Subscription boxes

[Frozen Canuck]

For Christmas, I was given a subscription to Graze (they are a snack company). It has been kind of fun having a surprise show up in the mail every once in awhile, and I like that it is food items, so I'm not really accumulating excess stuff in the long run. I also like that I can input parameters and rate items so that I can avoid getting items that I don't like and receive more of what I do.

A search online for "subscription boxes" turns up tons of results for everything from Lego and crafts to food and make-up. It is hard to determine which ones are "worth it" and which ones aren't. I was just curious what others' experiences have been, as they seem to be a great gift idea for people who might be harder to buy for, or even for college kids as care packages. Is anyone familiar with some that are really great or even which ones haven't measured up to your expectations?

 

[Lynne M]

Check out mysubscriptionaddiction.com. They were a great help when I was looking for some subscription boxes to try. They review lots of the subscription boxes that are out there, so you can get a good idea of what each subscription typically sends.

I'm more into the beauty boxes than the food boxes, so my favorites are things like Birchbox and Play by Sephora. I also like the beauty boxes that Target does every month. They're not a subscription, you have to order the box each month, but they're usually a good value ($7).

 

[mjkacmom]

I gave dd21 a Graze subscription for a couple of years when she went to college, she liked it. I’ve given makeup ones (Ipsy) to my younger daughters and they liked them.

 

[duketennisgal]

The only one I have is BarkBox for my dog! So far it's been great, the toys seem to be a really good quality and she loves the treats!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I get Scentbird. I like it. It's fun trying out different perfumes.
My DH used to get Dollar Shave Club. He was happy with it.
My oldest DS gets Sprezza Box. He really likes it. He's only got two months, but so far they've been high quality and worth the money. He used to get Graze and liked it until he tired of it.
My youngest DS gets Loot Crate. He loves it. I think it's a great value since every month includes a tshirt and 9/10 of them are things he likes.

 

[learningtolive]

I love subscription boxes! Depends on the person, which would be good to give/gift.

I've done several makeup ones. I do Book of the Month, Yuzen, and Murder Mystery Box right now. Was getting Bark Box for my dog for a bit.

I agree with check out mysubscriptionaddiction for reviews and to see what past boxes had, it'll help sort it out.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

For Christmas, I was given a subscription to Graze (they are a snack company). It has been kind of fun having a surprise show up in the mail every once in awhile, and I like that it is food items, so I'm not really accumulating excess stuff in the long run. I also like that I can input parameters and rate items so that I can avoid getting items that I don't like and receive more of what I do.

A search online for "subscription boxes" turns up tons of results for everything from Lego and crafts to food and make-up. It is hard to determine which ones are "worth it" and which ones aren't. I was just curious what others' experiences have been, as they seem to be a great gift idea for people who might be harder to buy for, or even for college kids as care packages. Is anyone familiar with some that are really great or even which ones haven't measured up to your expectations?

Tell me more I would love to have more snacks in the house how expensive is it

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Tell me more I would love to have more snacks in the house how expensive is it

There are a few of variables involved in the cost. The first box is half off. They are regularly $13.99 (for 8 snack packages per delivery...I think there is a 4 box sampler as well???). You can then schedule how often you would like to receive your boxes, so either twice a month or once a month, plus you can delay your boxes or put them on hold if you are going on vacation or whatever. Obviously, the more boxes you receive in a month, the higher the cost/month.

I think the Graze boxes are good for people who like variety in their snacks (Graze carries both "sweet" and "savoury" snacks and will send you some of each); those who want an unrefrigerated snack that they can grab and stick in a purse or bag when they are heading out the door; people who are looking for relatively non-messy/smelly foods to snack on at work (no Cheetos orange fingers!); or those who would prefer pre-portioned snacks so they can monitor calories and not be tempted to eat a whole bag of something.

As a caution, I will say that the snacks are not large by any stretch. They are an appropriate size for a snack, but likely a much smaller serving of something than what most of us are used to grabbing. You can buy a lot of chips and junk for $13.99, so some people might feel that the cost is prohibitive compared to what you get. That being said, once you have tried some of their snacks and discovered which ones you like, they do have an online store where you can purchase your favourites in "bulk" sharing bags.

Graze carries a "healthier" line of snacks, but if it is just snacks in general that you are looking for, I know there are other subscription boxes that cater to that kind of thing. My DIL has had a subscription to Try the World Snacks (they have a couple of different boxes, but the snack one is $19/month), which she has enjoyed. I'm sure that there are many other snack subscription boxes out there that cater to any number of preferences, but I don't have any personal experience with any of them.

 

[elgerber]

I have no input on any others, but my dd got a Graze subscription when she lived in England for a semester and she LOVED it!

 

[QueenIsabella]

Last week, I got an email from Walmart--they are offering boxes of various treats, without a subscription. They had snack ones, candy ones, coffee or tea, fresh produce--all sorts of things. They aren't prepared by Walmart directly, they are actually offered by a number of "box" companies. They looked interesting, and there's no commitment--a great way to try out new things. I was thinking of getting the International snack box for my DD22, who's a world traveler.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I get ipsy. It's personal products for $10 a month. DD15 and I love it and have discovered some amazing products in it! It's a special treat when the bright pink bubble wrapped package arrives. I always send her a picture if she's at school when I get it and she is just tickled lol. She gets home and I let her open the main package. There is always a cute little makeup bag inside. I let her open that, too. We take turns taking out a product and swooning over it. Then we take turns picking which ones we want. It's so much fun, and such a good deal. I typically get a bottle of nail polish every month that is worth at least $5. We have gotten makeup brushes, lotions, shampoos, and of course makeup.

