Cratejoy is your one-stop-shop for subscription boxes in all shapes and forms.
Beauty, books, foods, or geek and gaming? A personally selected subscription box is the generous gift that keeps on giving!
And what better way to show yourself some self-love than signing up for a subscription box, sending you a monthly surprise with those things that light you up?
In this review, we have opened some of the most popular boxes sold on this platform to give you a hint of what you can expect, as well as how it works. Let's dive in!
Cratejoy At A Glance
- Best Match For: People looking for a marketplace where they’ll be able to find a gift subscription box for every occasion, person, interest, or hobby.
- Commitment Level: Subscription; One-time purchase
- Availability: All 50 states
- Value: $2.08-$199.99/month; Additional shipping fees depending on the location
- Type: A unique marketplace for gifts and subscription boxes.
How Cratejoy Works
The cool thing with Cratejoy is that they are a curated platform where small businesses can provide their products. In the subscription box business, they are the only company operating according to this model! This means you can find rare gems and unique gifts here that you won't find elsewhere.
For each category, such as Art & Culture, Self-Care & Wellness, and Home, you find a bunch of suppliers selling their carefully crafted monthly subscription boxes on the platform. You can also see the ratings from their existing customers.
Signing up for a monthly subscription box on Cratejoy, for yourself or a friend, is thus a great way to support small businesses putting their heart into the creation of each box. They even have the best chocolate subscription box.
The Cratejoy website is also very helpful with rating, reviews, Q&A's, and their blog Box Insider Blog. You'll find recommended top picks in case you have a hard time choosing (if so, we totally get it!).
Cancellation Policy
When you sign up for Cratejoy, there's no fixed subscription length – your subscription will automatically renew on a month-to-month basis. You can log in to your account to stop your subscription from automatically renewing.
Here's some information on how to do it:
- Log in to your Cratejoy account and click Subscriptions.
- Click Active Subscriptions.
- Click Manage Subscription.
- Click Cancel Subscription.
- Select Reason for Cancelling and provide Feedback.
- Click Confirm and Cancel Subscription.
Note that this won't refund the subscriptions you've already bought – to do so, you have to contact the seller.
Contact the Seller
Since you don't buy the subscription box directly from Cratejoy, but from each individual business, the exact conditions are up to the seller.
For any questions related to your current subscription, or one that you're considering, you can reach out to the seller via the button Contact Seller.
If you have tried to reach the seller without success, you can contact the customer service of Cratejoy. Cratejoy is not responsible for the sellers.
Chargeback
Know that even if you wouldn't be able to reach the seller, and wish to receive a refund, there's a way out. If the seller is still unresponsive after multiple attempts by yourself and Cratejoy to reach them, you can contact your bank and issue a "chargeback". This means you let them know you never received the product. Usually, your bank will be able to put the funds back into your account.
Chargebacks are the last option when all else fails, as they imply pretty severe ramifications for the seller.
What You Can Expect From Your Cratejoy Box
You can expect literally anything from your Cratejoy box! Thanks to the variety of boxes and providers on the platform, this is an excellent way of effortlessly discovering new, unique products catered to your tastes within a category you're passionate about.
This subscription service works as a month-to-month subscription, meaning that it will automatically renew after you've received your first box. If you've been charged for a box but haven't received it yet, and you wish to cancel your subscription and get refunded, please see "Contact the Seller" above.
Sample Boxes
We have explored the categories this subscription box company has to offer for you!
Delivery
Delivery time varies depending on the seller and where you live.
For more information, their customer service recommends that you contact the individual seller.
In case you can't reach them, you can always drop a line to the Cratejoy customer service.
FAQS
Cratejoy is a subscription box company sending you one curated box per month within a category of your choice. Think of it like eBay for subscription boxes! Browse between a multitude of companies offering their products on the platform, in categories catering to men, women, and kids, as well as all kinds of interests and passions.
Cratejoy is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and was founded in 2015.
Cratejoy is a company with a unique format within the subscription box business. It's a virtual marketplace where vendors can offer their products in the form of monthly subscription boxes in all categories you can imagine!
