This video is merely for educational purposes. It is inevitable that you will find all these designs while searching for parts. Do your diligence of finding out whether a design is original or not. Stealing designs and artworks is never okay. I can't stop anyone from buying counterfeit products and I can't control your ethical values. Support the original designers and creators.
Discount GMK Keycaps - doesn’t make sense to me. These are copy or clone to the design not the company who manufactures them. Stealing designs from designers is also not cool. This point is missed. Exclusivity can’t be the only price factory. Quality and the fact they are manufactured in Germany are also huge factors. I love most of your videos but this one misses the mark a little bit.
its come to a point where all keycaps are clones of each other one way or another. Only difference is the names they are called and how much hobbyist decide to inflate prices.
morally yes buying clones is bad but seriously the wait times and prices of gmk are ridiculous... sure real gmk sounds better but does it dound 250 dollars more better? dont think so
@@TheDredgenProject GMK design is overrated and ultimately these clone debates is hypocritical when you look at the average item a consumer buys, whivh is almost always a cheaper copy of something else. Neither do the designers lose money, if anything they gain more marketing exposure. If people can make exceptions for gmk minimal and wob, they can make exceptions for these.
You gotta understand that people not from the United States don't have the same dollar value or the same average income. A GMK set for you might be $150 all in groupbuy or $250 after market but for someone in a lower income country, these prices are not subsidized. They are paying what might be an immense amount of their monthly income if they were to get the real thing, or they can get a close replica for under 50% of the cost.
Someone in the US might also be paying a good portion of their monthy wage. $300 is just an insane amount of money to pay for a bunch of pieces of plastic.
Finally someone said it. Even if I had a high paying job, I still wouldn't shell out $200+ just on a keycap set, I'd rather have $200+ spent on the keyboard componets first.
I guess to play devil's advocate a bit, I don't feel that buying clones is e n t i r e ly wrong. There's no doubt that when other companies just straight up rip off designs, it's just wrong and unethical, as it doesn't support the original creators/ designers. BUT at the same time, neither is buying them off of the second hand market, where you're buying a marked up set that doesn't benefit the creators. While some people have the money to buy GMK botanicals on mechmarket for $300-$400 (could be wrong on that estimate) and other keycaps way above their initial retail value, there are also those who aren't able to. If given the opportunity to support those who made the set by taking part in the group buy, then that's showing your support for the work that they've done. But outside of that, neither option (buying clones vs. buying marked up original GMK sets) seems ethical in their own respects.
@@lucasmabrgaming4141 It is crazy, But GMK Is neither a big company or a small company it's sort of in between. You got to remember that the amount of people in the keyboard enthusiast community is a small majority, What is even smaller is the amount of them that buys gmk sets. That to say GMK sets are probably the highest quality of abs keycaps you can get. You got to remember they make custom molds for every keycap set and maintain consistency for legends,color and no bending for every box. Which isn't an easy thing to do. Also making molds for doubleshot keycaps are crazy expensive. So the lower amount of stocks a set have the more expensive it is. So in conclusion you are paying for. - Consistency - High quality thick ABS - Super clear legends - Vibrant Colours - Flexing rights Note: I don't agree with the 120$ price tag of gmk sets. They should push it back to 100. We gotta remember they are plastic squares here.
Save 60-80$ Save 12 months waiting time Avoid giving your money to a company that takes advantage of the elitist nature of the hobby to bloat the prices And still get a nice quality keycaps set ? That's a yes for me.
@@dedelabinouze5110 lmao I was thinking of getting a GMK Set, but now cause of GB and waiting time. I don’t wanna spend a year typing with no keycaps 💀💀💀
@@simplycapricorn251 Hi sir. If there's any you like, Drop has instock GMK. Laser is running it's R3 run now, and GMK WoB should be returning soon, early August, probably.
@@dedelabinouze5110 and the funniest thing is that for some sets, knockoffs get shipped months before the real ones even start production the weay I see it the only pro you get by buying the real think is you can say its real
in australia you have to preorder or go for group buys and pay $200 minimum ($220 for the gmk botanical) just for the base kit and an additional $50 for the novelty sets not to mention waiting up to a year for it to arrive, on the other hand i can order the gmk botanical keycap set which has novelty key caps in it and supports key layouts like 65% and 75% for just $50, even if the color isnt quite the same or there is a little bit of warp to the bottom of the keycap, those trade offs are more than worth it given the drastically reduced price point. not to say genuine gmk isnt worth it, more to say that buying clones is a very viable option
Im from Aus too, had a set of GMK Obsidian, took literal years to get, the keycaps look fine but not worth close to 300 Aud. AKKO Sets come in a nice case 1/5th of the price.
Bro the keeb weebs are insane.Youre gonna type on them not stare them.Since it's close enough visually it's more than enough.The gmk prices are unreal even if you have the money it's laughable.Not to mention the stupid group buy thing and the extra fees for imports in Europe...
Left a review basically calling out GMK being overpriced and was met with that many Keebheads crying about how their 200$ plastic is totally worth the price and not at all completely ridiculous
@@MrFunnylol99 Hahaha totally agree with ya.Today I got my Darling clone set from Ali express for 33 dollars and I'm beyond satisfied and amazed.Couldnt find a single imperfection.Again it depends on where you live salaries etc etc.And what money means to you I guess.With 150 I went on holidays for 3 days in Greece and this was so much more worth it,than some "quality" plastic pieces.
@@StoicBoyMario hey marios, im planning on getting a keycap set soon but dont wanna sell one of my kidneys to get a GMK one. Im planning on getting some aliexpress ones but I dont know which ones are good or a scam. Could you send me the link to the ones u bought^(or the name, in case yt blocks the comment)? ^^
@@Microck Yeah sure but my keycaps still haven't arrived.I got the gmk darling set on Ali express for around 32 dollars.If I recall there was only one set being sold,the reviews seemed good and I checked the plastic thickness and stuff and they seemed good quality.Ill check again and send a link.Ill try to send you feedback when the set arrives,but I just loved the color scheme which suited my wooden case and the Akko Tokyo tour mousepad
This community has a big “the more I spend the better I am” issue they go overboard modding for things that aren’t even noticeable just to say they have something too much flex culture for something as simple as a keyboard it’s still just a keyboard
pay $170+ for a set of shinny plastics while wait for 3 to 4 seasons to receive it or pay $30(yeti clone, olive clone) to $80(metropolis clone, mizu clone) for a set of shine-free plastics while only have to wait around 1 month I'm dumb. It is for the belief of getting a set of real gmk that I entered gmk fuji. Anyway, never buy real gmk again.
