Would you, have you ever bought...

[I_royalty_I]

Has anybody ever heard of those sort of "mystery box sites"? Where you pay a monthly price and get shipped a box full of goodies? There are a few examples that I have found while looking around:
(you need an account to see links)
(you need an account to see links)
(you need an account to see links)
(you need an account to see links)
(you need an account to see links)

There seems to be a bunch of different services like this, each with different things. I've even seen one called handybox I think, which had a bunch of tools and how-to things in it.

I'm not sure if youve seen things like this around, but I have just started hearing about this stuff within the past year. After looking them up, it seems like an interesting idea, but I feel like if I bought that there would be a lot of useless stuff mixed in that I wouldn't need.

What kind of stuff would you look for if you were to buy something like this? Would you even bother with something like this?
It kind of reminds me of the mystery behind unregs/lotteries/account lists - and who doesn't like a bit of mystery? But you want to enjoy it, and you want to get your moneys worth.

Thoughts?

[Cheese]

I've done the barkbox one and I thoroughly enjoyed what came in the box. It's fun not knowing what they'll pick out for you- they usually pick out some really good stuff.

[rachel]

I've considered getting BirchBox before, or signing up for Ipsy, which is a very similar concept with makeup products.
I think the appeal is especially for people like me, who don't really know what kind of (I'm going to use beauty products as an example here) products to use.
There are a ton of really awesome high-end beauty products out there, but the problem is that they're also really expensive, and they either work - great! - or they don't, and you've just wasted a ton of money on a product that doesn't work well for you or go well with your routine.

I think the appeal in the boxes is getting the opportunity to try new products and figure out which ones will work and which won't without having to pay an arm and a leg for every new bottle of foundation or every new nail polish or lip gloss you want to try. Then, if you find a product that really works well that came in your box, you can buy that specific product and know what you're getting without taking a huge risk on price.
Then again, at least for (many) girls, just having fun new beauty products to try and mess around with is always fun, which is what has generally justified the price of getting a box each month for me. Also, it seems like companies are trying to include more products that are tailored to each specific person to increase the chances that the items in the box will be ones that won't go wasted, as I've noticed with Ipsy.

Granted, I suppose that same concept doesn't really apply to everything - there are some places like Graze & NatureBox that you posted that offer food products and such... I'd maybe try it once, but be unlikely to continue receiving boxes month after month.
Really, the only ones I've been tempted by are beauty product ones... I haven't gotten them yet, but maybe when funds are a little less tight.

[Pyre]

My boyfriend tried naturebox, and the food was really delicious. I think it's a really good idea for people wanting to get good snacks. However, the snack sizes aren't that big so unless you get the initial $10 off deal you really have to decide whether or not you're okay with paying that much for whichever amount of snacks you selected. It was really nice for me because I have a food allergy, and their site was super easy to navigate and accommodate for that.

(Also watermelon fruit chews and praline pumpkin seeds are amazing)


I've also been really tempted to get lootbox or birchbox, but again with my budget it's not really realistic to commit to spending that much for something you're not even sure you want. I think if you like the theme, and are willing to spend the money to treat yourself it's fun, but it's not really a great "deal" per say, unless you really like everything you get. This is just from what I've seen of the boxes, if I had the spare money I totally would try them out.

[Kylae]

I actually reviewed most of the beauty box ones on Reddit, but I've stopped. I now currently get Lootcrate and all five Nerd Blocks. I've been doing them a year now, I love them and my room is full of nerdy goodness. I also do Love With Food, which is my favorite food box that I've tried.

[Sakuras]

I've heard great things about Barkbox and Lootcrate. I've definitely considered getting Lootcrate before, they always have a lot of cool/nerdy stuff.

[DarkByte]

I used graze they send you a bunch of awsome healthy snacks , think thats uk only though. Theres a british guy on youtube.com called ashens who reviews "lootcrate" they look pretty cool:

[j03]

My friend did this stuff on eBay a looooooooooong time ago at the age of 14-15 and made a killing. Mystery auctions, said they could win a new xbox, PC, PS3, etc. but he would just send them junk.

[DarkByte]

^ there is guys like that who do fifa players , they sell you a random fifa player rated 86+ for e.g. Most of those players are worth like 500k or so. I tried a few and kept getting the same player worth 35k Ended up calling them scam artist and making my auto buyer lol.

[chiro]

(you need an account to see links)

Is the only box I've ever subscribed to, I do love that + the 'special' seasonal ones (even though they are stupidly expensive).