# A new, big european rubik shop



## b03tz (Jul 28, 2008)

Hi people,

We (http://www.rubetimer.com) are interested in opening a new rubik's shop, offering a very (!) wide range of products all in stock which can be delivered to you quickly. Of course we'd be aiming at low prices and high service. The shop itself will be located in the Netherlands with shipping possibilities to the whole wide world.

Of course, we are interested in the fact: "Are you interested?"

If so, please place a response stating your country and reason why you would or wouldn't buy at such shop.

*[Update: We are also planning on reselling V-Cubes ]*

Thanks in advance!


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## ShadenSmith (Jul 28, 2008)

I would be interested. I'm located in the USA.

If your shop is able to remain in stock (or restock frequently), keep prices low (cube4you standards!), and have a cooperative customer service, I would definitely consider making my next cubing purchase with you.


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## Swoncen (Jul 28, 2008)

I'm interested! The reason is, that I live in Austria and there is no cube4you similar store around. There is cubikon.de from germany but they suck!


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## DAE_JA_VOO (Jul 28, 2008)

I'd also be interested. I'm in South Africa.

I'm getting annoyed with Cube4you because the haven't had Type D stock for what must be over a month now, which is ridiculous.


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## AvGalen (Jul 28, 2008)

Short answer: Yes

Longer answer: YEEEEEEEES

Hopefully you will be able to keep all the really important products in stock at all time. Those products include the speedcubing versions of:
* Stackmat timers
* Rubiks 3x3x3, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5
* Eastsheen 2x2x2, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5
* V-Cubes 5x5x5, 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 (wishful thinking, but they told me they would be interested in selling through other partners to get delivery costs down)
* Rubiks Clock, Magic, Master Magic
* Pyraminx, MegaMinx, Square-1
* Silicon Oil (not the same as silicon spray!)

Other nice-to-haves would be replacement parts, stickers and collectors puzzles, but I hope you would focus on the highest quality puzzles which should all be usable by speedcubers. Nobody likes having "3x3x3 type A version 3 II white DIY"

P.S. Who are you and are you coming to Dutch Masters? If you already have many of the above mentioned puzzles I would really like to buy some of them NOW.


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## martijn_cube (Jul 28, 2008)

i'm from the netherlands, so that would be very cool. could save me alot at shipping


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## F.P. (Jul 28, 2008)

Swoncen said:


> I'm interested! The reason is, that I live in Austria and there is no cube4you similar store around. There is cubikon.de from germany but they suck!



Same here!

I don't think cubikon "sucks" though.


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## ooveehoo (Jul 28, 2008)

Of course! I live in Finland, and it would be nice to have a resonably priced (I mean mostly shipping costs) located in Europe. I agree with AvGalen about the quality puzzles/puzzle pieces thing (not just another cube4you ) and when I think about it, I agree him with the other things too.


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## MistArts (Jul 28, 2008)

Yes. If you have cheap shipping!


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## Ton (Jul 28, 2008)

Yes I would buy (I am in the Netherland) but please note

It only interseting for me if you have better prices as e.g. mefferts which has free shipment! A hughe range of puzzle at a low price and most of all very good service. 

So yes if you can make a better offer as meffert.com..

btw I will always buy Rubiks.com DIY at Rubiks.com ....


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## crazyasianskills (Jul 28, 2008)

That would be great if this happened. I live in the US and i love cube4you but the shipping just takes way too long. If you could sell products like cube4you does such as DIY's and eastsheens, I believe your shop will be a great help and become very successful.


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## MistArts (Jul 28, 2008)

One more thing that would be great is offer Meffert's Megaminxes. They've out of stock for a while.


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## Crzyazn (Jul 28, 2008)

YES!

If you are based in Europe, can you please make the Rubik's Studio cubes cheaper?

But shipping is always an issue for international orders


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## Raffael (Jul 28, 2008)

AvGalen said:


> Short answer: Yes
> 
> Longer answer: YEEEEEEEES
> 
> ...



