for a week in ~500
6 people can go and watch a movie ~600 + travelling
2 people can eat at Pizza Hut
4 at Domino's

That said

However if you have a reading hobby you would buy books. The whole HP set costs~2500
If you have a gaming hobby a PS3 costs~16000+Games
If you have a photography hobby a good camera can cost ~10000
A good mobile costs ~10000
An RC vehicle costs ~5000
A golf kit ~10000
Football shoes ~4000
A good cricket bat~3000
A swimming kit ~1000
A good TT bat ~2500
A good Badminton rtacket ~1500


I would say cubing is the cheapest and the most lazy  hobby one can find!


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## Ranzha (Apr 29, 2012)

Depending on the amount of puzzles you wish to purchase, cubing can be very expensive or very inexpensive.
For instance, if someone wished to purchase even a few of Oskar van Deventer's puzzles, that could become expensive very quickly. However, if you're like me and purchase very few puzzles generally, then your expense is low.

Over the last year, I've probably spent $120ish on puzzles, and a lot of that figure was due to me buying $2-5 cubes from my friend to help him out. Otherwise, I'd probably have spent under $50.


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## BrainOfSweden (Apr 29, 2012)

Don't know if any Swedes have responded to this thread yet, but my GuHong v2 that I bough for ~11$ is barely a lunch here. But that's mainly because the USD is so weak compared to the SEK, so my GuHong costed about 70SEK, standard lunch price I'd say. However, becuase of this, I can afford many cubes


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## sneaklyfox (Apr 29, 2012)

$15 is not very much, but it might sound like more to the general cubing community because most of you are probably in the younger age range and don't make very much money. Like, if you have an income of $80k+ for example, cubing is nothing. It's been mentioned but the travel for competitions is what costs more. I haven't competed officially and so haven't travelled and so cubing costs almost nothing to me. My violin cost $10k not to mention all the private lessons and other stuff! You can learn cubing from youtube.


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## Lofty (Apr 29, 2012)

It's pretty cheap for me! I am still using my old type A that I bought in 2007. A $12 purchase that has lasted me 5 years plus some. 
As for the cost of goods in India, I was mainly surprised by the cost of the movie tickets. Going to see a film I generally think of as a "luxury". Like where I currently live in China I bought a Zhanchi for 70yuan. A bowl of noodles costs 4yuan and a meal of 10 dumplings costs 5yuan. However movie tickets still cost 60yuan as it's a bit of a luxury.


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## Bapao (Apr 29, 2012)

BrainOfSweden said:


> Don't know if any Swedes have responded to this thread yet, but my GuHong v2 that I bough for ~11$ is barely a lunch here. But that's mainly because the USD is so weak compared to the SEK, so my GuHong costed about 70SEK, standard lunch price I'd say. However, becuase of this, I can afford many cubes


 
Nothing wrong with getting sent free cubes despite the fact though, right BOS?


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## MalusDB (Apr 30, 2012)

BrainOfSweden said:


> Don't know if any Swedes have responded to this thread yet, but my GuHong v2 that I bough for ~11$ is barely a lunch here. But that's mainly because the USD is so weak compared to the SEK, so my GuHong costed about 70SEK, standard lunch price I'd say. However, becuase of this, I can afford many cubes


 I was gonna mention this since my gf is Swedish. You guys pay alot for things, but also earn alot more. It means that when you buy something produced in a country in which people earn less but pay less for everyday things, the item is relatively cheap to you. However for someone like OP it is relatively expensive since the average income would be much much lower. Its also the reason things cost less. I decided to read around a little and found that the average yearly income in Sierra Leone is 160USD. I don't think they would be too happy spending roughly one months full wages on a piece of formed plastic.


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## drewsopchak (Apr 30, 2012)

Initial investment was pretty big for my cubes..... traveling is another big expense... but.... overall, pretty cheap.


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