subscription box

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Dec 6, 2013
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So recently I subscribed to a subscription box and I love it! Then i started thinking " Wouldn't it be awesome if theory11 came out with a subscription box?" I'm not sure if im the only one who has thought of this but i thing that it should happen. I know i would subscribe to it and im sure a lot of you guys would to. Let me know if you guys agree with me on this.
 
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Dec 6, 2013
3
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Open to ideas!
There are so many thing you guys could do, like decks of cards, shirts, magic tricks , stickers, bracelets, coupon codes, deals on items, and so much more! ☺i really hope you guys think about it. And thanks for replying
 
Jun 30, 2015
33
16
33
New York City
Open to ideas!
I work for a very large subscription box company. I thought about this idea a few months ago actually as well, but had no contacts to share with.

If anyone wants to to get in touch with me I would be more than happy to share more information about the type of viability this sort of business plan has.

Fun fact: My company featured Dan and Dave playing cards in the past. It wasn't a box item though. No one I work with knows about my double life as a magician. :)
 
Dec 6, 2013
3
1
Ummm....what is a subscription box?
A subscription box is basically where you pay a monthly fee and once a months you get a box in the mail filled with small little or big items. They have all kinds of them. They have ones for gamers, athletes, beauty, food, and so much more.
 

Bryant_Tsu

Elite Member
Perhaps an introductory box (for a one year subscription) you could receive a t-shirt, 3 decks, and a wristband, as well as some stickers and something extra (possibly gimmicks like break to test out, may encourage purchasing Break). From there on you could receive things like popular decks or unreleased decks one week early as well as your standard set of stickers. Once in a while you could get things like a Hofzinser card and during the Winter holidays a few could even receive autographed decks or a mystery bottle (during winter all decks could be wrapper in mystery box craft paper with the possibility of rarer decks like White Gold Monarchs in them). For a whole year a subscription could cost about $135-$150, with smaller increments going for $75-$80 for 6 months or $40-$50 for 3 months. For longer subscription periods prices could be around ~$250 for two years and ~$300 for three years.

Just spit-balling here...
 
Jun 3, 2015
128
47
36
Lake District, UK
A subscription box is basically where you pay a monthly fee and once a months you get a box in the mail filled with small little or big items. They have all kinds of them. They have ones for gamers, athletes, beauty, food, and so much more.
Thanks. So you pay a subscription without knowing what you're paying for, or is it a case of over the year you will get A, B, and C?
 
May 17, 2015
37
7
Well some of the box sites have it setup that you can pick the category the contents come from. I think that would be good, make it Magic, Mentalism, Cardistry, etc??? I also think adding in mandatory item for each pack would also be good, so for example every time you pick the cardistry box you get a deck of card + whatever else you throw in like cardistry dvd/download.
 
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Jun 30, 2015
33
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33
New York City
Here's how it would likely have to work.

So by comparison, the company I work for ships around 1,000,000 boxes a month. We've grown tremendously and have really disrupted the industry that we sample. We make a ton of different box types. So box 14 is different from box 67 and so on. We might send out 20,000 "Box 14" in a certain month, and maybe 26,000 the next month. Each month the boxes are different and are sent to different people based on the items they've gotten previously. Who wants to get repeated items!? Also, their interests are taken into consideration so someone who just signed up with interest x, y, and z and someone who signed up with interest a, b, and c would ultimately get somewhat different boxes every month.

Of course this is all do-able because our product pipeline is nearly infinite for the industry we're in. On the other hand, the magic industry product pipeline is more limited and to create enough buffer for industry churn there would probably have to be a good 2 year pipeline of monthly products before starting.

Plus roadblocks that would have to be taken into consideration:

What if you get something in your box you've already purchased?
What if you get something in your box that required prior knowledge, props or gimmicks?
What if you get something in your box that you simply don't like to perform, i.e. coins when you do cards?

There are two ways of doing box subscriptions. Every month, all subscribers get the same selection of products. Or, every month products are allocated based on a survey of interests/skill level/etc. I'd say the set selection is probably more doable.

Also, the idea behind many subscription boxes is to send samples to encourage full size product shopping. Well, it's very hard to send usable samples re: magic so the items would have to be full size and likely also new release items to ensure people aren't receiving things they have already gotten.

Care has to be taken that it doesn't turn into a "trick of the month club", because that really is no longer a subscription box. Each month should be a surprise as the multiple goodies you're getting in the mail.