I agree with every single point on this list.
Only that i am located in germany


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## waffle=ijm (Jul 28, 2008)

OH YES I WOULD!!
keep everything *especially shipping* low to the USA
I would definitely buy from you rather than cube4you
Offer the best quality puzzles and a good selection and i would stop buying from cube4you


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## b03tz (Jul 28, 2008)

Very good and promising reactions. Please keep them coming people  and you might have a new cube shop in the near future


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## Cerberus (Jul 28, 2008)

I am living in germany and I would be VERY happy too, I hope for lower delivery costs, 
because I got to pay 7$ for a cube, some more stuff, so let's say I order cubes worthing like 60$, 
I would pay extra 20$(22? dunno) on shipping, ~33%!!!!!
I also like the fast service for europe, my v-cubes traveled from 6 pm to 10 am, 
so I think if you work fine you can serve europeans in like 3 or 4 days, 
making an offer on monday and cube the whole weekend with new stuff is nice.


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## MTGjumper (Jul 28, 2008)

Yes!

Same as Arnaud, please.


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## 4Chan (Jul 28, 2008)

Incredible~!

When can this become a reality?

I would LOVE to buy v cubes for reduced shipping, i regretted not getting all three at once.


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## hdskull (Jul 28, 2008)

YES YES YES.

I want to buy v-cube for less shipping. I'll travel to europe just to visit the shop!

US btw.


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## Kristoffer (Jul 28, 2008)

yes, I would be interested I live in Norway so the shipping costs and delivery time would be less hopefully


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## Swoncen (Jul 28, 2008)

F.P. said:


> Swoncen said:
> 
> 
> > I'm interested! The reason is, that I live in Austria and there is no cube4you similar store around. There is cubikon.de from germany but they suck!
> ...



5x5x5 Rubiks cube costs like 45 Euro. Question: You mean you are also interested or you also live in Austria by saying "Same here"? =)


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## b03tz (Jul 28, 2008)

Wow, i had no idea there was so much interest!

I will keep on checking this topic for at least another day or so, to see how other people respond. Also any updates concerning this matter will be posted here.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Jul 28, 2008)

cube4you prices + cheaper shipping = my business, haha


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## mikeagby (Jul 28, 2008)

im interested as long as you have some white type d's in stock. cuz i want to buy like 5 of them. and also some type a cores, new and old. and i want to get white eastsheen 2x2,4x4 and 5x5.

im from USA


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## cwdana (Jul 28, 2008)

Isn't this a loaded question? 

This is a cubing forum. Who wouldn't be interested?

Put me down for two.

I'm from the US.


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## rubiksfriend (Jul 28, 2008)

What about new, original square-1s?


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## robertpauljr (Jul 29, 2008)

So far I have purchased a cube from PuzzleProz forum and just recently made my first order from cubefans. I tried shopping at 9spuzzles, but their site doesn't work with Firefox. I even installed Internet Explorer and it didn't work either.

If I can shop at your online store on my MacBook using either Safari or Firefox, and if prices with shipping are competitive, I would certainly try out your store for my next purchase.

I live in California in the US.

Would locals be able to buy from you directly, or would all sales be online only? If I happened to be in your area, could I come to see the goods and buy them on the spot?


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## Rama (Jul 29, 2008)

I live in The Netherlands, is it also possible to go by your ''store''?


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## ajmorgan25 (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm definitely interested if you have faster, even decent shipping times. Cube4you is just awful....


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## pjk (Jul 29, 2008)

I definitely think you should do it. Allowing people all over Europe to buy puzzles in the area would be nice, and it would hopefully spread the word of speedcubing around more. Good luck.


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## b03tz (Jul 29, 2008)

Hey people, thanks for all the responses. As far as "which products will you have" and "can i come by your store", that is all questions that don't matter right now. We will offer a wide range of product, IF we find there is enough interest. The details will be filled in later. We only need to know whether you are interested or not


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## 512456 (Jul 29, 2008)

I would say yes, if shipping to my place is cheaper or the price of the product is cheap.


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## Ton (Jul 29, 2008)

Just a note, since in the Netherlands there is a official Rubik's distributor (Jumbo). I gues Importing clone cubes will not be allowed, just as all copied products are not allowed to be imported. I would check this first...which product may be imported and does not violate any regulations...
For sure non Rubik's cube brands 3x3 is not allowed to be imported ....


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## Faz (Jul 29, 2008)

YESYESYESYESYESYES!

I would buy from there.

Would you make the cubes themelves?


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## b03tz (Jul 29, 2008)

@Ton: Also that, is information for later. 

