I totally understand why many of us have a monthly subscription box or two. They are a fun monthly surprise.
But all emotions aside, the ultimate question is: Is it worth it?
You may feel like you’re getting a tremendous value out of your subscription box.
Perhaps you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck or struggling to save and you’re looking to cut some things out of your monthly budget. Or maybe you don’t like wasting money and you’re starting to wonder if you are.
Regardless of the reason why you’re considering ditching your subscription box, let’s dig a little deeper into how much we’re paying for and what’s the value you’re getting out of it.
The Wow Factor of Subscription Boxes
Imagine receiving a present every month that is delivered to your doorstep.
There are magical items inside that you didn’t even know existed in the market! You “oohhh” and “awww” and post on your social media how awesome the box is that you just received.
You’ve been waiting a month for this moment to come around again.
It’s flippin’ magical.
This feeling is worth something to a lot of people. It’s been worth something to me in the past. Who doesn’t get excited over getting a present?
So…this is worth something.
I will say that the excitement does usually wear off over time. You find yourself receiving a lot of the same items or you already have a bazillion face creams or whatever they feel like sending you that month.
It’s easy to get hooked on monthly subscription boxes. But now you’re digging into if it’s really worth it…so let’s take a moment to examine.
Value vs Cost
Often, you’ll see sales pitches like “$100 value for $29.99 monthly!“. I’m not doubting that is somewhat true. It could be completely true, but you’ll never know unless you receive the box and search up the items.
You could easily find similar items online and see how much the subscription box is valued at.
Keep in mind that the $100 value is most likely representing the highest retail price of those particular items. However, some of these items may never be available at the price you’re paying by purchasing it through a subscription box.
So either take your last box or find a post of someone opening up the box you want, and price out the items.
The ultimate question is really going to boil down to… would you have purchased all of these items separately if you didn’t have the subscription box coming in?
To explain a bit further… Think of it like receiving a coupon for $1,000 off a $10,000 ring. Are you really saving $1,000 or spending $9,000 that you wouldn’t have spent in the first place?
If you’re currently receiving a monthly subscription box, think about the last one that came in. Are you 100% utilizing and happy with all the items you received?
You may have spent $50 on a box that contains truly $100 worth of items. But would you have been even spending $20 on any of those items if the box hadn’t have come in at all? Did you need any of this?
Breaking Down An Example Box
You buy a monthly subscription box for your dog. The box is $40. There are three toys and two treats. The toys are adorable! It comes with a little story and it has a matching theme.
Your dog knows the box is for him and he’s always so excited to receive it. You immediately give him the toys and he’s ecstatic!
You feel like you’re the the best dog mom ever!!
Now let’s look a little more closely at what your $40 got you and your pet.
The total cost was $40. Let’s assign $30 to the toys and $10 for the treats.
There are three toys inside that seem to be of decent quality.
- $30 for three toys is $10 per toy.
Now, go to Amazon’s dog toy section.
In about 2.5 seconds, I find a package of 23 toys for less than $20.
So right now, with the monthly subscription box, I’m getting 3 toys for more than I could get 23 toys for.
“But… These toys aren’t as adorable as the three toys that come in the monthly subscription box.”
Your dog may not care (at least mine wouldn’t), but you do. So let’s look at some cutesy toys instead.
All of these are significantly less than $10 each.
The prices I posted were list prices and all of these had an additional discount amount that I didn’t show here, as the prices on Amazon do fluctuate slightly from one day to the next.
So yes, you could spend less on purchasing toys on your own instead of utilizing the subscription box. That is undeniable.
The Important Question…
Would you have bought the three toys you received on your own if they hadn’t been pushed on you? Like, really, those exact three toys or do you see something else on Amazon that you would have liked more and purchased instead?
The cheapest scenario would be purchasing the bulk toys off of Amazon and surprising your dog every 30 days with three random toys from the 23pc set (or some other similar bulk set).
That would last you seven months for less than $20.
So instead of spending $210 over a seven month period on dog toys, you spend less than $20.
Another way to save money would be to drop the number of toys from three a month to one or two $10 or less toys that you actually want.
If you went down one toy, or $10, that saves you $120 per year.
Now let’s analyze the treats that I assumed were roughly $10 out of the $50 box. You received two small bags of treats.
$10 per month isn’t a game changer, but is it worth the value? Does your dog anxiously wait for these treats every month?
If you don’t feel like you can go without treats, I would suggest buying some in bulk that you can keep in your pantry for when your dog does something fabulous, not just because the FedEx driver delivers a package on some random day.
Here are a variety of options to purchase items in bulk or make your own dog treats:
Amazon Brand – Wag Chicken Flavor Training Treats for Dogs, 2 lb. Bag
Greenies Original Teenie Natural Dental Care Dog Treats, 36 oz. Pack (130 Treats)
A Cozy Kitchen – Homemade Dog Treats
Needs Vs Wants
If you’re torn on keeping a monthly subscription box that you already have, I would check to see if they company has a “pause” feature (most do).
See if you can pause it for a couple of months. Did you miss getting the box?
Do you like having a little bit of extra cash every month? Do you like less things stuffed in a closet?
Sometimes looking at the cost of things from a yearly perspective helps me make a decision. On a $35 monthly subscription box, you are paying $420 per year.
If this amount is figured into your budget and you aren’t flinching, you most likely do not have other debt that could use this $420.
Many years ago, I let my daughter have a monthly subscription box of beauty products.
They were so excited when the box came in. I have two daughters. The box always came with six items and they would each pick three (sometimes they had to flip a coin to see who got what).
Sometimes, nobody wanted items and I was stuck with them.
The subscription box always included a makeup bag.
Fast forward 5+ years later, we have so many makeup/skincare products in a closet that were never used. I ended up throwing away most of it.
As for the “so cute” makeup bags, I donated them all.
I said all of this to let you know that I paid for their five minutes of excitement every month, not the actual products. It caused more clutter in my home that I really didn’t need.
If you have a subscription box, evaluate the clutter it is causing. Are you getting items that you think are cool, but you put them in a drawer or closet and never use them?
Where To Go From Here
If you’re still torn on what to do and the money you’re spending isn’t really bothering you, I would suggest putting a pause on the monthly subscription box as I suggested earlier.
Keep in mine that some companies require you to cancel or pause a certain amount of days before the next box is billed.
If you do have debt, I would put focus on that and stop the monthly subscription boxes until you can say that you’re debt free.
The $35 or whatever it is per month equates to $420 a year. If you have two or more monthly subscription boxes…well…you can do the math.
If you don’t have debt, but you’re still questioning your box, consider pausing and look into taking that money and spending it on items that you wish were in your next box.
When it comes to missing out on the “joy” this box is bringing you when it arrives, consider picking up a side hobby that could potentially bring you even more joy.
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