 

[superme80]

I have done the Erin Condren seasonal box. I won the Fall box from a YouTube channel. I loved it so much I bought the Winter box. I ended up pretty upset because I ordered 2, one for me, one for a gift, and the charged me and never sent the 2nd box. When I contacted them, they were sold out. Not sure if I will order the Spring Box.

 

[pooh'smate]

We get the Canadian box from expack. My dh is Canadian and he enjoys the little taste of home. They do have boxes from other countries too.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

For Christmas, I was given a subscription to Graze (they are a snack company). It has been kind of fun having a surprise show up in the mail every once in awhile, and I like that it is food items, so I'm not really accumulating excess stuff in the long run. I also like that I can input parameters and rate items so that I can avoid getting items that I don't like and receive more of what I do.

A search online for "subscription boxes" turns up tons of results for everything from Lego and crafts to food and make-up. It is hard to determine which ones are "worth it" and which ones aren't. I was just curious what others' experiences have been, as they seem to be a great gift idea for people who might be harder to buy for, or even for college kids as care packages. Is anyone familiar with some that are really great or even which ones haven't measured up to your expectations?

I found Graze to be too pricy for what you actually get.

We like Lootcrate. We rotate who gets what month; sometimes it works out (like the month I got the shirt, Deadpool eating a taco) and sometimes it doesn't (DH got a shirt with a skull made of cats...that ended up mine anyways).

We've done several different food subscriptions (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, etc) and we weren't enamored. Too much plastic waste (although we did reuse the little plastic bottles for camping, for first aid kids, seasonings, etc) and pricey for what you get. Some of the meals were amazing, some were total misses, and nothing that I couldn't look a recipe up for on the internet, and buy the stuff at the market.

 

[smokeyblue]

I've done Nature Box snack boxes and I did find value in it. Most of the snacks were pretty good sized and sharable or multi-serving. I've done a few meal box. I've done Plated, Hello Fresh and Home Chef. Loved Plated, but it was more upscale food. I don't like Hello Fresh. The proteins they send are poor quality and I've had to throw a lot of meat and produce and meat away that didn't get to me safely in shipping. Home Chef was probably my favorite. The ingredients were good to high quality and the recipes are very relatable and I've transferred some of their techniques to my every day cooking.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

We get the Canadian box from expack. My dh is Canadian and he enjoys the little taste of home.

I had no idea that there was a Canadian box available that wasn't something sent to me by my mom! I do need to check that one out. Thanks for the tip!

I found Graze to be too pricy for what you actually get.

The person who gave me the gift subscription asked if I was likely to continue it after the subscription ended. I highly doubt that I will. It is a fun thing to get for a short time, as they have some unique flavour combinations, but I rarely have a need for "on-the-go" snacks and can generally portion my own snacks much less expensively. I think some of their options could easily be recreated by the average person. For example, one of the snacks that I had yesterday was called "cinnamon pretzels." It was simply cinnamon glazed almonds with plain, unadulterated mini pretzels. It can't be too hard to find or make glazed almonds. Likewise for today's option where I had kettle corn kern pops. At $13.99 for 8 individual snacks, that comes out to $1.75 per snack. I know I can go to Target right now and buy a whole bag of Half Pops (4.5 oz.) for $2.99. Compare that to the 0.8 oz. size sent by Graze and it is easy to see how you could easily assemble your own snack packs for less...if you were so inclined to do so.

We like Lootcrate. We rotate who gets what month; sometimes it works out (like the month I got the shirt, Deadpool eating a taco) and sometimes it doesn't (DH got a shirt with a skull made of cats...that ended up mine anyways).

My son has signed up for Lootcrate for himself. I like the idea of sharing it with a spouse.

We've done several different food subscriptions (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, etc) and we weren't enamored. Too much plastic waste (although we did reuse the little plastic bottles for camping, for first aid kids, seasonings, etc) and pricey for what you get. Some of the meals were amazing, some were total misses, and nothing that I couldn't look a recipe up for on the internet, and buy the stuff at the market.

I haven't tried any of the meal prep subscriptions; however, I do go online weekly and check out their recipes. Anything that sounds good, I print out. I have tried a half dozen or so at this point and I think we would rate them as good, but not something I need to put out a bunch of money towards when I can usually buy the ingredients less expensively on my own or make substitutions as necessary.

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions!

 

[stsomewhere]

Boxy Charm and sephora Play. Boxy charm is a great deal!

 

[gillep]

I have done quite a few over the years from makeup/skincare/hair care ones like Sephora Play, and Ipsy; to lifestyle ones like FabFitFun, Box of Style, and Popsugar; to meal prep ones like Plated, Home Chef, and Gobble. The makeup and lifestyle ones were fun for a while and I discovered some really nice products that I love, but it also added a lot of stuff to the house and I have so many makeup, skincare, and hair care samples around here that I don't think I will ever use up so I mostly donate them now. I love the meal prep ones, plated is my favorite, but I pick each week which to go with based on the menu. It is usually just me eating because my husband eats at work so I was having a lot of food waste and repetitive meals before the meal boxes.

 

[Belle_1989]

I'm subscribed to Stitch Fix which is a monthly clothing subscription. I absolutely love it because I suck at shopping and so far ever box they have sent me ( 5 items in each box) has had at least one or two things I bought.

 

[pooh'smate]

I had no idea that there was a Canadian box available that wasn't something sent to me by my mom! I do need to check that one out. Thanks for the tip!

It is fun. We have only been getting it since Dec. They have videos on youtube if you search expack you can find them. If you are interested I have a code I can send you to save you a little money.