Please people, focus on the fact whether you are interested or not


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## mikeagby (Jul 29, 2008)

i think i can speak for everyone on this forum. WE ARE ALL INTERESTED!!!!

just as long as shipping is fast and prices are fair.

so lets get this shop rollin'!!!


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## Leviticus (Jul 29, 2008)

Yes i am very interested. I live in Western Australia, Australia.


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## CharlieCooper (Jul 29, 2008)

i live in the uk...i would definitely be interested, things would probably arrive faster than from the us, but obviously i would still like awesome prices like cube4you. having everything in stock is a definite bonus too.


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## Zava (Jul 29, 2008)

Crzyazn said:


> YES!
> 
> If you are based in Europe, can you please make the Rubik's Studio cubes cheaper?
> 
> But shipping is always an issue for international orders



Studio 3x3 isn't OK for speedcubing (maybe the now coming new version)
and studio 4x4 5x5 2x2 is the same as Rubik's.


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## Zava (Jul 29, 2008)

Anyway, I'm interested too, I live in Hungary


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## Don Tonberry (Jul 30, 2008)

I would buy some stuff if there is good prices with fast and cheap shipping.


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## Lotsofsloths (Jul 30, 2008)

I'm interested because I love 3x3's


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## alexc (Jul 30, 2008)

I'm interested too.


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## Lotsofsloths (Jul 30, 2008)

First off, the website and all of its features is AMAZING.


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## LarsN (Jul 30, 2008)

I live in Denmark and I'm very interested.

I would love a store in europe because when you live in Denmark and buy from a non-EU country there's a really heavy VAT added


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## b03tz (Jul 31, 2008)

I have some very bad news people. We have checked the shipment costs from Holland to different countries, and it's way too expensive. You wouldn't even want to buy with us! :-(

Most of the close countries are under €10, but anything further is 20, 30 sometimes even €40!! It's just sick how much people ask for shipping these days, and we cannot get it cheaper anywhere.

This reason only, is reason enough not to even try to compete with cubes4you because they send from china, and it's a LOT cheaper to send from there.

We are very sorry, and also very disappointed.


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## Faz (Jul 31, 2008)

too bad. I guess we'll just have to buy from c4you.


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## Sm1thson (Jul 31, 2008)

Hopefully someone else will be able to open a shop from elsewhere in Europe. The Ebay seller rubiksfans who i think is cubefans who is the same as cube4you says on their ebay shop "we looking for Distributors around the world with very nice Wholesale prices,only thing you need is an Ebay Id and a little bit of start-up capital,let you own yourself's cubes shop,If you are interested,please contact us"


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## b03tz (Jul 31, 2008)

Yes, well cube4you is a very good shop. We were just hoping to help out our european friends


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## Lotsofsloths (Jul 31, 2008)

b03tz said:


> Yes, well cube4you is a very good shop. We were just hoping to help out our european friends



I live In the US, I would order from you than Cubeforyou.


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## alexc (Jul 31, 2008)

Lotsofsloths said:


> b03tz said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, well cube4you is a very good shop. We were just hoping to help out our european friends
> ...



So would I. I just got a 2x2 from Cube4you and it is a piece of crap. What a waste of money!!!!!


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## joey (Jul 31, 2008)

alexc said:


> Lotsofsloths said:
> 
> 
> > b03tz said:
> ...



He is talking about selling the same things as C4Y.

What 2x2 did you order?


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## Henxu (Jul 31, 2008)

I wanted to buy from there... 
Well, I'm think about open a Spanish rubik's store...


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## MistArts (Aug 1, 2008)

Can't wait!


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## AvGalen (Aug 1, 2008)

Why all this focus on shipping (and other costs)? I just want a reliable shop that sells quality products out of stock.

Now that you have the "if", "where" and almost "when" figured out, please tell us the actual business plan


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## Cuber2112 (Aug 1, 2008)

I think I know where to buy from now! Anyway, I was wondering if you would have all these products available when your site does open. If so, I'll start saving now and go ape sh** later. Also, Ive wanted to know something for quite a while about these yugas and type ds.... Are they really EXACTLY the same as eachother? Since your the one selling it I figured you would know.


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## MistArts (Aug 1, 2008)

Do you have the picture of the Cubismo Timers. I'm interested.


