6 Reasons Why I Stopped Subscribing To Book Boxes

It was back in April when I discovered through bookstagram that something which combines books and bookish goodies existed in India too, and trust me, I was super excited to check it out. I had seen videos on YouTube earlier, and had always been fascinated by the concept. This was my opportunity to finally own a book box, so without further ado, I ordered a standard box (which contained 1 paperback, 1 hardback and 4-5 goodies) from one of the leading book boxes in my country.

I was of course very hyped when I first received it, and decided that I wanted to continue ordering more boxes; I did that for four straight months. I experimented with multiple subscriptions, and by the end of the fourth month, I concluded that I didn’t want to subscribe anymore. Below is a list of reasons to why I stopped ordering them.

1. My excitement wore off

Well, this one’s easy. I wasn’t excited about them anymore! The novelty had worn off and I had grown out of it. I guess the time factor also played its part. I would be very hyped when I ordered the box, but by the time I received it, I would have almost forgotten about it. The additional delay didn’t help either.

2. My screaming TBR

Yep. Every bibliophile’s problem is the unending stack of to-be-read books pile. I recently counted, and found that I had 41 physical unread books lying on my shelf! And I continued to buy books with an intention to read them immediately but failing at it miserably. Considering the average number of books I finish per month, I could easily live off my TBR for 8 – 9 months! This put a lot of things into perspective for me.

3. Existential crises of the merch

As someone with intense love for bookish goodies, I was really looking forward to the prints, bags, pouches, bracelets, pin badges, candles, postcards, etc! Now I see them lying on my bookshelf serving no purpose. I realized that I didn’t really need them. Yes, they are cool. And, yes, I adore them! But turns out, I’m such a hoarder that I don’t use them even if I can because they are too pretty. See my point?

4. Heavy on my wallet

Going through my bank statement I realized that the amount of money I was spending on these was quite alarming. Sometimes the box felt like it was worthy of the amount I was paying – especially with the discounts and the additional freebies – but when I looked at it objectively, it didn’t make much sense.

5. Add to cart later

The books chosen by the book boxes are almost always new releases; of course when you look for individual copies during their release time, the price is going to be high. It might seem like a good deal at that moment, but not at a later stage. So, I decided to give myself some time before jumping into the buying process.

6. Partially happy with the lineup

While I was happy with some of the books in each box, there were always few which I wasn’t keen on buying but ended up getting anyway. It made me go back to #5, where I decided that if I really wanted one book, I could always buy it in the future. Considering my high TBR, I was okay with waiting instead of settling for it all collectively.

Thanks to all the above reasons, I’m quite sure of my decision and will probably continue with it without falling off the wagon. However, sometimes I still feel tempted to order just once, mostly because a couple of favourite authors’ books or some amazing merch would happen to be a part of the line-up. That is when I need to keep reminding myself of these points. It’s been two months since I ordered any new box, and I hope I continue to stick to my self-imposed ban.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever opted for subscription boxes? If yes, what do you love about them? If not, why?

Let me know your experiences below!