My Subscription Addiction Questions & Answers!

A while ago, I asked if there were any questions about my site, subscription boxes, blogging, myself that anyone wanted answers to. There were lots of wonderful questions (Thank you!) and I it took me a little longer than I wanted to answer all of them, but the answers are finally complete. If you have any other questions that aren't answered in this post, feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer those too!

(These questions are in no particular order, and most are direct quotes unless I combined a few questions that were similar).

When did you first start subscription boxes? What one was your first?

I first started my obsession with subscription boxes at least two years ago. The first boxes I subscribed to were Birchbox and New Beauty Test Tube.

How many boxes do you get each month? Paid and for free?

I am working on a better way to keep track of this! I don't have a complete count, but I would say I typically get about 2-4 boxes delivered every day.

How do you find out about new subscription boxes?

A lot of the time new subscription box companies will email me to let me know about their new box. I also am always looking on social networks for new subscription boxes and I check a few news sites like Tech Crunch daily too.

What subscription boxes do you know about but DON’T subscribe to? Why not?

There are quite a few subscription boxes I haven't signed up yet for, but most are on my wishlist. My goal for this site is to have all boxes reviewed so anyone can get a good sense of what's in a box before they sign up!

There of course are some boxes that don't apply to me, so while I'll review a box, I wouldn't subscribe. Examples of these type of boxes include pet subscription boxes for cats (I only have a dog), body-building supplement boxes (I'm not in that demographic). Also, since I live in PA, I can't subscribe to wine boxes. 🙁

Are there any discontinued sub boxes you wish would come back?

Lost Crates was a really fun subscription box for me. I loved that they were starting to do curated boxes with different taste makers. (Check out my reviews of past Lost Crates reviews). I think the closest thing to Lost Crates now is Quarterly Co., and I just signed up for a few of their subscriptions!

Is there a kind of sub box you wish existed but doesn’t?

I really want to see a goop subscription box! Besides that, I know my boyfriend would love to see a really cool men's subscription box,  like a monthly POPSUGAR Must Have for guys.

Is “Liz Subscription” one person, or several people doing reviews under one name?

Right now it's just me - I like the idea of more reviewers though. If and when that happens, they will review under their own name!

Do you try all the products?

I try to sample at least a few of the products before I write a review. Sometimes I can't sample everything because it's not a product for me (men's, baby, expecting mother, etc), or it may be a food product I can't eat (I avoid gluten and dairy), or it might be a skincare sample that I can't effectively test while I'm still using another product.

Is there anyone you share items with? If so why? is it for fun, or if you don’t like an item?

I love sharing products with my friends and family! I definitely get duplicate products or other items I won't use, so I gift subscription box products a lot. It's fun for me, and I think it's fun for them too!

I also wonder how much it all costs you per month?(do you pay for them outright – or coupons?)

It definitely costs a lot - I don't have a specific monthly number because it varies. (On any given month I may subscribe to a subscription deal via Fab or Plum District for example). I just splurged and bought the Le Metier de Beaute full-year subscription - so July was an expensive month!

How many referrals do you get from this site? I know I’ve signed up for a few from your links.

This one is also a number I can't easily calculate, but I do appreciate use of referral links - it helps me use my subscription box budget to subscribe to more boxes to review and share on the site!

Do a lot of companies offer you free boxes to review? Or do you sometimes contact companies and ask them if you can receive a box for free to review?

Usually companies reach out to me and offer to send me a box to review. If there's a box I think a lot of readers would want to see the contents of, but I don't have the budget to subscribe that month, I might reach out to the company!

What box(es) are valued higher than the price paid?

I find that most boxes have the value of what I paid or a little higher. The two boxes that stick out in my mind for having a great value compared to price paid are POPSUGAR Must Have and New Beauty Test Tube.

What are your interests – and how does this relate to your favorite boxes?

I really love discovering eco-friendly and organic products so I've been subscribing to lots of boxes in those categories. I also love how many gluten free and dairy free subscription boxes that exist!

Do you save up and get a new yearly subscription periodically or.. how do you choose? Do you make sure you always use the coupon and get the first box at least?

One of the reasons I started this site is because I wanted to find out exactly what would be in a box before I signed up for an annual subscription. For boxes I know I will subscribe to for a while (like Birchbox), I do the yearly plan if there's a good discount. With Birchbox you get 1 month free plus 110 points ($10).

Ok, so if you could only subscribe to 3 boxes (no matter the category) which would they be?

The Honest Company would have to be on the list because we use all of their products pretty much everyday. Then it gets a little harder to pick! Right now I would say the Ellie Fit Fashionista Club because it's a constant reminder to exercise, and the clothes are great. And then POPSUGAR Must Have because I'm always just SO curious about what will be in the box each month!

Do your friends know about your subscription obsession and what do they have to say about it?

I have let everyone know - and I've gifted a few people with subscription boxes to get them addicted too! 🙂

I’d love to know a little more about you as a person! What is your day job?

I'm 28 and I live with my fiance Eric and our dog Buckles in Pittsburgh,PA. (I still refer to Eric as my boyfriend in posts because writing out "my fiance" just seems weird to me for some reason!)  I'm a e-commerce Product Manager. And here is a picture of me surrounded by boxes!

Also, what do you do with all the things you get from your boxes storage wise? Show us some pictures of your big collections!

