“Show someone you care with a random box of stuff this holiday season.”
— CNNMoney
There’s Graze, Birchbox, Barkbox, Brobox, Dollar Shave Club, Trunk Club, Blue Apron, and now, there’s Minimalism & Co.’s new minimalist themed subscription box. Each box has their own flavors, qualities, and featured products. Some use corporate partnerships to market products through these boxes, while others are hand-selected items by the box creator. These subscriptions can include makeup, food, and much more.
The subscription model is usually set at one box per month, but this varies between companies. The prices range from $25 to $100s each month. If you’re using Blue Apron — a meal preparation service — you’ll likely sign up for more regular deliveries. Although, Minimalism & Co. sends their box once every quarter (3 months). Regardless, once you sign up, you’ll be getting regular deliveries of unexpected “gifts.” It’s like getting a surprise present each month!
However, there’s another way of looking at this subscription craze. To mindlessly subscribe and receive trinkets, makeup, and/or men’s grooming products seems to be the epitome of conspicuous consumption. It’s unclear who might need these products; I mean, truly need a product received through a subscription box.
Initial subscriptions are often discounted to make the first box free or inexpensive. Subscription services know that once they have someone on the trial, they’re more likely to continue using their product and/or try it again at a later date. And even if you were done with the service, you might not want to go through the terrible phone trees and/or automatic email exchanges to get your cancellation confirmed. All the while, you’re spending money, adding clutter, and struggling to cancel the onslaught.
Subscription boxes have made minimalism, orderliness, and frugality harder. Fortunately, there’s an alternative to this madness. Today, I want to introduce a solution to effortless consumption. In fact, I’ve come up with a clever name for the subscription, too: “ByeBox.”
Our worries will be solved. It starts with a nearly empty box. When you subscribe to ByeBox, you receive nothing but a cardboard box and a piece of paper. Isn’t that revolutionary and minimal!? And there’s no need to be careful when carrying the box into your house, as there’s nothing to break. Once you’ve opened up the box to see no goodies, makeup, razors, grooming products, or exotic foods from Chile, you can prepare for a far more intentional decision.
Written on the 8.5 by 11-inch paper is a simple request: “Pick something from your house that you once wanted/desired, but no longer find enjoyment or need. Place it in box and ship it back to ByeBox for another empty box!” It’s just that simple!
We are faced with countless opportunities to spend and collect every day. Surprisingly, many have embraced subscription boxes and taken to spending outsized proportions on tchotchkes that provide little value to our lives. My idea — ByeBox — might be a joke, but wouldn’t this make more sense to those working to live a minimal and frugal lifestyle? The harder decision always seems to be fighting against the mode of consumption — to find ways to minimize by going without and throwing out.
Sign me up!!
My only question is what happens to all that “stuff?” What are you going to do with it? Start the world’s largest flea market? One of the larger tragedies is how much “stuff” gets put into the landfills each year – stuff we are able to stop thinking about but doesn’t actually disappear, it just goes somewhere else and becomes someone else’s problem.
“My idea — ByeBox — might be a joke, but wouldn’t this make more sense to those working to live a minimal and frugal lifestyle?”
As part of the subscription the printed paper in the box could be a “return address”. In this case the return address would be a donation service of your choice.
“When the box is full, attach the enclosed return address to the box, add postage and bring the box to your local post office.”
… Well, just an idea.
Genius!
Fantastic idea!
I can get rid of stuff in the house. It just seems to pile up in the garage until I have ‘enough’ and it goes to the thrift store. Having a garage sale is a hassle.
OMG, haha… that is absolutely brilliant. I actually kind of want to launch this with you – is that bad?? 🙂
You know what? I secretly wanted to start this too! Let’s do it. 😉
How much is the byebox? Cause I’m in. What a fantastic idea in fact I think I may start just getting rid of one item every month just because of this.
haha when i watch youtube and they un box these boxes, i could laugh my head off, they try to sound so excited when an art package arrives with a pencil in it, as if they havn,t enough pencils, and the same with make up, i have thrown enough rubbish away i have chosen myself, so now we let someone else chose for us when they don,t even know us, its so wasteful, its just cheap thrills xxxx
great post Love Jacqueline
Point well made and well taken!!! I still hang on to the idea of not just having less, but wanting less. If we’re not careful (those of us who have an addiction to wanting stuff), in our effort to heal from our addiction, we may find ourselves in a methadone clinic of subscription boxes.
Thank you for such observation and insight!
Remember Cracker Jacks? You received a prize in every box, along with the caramel corn and peanuts. At one time, the prizes were kind of fun…maybe a whistle or something. Now they are paper tatoos or just a joke on paper. I think of Cracker Jacks boxes every time someone mentions subscription boxes. The promise of a free gift hooks most consumers. When my Dad passed over, we had tons of that cheap, imported junk to get rid of, not to mention he had to declare bankruptcy at 70 years old because of extreme credit card spending….for said junk. The Byebox is a great idea;maybe it would prompt those that live for the mailbox surprise to actually declutter.
Great idea sam.
sent me a box…
may be we can have some one buy those at thrift price and make the shipping free.
I don’t know about the other subscriptions, but dollar shave club just sends razors every month. I use razors, and the packaging is minimal. Blue apron is food that gets eaten. Costly, yes. But it’s not going to pile up on you, except maybe some extra garlic. I don’t use blue apron, but I have tried dollar shave club and it’s cheaper and has less waste than normal razors I would buy from the store.
I totally get your point. I know people who get nerd blocks, which are filled with plastic crap and cheap t-shirts that will be thrown away after a couple uses. I think that’s the kind of junk you’re talking about and not functional things like razors, right?
I just have to scratch my head at the minimalist box. That completely misses the point. Your joke idea of the bye box is the truly minimalist box.
What about if a group of people subscribed to it and it functioned like a chain letter. I send my piece of crap to the next person (surprise!), while that person sends his to someone else (surprise!) and we all just collectively head to Goodwill on a certain day every so often in a show of solidarity.
THIS is a brilliant idea!
I realize you are being a bit sarcastic here, but what a great idea to do something like this and then partner with a charity or shelter and let those in need “go shopping’ with the items you receive!
Great idea!
hmmm…… is it not getting more stuff into the house again? kind of oxymoronic…. minimalist vs every month you get something that you probably don’t need …
No thank you. If I like nice stuff, I will be the judge of what is nice stuff for me. No need for surprises.
Your average consumer could do with a byebox every three or four days just to keep their house clean! Very good idea for a startup company interested in adding quality of life rather than more stuff.
I do something similar, I always have a box in a closet where I throw things I don’t need in there. Then put it outside for donation every couple of weeks.