Agree. Gmk is good, but it's obviously overpriced. And they sold out every time so we don't need to worry they lose money on those copies...but I do hope those venders can provide some original designs
No one will wear magnifying glasses to scrutinize key caps, they actually look great. For something that is so personal and used only in confined spaces, I do feel that clones are extremely worthwhile. The groupbuys have such limited stock and will always sell out, of course this is due to low purchasing power as custom keys are a niche thing.
I honestly don't like the business model of group buys. It puts the consumer dead last. And honestly? This crap is too expensive. Come on, let's be real---remember that these are tiny hunks of plastic that people are spending hundreds of dollars on. That said, there is intellectual theft going on and I don't like that either. I've been using mech keebs for years, but haven't really paid much attention to this side of the hobby until recently. If I went on Amazon, Aliexpress, or Banggood looking for caps I could afford, I personally wouldn't know which ones have been thefted and which ones are just legit (are any of them?). I am not going to pay attention to group buys just so I don't inadvertently buy a keycap set that is a copycat. I have particular desires when it comes to keycaps. I want a certain kind of feel--i.e. spherical tops and those ain't easy to find, my friends. All the great colorways are in OEM usually. Anyway, I find it specious that keycaps cost so much to begin with. I just don't believe that they are that expensive to make. And I think we could all do a little sanding on rough edges and be forgiving of the molding process when needed to bring prices down if that's the problem.
Pretty sure the point of group buys is to allow people who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to design and put out their own product. Normal people don’t have enough money to commission a company to make thousands of pieces of a product and have them distributed between multiple vendors. Which is why it takes so long cause the actual product has yet to be made. Remove group buys and things would be much more limited and a lot less variety. On price, as someone who’s who’s a decent collection of gunpla and figures, understand the process that goes into manufacturing, detailed plastic can be very fucking expensive
@@Ilint Okay I feel you on that. But are these fresh new designers getting reimbursed in any way for that intellectual property--aside from being able to buy their design? And are they getting picked up by design companies to do work for them--ie will they be getting paid for work in this field in the future? If not, then it's just sad all the way around, man. Creatives gotta get paid. Now I see what you mean about some highly detailed plastic being expensive. Like your gunpla, there are strict manufacturing tolerances where the cap meets that stem. I totally get that. But they make a mold that they use millions of times. They surely must have protocols for the melted plastic temps and all of that stuff is probably thermoregulated and done with computers. How many keycaps do you think they make per minute? Per second? *shrugs* I don't know. I mean look at signature plastics--their keycaps are just a small part of an overall plastics-based company so they have this shit down. These aren't group buys, but they are high quality by all accounts (I haven't bought any… yet) but the prices OMG. It is very easy to spend 2-4 times the cost of a keeb on the caps and that is just weird. I mean…isn't it? You know the real problem? This hobby isn't mainstream enough. We need numbers. We gotta proselytize to the masses about the wonders of keebs. Then there will be some incentive for innovation and mass production of quality goods. That said, I think the quarantine has done some of that for us… Will we see any more changes coming in the future? I don't know for sure but I can tell you that prices and variety in mech boards in general has exploded since the last time I bought a keeb--which was in 2014. So there has to be more interest now.
@@jenthulhu From what I know atm GMK is extremely backed up right now, dispite adding an extra production line, but as more companies do look at this hoppy hopefully more come in and bring more computation. Example GMK Bento R2 shipped got pushed from April to Dec, no one really knows what's going on at GMK but I do feel as the hobby does get more popular as your saying we have a lot less wait time
@@Ilint It's my understanding that early in the pandemic retailers were having trouble keeping stock. So yeah, there's a whole new generation of interest here. Time will tell.
If they can’t figure out a way to make the caps faster and cheaper, don’t blame others for filling the void. It is only unethical to buy if the designs are patented, but are they? Even if they are, most clones I bought are not identical copies of the original, if it doesn’t come in a GMK logo on the box, novelties don’t look the same, why should I feel bad for buying something that look similar? Unethical my ass.
150 dollars for the real thing and you have to wait almost a year vs 30 dollar ones than you receive next week.... its a no brainer for a lot of people
I mean... "stealing art" is not something I condone. But this is a whole different ball game here. When someone puts out a design and then never makes it again, it's the prerogative of the free market to create a supply for the demand. Plus the majority of these sets aren't even original enough to call them "art" really. Same font, same placement of legends, same "novelty" keycaps, same material, different colors, is not something I would call creative. It's just a company that got lucky milking their cash cow and creating false scarcity to drive demand up. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if some of these clones come from the same manufacturer. They would make a killing getting 10 times the price from the people willing to dish out for it and then make some cheaper essentially identical sets for everyone else who wants to be like the people with disposable wealth. If someone paints a painting and someone copies it and claims they made it I would be right there telling everyone that's not ok. But taking an abandoned color combination is really hard to compare to stealing art. It's like, oh my god can you believe these people used the two colors black and pink when a massive price gouging company already used those two free to use colors!? disgusting. Gimme a break. So there's all that. But then also, it's crazy to tell people they should spend hundreds of dollars on some secondary market keycaps when you can get essentially the same thing with some minor differences (if you really look around for good versions) for one TENTH the price, and get it in a couple weeks. It's not even comparable in it's value. I'm sure GMK makes nice keycaps. But I feel like there's a huge bias in the valuation of their caps. People who spend 200 bucks on something you can get a near identical copy of for 30 bucks are naturally going to defend their purchase. You don't want to spend that much and then admit that you could have gotten 6 sets for the same price with little to no sacrifice. Then there's the factor of income in different countries and shipping costs, customs fees etc etc. There are just so many reasons to never get a set of GMK unless you find a massive bargain on a set. The only reason I have an MT3 set is because I found a full set plus the novelties for 50 bucks. That's a price I can deal with. Other than that I have all clones and they're almost all damn good caps. But I will admit some of them are quite bad. Just gotta be diligent and figure out good brands and return stuff you don't like the feel or sound or look of. Anyways, that's my 2 cents. TLDR; GMK designs are not even original, they just pick a couple colors and call it "new". Their prices are nonsense. and clones are not even close to as bad as people make them out to be. Plus you can get 3-6 sets for the same price as one set of GMK.
The clones are actually from a difference perspective, better than GMK for the sole fact that they are PBT. Sure, colors don’t pop as much, fonts may be off if you’re unlucky, and it’s 2mm thinner, but it’s still PBT. And btw, being ever so slightly thinner you don’t get the north facing interference like you do with GMK.
