Rolife Vs Cutebee DIY Book Nook Kits
The season of gift buying is upon us, and topping the list of literary gifts for teens and adults alike is book nook kits, aka, bookshelf inserts in 3D puzzle format. Two brands dominate the market - Rolife and Cutebee. If someone you know has said they’d like a book nook, and you look for one, those are the two manufacturers that you’re almost certain to come across.
The thing is though, they both have similar designs with similar price ranges and on the surface, seem like they’re the same. There are differences, as subtle as they may be.
Which is Better? Rolife or Cutebee
Realistic expectations can be gleaned from the brand history. Rolife is a sub-brand of Robotime, which was founded in 2007 specializing in 3D mechanical wooden puzzles. It was in 2017 that they introduced the Rolife brand, explaining the difference from other brand lines as this…
“Rolife takes a different approach by creating a miniature world that inspires imagination through various beautiful fantasies and stories”
The Cutebee brand started in 2016, before Rolife, but, Cutebee focused on DIY miniature dollhouses. Not book nook kits. The products could be described as bookshelf inserts, but they could just as easily be used as a home decor accessory anywhere in the home, be that a bookshelf, coffee table, or side table. The DIY book nook kits are narrower than dollhouses so they can seamlessly slot between books on a shelf.
Both manufacturers use quality wood that’s laser cut and printed, so the kits don’t need to be painted. You will need glue, and batteries if you buy a book nook kit with lights.
The Trading History of Rolife and Cutebee
A good gauge for quality expectations is how experienced a company is in the industry. The longer it's been around, the more the team will know about customer problems and how to solve them. That would be a logical assumption.
Both brands are Chinese-owned so the kits will be imported. Robotime Technology (suzhou) Co., Ltd is the parent company of Rolife. They’re based out of Jiangsu, China with 14 years of experience in manufacturing wooden puzzles. Whereas, Cutebee, the trading name of Shenzhen Qian Hai Shi You International Trading Co., Ltd, has a factory in Guangdong, China and has 8 years of trading history.
But, Cutebee began building DIY miniature dollhouse kits and later introduced DIY book nooks.
Why the Different Prices for the Same Book Nook Kits?
Both Rolife and Cutebee began their venture on the world's largest business-to-business marketplace, Alibaba. This part is important to understand because both brands have a presence on Aliexpress.com, selling the same products (not the same designs).
Alibaba and Aliexpress are both part of the Alibaba Group.
- Alibaba sells to businesses
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Aliexpress sells directly to consumers.
Businesses can buy Rolife and/or Cutebee book nook kits wholesale from Alibaba, meaning, they can order (for example) 30 book nook kits and sell them for a marked-up price to make a profit. On Aliexpress, you’re buying from the manufacturer and having the product imported.
Buying from either brand (because the kits are made in China), will be subject to import restrictions. You won’t get batteries included for light-up book nook kits, sharp objects like a craft knife, or flammables like glue won’t be included in the package. For gifting, it’s worth buying those crafting tools separately so the kit can be completed with ease.
To get the best prices, buy from the official stores. Other stores sell these at various prices, and there are some illegitamate sites showing the images only, with an extremely low price point that never ship the product. They are not legit sites so be careful when comparison shopping any of these brands.
The official stores are:
- The Cutebee Official store on Aliexpress, or Cutebee.net
- The Rolife Official store on Aliexpress, Rolife.robotime.com or Rolifeonline.com
The Real Difference is the Designs
Both Rolife and Cutebee are great brands for quality DIY book nook kits for beginners. The difference is really the theme of designs. Cutebee is more like miniature dollhouse designs, or rooms within a building, whereas Rolife book nook designs have a more thematic design going on, such as the Romantic Venice book nook kit being Italian-inspired, and similarly, the Time Travel book nook kit is a vintage train station theme - more of a fantasy-themed book nook kit.
Now, if you’re buying as a gift for someone who likes puzzling, and you expect they’ll continue doing this as a hobby, Rolife only has 6 book nook kit designs (at time of writing this). Cutebee has more than double the amount of designs, despite being a much smaller brand, and the designs are curated into collections, such as fairytales, the Explorer series, and Fantasy book nook kits.
Consider the Warranty for Aftersales Support
Cutebee provides a 90-day free replacement parts warranty. With Rolife, there’s no time limit, provided the product is still in production. If the design is withdrawn, you could find it difficult to get a replacement part.
Why is this important?
Because of the nature of miniatures, some parts can break during assembly. If you’re buying a book nook kit as a gift for someone, there’s a chance it could be a while before they start to build it. If it’s longer than 3 months, Cutebee may not provide free replacement parts, whereas Rolife may, as they provide free after-sales support, so long as they are still making the parts.
In Conclusion
As a book-related gift - as in, it can be used as bookshelf decor once built - both Rolife and Cutebee provide similar kits with quality materials with a budget suited to beginners trying something new.
To make it more personable, an idea would be to shop for a book nook kit based on a theme of interest. For someone who loves travel, you could go with a Japanese theme such as the Sakura Densya by Rolife, or Under the Sakura Tree by Cutebee. These would be terrific practice projects on a budget kit to get experience, and then compliment the decor with a premium DIY book nook kit of Tokyo Alley to compliment the travel theme.