What subscription stuff have you tried?

I have tried HelloFresh/Gousto, Who Gives A Crap, Smol, Graze, Birchbox, Glossybox, Claire’s Squares, Beer52, Craft Gin Club, Huel.

What have you tried and what do you recommend??

I’ve not really tried any. You seem to be quite the sub box connoisseur though! Which ones did you think we’re worth it?

I love Gousto even though I can completely understand why people think it’s really expensive.
Graze was great for a while however I got super bored and started buying the individual things I loved from Holland & Barrett (those Thai rice crackers!!)
I’m new to beauty boxes as I’m not a super girly girl, nor do I wear a lot of makeup but I’ve loved getting little treats monthly and anything can I don’t use can go to my super girly sister.
The gin club I’ve only had twice and found it great value for money!
Smol is a staple in our house now as it’s so convenient having it delivered and we now never run out of laundry or dishwasher tablets, just hoping they release other products soon :slight_smile:

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Nice. I’ve looked at Hellofresh before, and Gusto seems interesting. I like the idea of getting a box once a month just to make a meal more exciting/social. Think I might have to try one of them!

I have had a Daunt Books subscription before, you get a book a month (or every other) tailored to you. Got some really great reads through that.

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HelloFresh and Gousto are pretty much the same thing, slightly different price points and slightly different features. We get one every 2 weeksish, we have a week without Gousto of spag bol/chicken and veg/fish and veg/stir fry. Then a week of variety, cooking together and not having to think about meal plans.
The sign up offers are crazy as well so even if you only get the one box it’s sooo worth it, I think we have 4 meals x 2 portions for about £17 on one of the sign up offers!!

I’ve always fancied a book subscription but I’m quite a bland reader and only enjoy sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian books so I’d love it if it was tailored just to me :slight_smile:

The only one I’ve stuck with, having tried many of these, is Huel. Everything else has a better alternative/just isn’t worth the money (the food subs for instance - I like the inspiration but have a lot of experience with cooking and like a bit more freedom) I get Huel cocoa and orange bars delivered once a month to cover my lunches (my office location is really inconvenient, and it tastes ok and in fairness leaves me feeling full for a while). Smol is the only one I haven’t really considered - maybe worth doing so though.

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Looks like you were born too late :joy:

The company operated a variety of general and specialist book selling clubs over the years, including:[2]

  • The Mystery and Thriller Club
  • Just Good Books
  • The Softback Preview (TSP)
  • The Fantasy and Science Fiction Book Club
  • The Military and Aviation Book Society
  • World Books

I LOVE Huel. I blend it in the morning around 8ish with my blendactive, around 3 scoops just with water then refrigerate at work until 1pm! Such an easy regular lunch. I have it probably 70% of the time for lunch, haven’t tried the bars as they do seem expensive and a normal cereal bar doesn’t really fill me, I’d love to just try one without committing to a full box!
Smol is pretty cool and really easy to manage, the trial is only £1 for 9 washes and it’s easy to cancel after that!

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The bars aren’t cheap, has to be said. However, considering they’re just 250kcal they do leave me quite full for a while. They’re so densely made that it takes me quite some time to actually eat a bar too (trust me, take really small bites!) I do recommend tagging a box of cocoa and orange onto an order and see how you get on with it. The standard cocoa flavour really required some effort to eat! The orange addition makes it more palatable but I totally appreciate it’s not an exciting meal - it does the job and makes me feel full for a while. I work away a few days each week so it’s easy for me to grab a handful on my way out the house and use as my lunches and evening meals if my hotel doesn’t offer anything I fancy/is too outrageously priced! Maybe others wouldn’t appreciate this convenience though :wink:

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I get my coffee through a sub. Used to just buy it as needed but the sub just gives me an extra 10% off with no commitment. It was already super cheap at less than a tenner for a kilo.

Have tried Virgin Wines, Gusto, Britannia Music (a long time ago) …

Currently, GQ Magazine, Curve Metal, Harry’s and entertainment such as Spotify, Netflix, etc.

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I’ve tried Gousto, Hello Fresh, Smol and Harry’s razors.
The only one I continue to use is Gousto. The recipes suit us more than Hello Fresh and the quality of the produce was better (had to complain about rotting veg a few times with Hello Fresh).
Smol was good but I could never get the timing of deliveries quite right, as my washing would vary. It was almost like having delivery anxiety, plus it’s cheaper just to look for offers in shops.
Harry’s was very good, but I’m very rarely clean shaven so just order one-off now.

If there is a decent UK one for (men’s) pants and socks I may try it.

The Christmas restock doesn’t always cut it for the year.

I have tried smol, various beer and coffee, clubs and Britannia music back in the day! I haven’t kept any of them going as the convenience of having it delivered doesn’t really outweigh the extra cost. Beer 52 for example was brilliant for uncommon beers, but £3 for a 330ml can of beer was really steep. I have replace smol with an ecoegg which seems to be working well and is £6 for 70+ washes (doesn’t need fabric conditioner either).

I love the idea of having everything just delivered, but also worry about the increased carbon footprint of the various delivery drivers. I drive past two Tesco and an Aldi on my commute in so I don’t make extra trips out for shopping…so basically…in summary…I am not convinced :slight_smile:

I’ve bought Graze and Loot Crate as gifts for family members in the past.

I used to subscribe to Taffy Mail for myself, but got a bit sick of constant peanut butter…

Also had an Oddballs subscription for a while, which was fantastic, but only so many underwear sets you need at once. Would resubscribe in future, though.

I’ve been using Smol for over a year now and find it good value. I got advertised Homey and gave it a go - similar price to Smol but the trial is better value. The tabs seem to be half detergent and half softener and I prefer their packaging.

What did you think of Who gives a crap?

Tried HelloFresh. As it went on the recipes got less inspiring and the meat content got less. To save money there seemed to be a lot more vegetarian dishes, I see they now charge extra for premium (i.e. meat dishes!!)
Had Virgin Wines for a while but the price drifted up and the variety wasn’t great.
Switched to Naked Wines Angel subscription and that was a good idea, £20 DD every month built up in a pot and you used it when you wanted more wine. Problem was I wanted more wine than £20 a month could handle!! Again prices of the wines drifted up and in the end were not worth the premium prices.
Harrys Razors was very short lived, the razor was too narrow, needed more passes to shave and it cut me quite badly.
Switched to the Dollar Shave Club and I liked the razor. Then I found that they use a razor made by a company called Dorco who sell their own razors via Amazon. These work out much cheaper than the subscription for the same razor from the same factory.

Now I am trying out Watchgang. £99 a month sub and I get sent a new mystery watch every month. Some you will like some you won’t. Ive had one so far and did actually like it. I think the fun part is not knowing what you are going to receive. Its a bit of a lottery but having done a bit of research people seem to be generally happy with what they get sent each month. Time will tell (!!)

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I see what you did there. :eyes:

Have you had luck with Dorco?

I tried a Dorco razor but I’m clumsy and unfortunately the first time I dropped it in the shower, it broke. I bought another, and the same thing happened. They were both so flimsy and badly made. I’ve never had that problem with any other razor.

I use Gillette razors and I’m very happy with them, but I did like the look of the Dorco razor and having blades arrive by subscription - though now that they’re on Amazon I doubt they offer that anyway?