I am going to buy replicas purely due to the fact they are PBT, I can’t stand the ABS shine. If GMK made PBT caps then I would probably buy from the group buys
Ikr like I got gmk meta verse clones on Amazon for 31.99$ (36$) after taxes and stuff and they use pbt and are way better than garbage gmk keycaps made of abs which are triple msrp and take years to ship
You can get this set and many others from taobao for like 30 bucks even using the most expensive and fastest shipping with DHL it will still be lower than 85 bucks you paid for this
never ever get any gmk set. I have like 5 sets and they are not worth it. 1. they start shining and look disgusting after couple of months. 2. they are abs so they sound terrible. 3. the wait time for gmk sets are stupid nowadays. I still haven't received my gmk nord I ordered almost 3 years ago. 4. color matching has gone down the hill with this company. You can see the colors of gmk nekro and gmk nord they look nothing like the renders. Pretty much a scam company at this point.
Sorry but I support clones, reason is simple, GMK holds our money and slack while taking their sweet ass time to make keycaps. Make us wait for a year and what, colours might even be different from renders!! What a joke!
Well it’s not saving $30-$40 though, for some of the clones that include different space bars and novelty keys, it stars being a $50+ saving 😬 the price gets a bit ridiculous with GMK when I need to buy the base kit AND the Latin kit if I don’t want the sub legends. I don’t understand why it’s not just a case of choosing one or the other, I’d happy pay for novelty keys and spacebar kits afterwards, but adding on another 50% of the base kit just to get the Latin set is kinda wack
Question is does the quality of the authentic gmk keycaps justify its price? I feel like when companies rip off their consumers when it comes to the pricing, then it is just as unethical. I rather support clones this way.
honestly, I feel like buying a clone of something like the GMK Dots isn't very unethical. I mean, it's a bunch of dots on standard keycaps. You don't really need much work to develop that design. If you do need work to put a different colored dot on each keycap, let me know.
Besides the perspective of not getting the best quality from buying knock off sets, I’ve heard many people against buying knock offs mainly because of the fact that the art work used on the set is stolen from the original manufacturer.
@@garrettwilkie6046 US: "It's only $200 for a set bro, it's the cheapest price in the market" Other countries: *Casually adds clones to carts because we don't care
@@chiizuu752 other countries? Buddy I’m in the US and won’t buy GMK. ABS plastic isn’t my thing, I prefer a deeper sounding profile anyways. Clones are better for me, I can literally get 3 sets of keycaps that are what I like with the same design for the cost of 1 GMK set. Elitists at its finest
While I appreciate your effort in making this video and your opinion on ppl shouldn't buy GMK replica due to "low quality", "ethical" etc., I think you really missed something here. When you are criticizing you really need to know why ppl are buying the GMK replica. One of the reasons be: the real GMK keycaps are just simply useless for many north-facing LED PCBs since they are all in Cherry profile, which will interfere with the switch top housing. However nowadays GMK replica sets, especially these very popular ones, are manufactured in many other profiles, i.e. OEM, XDA, which are more compatible with north-facing LED PCBs. Why would ppl pay for over $200 for a set for messing up with the sound profile and typing feels of their board? Sure that you can argue "you should just build a board with south facing LEDs", but not everyone has the budget and choice. Also many GMK replica is NOT made in low quality, and many ppl prefer PBT material over ABS, and the real GMK set quality is not that much higher, they are being expensive just simply because they are purposely making very low quantity.
cherry is just a flawed profile. why did the company Cherry standardize a profile that interferes with the switches that they too standardized? also south facing LEDs are flawed: almost all legends are on the north side of the caps, and what makes even less sense is that even with both of those issues being the case, Cherry is still the most common profile for shine-through keycaps
The whole idea of "support the original designers and creators" is fucking stupid in this space...you're literally using keycaps to type stuff on your overly expensive keyboard and if I can save myself a bunch of money by going with a clone, you bet your ass I'm going to do it.
Personally, I see no ethical issue because I spend money on the original product IF the creators do a second run. Most of the time they won’t. But I like comparing the fakes and originals with friends whom are into the hobby too, so a second set is great for swapping. Then use the fakes as an icebreaker.
i got the GMK 87 with a knob and small screen for 45 bucks then some fake holy pandas for 18 bucks and highground keycaps for 31 bucks all from aliexpress and, its amazing!
A friend bought one and straight up told me to just splurge for the real thing. Alignment issues are a real concern. Good thing dots had an r2 and I immediately got the white base kit.
@@bassam.2023 I assume you enjoy spending money on food , concerts etc. People who are in the keyboard scene love to have the best of the best, the end result is very rewarding:)
@@sonnyjs It's very rewarding in a very superficial way though. A keyboard is not an expensive necklace or ring, things that serve no function except to look pretty and perhaps display your financial status. A keyboard is a tool, it must serve the function of typing. However, keyboards in the mech community have become something akin to jewellery, where function is less important than form and for something that is a tool, this is absolutely bizarre though perhaps not surprising. This is the height of consumerism.
if buying gmk makes me feel worth it, I would support the idea that gmk clones are ruining this hobby Unfortunately, that being said, I'm not feeling worth it So, HAMMERHEAD clone, CAFE clone, RUDY clone, TARO clone plz
I am not paying 200-300$ for Keycaps that are made of ABS and will look like shit after half a year of typing because ABS tends to absorb your finger grease. Sorry but no, in my opinion GMK's are never worth it for what they are and you are better off looking at the reviews and look what pictures the reviewer left, then you're on the safe side.
I am currently watching the reviews on fake GMK keycaps meanwhile I wait on GMK Dots (Q1 2022) and Kat Mizu(Q3 2020, got delayed). I recently ordered a BoW PBT set with the Japanese sub legend because I heard that my keyboard will come next month so I just needed something that would do the job in the meantime. Also, I really wish those fake sets had that nice bold font, but at least it has the novelties and the 75% keycaps.
What BoW japanese sub legends did you get and where can I buy them? I’ve been looking for a set since an ePBT kuro/shiro is unobtainable without paying $250+
From the moment I saw them, I noticed that something was off. After looking at GMK Dots pictures, I noticed that the dots themselves are too big on the counterfeit ones that you have. This threw me off and I apologize if that's gonna bug you from now on.
to be fair, you've spent considerable time discussing a crappy black pink find, when what you should be comparing are ones from certain vendor (which i won't mention) that are pretty decent quality. Anyway, if anyone has downloaded music video games and movies illegally, you've no right to talk about supporting designers, because you've violated that principle yourself.
GMK as it is, just shoudn't exist imho. 200 bucks or more for a set of keycaps? C'mon guys. I love keycaps, but there's a limit! Waitting for a year to get what you already payed for? Really? No reprints? Why? No way. But it's just me... It won't get my 3rd world's country money. If this make you happy, go ahead. You're free to decide. Peace.
Im currently using AKKO Neon, some keycaps have "burrs" on mine; not that noticeable but for the price, its really good has an included plastic case and can cover lots of layout. But yeah, quality is not that great but expected for this pricepoint.
