For those of you who read my reviews of Citrus Lane, you know that I love the idea of subscription boxes. Citrus Lane is for kids only though, and I thought it might be fun to try out a subscription box for the rest of the family. I decided to try out the Fancy Box. The Fancy offers a lot of curated subscription services, including some curated by celebrities, food, and a standard one. I went with the standard. One unique thing about Fancy Box is that they let you choose the categories you would like them to pull items from. After browsing through some of the potential items in the different categories, I chose all of them except for Sports & Outdoors (as interesting as it would be to get camping type things, I have a feeling most of it would be sports related…not interested). The categories include: Men’s, Women’s, Kids, Pets, Home, Gadgets, Media, and Workspace. They give you a “Notes” section for you to make specific recommendations, which is where I put the sizes of the Men’s and Women’s clothing, the age of my daughter, and what type of pets we have.
Was the box worth it? I think I actually am writing this review to find out. I’m leaning towards not. At full price, the box costs $39.00 plus $7.95 for shipping, a total of $46.95. There is supposed to be a total of $80 worth of items in the box. At that price, I really don’t think I would be renewing, since that isn’t even 50% off and you have no idea what you’re getting. I had a coupon though, so I paid $21.95 for my box, including shipping. Let’s find out if it was worth it. Here is what was in the box:
1. Music Branch Headphone Splitter
Price: $15 from The Fancy, $8 from Amazon
Would I buy this? No
Notes: So, I might be the only person in the world for which this is true, but I don’t have an mp3 player. I don’t listen to electronic music except occasionally on my desktop computer. I don’t listen to music in a portable way at all. I listen to CD’s or Satellite Radio in the car, and when I’m at home (which is most of the time), I listen to my stereo. I still have a full stereo system that includes a turntable, dual cassette deck, and a five CD changer. I’m an old lady, and I know it. I’ve never handed my headphones over to someone for them to listen to something I was listening to that I remember, and I’ve never tried to cram two heads into one pair of headphones. That said, I know that this little device (which is nifty), doesn’t HAVE to be used for portable music, and I feel like if I lived back in the ’70’s and was trying to keep quiet while playing records with my friends, this would be cool to have for our Pink Floyd listening parties. Will I ever use it? No. Can I think of family and friends I might be able to gift it to that will appreciate it? Yes.
2. Citrus Zinger Water Bottle
Price: $15
Would I buy this? Maybe
Notes: I have to say that when I pulled this out of the box I was intrigued. I love the idea, actually. I am someone who drinks a lot of water, and I prefer lemon in my water. I hate that powdered crap and the newest fad, the liquid crap, that people are always trying to get me to put in my water. I like just lemon. Getting lemon to stay in your water all day? Impossible. That said, I have tried just about every water bottle under the sun, and after much scrutiny have decided that I prefer water bottles that a) have a large capacity so I don’t have to find somewhere to refill them when I’m out and about, and b) have a straw. I know the straw thing is a little weird, but I love to drink from a straw. I will drink a million times more water if I have the opportunity to drink it from a straw. So no, I won’t be using this water bottle. I still love it though, and I know a handful of people I was needing gifts for soon anyway who will LOVE it.
3. Head Massager
Price: $15 from The Fancy, $6.99 from Amazon
Would I buy this? No
Notes: I’m baffled. What the heck. I can’t say I ever would have thought of or invented this product. I don’t really massage my own head though, so maybe I’m missing out. Where do you keep junk like this in your house? I have a back scratcher a cousin got me years ago, and every time I come across it in a closet somewhere I stand there staring at it for a few minutes before I put it right back where it was. Wowza. Talk about unnecessary clutter. To be honest though, after staring at it in bafflement, I did remember that an aunt of mine commonly has headaches, and when I was a kid and she had a headache, she would always ask me to brush her hair with a wire bristled brush. She said it made her feel better. Maybe this would be a good alternative for her. Maybe I’ll send it to her. Hm.
4. Pilot & Captain Tee Shirt
Price: $32
Would I buy this? Maybe
Notes: The t-shirt is kind of cool in a hipster type of way, and I am in nobody’s imagination a hipster. They sent us the blue London version of the shirt in a size Large, which is actually huge, but my husband will wear it, and after browsing around the Pilot & Captain website, the London version is my favorite. Did my husband need another casual tee shirt? No. Would I have paid $32 for it? Definitely not. He’ll wear it though, so there’s that.
5. Fill in the Blank: An Inspirational Sketchbook
Price: $20 from The Fancy, $12.89 from Amazon
Would I buy this? Maybe
Notes: I think this is my favorite item in the box. It’s clever and witty, and I like that. I feel like if I was looking for something for myself I would skim through it in a bookstore, chuckle, and put it back on the shelf. That said, it still gets a maybe, as I can really see myself buying this for one of my quirky cousins or brothers for Christmas or a birthday. Luckily for me, now I don’t have to, because I already have it to give away! It’s cute.
6. $10 Gift Voucher for Shoptiques.com
Price: $10
Would I buy this? No
Notes: Ugh. I hate getting gift vouchers that can’t actually get you anything on their own. What is the point of a $10 gift voucher for a place you would never shop that doesn’t sell anything for under $12? Almost everything in this online store is more expensive than that (there is actually only ONE item that is $12…I looked), and I’m sure they would charge me an arm and a leg for shipping too. I wish I knew anyone who shopped at a place like this, I would give this to them. I’m pretty sure I don’t, though. I wish they had things I liked, and that this had been an opportunity to discover a new place full of clothes that I would love to own and getting something at a little discount to get me started. That’s not what this is. Nope. There’s nothing on this site that I remotely want. The things I thought were cute? They either don’t come in my size, or they cost an arm and a leg. I hate spending money on clothes.
Total value of items in the box: $85 (with the gift voucher, which I don’t even want to count) It made it’s requirement. Barely.
Total value of items I definitely would buy: $0
Total value of items I might have bought: $60
So was it worth it?
Considering that I didn’t get a single item that I was totally ga-ga about, it would not have been worth it at full price. But at $21.95? Sure. Here’s the real test. I have another coupon for next month, so I’m going to use it and see if next month is more exciting. If it isn’t, then I won’t continue my subscription. But if it’s great, I might be willing to sign on for a bit longer. Step it up Fancy Box (or provide feedback forms for your boxes so that I can tell you what I liked and didn’t like in my box so you can do better next time. That would be a good idea)!
2. Rainbow Stacker from Melissa & Doug
3. I Took the Moon for a Walk from Barefoot Books
4. Snuggly Lotion from Episencial
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Happiness is Now 