Which one is the best for you depends on your interests and liking. On the Cratejoy marketplace website, you can sort by most popular to see which box is the bestseller within each area.
Some examples of Cratejoy bestsellers in different categories:
- TheraBox: a mindfully curated box by therapists aimed at reducing stress and increasing joy through more self-love
- Gain[z] Box: a monthly goodie bag filled with fitness gear
- The Adults & Craft Crate: a trendy craft box with all materials, tools, and instructions included!
Whether or not something is a waste of money depends on the value we get from it. The value from a subscription box is that you get unique and hard-to-come-by products conveniently delivered directly to your door.
If you're a fan of rare findings, and like the comfort of delivery and the surprise part, a monthly subscription box is a pretty priceless service!
In this Cratejoy review, we've gone through all the categories and had a look inside some of the most popular subscription boxes, so that you can find one for yourself!
Yes, by selling on Cratejoy, you can enjoy a reliable platform to sell your subscription boxes without doing the extra work of starting from scratch. If your business does well, you can mitigate the added fees of selling on Cratejoy.
Cratejoy charges fees based on the price of your product. The standard fee is 1.25% + $0.10. If you use Stripe, you’ll be charged 2.9% + $0.30 for every transaction.
Cratejoy makes it easy to start your subscription box business. Starting a subscription box service can be very lucrative, since customers will become subscribers instead of one-time purchasers.
Cratejoy is an online marketplace for all types of subscription boxes. Anyone can sign up to use Cratejoy as a seller and receive a custom site, a dashboard for analytics, and built-in subscription payment options.
Marketplace orders are charged 10% plus the transaction fees for the platform, which are 1.25% of the order’s total cost plus $0.10.
There are three monthly Cratejoy plans. It’s free to sell on the marketplace only, $19 per month for Checkout only, and $39/month for the All-In-One plan.
Selling on Cratejoy is simple. As a subsription box seller, you get to sell your product on the Cratejoy marketplace, use their hosted checkout page, and receive a custom website. Non-sellers can browse Cratejoy to find hundreds of subscription boxes.
The Cratejoy headquarters are in Austin, TX. The company has three offices around the United States.
Yes, Cratejoy uses a PCI-compliant credit card vault to store credit card information. They also store all personally-identifying information using industry-standard encryption techniques.
Yes, Cratejoy charges shipping rates according to USPS prices based on the wieght of the item. To estimate your shipping fees, you can use the USPS Postage Price Calculator.
Yes, Cratejoy ships internationally. Sellers can set their own preferences for specific countries.
Cratejoy Costs
With so many subscription boxes, you can find the cheap ones going for as low as $2 a month. There are also exclusive ones that cost almost $200 a month and everything in between. Depending on your location, additional delivery fees may apply.
Pros and Cons
PROS:
One advantage with Cratejoy is that you have almost endless options. You rather risk overwhelm than not finding the perfect fit! On the elaborate and informative Cratejoy website, each seller provides detailed information about what you can expect from their boxes.
The filtering system on the Cratejoy website helps break down each category in smaller, more digestible parts to allow you to find the perfect match for you.
It's helpful that you can read reviews and FAQs for each subscription – many times, someone has already asked themselves the same questions as you do.
Another advantage is that you can find truly unique gifts on the platform and support small businesses while doing so. The carefully selected and manufactured products admitted on the platform can often have a more personal touch than their mass-produced counterparts.
CONS:
It's not evident where to find information about delivery conditions, such as estimated delivery time and what areas they ship to – this is probably because Cratejoy is a market platform, and the exact requirements depend on the individual seller.
On that same note, it's not clear whether you can get reimbursed for a prepaid subscription if you want to cancel later on. The customer service urges you to contact each individual seller.
Food for Thought
Cratejoy has undeniably a unique and innovative idea with their subscription box marketplace. With the plethora of categories, you'll surely find one that suits your tastes or is the perfect gift to anyone you feel like spoiling a little extra.
The great thing with gifting a monthly subscription is that the recipient keeps getting reminded of your kindness month after month! That's what we call a win-win.
Cratejoy is the perfect match for someone wanting a monthly surprise box with products that suit their passion or tastes. And seriously – who wouldn't?!
CrateJoy