Can anyone help me out? I'm searching a gray, white or black (or any of these coloures mixed) full sized keycap set with white black or gray good visible letters because I dont want the LED light to get thru them these lights I have just dont look good (I can turn the light off tho) .. I have been searching one for 2 hours but cant find anything... if one of you knows a website on wich you can search for a set like or just a set that looks like my description pls tell me :)
I bought the GMK Dots on AliExpress and had to deal with a frustration. The keycaps quality are bad, they cost me $80 and came with keycaps missing. Remove that AliExpress link from your vídeo my friend :’(
imma be plain and simple: GMK CAPS ARE OVER RATED base kits are too damn expensive for no reason different base sets have different compatibility CHERRY PROFILE IS OVER RATED ((stop trying to f*** up the position of my backlight just because you want an inferior designed profile) SERIOUSLY, WHY DO BOARD MANUFACTURERS HAVE TO CHANGE ALL THEIR PCBs FOR A SINGLE PROFILE?!?!?!) abs is pretty but doesn't hold up one company can't own a color scheme (artistic designs could be debated, but does the artist benefit from the aftermarket..? no) THE AFTERMARKET IN GENERAL- you're basically gambling on lootboxes (you know what item you're getting but you don't know what it's value will be) ridiculous lead times and potential issues/hicups i could honestly go on here, but i'll wait to fight about it in the replies
No, no you shouldn't - question answered! Don't buy ANY cloned keycaps, from AliExpress or otherwise. Don't buy GPUs from scalpers either. May they all rot in a special corner of Hades - where they're whipped & must run naked over floors covered in genuine GMK keycaps n' burning hot GPUs!
"It's your keyboard, it's your keycaps..." You should probably consider that this is not just a question of keycap quality but supporting something that is a counterfeit . People spent time to design and produce something then these companies rip off the design to profit from it. Colorways can be tough to call but something like GMK dots is an obvious attempt to directly copy someone else's work. I don't see any argument to support buying such.
Well what does it hurt the creator of the set. If there is a re-run, the people that would have bought the real deal will switch to that one. The people that hate ABS will stay on pbt just for the feel. The designer makes no money off of aftermarket sets(just if he buys his own sets to flip them later(also unethical)). For most people it isn't about saving money but getting the design they like at all. And yes the idea of the gmk dots is good, but does the first person to make round wheels have the right to them? People buy knock off because they don't want/can't afford to pay someone triple to get a set the designer makes no additional money on.
@@maximiliandeisz2961 bad argument. The company ripping off the creator is making money out of the work of someone else. If that sounds okay to you. Then you need to recheck your values. Also, don't oversimplify stuff to as basic as wheels. There is such a thing called intellectual properly- something you probably don't understand. This is such a waste of time trying to explain but oh well.
@@TheDredgenProject I understand it but how far does it go? could the first person using some accord combinations claim ip on that? And well IP is meant to protect the financial interests of the creator and if they don't make money from that product right now or in the near future, the purpose is defeated. And well my values is it is meant to protect the creator but if the creator doesn't use it why protect it.
@@TheDredgenProject so are bosses; they make money from the work of their employees. Seize the means of productions!!!! just joking there is more behind it they invest money and that is a risk to them. And gb is only a risk to your time
@@TheDredgenProject If you want to argue about ip, I doubt the creator of GMK Darling or GMK Kat Explosion have permission from the creators of the anime to use the colours from the anime. Aren't those keycaps, that are modeled after an ip, also making money out of the work of someone else?
This video is merely for educational purposes. It is inevitable that you will find all these designs while searching for parts. Do your diligence of finding out whether a design is original or not. Stealing designs and artworks is never okay. I can't stop anyone from buying counterfeit products and I can't control your ethical values. Support the original designers and creators.
You say this here but your video basically is non-chalant with people trying to buy counterfeit.
Discount GMK Keycaps - doesn’t make sense to me. These are copy or clone to the design not the company who manufactures them. Stealing designs from designers is also not cool. This point is missed.
Exclusivity can’t be the only price factory.
Quality and the fact they are manufactured in Germany are also huge factors.
I love most of your videos but this one misses the mark a little bit.
its come to a point where all keycaps are clones of each other one way or another. Only difference is the names they are called and how much hobbyist decide to inflate prices.
morally yes buying clones is bad but seriously the wait times and prices of gmk are ridiculous... sure real gmk sounds better but does it dound 250 dollars more better? dont think so
@@TheDredgenProject GMK design is overrated and ultimately these clone debates is hypocritical when you look at the average item a consumer buys, whivh is almost always a cheaper copy of something else. Neither do the designers lose money, if anything they gain more marketing exposure. If people can make exceptions for gmk minimal and wob, they can make exceptions for these.
“So you’re not typing blindly in the dark” Oh thank God! Just imagine not being able to see the white dot
i was literally going to say the same thing when i heard that
You gotta understand that people not from the United States don't have the same dollar value or the same average income. A GMK set for you might be $150 all in groupbuy or $250 after market but for someone in a lower income country, these prices are not subsidized. They are paying what might be an immense amount of their monthly income if they were to get the real thing, or they can get a close replica for under 50% of the cost.
Exactly!Plus taxes for Europe imports seems so stupid to spend more than 100 on keycaps!
Someone in the US might also be paying a good portion of their monthy wage. $300 is just an insane amount of money to pay for a bunch of pieces of plastic.
Finally someone said it. Even if I had a high paying job, I still wouldn't shell out $200+ just on a keycap set, I'd rather have $200+ spent on the keyboard componets first.
Yep, a gmk keycap set in my country costs more than a minimum wage
honestly i got the knockoff gmk darling set and its not bad at all. im not paying that fucking secondary market price.
I guess to play devil's advocate a bit, I don't feel that buying clones is e n t i r e ly wrong. There's no doubt that when other companies just straight up rip off designs, it's just wrong and unethical, as it doesn't support the original creators/ designers. BUT at the same time, neither is buying them off of the second hand market, where you're buying a marked up set that doesn't benefit the creators. While some people have the money to buy GMK botanicals on mechmarket for $300-$400 (could be wrong on that estimate) and other keycaps way above their initial retail value, there are also those who aren't able to. If given the opportunity to support those who made the set by taking part in the group buy, then that's showing your support for the work that they've done. But outside of that, neither option (buying clones vs. buying marked up original GMK sets) seems ethical in their own respects.
Gmk is already a huge company
@@lucasmabrgaming4141 yesn't
@@turtlejr8911 it’s a name brand in the keyboard community at this point lol. Charging over 120 for key caps is crazyyyy
@@lucasmabrgaming4141 It is crazy, But GMK Is neither a big company or a small company it's sort of in between.
