Why I cancelled my OwlCrate subscription

Today I’d like to dive deeper into the reasons as to why, after almost a year and a half of subscription to OwlCrate, J decided to cancel it. It’s gonna be a long so grab yourself a cuppa and join the journey!

First and foremost, for the most part, OwlCrate has been a fantastic service. Certain items I have received in their boxes I still use on a daily basis, book sleeves in particular spring to mind. On the occasion where one of my boxes got lost in the transit, OwlCrate sent it to me again without fuss or any additional charges.

With every box, they organise hashtags for people to share their experience with others, afterall opening a subscription box can be such a joy. I used to participate in them, not of late mind you, but I did get featured once for the following picture!

Despite all of it, and many more good qualities the company displays, I thought it was a good time for me to move on.

There is a number of reasons for this decision and as I list them, please remember that it is my person opinion and experience I am sharing in this post.

Ultimately it comes down to:

1. The quality of items

On more than one occasion it has happened that the item included in the box was of poor quality. In the last year, I have personally experienced a lunch box which handle broke upon first opening it, a bracelet with a faulty clasp and a bookmark with a detached string tassel. They seem like such trivial matters, and individually they are, it doesn’t seem worth it to make a fuss about (I trust that OwlCrate would take the complaints and resolve the matter). However, when you consider the fact that 3 out of the last 12 boxes contained a damaged or faulty good, suddenly it becomes a bigger matter.

2. Repetition

Throughout my subscription to OwlCrate, I have received numerous candles, mugs and many more items of the same type. On top of that, whenever I did my unboxing posts, it seemed to me that I was writing the same Artist’s names over and over again.

OwlCrate seems to go back to the same people/companies quite regularly it seems and it halts the uniqueness of the items, which I enjoyed. I have also run out of space to keep all those candles and mugs, I have no need for so maby of the same.

3. The price

Since I live in Ireland and OwlCrate ship internationally all the way from the US, the shipping cost is well over half of what the box is.

OwlCrate offers three plans, 1-, 3- and 6- monthly payments, amounting to $29.99, $28.99 and $27.99 per box, respectively.

In the meantime, shipment to Ireland was $19.99, which increased recently to $20.99.

The box price itself is a reasonable one to ask for, one that I’d be more than happy to pay, considering you’re receiving exclusive hardback books, signed by the authors plus goodies. However, the grand total of it is excessive.

4. Hit and Miss

With all the reasons above in mind, it is extremely disheartening when you finally receive your long awaited box only to be disappointed by its theme and/or content.

Few of the boxes I received have put a big smile on my smile, however majority of it was just meh and nearly $50 is a lot to pay for meh.

The inconsistency of OwlCrate boxes has become consistent in itself.

Going forward, I find it unlikely that I will go back to a subscription plan for this particular box. However, I will be looking at them in retrospect, i.e. if any of the past boxes will catch my attention specifically, I will buy that box alone as it is one of the great options OwlCrate is offering and more.

I will also be on the lookout for a new bookish subscription, a UK one if I can find it, so if you have any recommendations please let me know in the comment section down below! It’ll be greatly appreciated.

If you lasted until the end of this post, fair play to you and thanks!!