Subscription Box Business PROS/CONS

[gurnays]

Hello guys,

Do any of you own a subscription box or based business?

If so, what are some of the pros/cons?

Do you have any general advice for me or anyone else that want to start a subscription box business?

Thank You

 

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[Yung1]

I personally do not have a subscription box or service, but I have looked into it and learned a little bit about it. From talking to people who do own their own businesses in this field I have learned one very interesting thing: a lot of the items in the boxes are given to the subscription business for FREE. Yes, I was trying to get my product into a subscription box and they simply told me that my only option would be to send them 6,000 units at ZERO cost to them...a mere marketing expense for me he explained (I disagree). But anyways, I learned from this that a lot of services that charge $25 monthly are only spending about $10 monthly on the actually products in the box. From this it should go to show that in order to have someone send you 6,000 free units of product you must niche down a lot and make sure that companies see the value of your focused market for their company in the long run. Best of luck, hope this helps.

 

[GuestUser450]

Do you have any general advice

Goooooooogle.

What I Learned as a Subscription Box Entrepreneur

Why Subscription Sample Boxes Are So Effective

Four Reasons Why the Box Debate is Over

Subscription Commerce: The Pros, Cons and Why I Started a SubCom Business

Subscription box calculator

Cratejoy's Subscription Box School

Recurring Revenews Podcast

 

[gurnays]

Goooooooogle.

What I Learned as a Subscription Box Entrepreneur

Why Subscription Sample Boxes Are So Effective

Four Reasons Why the Box Debate is Over

Subscription Commerce: The Pros, Cons and Why I Started a SubCom Business

Subscription box calculator

Cratejoy's Subscription Box School

Recurring Revenews Podcast

Thank You, I've seen most of this. Do you own a subscription business?

 

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[GuestUserX09]

I'm in process of on-boarding a subscription based business. I'd say something worth noting is to always keep your eye on long term value. Every time I run the numbers on profits vs. expenses, it is important to note that I wont make my money back on each sign-up for somewhere around 3 months later.

 

[Raoul Duke]

It seems like there is no originality in a lot of these "new" startups. Just replicated biz models non stop. Everyone is trying to do to a podcast, a subscription box company in the same category, creating useless "informative" articles that sell their own products ,etc.. There are a few giants that started it (the biz model) and then all the wantrepreneurs just see the $$$ and want a piece of the action. They use the cookie cutter tactics, saturate the market and provide little or 0 value. The wantrepreneurs don't last while the entrepreneurs that build and grow organically become the giants and the cycle goes on....

Me too. They don't have any F*cking reason to exist, that's why.

I understand the subscription model. But why do it for things you can buy in any store?
Why do it for things I can order online when I need it?

For example, I love the idea behind CandyJapan. You don't need to even click to understand what it is.
You can't find those things outside Japan. People love those things. You wanna try all of them.
The business creates itself.

But no, I don't need F*cking soap delivered to me, thank you very much.

Pretty much what I think about the subscription model.

 

[gurnays]

I'm in process of on-boarding a subscription based business. I'd say something worth noting is to always keep your eye on long term value. Every time I run the numbers on profits vs. expenses, it is important to note that I wont make my money back on each sign-up for somewhere around 3 months later.

How do you plan on marketing your business?

 

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[GuestUserX09]

How do you plan on marketing your business?

In short, I just pay for it. Pay for leads and crunch the numbers. Then, I reflect on the data and see where I can improve and repeat. I do this until my business model is proven to be profitable. See below.

 

[G2TS-Man]

In short, I just pay for it. Pay for leads and crunch the numbers. Then, I reflect on the data and see where I can improve and repeat. I do this until my business model is proven to be profitable. See below.
View attachment 12706

What is the theme or products your Box will be ????

I am creating a box of smartphone accessories and geek things.

 

[ZeroTo100]

Pretty much what I think about the subscription model.

@PaulRobert You can really say that for any industry.

@Digamma There's a reason why the number 1 company on the inc 500 list this year is a subscription box company. People love to experience them every month and many of them do serve a purpose!

I think the recurring business model in general has to have a purpose to charge monthly otherwise it's just a selfish model.

People love to experience something in the mail every month. That could be a reason. When I launched my box business over 3 years ago, it was a nutritional supplement sample box. The purpose of it was so that people can sample the products before they actually bought them. It would really suck if you spent $70 bucks on a protein powder that tasted like dirt.

A lot of people also don't realize that the purpose of the box model is used to draw people to their Ecommerce business.

 

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[ZeroTo100]

I personally do not have a subscription box or service, but I have looked into it and learned a little bit about it. From talking to people who do own their own businesses in this field I have learned one very interesting thing: a lot of the items in the boxes are given to the subscription business for FREE. Yes, I was trying to get my product into a subscription box and they simply told me that my only option would be to send them 6,000 units at ZERO cost to them...a mere marketing expense for me he explained (I disagree). But anyways, I learned from this that a lot of services that charge $25 monthly are only spending about $10 monthly on the actually products in the box. From this it should go to show that in order to have someone send you 6,000 free units of product you must niche down a lot and make sure that companies see the value of your focused market for their company in the long run. Best of luck, hope this helps.

This is only somewhat true depending on your boxes reach - aka how many members you have. Going back a few years ago, we had to beg companies to include us in their marketing budget for free product - which we did. It only lasted so long though. The problem is that your box has to convert for them and you have to be able to track conversion. How do you do that? Well sales numbers. If they're putting their product in your box for free, and you're selling that box, what's in it for them? Trust me, brand exposure isn't enough. This was one of our downfalls as a new company.

Many new box companies don't have the reach so they're forced to either buy samples/product or move on to the next brand.

The other problem is when companies have already got their product in other boxes, they're not going to give you a try for free product. There's only so much that can go around. When you reach the brands marketing team and pitch them - expect them to say "another box?"...Be prepared to answer them with how you're different and why they should give you free product. Even if you do, free product is most likely not an option these days. Maybe 3-4 years ago before the wave of box companies came about.

 

[gurnays]

This is only somewhat true depending on your boxes reach - aka how many members you have. Going back a few years ago, we had to beg companies to include us in their marketing budget for free product - which we did. It only lasted so long though. The problem is that your box has to convert for them and you have to be able to track conversion. How do you do that? Well sales numbers. If they're putting their product in your box for free, and you're selling that box, what's in it for them? Trust me, brand exposure isn't enough. This was one of our downfalls as a new company.

Many new box companies don't have the reach so they're forced to either buy samples/product or move on to the next brand.

The other problem is when companies have already got their product in other boxes, they're not going to give you a try for free product. There's only so much that can go around. When you reach the brands marketing team and pitch them - expect them to say "another box?"...Be prepared to answer them with how you're different and why they should give you free product. Even if you do, free product is most likely not an option these days. Maybe 3-4 years ago before the wave of box companies came about.

Do you mind me asking what your subscription box brand is?

 

[E-Sharp]

I personally do not have a subscription box or service, but I have looked into it and learned a little bit about it. From talking to people who do own their own businesses in this field I have learned one very interesting thing: a lot of the items in the boxes are given to the subscription business for FREE. Yes, I was trying to get my product into a subscription box and they simply told me that my only option would be to send them 6,000 units at ZERO cost to them.

Interesting. I recently got a mail offer for a free sub box as an invitation to try their service. So I bit, and the free box delivered to me very much had a "free samples" quality to it, but I decided to try the regular subscription service anyway. Then the first "real" box arrived, still with the 'free sample" quality, unfortunately for them....subscription cancelled.

 

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