You got to remember that the amount of people in the keyboard enthusiast community is a small majority, What is even smaller is the amount of them that buys gmk sets.
That to say GMK sets are probably the highest quality of abs keycaps you can get.
You got to remember they make custom molds for every keycap set and maintain consistency for legends,color and no bending for every box.
Which isn't an easy thing to do.
Also making molds for doubleshot keycaps are crazy expensive. So the lower amount of stocks a set have the more expensive it is.
So in conclusion you are paying for.
- Consistency
- High quality thick ABS
- Super clear legends
- Vibrant Colours
- Flexing rights
Note: I don't agree with the 120$ price tag of gmk sets. They should push it back to 100.
We gotta remember they are plastic squares here.
Sadly it’s the same logic with people who buy rep sneakers...
"Save $30 - $40"
or
"Save 12 months wait time"
hmmmmmm
Save 60-80$
Save 12 months waiting time
Avoid giving your money to a company that takes advantage of the elitist nature of the hobby to bloat the prices
And still get a nice quality keycaps set ?
That's a yes for me.
@@dedelabinouze5110 lmao I was thinking of getting a GMK Set, but now cause of GB and waiting time. I don’t wanna spend a year typing with no keycaps 💀💀💀
@@simplycapricorn251 Hi sir. If there's any you like, Drop has instock GMK. Laser is running it's R3 run now, and GMK WoB should be returning soon, early August, probably.
@@dedelabinouze5110 ikr
@@dedelabinouze5110 and the funniest thing is that for some sets, knockoffs get shipped months before the real ones even start production
the weay I see it the only pro you get by buying the real think is you can say its real
in australia you have to preorder or go for group buys and pay $200 minimum ($220 for the gmk botanical) just for the base kit and an additional $50 for the novelty sets not to mention waiting up to a year for it to arrive, on the other hand i can order the gmk botanical keycap set which has novelty key caps in it and supports key layouts like 65% and 75% for just $50, even if the color isnt quite the same or there is a little bit of warp to the bottom of the keycap, those trade offs are more than worth it given the drastically reduced price point.
not to say genuine gmk isnt worth it, more to say that buying clones is a very viable option
Im from Aus too, had a set of GMK Obsidian, took literal years to get, the keycaps look fine but not worth close to 300 Aud. AKKO Sets come in a nice case 1/5th of the price.
Bro the keeb weebs are insane.Youre gonna type on them not stare them.Since it's close enough visually it's more than enough.The gmk prices are unreal even if you have the money it's laughable.Not to mention the stupid group buy thing and the extra fees for imports in Europe...
Left a review basically calling out GMK being overpriced and was met with that many Keebheads crying about how their 200$ plastic is totally worth the price and not at all completely ridiculous
@@MrFunnylol99 Hahaha totally agree with ya.Today I got my Darling clone set from Ali express for 33 dollars and I'm beyond satisfied and amazed.Couldnt find a single imperfection.Again it depends on where you live salaries etc etc.And what money means to you I guess.With 150 I went on holidays for 3 days in Greece and this was so much more worth it,than some "quality" plastic pieces.
@@StoicBoyMario hey marios, im planning on getting a keycap set soon but dont wanna sell one of my kidneys to get a GMK one. Im planning on getting some aliexpress ones but I dont know which ones are good or a scam. Could you send me the link to the ones u bought^(or the name, in case yt blocks the comment)? ^^
@@Microck Yeah sure but my keycaps still haven't arrived.I got the gmk darling set on Ali express for around 32 dollars.If I recall there was only one set being sold,the reviews seemed good and I checked the plastic thickness and stuff and they seemed good quality.Ill check again and send a link.Ill try to send you feedback when the set arrives,but I just loved the color scheme which suited my wooden case and the Akko Tokyo tour mousepad
This community has a big “the more I spend the better I am” issue they go overboard modding for things that aren’t even noticeable just to say they have something too much flex culture for something as simple as a keyboard it’s still just a keyboard
pay $170+ for a set of shinny plastics while wait for 3 to 4 seasons to receive it
or
pay $30(yeti clone, olive clone) to $80(metropolis clone, mizu clone) for a set of shine-free plastics while only have to wait around 1 month
I'm dumb. It is for the belief of getting a set of real gmk that I entered gmk fuji. Anyway, never buy real gmk again.
Agree. Gmk is good, but it's obviously overpriced. And they sold out every time so we don't need to worry they lose money on those copies...but I do hope those venders can provide some original designs
Imagine paying $200+ and spending decades to wait for it to arrive at your doorstep only to forget you purchased one
@@chiizuu752 and when the order has not arrived at the appointed time, the buyer immediately dies and the buyer has not had time to touch or feel it.
No one will wear magnifying glasses to scrutinize key caps, they actually look great. For something that is so personal and used only in confined spaces, I do feel that clones are extremely worthwhile. The groupbuys have such limited stock and will always sell out, of course this is due to low purchasing power as custom keys are a niche thing.
I honestly don't like the business model of group buys. It puts the consumer dead last. And honestly? This crap is too expensive. Come on, let's be real---remember that these are tiny hunks of plastic that people are spending hundreds of dollars on. That said, there is intellectual theft going on and I don't like that either. I've been using mech keebs for years, but haven't really paid much attention to this side of the hobby until recently. If I went on Amazon, Aliexpress, or Banggood looking for caps I could afford, I personally wouldn't know which ones have been thefted and which ones are just legit (are any of them?). I am not going to pay attention to group buys just so I don't inadvertently buy a keycap set that is a copycat. I have particular desires when it comes to keycaps. I want a certain kind of feel--i.e. spherical tops and those ain't easy to find, my friends. All the great colorways are in OEM usually. Anyway, I find it specious that keycaps cost so much to begin with. I just don't believe that they are that expensive to make. And I think we could all do a little sanding on rough edges and be forgiving of the molding process when needed to bring prices down if that's the problem.
Pretty sure the point of group buys is to allow people who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to design and put out their own product. Normal people don’t have enough money to commission a company to make thousands of pieces of a product and have them distributed between multiple vendors. Which is why it takes so long cause the actual product has yet to be made. Remove group buys and things would be much more limited and a lot less variety. On price, as someone who’s who’s a decent collection of gunpla and figures, understand the process that goes into manufacturing, detailed plastic can be very fucking expensive
@@Ilint Okay I feel you on that. But are these fresh new designers getting reimbursed in any way for that intellectual property--aside from being able to buy their design? And are they getting picked up by design companies to do work for them--ie will they be getting paid for work in this field in the future? If not, then it's just sad all the way around, man. Creatives gotta get paid.
