Are Subscription Box Services A Scam?

 

 

I was watching a Youtube video last night where a lady paid for an entire year of a subscription box service. She described her experiences with the Crochet Society subscription box service, as disappointing to say the least. I want to make it clear, as a full disclaimer here, this article is not intended to shame any company that sells these subscription box services. This article is purely talking in terms of generality about subscription box services themselves.With that disclaimer out of the way, let's dive into it. 

She goes on to explain how disappointed she was in both the service and quality of the boxes. She says that when she paid for her first month, a mistake by the company caused her to lose out on a free gift box that was supposed to be included for new members. When she reached out to the customer service, she was met with broken links and other issues that made it difficult to contact them. By the time she was able to get a response from the company, several of the boxes she had ordered were now sold out and they would have to refund her. 

While issues like these are not uncommon, it is a sign of a poorly managed business and a massive red flag to stay away. I personally would have cancelled right then. But she continues, only to receive low quality yarn, cheap crochet hooks, and throw away items; that in no way equal the amount she paid for the subscription box.     

Browsing through the comment section, one stood out to me, this person mentioned how these subscription boxes were a scam. This is what inspired me to write this article.

They write, "This was a fine example why all subscription box services are a rip-off - you pay a price for premium yarns (like alpaca, merino/silk) but you get cheap acrylic - you get crap promo materials as your "free-bees" and patterns that are claimed to have a $5/$6 value but are available for free with a quick online search." 

Now one argument present in the video, is how these boxes are supposedly good for beginners. However, the patterns that are tossed into these boxes are trash and the materials are trash. They are not beginner friendly. The argument is that as a beginner you don't know what you like. And you may not have the materials to even start, therefore, these boxes serve as a "fun" way of getting into the hobby. While some aspects of that might be true, if the quality is poor is it really worth the money spent? $50 - $100 is a lot for some to splurge every month, especially with inflation going through the roof. Also, is a beginner going to want to continue with the hobby if the materials are trash? If the project doesn't work out, are they going to understand the issue might be the materials used, and not because of them? 

These points might seem overly-critical, but the sad reality is that many of these companies don't care, They are simply after our money. So if that's true, why then should we support them? It very much falls on the consumer to say, we don't want materials that are crap. 

Let's talk about acrylic yarn. First let me say, I don't have any issues with acrylic yarn. I use acrylic all the time. Just like any other material, there is a time and place for it. Acrylic is great because it's affordable, available everywhere, can be washed, holds up to years of wear and tear, and is perfect for beginners. With that said, acrylic has many downsides. It has a rough and crunchy feel that might aggravate those with sensitivity issues, it's made from plastic which has harsh environmental effects, and it's just very cheap. 

If I had a subscription box service I would use natural fibers such as wool, bamboo, cotton, silk, and linen. Which would better justify the high cost of the box, but might be more costly for the company. Also, certain fibers can't be mass produced on a high volume. So it's easier for them to say, "we put $33 worth of acrylic in there". And you get like ten skeins of different colors, to make whatever poorly written pattern they tossed in there. Or, you get a few skeins of yarn, a $3 crochet hook, and some trash you'll throw out later. If we think about it in this way, it's easy to see how these subscriptions box services, seem like they are in fact, scamming us. But only if the consumers let them. 

So I'm interested in knowing your thoughts on this. Are subscription box services worth it? Let me know in the comment section below.