Theres a lot to think about, but it's a big big business when done right. My company has grown tremendously and now our Manhattan office is huge, all the fun start up perks included. So it can be a success when done right!
 

Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
2,793
888
Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
I tried the Real Secrets subscription. Terrible. It's one thing to not want to use things, it's another thing when it's mostly junk. I would take great caution before jumping into another subscription box unless I had a very good idea what I was getting.
 
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Jun 3, 2015
128
47
36
Lake District, UK
I would take great caution before jumping into another subscription box unless I had a very good idea what I was getting.
This is pretty much what I was thinking. I know some people will find the element of surprise exciting, but personally I would rather know what I am getting for my money. Now, if it was a case of "you will get X, Y and Z, as well as a few surprises" then I may consider it if it makes sense financially and I was likely to at some point purchase the majority of the items, but if it is a case of possibly receiving anything from a store then I would probably pass on that.

Each to their own though.
 

Bryant_Tsu

Elite Member
This is pretty much what I was thinking. I know some people will find the element of surprise exciting, but personally I would rather know what I am getting for my money. Now, if it was a case of "you will get X, Y and Z, as well as a few surprises" then I may consider it if it makes sense financially and I was likely to at some point purchase the majority of the items, but if it is a case of possibly receiving anything from a store then I would probably pass on that.

Each to their own though.
How specific does if have to be? What if the box advertises (x) number of decks per month. At least you have a general idea of what you're getting. But I see your point, random items (plus shipping to UK) is asking a *bit* much.
 
Jun 30, 2015
33
16
33
New York City
The idea of most subscription boxes is "discovery", that you get a chance to try a big selection of new products (whether it's cosmetics/grooming/food/etc) with minimal financial risk.

Usually the products sourced are samples. Our company has manufacturers reach out to us, give us the samples for free and in return we provide back the metrics and feedback and they get to put their product in the hands of thousands of consumers. That's how our boxes are cheap, we make almost pure profit.

Perhaps a subscription box isn't the right format for magic. Changing directions, maybe a "Cards of the Month" club or something similar would be better. Cards are one of the most widely used and somewhat consumable items in magic. Getting a regular deck or few decks a month (like Dollar Shave Club does with razors) would probably appeal to a lot of people who buy cards anyway.

Also you can send these monthly packages with painfully slow flat rate shipping for cost saving measures, as long as they are received in a monthly cycle most people don't care.
 

Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
2,793
888
Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
I love (read love love love) surprises. The problem with real secrets was there was no way of reviewing content. Things like loot crate you have a pretty good idea what sort of things will be in a box even though each month is different items. Same with services like this lecture a month thing that other sites are doing. Great because you somewhat have an idea of what you are getting.
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
Here's how it would likely have to work.

So by comparison, the company I work for ships around 1,000,000 boxes a month. We've grown tremendously and have really disrupted the industry that we sample. We make a ton of different box types. So box 14 is different from box 67 and so on. We might send out 20,000 "Box 14" in a certain month, and maybe 26,000 the next month. Each month the boxes are different and are sent to different people based on the items they've gotten previously. Who wants to get repeated items!? Also, their interests are taken into consideration so someone who just signed up with interest x, y, and z and someone who signed up with interest a, b, and c would ultimately get somewhat different boxes every month.

Of course this is all do-able because our product pipeline is nearly infinite for the industry we're in. On the other hand, the magic industry product pipeline is more limited and to create enough buffer for industry churn there would probably have to be a good 2 year pipeline of monthly products before starting.

Plus roadblocks that would have to be taken into consideration:

What if you get something in your box you've already purchased?
What if you get something in your box that required prior knowledge, props or gimmicks?
What if you get something in your box that you simply don't like to perform, i.e. coins when you do cards?

There are two ways of doing box subscriptions. Every month, all subscribers get the same selection of products. Or, every month products are allocated based on a survey of interests/skill level/etc. I'd say the set selection is probably more doable.

Also, the idea behind many subscription boxes is to send samples to encourage full size product shopping. Well, it's very hard to send usable samples re: magic so the items would have to be full size and likely also new release items to ensure people aren't receiving things they have already gotten.

Care has to be taken that it doesn't turn into a "trick of the month club", because that really is no longer a subscription box. Each month should be a surprise as the multiple goodies you're getting in the mail.

Theres a lot to think about, but it's a big big business when done right. My company has grown tremendously and now our Manhattan office is huge, all the fun start up perks included. So it can be a success when done right!

Lots of great info in this post. LOVE it!
 
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