Why I Stopped Purchasing Subscription Boxes

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about why I stopped buying the monthly book subscription boxes. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, I think they are a lot of fun and a cool way to be introduced to new companies and authors but, they are a waste of money (for me). Here are the four main reason’s why I stopped purchasing them.

Boxes I’ve tried:

Owlcrate, Beacon Book Box, Whimsify, The Bookish Box

Before you read just know I’m not hating on any boxes, I absolutely LOVE Owlcrate, they are by far my favourite box out there and I will keep purchasing from them.

Price

Living in Canada makes everything expensive. I was purchasing the Owlcrate box monthly but after the exchange rate it was anywhere between $50-$60/month. That’s quite a bit of money I could have saved or used on something else. Or I could have bought 2-4 books for that same price and they would be books I actually wanted . Now Owlcrate is basically the most affordable option for me, every other box seems to come close to $80-$100 CAD after shipping and the exchange rate.

Always the same fandoms

Month after month the same fandoms were included in the boxes: ToG, ACOTAR, HP, LOTR, Strange the Dreamer, etc. Don’t get me wrong I love HP and LOTR but there are so many other amazing fandoms out there that could be included. I don’t really need multiple HP hats or scarves ya know? There are so many amazing fandoms out there that deserve much more recognition and I think should be included in boxes. But I feel like most of the time the fandoms chosen are ones the box curators have actually read which is a bummer.

I’d love to see The Diviners, This Mortal Coil, The City of Brass, The Dark Days Club, Stalking Jack the Ripper and many more.

Items I wont use

Most of the items included are things I don’t use. I have boxes of stuff just sitting in my Library collecting dust. I’m also not a fan of paper items like art prints, stickers, sticky notes, page flags etc. These items are useless to me and feel like such a waste of money. I’m also not a big fan of coffee/tea or bath products due to allergies. Also fabric items like tea towels don’t get used. So overall, the items just aren’t for me. And the artwork and design is always a gamble because you might like an item but hate the design.

You might think well Ainslee, why don’t you sell the items you don’t want? Well I’m in Canada and NO ONE wants to buy from me because shipping is expensive.

I do like candles, bookmarks, mugs and other useful items.

Books I’ve already read

Most of the time the books included in Owlcrate I’ve already read. I’m fortunate enough to review review copies from publishers and 90% of the time the book is something I’ve already read. It’s cool having exclusive copies but I feel like the Owlcrate editions are generally uglier than the original, that’s just my opinion.

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I’ve been an Owlcrate subscriber since January 2017 and I think I got caught up in the FOMO of the special editions and the exclusive items.

As much as I do love subscription boxes I just can’t justify spending so much money on things I wont ever use, month after month. So I’ve decided to only purchase the boxes I REALLY REALLY want or special edition boxes.