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## AvGalen (Aug 1, 2008)

Cubismo.eu said:


> _Cubismo_'s plan is to offer various high-quality "cubing" products,
> while providing quick delivery times at reasonable shipping rates;
> these products include the following:
> East Sheen cubes 2x2x2, 4x4x4, 5x5x5
> ...


V-Cubes 2x2x2, 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 will probably never exist, but by the time you open (november) you will probably be able to sell 5,6a,6b,7 in black and white (including a spare color for stickers so you can choose between black and white stickers)

I would recommend not to sell so many different kind of cubes. So much choice really confuses people. If you do decide to sell all of them, please separate them in competition-worthy/reasonable/collectors-only and give a very thorough description including a speedcubing-rating.

What about Magic/Master Magic/Clock?

Or maybe create a tournament-bundle, including everything a speedcuber could need for competition purposes (bag/mat/timer/silicon-oil/screw-driver/glue,2345(67),magic/master magic/clock/pyraminx/megaminx/square1). For 2/4/5 you could give a choice in brands, for 3 you could offer a choice in type AND amount (fmc, multi-blind)


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## MistArts (Aug 1, 2008)

I don't think the tournament-bundle is a good idea. Since most people already have some of the stuff.


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## AvGalen (Aug 1, 2008)

Most speedcubers already own a 3x3x3, but they buy new/others every once in a while. Already owning something doesn't stop people from buying it.

I already own most of that stuff, but I would love to buy a bundle of all of that at once.

It would also make for an incredible present!


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## waffle=ijm (Aug 1, 2008)

WOW seriously can't wait for this shop to open


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## MistArts (Aug 1, 2008)

AvGalen said:


> Most speedcubers already own a 3x3x3, but they buy new/others every once in a while. Already owning something doesn't stop people from buying it.
> 
> I already own most of that stuff, but I would love to buy a bundle of all of that at once.
> 
> It would also make for an incredible present!




Some of that stuff is harder to get. Like clock and megamix. anyway, I wonder how much it would cost...


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## AvGalen (Aug 1, 2008)

MistArts said:


> AvGalen said:
> 
> 
> > Most speedcubers already own a 3x3x3, but they buy new/others every once in a while. Already owning something doesn't stop people from buying it.
> ...


The easiest way to make this store a success would be to have cubes in stock so people actually place the order. I often wanted to order a lot of puzzles, but because only half of them were available I didn't. Right now I need a Magic, Master Magic, Pyraminx, 4x4x4 Super Cube but I cannot find a store that sells all of them.


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## Lofty (Aug 1, 2008)

I think the best competition bundle would that wouldnt be insanely expensive would just be something like a timer/mat/silicn-oil/3x3/extra stickers. With that you can still compete in the main events of the competition and dont have to spend an arm and a leg that it would cost to buy a puzzle for every event.
But being able to get cubesmith stickers and cubes all in one place will be very good.


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## waffle=ijm (Aug 2, 2008)

AvGalen said:


> Most speedcubers already own a 3x3x3, but they buy new/others every once in a while. Already owning something doesn't stop people from buying it.
> 
> I already own most of that stuff, but I would love to buy a bundle of all of that at once.
> 
> It would also make for an incredible present!



tournament-bundle sounds good for me since all my puzzles are working like crap. So i need all of those anyway.


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## guitardude7241 (Aug 2, 2008)

I would definately buy from you. But only if you kept stock, and had anything from pyraminx to 7x7, and the shipping only took a week, unlike cube4you, which takes 3 weeks.


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## pcharles93 (Aug 2, 2008)

a week? That's kinda unreasonable. You guys have to realize he has to make profits. I'm pretty sure he can't make this your guys' dream cube store and break even(and more).


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## Crzyazn (Aug 2, 2008)

Customer service...just PLEASE have responsive service

I don't care how long shipping takes as long as good communication and dealing is evident throughout the entire process


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## Ton (Aug 11, 2008)

b03tz said:


> The shop itself will be located in the Netherlands with shipping possibilities to the whole wide world.


Any news on which 3x3 you can sell? I asks this because I think importing non Rubiks will be illegal in the Netherlands, since there is a official distributor


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## Sin-H (Aug 11, 2008)

F.P. said:


> Swoncen said:
> 
> 
> > I'm interested! The reason is, that I live in Austria and there is no cube4you similar store around. There is cubikon.de from germany but they suck!
> ...