Now I see what you mean about some highly detailed plastic being expensive. Like your gunpla, there are strict manufacturing tolerances where the cap meets that stem. I totally get that. But they make a mold that they use millions of times. They surely must have protocols for the melted plastic temps and all of that stuff is probably thermoregulated and done with computers. How many keycaps do you think they make per minute? Per second? *shrugs* I don't know.
I mean look at signature plastics--their keycaps are just a small part of an overall plastics-based company so they have this shit down. These aren't group buys, but they are high quality by all accounts (I haven't bought any… yet) but the prices OMG. It is very easy to spend 2-4 times the cost of a keeb on the caps and that is just weird. I mean…isn't it?
You know the real problem? This hobby isn't mainstream enough. We need numbers. We gotta proselytize to the masses about the wonders of keebs. Then there will be some incentive for innovation and mass production of quality goods. That said, I think the quarantine has done some of that for us… Will we see any more changes coming in the future? I don't know for sure but I can tell you that prices and variety in mech boards in general has exploded since the last time I bought a keeb--which was in 2014. So there has to be more interest now.
@@jenthulhu From what I know atm GMK is extremely backed up right now, dispite adding an extra production line, but as more companies do look at this hoppy hopefully more come in and bring more computation. Example GMK Bento R2 shipped got pushed from April to Dec, no one really knows what's going on at GMK but I do feel as the hobby does get more popular as your saying we have a lot less wait time
@@Ilint It's my understanding that early in the pandemic retailers were having trouble keeping stock. So yeah, there's a whole new generation of interest here. Time will tell.
If they can’t figure out a way to make the caps faster and cheaper, don’t blame others for filling the void. It is only unethical to buy if the designs are patented, but are they? Even if they are, most clones I bought are not identical copies of the original, if it doesn’t come in a GMK logo on the box, novelties don’t look the same, why should I feel bad for buying something that look similar? Unethical my ass.
150 dollars for the real thing and you have to wait almost a year vs 30 dollar ones than you receive next week.... its a no brainer for a lot of people
I mean... "stealing art" is not something I condone. But this is a whole different ball game here. When someone puts out a design and then never makes it again, it's the prerogative of the free market to create a supply for the demand. Plus the majority of these sets aren't even original enough to call them "art" really. Same font, same placement of legends, same "novelty" keycaps, same material, different colors, is not something I would call creative. It's just a company that got lucky milking their cash cow and creating false scarcity to drive demand up.
Hell I wouldn't be surprised if some of these clones come from the same manufacturer. They would make a killing getting 10 times the price from the people willing to dish out for it and then make some cheaper essentially identical sets for everyone else who wants to be like the people with disposable wealth.
If someone paints a painting and someone copies it and claims they made it I would be right there telling everyone that's not ok. But taking an abandoned color combination is really hard to compare to stealing art.
It's like, oh my god can you believe these people used the two colors black and pink when a massive price gouging company already used those two free to use colors!? disgusting.
Gimme a break.
So there's all that. But then also, it's crazy to tell people they should spend hundreds of dollars on some secondary market keycaps when you can get essentially the same thing with some minor differences (if you really look around for good versions) for one TENTH the price, and get it in a couple weeks. It's not even comparable in it's value.
I'm sure GMK makes nice keycaps. But I feel like there's a huge bias in the valuation of their caps. People who spend 200 bucks on something you can get a near identical copy of for 30 bucks are naturally going to defend their purchase. You don't want to spend that much and then admit that you could have gotten 6 sets for the same price with little to no sacrifice.
Then there's the factor of income in different countries and shipping costs, customs fees etc etc. There are just so many reasons to never get a set of GMK unless you find a massive bargain on a set.
The only reason I have an MT3 set is because I found a full set plus the novelties for 50 bucks. That's a price I can deal with. Other than that I have all clones and they're almost all damn good caps. But I will admit some of them are quite bad. Just gotta be diligent and figure out good brands and return stuff you don't like the feel or sound or look of.
Anyways, that's my 2 cents.
TLDR; GMK designs are not even original, they just pick a couple colors and call it "new". Their prices are nonsense. and clones are not even close to as bad as people make them out to be. Plus you can get 3-6 sets for the same price as one set of GMK.
people that don't already have keycaps can't buy group buys. Now I don't want to wait a year
Meanwhile ppl who like the design of the Keycaps and knows that paying over $40 for Keycaps is insane, AliExpress is the way to go.
Clones only for me. GMK is far too expensive for not being PBT.
The clones are actually from a difference perspective, better than GMK for the sole fact that they are PBT. Sure, colors don’t pop as much, fonts may be off if you’re unlucky, and it’s 2mm thinner, but it’s still PBT. And btw, being ever so slightly thinner you don’t get the north facing interference like you do with GMK.
this is the main reason i wont buy a real gmk set....make some pbt or pom and im in
I am going to buy replicas purely due to the fact they are PBT, I can’t stand the ABS shine. If GMK made PBT caps then I would probably buy from the group buys
I bought some GMK Olivia clones on Banggood and honestly they’re really good for $75
i see some cheaper around 50
I was looking at getting that set. Do you have some pictures you can share please?
bruh i bought them for $50 on aliexpress. they arrived in 2 weeks and not 1 decade for the original.
Ikr like I got gmk meta verse clones on Amazon for 31.99$ (36$) after taxes and stuff and they use pbt and are way better than garbage gmk keycaps made of abs which are triple msrp and take years to ship
you bought clones for 75$ lol, I found some for $25
I just wanna "save" 1 to two years on shipping lol
You can get this set and many others from taobao for like 30 bucks even using the most expensive and fastest shipping with DHL it will still be lower than 85 bucks you paid for this
If you're gonna mention Group Buys - you've really gotta explain certain aspects like wait times and not meeting MOQ.
never ever get any gmk set. I have like 5 sets and they are not worth it. 1. they start shining and look disgusting after couple of months. 2. they are abs so they sound terrible. 3. the wait time for gmk sets are stupid nowadays. I still haven't received my gmk nord I ordered almost 3 years ago. 4. color matching has gone down the hill with this company. You can see the colors of gmk nekro and gmk nord they look nothing like the renders. Pretty much a scam company at this point.
Sorry but I support clones, reason is simple, GMK holds our money and slack while taking their sweet ass time to make keycaps. Make us wait for a year and what, colours might even be different from renders!! What a joke!
unless you can say you can copyright font, clones aren't stealing GMK has a monopoly and that shit gotta go
Well it’s not saving $30-$40 though, for some of the clones that include different space bars and novelty keys, it stars being a $50+ saving 😬 the price gets a bit ridiculous with GMK when I need to buy the base kit AND the Latin kit if I don’t want the sub legends. I don’t understand why it’s not just a case of choosing one or the other, I’d happy pay for novelty keys and spacebar kits afterwards, but adding on another 50% of the base kit just to get the Latin set is kinda wack
I see the only reason this clone set is good compare to other clone set is that its literally dots, you can't go wrong with dots
Honestly, if I had a choice I'd rather have the AliExpress ones just because they're PBT. The texture of ABS plastic just feels disgusting to me.
