I've always been curious about subscription boxes like this, so I decided to look into "My Geek Box" a bit further. I always toyed with the idea of trying it out, but while I saw lots of cool posts on their social media pages full of great looking products, I also saw some comments from unhappy customers.
On Cyber Monday though I saw an opportunity to try out one of their boxes for a small price. £3 for a My Geek Box Lite with free delivery. Awesome!
I went onto their website to make the purchase, using the special offer, and to see if I could get a one-off box.
I thought I could. I found the subscription option a little confusing. I don't know if other people have thought the same as me.
I thought that 1 month subscription was a weird way of saying "1 box", then 3 month subscription was "1 box per month for 3 consecutive months"
It turns out I was wrong and that 1 Month Subscription actually means payment each month. Oh well.
I placed my order and waited. I didn't receive any confirmation emails. After a week and a half I hadn't heard anything so I sent them a Facebook message. They informed me of the type of subscription I had ordered and that it was due to be sent on the 15th December, and also that I can cancel my subscription once I had received a despatch email.
So I waited a little longer.
Two weeks later I messaged them again asking how long shipping usually takes and if my box was sent on time. They confirmed it was shipped on the 17th. Two days after they said, so not too bad.
I still hadn't received any confirmation emails. Maybe they went to junk, but I managed to retrieve their newsletter from junk and that comes through now. I told them that I only wanted the one box and they arranged a cancellation for me, so hopefully the next payment won't come out.
Well my box turned up...YEY! Not too bad, considering some of the comments I had seen. I half expected to be waiting months. I'm wondering if the people that complained maybe thought that the boxes get sent as soon as you pay. I'd be very interested to know their stories.
The box itself was larger than I expected, but I guess it depends on how big the actual products are inside. I had it in my mind that I'd be getting a box that fits through the letter box, for the price I paid and because of it being a "Lite" box. I just assumed very small items like stickers, keyrings, maybe a comic.
For me, seeing that Marvel logo as soon as I opened it led to a big grin. I'm a big Marvel fan!
I got a Marvel Venom Mug, a Yoshi collectable figure and a Harry Potter bag tag thingy. Not bad. I only paid £3 for all that, so to me that is a definite win!
Having looked around online, the mug alone sells for anything between £6 and £13, so that's a cool item to receive.
So Is It Worth It?
Well for the price I paid, definitely!
The normal subscription price for the My Geek Box Lite is around £9.99, so even if I had paid the full price, it would still be quite good value.
As I only ordered the one box, I haven't had the full experience so can't give a definite yes or no to those of you who are considering signing up.
All I can say is that they seem to have cool products in the box. Usually a main product and a few smaller trinkets, and I didn't have any major issues with the company. They were polite and friendly.
If I had a bigger house and wasn't trying to be more sensible with my money, I'd probably sign up for a larger box subscription. I really am a geek and love everything comic related!
A few tips:
• Remember that you will get charged every month automatically until you ask to cancel.
• Whether it's a "1 month subscription" or a "12 month subscription" you are signing up to receive a box every month, until you say stop. I still think they should change the wording of that.
• The boxes are quite big so have a safe place to get it delivered if you won't be at home
So My Geek Box was good to test. I now know more (and got a cool mug) but my suggestions to them are to change the wording for the subscription options, to make their emails appear less spammy, so people might actually get their confirmation and despatch emails, and to just explain things a little more on their social media.