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Subscription Boxes |Pad Patter 4.26

bestcee

bestcee

In love with places I've never been to
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
19,337
I remember when I was a kid seeing the catalogs for the monthly movie clubs or music CD clubs, and the Christmas one with the fruit and nuts.

Now, it seems like there is a monthly subscription box for everything! Food ones with a meal ready to cook, clothes to try out, beauty supplies, books, cleaning supplies, kids crafts, stamping, paper supplies, gaming type things, and I even found a dog one yesterday! (Yes, I signed up to try it out.)

Do you do any of the monthly subscription boxes? Do you have a favorite? Do they have a lot of subscription boxes outside of the US? I know that there are stamping, and crafting ones that will ship to Canada at least.
 
I tried ipsy for awhile but I just canceled it, because I found I liked the little makeup bags better than the products... And how many does one need....
I'm tempted to try fabfitfun, but I'm actually wary of subscriptions because many are hard to cancel once they have your credit card number.
My only current subscriptions are digital supplies here.
I must say I do more online shopping than store shopping these days, except for food, which I don't think I will ever buy online.
I'm curious to everyone else's experiences though. - most do seem to ship to canada.
addendum: with the exchange rate though - this isn't always cheap.
 
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I get Ipsy and I just canceled my Birchbox after 2 years. (I cancel Ipsy every once in awhile cuz as @Lindzee said, how many samples do you really need?) Funny thing is, I don't wear makeup but once a year, but DD loves trying looking at the samples and sometimes I let her try them. She's 8. And DH got the BirchboxMen sub from me for a bday gift when it first came out, but we let it lapse after a year.

I used to do Julep (nail polish) but it's $20/month and how much nail polish to my 10 fingers need? I'm tempted to cancel Ipsy and go back to Julep, though, because painting our nails is something DD and I can do together, so the price seems better when I think of it as an activity DD and I can do together.

We got Kiwi Crate for DD awhile ago. DD seemed to like it, but the stuff we made just ended up in the trash eventually, so it didn't seem worth it for us to renew it.

Some subs are so expensive that it just doesn't seem worth it. And as far as clothes, I'm too tall. None of the ones I've found have tall selections. Oh well: saves me money!
 
I subscribe to StitchFix and love it. I have been a subscriber for about 18 months now, so I'm kind of toying with taking a break. Not because I don't love it, but because I'm getting to the point where I don't really need as many clothes.

Thinking about subscribing to the sample box from Sephora since the price seemed right. My daughter is 14 now and getting more into skin products and make-up. Thought it could be fun to share with her.

I also get on a kick every once in a while where I would like to subscribe to one of the meal kit services. The place where I get our groceries delivered from has meal kits and my son and I have had so much fun making those together. He's not too big on cooking with me if I'm making one of my regular meals, but a meal kit? He jumps right in and works side by side with me. I love it! If a meal kit service could keep my 16 year old in the kitchen with me... it's worth it, right? :-)
 
gonewiththewind said:
I'd love to get a cat lover box subscription, but they are $20 and $30 (and up) . . . and I'd rather purchase what she needs rather than get random stuff. But I have to admit, I'm tempted in spite of my, um, thriftiness.
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I was getting the kitnipbox and the cats loved it. They seemed to always have some sort of healthy treats in it and because of this we were able to find treats that Tigger liked. He is very picky. We finally canceled because we were trying to be better about what we spent our money on. If we could I would definitely resub.
 
weaselwatchr said:
I was getting the kitnipbox and the cats loved it. They seemed to always have some sort of healthy treats in it and because of this we were able to find treats that Tigger liked. He is very picky. We finally canceled because we were trying to be better about what we spent our money on. If we could I would definitely resub.
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Holly Belle isn't picky about treats . . . so I can't see the advantage for her. Thanks for the input!!!!
 
I got a groupon to try Blue Apron. While it is super easy, the recipes don't always look like something my family will eat. That was the concern when I purchased it too. I bought in January, and in April was when I used it as I wasn't too sure of the previous recipes. We got Orange Glazed Chicken Wings, Miso Inspired Potato salad (with Sweet Potatoes) and Ginger Bok Choy. I wasn't thrilled with the potato salad, and the Bok Choy was very ginger-y. I would omit that next time. A little too different than normal, lol! I also felt that we get more of an appetizer meal.... and it wasn't as filling as I had hoped.

We got a good deal for the family trial of 2 meals for 4 people, and I'm making the second meal tonight.
 
DH's work (very small business) gets some kind of geeky stuff box, and they split the contents. I've not seen any others here.
 
gonewiththewind said:
I'd love to get a cat lover box subscription, but they are $20 and $30 (and up) . . . and I'd rather purchase what she needs rather than get random stuff. But I have to admit, I'm tempted in spite of my, um, thriftiness.
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My poor dog is always the last one we think to buy new toys and treats for! We figured we'd try it for a month or two and get some new ideas. While he isn't picky about treats, I hate always buying him the same old ones.