I'm working on better storage solutions - our house definitely isn't as organized as it should be thanks to my box obsession! Here is a picture of my Julep collection:

I bought these nail polish racks here.

Do you think you save money by doing subscription boxes? How often do you buy a full size of one of the items you try from a box?

I like to think I save money! I definitely haven't purchased much at all this year besides subscription boxes. (Of course I have bought a ton of subscription boxes). My Honest Company Essentials Bundle covers our household cleaning needs, and I use my Bircbox points to buy full-size products like foundation that I know I won't get in subscription boxes. If I love a product from a box, I usually buy it in full size, or try out another product from that line,

What do u do with your nice boxes (Glossybox, Birchbox, e.g.) when done?

I usually save GlossyBoxes, Sample Society boxes and a few others since they make great gift boxes. I'll use GlossyBoxes for storage of makeup products too. All other boxes get recycled!

Does your mail carrier hate you?

This question made me laugh - I hope he doesn't!

I’m fairly new to blogging & recently signed up for a few subscription boxes, and plan to blog about their contents(I’m strictly doing food/drink related boxes.) In the food/crafting/kids blogging community everyone participates in “link parties,” where you post your latest projects/recipes in one place. It’s a great was to get hits on your blog/new followers. Is this anything similar in subscription box blogging community?

I just started doing a roundup post at the end of each month detailing my favorite products sampled through subscription boxes. I added a linkup to it as well. Check it out and add your post!

Where do you post links to your posts to get yourself noticed? 

I share my reviews on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+ and Instagram. WordPress has a nice plugin that automatically posts to Twitter and Facebook - I recommend it!

What is your favorite item you’ve gotten from a subscription box? 

I can't think of one single item, but thanks to subscription boxes I've discovered a lot of new healthy food items that are gluten and dairy free!

What got you started with blogging about your boxes?

I started this blog in the summer of 2012 because I was just finding out that there were way more subscription boxes than Birchbox, and I wanted to subscribe to all of them! I couldn't afford to do that, so I wanted to see exactly what was in each box before I decided what box to subscribe to next. I also wanted to make sure I got the best deal on any box I subscribed to. Oh, and I wanted to know when any new subscription launched!

So those initial wants contributed to the posts you see on the blog today: Reviews, New Subscription Box Alerts, and Coupons and Deals!

What contributed to you being the primary source for all things subscription box?

Thank you for considering me the primary source! I think I started my site around the time when the subscription box trend was really picking up, and it's still going strong! I love seeing new boxes launch everyday!

I am wondering what the difference is between the QVC beauty tube and the non-QVC version. Is it true that you can get FREE shipping if you subscribe to the QVC version? 

The original New Beauty Test Tube ships every other month, and the QVC New Beauty Test Tube ships only every quarter. I'm not sure exactly how they pick out the products for the different subscriptions, but it seems like the QVC version includes beauty products QVC sells. The shipping on the QVC Tube is slightly less, so your total cost for the QVC New Beauty Test Tube would be $36.93 per tube, and the total cost for the original tube would be $38.90 per tube. I hope that helps you pick which one is best for you!

Do you actually pay for all of the subscription boxes you get?

We pay for most of the boxes I review. If I received a box for free to review, I will mention it at the very beginning of the post.

Which subscription boxes allow you to skip months without canceling? Which beauty boxes allow you to pick the products you will receive?

Julep, Square Hue and Honest Company are boxes that immediately come to mind that make it super easy to skip a month. (By super-easy I mean you can do it from your online account and do not need to contact customer care). Wantable lets you customize what types of beauty products you want to receive, but they surprise you with the specific product.

I was wondering if you could recommend the top five boxes..based on different factors..Quality,Customer Service,etc?

I'm going to use this question to do a few upcoming list posts - stay tuned!

Which boxes have the best customer service?

This questions is a little difficult to answer, since the only times I've interacted with customer service have been when something goes wrong! There are lots of subscription box companies that likely have wonderful customer service, but I just haven't had any issue to reach out to them about.

That being said, I have had interactions with customer care at some subscription box companies that really impressed me with how quickly they got back to me, and how they went above and beyond to solve the situation. Those companies are: Wantable, Birchbox and Healthy Surprise.

(Again, this is just based on my one interaction with that company and the one customer care representative that helped me, so it's a very limited insight!)

Which companies take out payments on certain days of the month?

I'm not sure on this one. I've noticed it can vary a lot. I'll try to include this information in upcoming reviews if I can find it!

If a blog reader tries a box, is there a place we can leave comments about our thoughts on the box/company to help other readers? Thanks!

Great question - we're working on this, exciting details to come soon!

How do you start a blog? And how do you get box's free?

I started my blog originally on blogger with a free .blogspot.com address. This was a good first step for me and I got to figure out what I wanted my posts to look like, how often I could post, and what I wanted the overall layout to be. It's also very user friendly - which is great if you are just starting out.

After seeing that I wasn't the only one who wanted to read subscription box reviews and news, I decided I wanted to upgrade the site. My boyfriend is a developer, so he was able to help me set up everything just how I wanted it on wordpress which offers more customization than blogger.

Before reaching out to a company to request a free box, I would recommend making sure your blog has been around for a least a little while, so companies can see that you post regularly and have a following!

That's it! Thanks for asking all the questions. Let me know if there's anything else I should cover!