Stim Toy Review: Antsy Lab’s Fidget Cube

That’s right, my Fidget Cube has finally arrived! Mwuahahaha!

Image Description: a picture of a small brown cardboard-box sitting on my navy-blue and gold fleur-de-lis print couch.

Item: Fidget Cube (black and white design)

Category: Review/Feedback

Cost: Item = US $22.00 + Shipping and Handling = US $19.00 = Total US $41.00 or AU $57.07 (at the time of conversion)

Date of Purchase: 17/11/2016

Date of Delivery: 16/05/2017

Store: Antsy Labs (USA)

My Location: Australia

Review:

My Problems with the Fidget Cube:
~Shipping: I bought this halfway through November last year and it arrived on Tuesday, it’s almost exactly six months, and the frustrating thing about this was that the lengthy shipping period wasn’t mentioned until after I had already bought it. It’s especially frustrating as they sent me an email saying that my Fidget Cube would be delivered by April 1st at the latest. I suspect the lengthy wait-time is the reason why I’ve been sent two when I only ordered one.

~Contact: Communication with Antsy Lab was vague and mostly one-sided, it was clear that company had no planned or prepared for their received level of success, which is good for them (I am honestly glad their business is a success) but it’s not so great for anyone outside of the USA. It wasn’t until the April 18th that I received a fixed form of action, they had finally processed my order and had sent my package to me, but there wasn’t much I could do but wait for them to contact me as there wasn’t an active blog one could check for information or updates.

On the website, under their “Contact” page, they have three FAQ and answers, the Question “Where’s My Order?” is answered thus:
“Due to the incredible demand, Fidget Cube is currently backordered. We’re shipping thousands of orders daily and orders placed now will ship in approximately 1-2 weeks. Rest assured, orders will be shipped out in the order they were placed, so the fastest possible way to get Fidget Cube (and the only way to get Fidget Cube at this time) is through our site.”

I’m going to be cynical and assume those shipping approximates are for USA orders only. From my point of view, if this is such a problem, then the company needs to make their international shipping process more transparent, so that international customers can make more informed choices.

~Price: Putting aside the shipping fees and delivery problems, I’m still paying US $22 for a Stim Toy, the Fidget Cube is good but not US $22 level good and I feel for that price, the prism key-ring attachment should be a free accessory, not an optional extra. The Fidget Cube is tiny and expensive to replace and I am seriously scared of losing the most expensive Stim Toy I have ever purchased. To put things in perspective, I can order a Fidget Cube from Sensory Oasis for Kids for AU $12.95 (if I pick it up from the store). Am I encouraging people to purchase imitation Fidget Cubes? Absolutely not. I encourage, if possible, people to support a company that is making fidgets and stim toys designed to help Neurodivergent people, however, I am acknowledging the economic-reality that not everyone can afford to purchase items directly from Antsy Labs.

Fortunately, Stim Toy Box has created a post which lists Australian Retailers (in-store and online) where Australians can purchase a variety of Stim Toys:
~Stim Toy Box: Australian Stores that sell Stim Toys

I know my review sounds mostly negative, and I’m sorry if it comes across that way, because I do fact enjoy using the Fidget Cube. I enjoy the weight of it in my palm and while I like all the features, I enjoy the Roll (the small black ball near the black gears) and the Breathe (the worry-stone) features the most. It’s a good product, I just can’t recommend it to people living in Australia (or anywhere outside of the USA), especially when there are cheaper Stim Toy alternatives available.