This guy gets it
Question is does the quality of the authentic gmk keycaps justify its price? I feel like when companies rip off their consumers when it comes to the pricing, then it is just as unethical. I rather support clones this way.
honestly, I feel like buying a clone of something like the GMK Dots isn't very unethical. I mean, it's a bunch of dots on standard keycaps. You don't really need much work to develop that design. If you do need work to put a different colored dot on each keycap, let me know.
Besides the perspective of not getting the best quality from buying knock off sets, I’ve heard many people against buying knock offs mainly because of the fact that the art work used on the set is stolen from the original manufacturer.
Absolutely. People have to go over their ethical values before deciding to purchase these things.
Ok but i dont care as long as i get that pbt darling
If you’re buying keycaps and worrying about ethics then I think you’re a little too invested.
@@garrettwilkie6046
US: "It's only $200 for a set bro, it's the cheapest price in the market"
Other countries: *Casually adds clones to carts because we don't care
@@chiizuu752 other countries? Buddy I’m in the US and won’t buy GMK. ABS plastic isn’t my thing, I prefer a deeper sounding profile anyways. Clones are better for me, I can literally get 3 sets of keycaps that are what I like with the same design for the cost of 1 GMK set. Elitists at its finest
While I appreciate your effort in making this video and your opinion on ppl shouldn't buy GMK replica due to "low quality", "ethical" etc., I think you really missed something here. When you are criticizing you really need to know why ppl are buying the GMK replica. One of the reasons be: the real GMK keycaps are just simply useless for many north-facing LED PCBs since they are all in Cherry profile, which will interfere with the switch top housing. However nowadays GMK replica sets, especially these very popular ones, are manufactured in many other profiles, i.e. OEM, XDA, which are more compatible with north-facing LED PCBs. Why would ppl pay for over $200 for a set for messing up with the sound profile and typing feels of their board? Sure that you can argue "you should just build a board with south facing LEDs", but not everyone has the budget and choice. Also many GMK replica is NOT made in low quality, and many ppl prefer PBT material over ABS, and the real GMK set quality is not that much higher, they are being expensive just simply because they are purposely making very low quantity.
cherry is just a flawed profile. why did the company Cherry standardize a profile that interferes with the switches that they too standardized? also south facing LEDs are flawed: almost all legends are on the north side of the caps, and what makes even less sense is that even with both of those issues being the case, Cherry is still the most common profile for shine-through keycaps
'if you dont have the keycaps, you don;t have the keycaps' mate I have no keycaps at all lol
I bought metropolis copy on ali express and wow.... amazing. 60$ and took 30 days to arrive.
The whole idea of "support the original designers and creators" is fucking stupid in this space...you're literally using keycaps to type stuff on your overly expensive keyboard and if I can save myself a bunch of money by going with a clone, you bet your ass I'm going to do it.
Personally, I see no ethical issue because I spend money on the original product IF the creators do a second run. Most of the time they won’t. But I like comparing the fakes and originals with friends whom are into the hobby too, so a second set is great for swapping. Then use the fakes as an icebreaker.
pbt which seems higher quality, clones of say metrolpolis is 35 usd vs 150 retail. im buying clones
Romsicle: There's always a secondary market.
Me: *finding a gmk mizu secondary market in despair*
i got the GMK 87 with a knob and small screen for 45 bucks then some fake holy pandas for 18 bucks and highground keycaps for 31 bucks all from aliexpress and, its amazing!
then i'm not in US, buying from GMK won't help my national GDP anyway 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
i might be wrong but round 2 of gmk dots does not come with the split space bars anymore, you will have to buy spacebar kits this time.
Oh true - but thankfully you can supplement the shift keys as the spacebar since it's the same R4 height.
A friend bought one and straight up told me to just splurge for the real thing. Alignment issues are a real concern.
Good thing dots had an r2 and I immediately got the white base kit.
I'm willing to splurge on many things such as food, vacations, concerts, etc.
$130 keycaps that aren't even silver plated??? Heck no...
@@bassam.2023 I assume you enjoy spending money on food , concerts etc. People who are in the keyboard scene love to have the best of the best, the end result is very rewarding:)
@@sonnyjs It's very rewarding in a very superficial way though. A keyboard is not an expensive necklace or ring, things that serve no function except to look pretty and perhaps display your financial status. A keyboard is a tool, it must serve the function of typing. However, keyboards in the mech community have become something akin to jewellery, where function is less important than form and for something that is a tool, this is absolutely bizarre though perhaps not surprising. This is the height of consumerism.
@@bassam.2023 very true!
It will be a frigid day in hell should I ever give $500 to a scalper on Fleabay for a GMK Olivia. Hooray for bootlegs!
There is no such things as bad products, only bad prices
if buying gmk makes me feel worth it, I would support the idea that gmk clones are ruining this hobby
Unfortunately, that being said, I'm not feeling worth it
So, HAMMERHEAD clone, CAFE clone, RUDY clone, TARO clone plz
Dualshot 2 too please 😇
Aifei and YongQui have recently released double shot version of Rudy and Taro on their websites
that's the coolest hair cut i've seen
I am not paying 200-300$ for Keycaps that are made of ABS and will look like shit after half a year of typing because ABS tends to absorb your finger grease. Sorry but no, in my opinion GMK's are never worth it for what they are and you are better off looking at the reviews and look what pictures the reviewer left, then you're on the safe side.
idgaf im not wasting over 400 dollars on some plastic cubes that only look and feel smooth
I am currently watching the reviews on fake GMK keycaps meanwhile I wait on GMK Dots (Q1 2022) and Kat Mizu(Q3 2020, got delayed). I recently ordered a BoW PBT set with the Japanese sub legend because I heard that my keyboard will come next month so I just needed something that would do the job in the meantime. Also, I really wish those fake sets had that nice bold font, but at least it has the novelties and the 75% keycaps.
Amazon and Drop have a few choices of GMK keycaps that ship immediately. Those might be some better options, linked in the description.
What BoW japanese sub legends did you get and where can I buy them? I’ve been looking for a set since an ePBT kuro/shiro is unobtainable without paying $250+
PSA you can buy gmk red samurai for a hundred bucks in a bunch of layouts on amazon and drop, they restock regularly
GMK Laser also gets restocked every week now. Gotta love it :P
Can you review the Aliexpress Olivias please
I bought the Olivia, I CAN SAY THEY ARE WELL WORTH IT IF you get the one by gmky
From the moment I saw them, I noticed that something was off. After looking at GMK Dots pictures, I noticed that the dots themselves are too big on the counterfeit ones that you have. This threw me off and I apologize if that's gonna bug you from now on.