Lindzee said:
I'm tempted to try fabfitfun, but I'm actually wary of subscriptions because many are hard to cancel once they have your credit card number.
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I haven't had a hard time canceling any so far, I hope that continues! I remember how hard it was to cancel the old CD clubs!
Tree City said:
We got Kiwi Crate for DD awhile ago. DD seemed to like it, but the stuff we made just ended up in the trash eventually, so it didn't seem worth it for us to renew it.
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The projects are also super hit and miss at my house. Some have been fun, but quite a few were blah.
tkradtke said:
I subscribe to StitchFix and love it. I have been a subscriber for about 18 months now, so I'm kind of toying with taking a break.
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This one intrigues me. I hate clothes shopping! That's awesome that it has worked so well for you!
jk703 said:
I also felt that we get more of an appetizer meal.... and it wasn't as filling as I had hoped.
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I love reading their recipes on the website. I worry about the portion sizes because dh takes leftovers to work for supper.
 
I get Ipsy and BoxyCharm but am considering cancelling both. I love receiving the makeup but found out recently, my eyelids are having allergic reaction to the makeup. I'm now using on paraben free makeup and those that are hypoallergenic. I'm researching organic makeup subscription boxes and trying to narrow down which one to try. Some are up to $40!
 
I'm trying out a Beanie Bag subscription: https://www.jimmybeanswool.com/details/beanieBags/default.asp

With a Beanie Bag Subscription, you can expect to receive a carefully curated, zippered bag with samples of our favorite yarns (plus tips from the experts) and knitting notions every month! The exact contents of each bag will remain a mystery, but that is part of the fun!
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I have not done anything with the yarn yet -- I have been getting them since January -- but it is fun to play with all the soft little yarn balls!
 
oooooooooooooooooooh I saw one that is in London on Kate Hadfield's instagram feed that I wish was here in the States for craft supplies/drawing/doodling/pens and stuff. I want one that I think is reasonable. (open to suggestions!!!)

I've often wondered about these boxes. They look totally awesome, but I could imagine that they'd quickly get out of hand. I don't normally spend $20/month on our dog, so getting a dog box is silly to me. I don't wear makeup, I rarely paint my nails... Jamberry has a monthly box that I'm interested in, but I told myself I needed to wear all the ones I bought before I subscribed, and I still haven't done that... lol.

There's very little that I do spend that kind of money on regularly, except digi supplies - here at the Pad, I subscribe to Storyteller and M3, and elsewhere, I get the Digi Files, and purchased 2 years worth of a GP subscription during a sale... and all of that is already more than I use, but I still end up buying more. LOL
 
I used to get a geeky toy subscription called NerdBlock and really liked it, but the t-shirt they included every month could be hit or miss. A lot of them were printed on black shirts, and for some reason I have an aversion to wearing black (or red, for that matter) t-shirts.

When I first subscribed they had just the Classic NerdBlock and two different ones for kids, but now I see they've added a sci-fi only version. I might have to try it again!

weaselwatchr said:
I was getting the kitnipbox and the cats loved it. They seemed to always have some sort of healthy treats in it and because of this we were able to find treats that Tigger liked. He is very picky.
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Awwww, we also have a cat named Tigger!! :) And both of our cats could care less about treats or toys. As long as they have their window seats, they're good!

I've thought about getting BarkBox for my dog, but Holmes is a little squirrely about treats, too. He LOVES them, but maybe a little too much- apparently they are all "too good to eat right now" and he tries to "bury" (ahem, hide in a corner for the ants to find later) them around the house. He does love a good squeaky toy, though!
 
klee73010 said:
I subscribe to Storyteller and M3, and elsewhere, I get the Digi Files, and purchased 2 years worth of a GP subscription during a sale... and all of that is already more than I use, but I still end up buying more. LOL
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MPM, M3, and Storyteller are the best kinds of subscriptions "boxes," aren't they? And I don't mind it being more than I use- it takes up almost no space, just an extra hard drive if mine fills up!
 
For a long time I was getting the PL box from Studio Calico. I'd open them and look through everything, but never actually used anything (yet). So then I quit that and switched over to Brave Girls Club with the box (it got pretty pricey). But now they've done away with the box and the cost is less for just a class subscription.

My daughter gets Ipsy. I signed up for Fab kids, but most of the time I don't get the selection because it is $29.95 plus shipping for one outfit... and I can do better at Target. I just have to remember to go in at the first of the month and say I don't want it.

I just recently subscribed to Happy Mail at A Wonderful Mess and get a small kit filled with notecards/cards. That is kind of fun.

I've wanted to do the BarkBox, but our dog is literally allergic to everything, so he can't eat 99.5% of dog treats. If it was just toys (I think I saw one for tough chewers), I'd consider, but the treats is a non-starter.

I did a meal box once... but it was expensive for what we got.

I've been tempted to try Graze, but I really don't think we need more snacks around. :giggle
 
" And as far as clothes, I'm too tall. None of the ones I've found have tall selections. Oh well: saves me money!"

My husband's cousin's daughter is close to 6ft. She just started Stitch Fix and reports they sent her pants that were long enough.
 
It may not count, but I get my farm fresh produce box every week for 6 months of the year. Got 6 quarts of strawberries today. Yummy!

Long ago, my husband used to do the book of the month club.
 
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