And another same here!
Never used Cubikon, but I am ordering from cube4you right now. A European shop would be great!


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## faranka (Aug 11, 2008)

I'm very interested! 

I'm from the Netherlands.
I'm interested if: you can keep the prices low (better or the same as c4y included shipping).
You can have a wide range of in stock products (3x3, 4x4, 5x5, V-cubes, square-1 etc. etc. but also things as stack timers, silicon spray etc.)


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## joey (Aug 11, 2008)

Ton said:


> b03tz said:
> 
> 
> > The shop itself will be located in the Netherlands with shipping possibilities to the whole wide world.
> ...



Are you saying, you think it would be illegal if he sold the DIY type cubes? (the ones from cube4you)


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## AvGalen (Aug 11, 2008)

Kubismo said:


> Hello everybody, how's it going ...
> 
> Kubismo - the "new, big European cube shop" will start operating
> in the beginning of November (or, possibly, even earlier this year).
> ...


 
Seems they will no longer be a NL-based shop


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## Vulosity (Aug 13, 2008)

I'm in the US. And Cube4You shipping is crazy!


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## Ryanrex116 (Aug 13, 2008)

I think it would be cool if it had cubes that are not sold in Cube4you and 9spuzzles. It would be cool if they could stock clocks.


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## Cuber2112 (Aug 13, 2008)

Are you going to provide us with yugas strait from the Yongjun Factory? That would be great if your cubes came from the manufactures themselves.

Home page:
http://toys811.en.alibaba.com/

DIY kit:
http://toys811.en.alibaba.com/product/200041753/207721404/magic_cube/MAGIC_CUBE.html


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## Ton (Aug 13, 2008)

joey said:


> Ton said:
> 
> 
> > b03tz said:
> ...



Yes , making a copy of a 3x3 cube is illegal as are all copied products, in China there is no distributor so legal actions are difficult, However it is always illegal to import copied products, in Europe if a toy store would import non-rubik's brand the whole shipment can be confiscated.

Importing copied product is always risky in a country where there is a Rubik distributor, the license holders will protect their products. Even big American multinationals got in problems. I would check first with SevenTowns before opening a online shop with copied products...


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## alexc (Aug 15, 2008)

This will be awesome!
*
Btw, 1000th post!!!*


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## Mike Hughey (Aug 15, 2008)

Kubismo said:


> All around the world, Cola-like drinks are sold perfectly legally, as
> long as they don't call them "Coca-Cola" or similar like "Coca-Cold".
> 
> A computer game named "Ultra-Tetris" could get you into trouble,
> ...



The difference is that Seven Towns is much more aggressive than most companies about trying to protect their rights (or perhaps I should say their perceived rights). I'm not sure I agree with their take on rights, but they're quite aggressive about it. Here's their policy:

http://www.rubiks.com/Image Rights.aspx
http://www.rubiks.com/Legal.aspx

As you can see, they consider reproductions without the name to still be violations of their intellectual property. It seems to me that they are overstepping the law with this policy, and I would think that a really good lawyer should be able to stop them, but I would think it would take a really good lawyer and probably a lot of money to be successful. So far, no one has been successful against them, so you'd better be prepared to battle if you are going to go up against them.

For the record, I was fine with the idea that a patent protected the cube for the length of the patent, but I just think that protecting the cube itself as a copyright and/or trademark goes beyond the normal purpose of copyright and trademark. The logo is fine to trademark; the whole cube seems out of bounds to me. But I'm not about to fight them on it.


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## Ton (Aug 16, 2008)

Mike Hughey said:


> As you can see, they consider reproductions without the name to still be violations of their intellectual property. It seems to me that they are overstepping the law with this policy, and I would think that a really good lawyer should be able to stop them, but I would think it would take a really good lawyer and probably a lot of money to be successful.



The Rubiks cube is protected just as an art object/book so any copy is a violation. Seventowns is very succesfully, the bigest shops ... in the USA lost a case bacause they made copied, now they have a license


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## Tim_Likes_Cubing (Aug 16, 2008)

AvGalen said:


> Short answer: Yes
> 
> Longer answer: YEEEEEEEES
> 
> ...



I second that motion.


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