Props to you for actually seeing the difference!
I noticed that as well. The dots and lines are bigger and the colors are a bit different.
Why do the bottom row keys look wonky af
to be fair, you've spent considerable time discussing a crappy black pink find, when what you should be comparing are ones from certain vendor (which i won't mention) that are pretty decent quality.
Anyway, if anyone has downloaded music video games and movies illegally, you've no right to talk about supporting designers, because you've violated that principle yourself.
Do realize your just buying plastic with letters and symbols on them. Idgaf if you buy them cuz for peeps in different countries. 100-300$ is a lot.
you save more like 30 dollars off retail. especially considering they shine...
So you are not typing blindly I the dark? What for do you need light with these keycaps? To see where the dots are?
I'd just like to make sure, the replica doesn't have the ISO/enter key right?:(
Recent release of Aifei and YongQui double shot abs clones includes iso enter and other specific keycaps
Just for simple Ethic I'm not going to expend 150$ for a piece of plastic.
AKKO are quire good. Not a bad selection of colours either.
GMK as it is, just shoudn't exist imho. 200 bucks or more for a set of keycaps? C'mon guys. I love keycaps, but there's a limit! Waitting for a year to get what you already payed for? Really? No reprints? Why? No way. But it's just me... It won't get my 3rd world's country money. If this make you happy, go ahead. You're free to decide. Peace.
Akko neon are also pretty good if you're looking for GMK laser
Im currently using AKKO Neon, some keycaps have "burrs" on mine; not that noticeable but for the price, its really good has an included plastic case and can cover lots of layout. But yeah, quality is not that great but expected for this pricepoint.
@@PaulyRenzeth GMK sets also have burrs on the keycaps. At least the sets I have, namely the Mitolet and the Red Samurai from Drop
You can use a taobao agency and get it for $30 plus shipping. There are multiple sets using the same molds and are similarly priced.
my favorite keycaps are either gmk olivia or polycaps whale
Can anyone help me out? I'm searching a gray, white or black (or any of these coloures mixed) full sized keycap set with white black or gray good visible letters because I dont want the LED light to get thru them these lights I have just dont look good (I can turn the light off tho) .. I have been searching one for 2 hours but cant find anything... if one of you knows a website on wich you can search for a set like or just a set that looks like my description pls tell me :)
DROP! drop.com/?referer=ZSFA4G ($10 OFF), there's GMK White on Black that will be amazing for your board.
Please let us know if you find some GMK Voyage clones lol
I bought the GMK Dots on AliExpress and had to deal with a frustration. The keycaps quality are bad, they cost me $80 and came with keycaps missing. Remove that AliExpress link from your vídeo my friend :’(
Well,I can spend 35 Euros in a GMK clone or 300 in a original.
Sure its not the same but bro... deserves the money, im not Tfue.
Of course, just go for the readily available and affordable set
I can answer the title question in one word . . NO
Nope. Not paying half a grand for plastic. Nope. Sorry.
Nah gmk keycaps are a scam wise up
I bought some gmk ws1 on kbdfans for $139
it's saving like 100 dollars
Is it hard to not move too much so u wont be out on the center line screen.
I found them 1 dollar fake gmks
I'm not a fan of the price gouging that gmk does, but I also refuse to support clones. Oh well
The designers don't get paid not cool
Yeah! So if you're ok with feeling cheap... then so be it!
imma be plain and simple:
GMK CAPS ARE OVER RATED
base kits are too damn expensive for no reason
different base sets have different compatibility
CHERRY PROFILE IS OVER RATED ((stop trying to f*** up the position of my backlight just because you want an inferior designed profile) SERIOUSLY, WHY DO BOARD MANUFACTURERS HAVE TO CHANGE ALL THEIR PCBs FOR A SINGLE PROFILE?!?!?!)
abs is pretty but doesn't hold up
one company can't own a color scheme (artistic designs could be debated, but does the artist benefit from the aftermarket..? no)
THE AFTERMARKET IN GENERAL- you're basically gambling on lootboxes (you know what item you're getting but you don't know what it's value will be)
ridiculous lead times and potential issues/hicups
i could honestly go on here, but i'll wait to fight about it in the replies
Abs plastic no thanks.
Gmk suck
bruh
Short Answer: No
hey wow im early
No, no you shouldn't - question answered! Don't buy ANY cloned keycaps, from AliExpress or otherwise. Don't buy GPUs from scalpers either. May they all rot in a special corner of Hades - where they're whipped & must run naked over floors covered in genuine GMK keycaps n' burning hot GPUs!
yeah but don’t buy aftermarket too, especially for some prices.
"It's your keyboard, it's your keycaps..." You should probably consider that this is not just a question of keycap quality but supporting something that is a counterfeit . People spent time to design and produce something then these companies rip off the design to profit from it. Colorways can be tough to call but something like GMK dots is an obvious attempt to directly copy someone else's work. I don't see any argument to support buying such.
Well what does it hurt the creator of the set. If there is a re-run, the people that would have bought the real deal will switch to that one. The people that hate ABS will stay on pbt just for the feel. The designer makes no money off of aftermarket sets(just if he buys his own sets to flip them later(also unethical)). For most people it isn't about saving money but getting the design they like at all. And yes the idea of the gmk dots is good, but does the first person to make round wheels have the right to them?
People buy knock off because they don't want/can't afford to pay someone triple to get a set the designer makes no additional money on.
@@maximiliandeisz2961 bad argument. The company ripping off the creator is making money out of the work of someone else. If that sounds okay to you. Then you need to recheck your values. Also, don't oversimplify stuff to as basic as wheels. There is such a thing called intellectual properly- something you probably don't understand. This is such a waste of time trying to explain but oh well.
@@TheDredgenProject I understand it but how far does it go? could the first person using some accord combinations claim ip on that? And well IP is meant to protect the financial interests of the creator and if they don't make money from that product right now or in the near future, the purpose is defeated. And well my values is it is meant to protect the creator but if the creator doesn't use it why protect it.
@@TheDredgenProject so are bosses; they make money from the work of their employees. Seize the means of productions!!!!
just joking there is more behind it they invest money and that is a risk to them. And gb is only a risk to your time
@@TheDredgenProject If you want to argue about ip, I doubt the creator of GMK Darling or GMK Kat Explosion have permission from the creators of the anime to use the colours from the anime. Aren't those keycaps, that are modeled after an ip, also making money out of the work of someone else?