Looking for awesome "of the month" clubs

July 20, 2012 9:50 AM

What are some awesome/offbeat/unexpected "of the month" clubs?

For my birthday my brother signed me up for a sunglasses of the month club and it might be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Every month they send me some sunglasses at random, stuff I'd never pick for myself, and they are (so far) always hilariously awesome. I love getting something in the mail, something relatively small that doesn't clutter up my home and also that I can share with people. I especially love that it gives me something to which to look forward; this is very important for me.


With this in mind, what are some other "of the month" clubs I could join or get for friends that are awesome and not ludicrously expensive? I don't want anything with food or alcohol (no wine, beer, cheese, chocolate, fruit, veggies -- nothing with calories no matter how great it is). I'm also not looking for anything that requires me to give a size (clothes) although accessories would be fine. Something like umbrellas would be awesome. Basically anything neat, fairly small, pretty inexpensive, and varied enough to be an exciting surprise for which I can sign up on a monthly basis. Thanks!

posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl to grab bag (26 answers total)

One of the new ecommerce rages is "curated monthly boxes." You sign up, pay $X per month and you get a box of stuff "hand selected" that conforms to some theme.

This thread has quite a few listed.
posted by Jacob G at 9:52 AM on July 20, 2012 [4 favorites]

Birchbox does this for cosmetics and other random "stuff."
posted by schmod at 9:52 AM on July 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

Seconding Birchbox - I actually got a subscription for my best friend, and it's even more fun when you can compare boxes, which are sometimes the same and sometimes different.
posted by needlegrrl at 9:55 AM on July 20, 2012

Not Another Bill sends out surprise packages monthly, for £15 internationally and £10 in the UK.

If I had more space I'd sunbscrinbe to Stack Magazines, who do a similar thing but with English language magazines.
posted by mippy at 9:56 AM on July 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Pencils/office supplies/stationery of the month, from Rad and Hungry. Each month has a set of different desky stuff from a different country, with an eye towards the aesthetically pleasing. I want this so bad.
posted by felix grundy at 10:06 AM on July 20, 2012 [9 favorites]

The Regional Assembly of Text (Vancouver, BC print and stationery shop) has two "of-the-month" clubs: Button a Month and Little Book a Month. I received a book subscription one year for Christmas, and it was cool to get a little chapbook in the mail every month!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:58 AM on July 20, 2012

I did some research on this for my girlfriend's birthday. She was already getting BirchBox and loved it, so I wanted something new but similar.

A lot of the boxes seem excessively expensive to me. Birchbox is $10 a month. But other services are $40 or $50 a month for random stuff, and that's a little much. I did sign up for samplrs for $30 a month, which is full size small-batch gourmet food products. The first box we got was nice but still $30 is a lot, so we will see.

I also signed up for Papirmasse, which is $5 a month for a random art print. This is pretty fun but a lot of the art is not to my taste.
posted by smackfu at 11:32 AM on July 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you're into arts & crafts, there's Whimsey Box for $25/month.
posted by tinymegalo at 12:20 PM on July 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thanks everyone! I can't get all of these because I am not fantastically wealthy but I really appreciate the suggestions. I would love to hear more!

If I can convince Mr. Pterodactyl that it is somehow an "investment" I will definitely sign up for the Whimsey Box, I love random crafty stuff, especially when it's well organized in attractive boxes. Perhaps it is an investment in keeping me out of the craft store, that should be worth at LEAST $25/month.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:33 PM on July 20, 2012

I bought a button of the month club for a friend when she moved to London from Vancouver a few years ago, to remind her of home. She reported monthly delight. They also have wee books of the month club.
posted by looli at 12:51 PM on July 20, 2012

Oh, crap. How did I miss it had already been posted?
posted by looli at 12:52 PM on July 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Tonx is a small batch coffee roaster who offers a subscription service. Their beans are tops!
posted by brand-gnu at 1:00 PM on July 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

My roommate receives a new pair of stunner shades every month through this website.
posted by hefeweizen at 1:05 PM on July 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

hefeweizen, that's what my brother got me! IT IS SO FANTASTIC! My only problem is that now I spend all my time being like "when will my new sunglasses come? How awesome will they be? Will they be awesome enough?" and the answer is always yes.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:18 PM on July 20, 2012

I love the petite stationary crate from lost crates for $25 a month. You can also browse their other crates such as the foodie or random houseware ones (that are more expensive).
posted by bodyofproof at 2:29 PM on July 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm a member of Belle Blossoms Blossom of the Month club and I love it. I probably only keep about half the flowers (I prefer tropical flowers to things like roses) but it's well worth it for me just because it's so fun. I pretty much forget I'm a member every month until the package arrives.
posted by Brittanie at 3:35 PM on July 20, 2012

Late to the party, but LOOK what I found: comprehensive, specified list of subscriptions for everything from cosmetics to eco-friendly products to food to kids/parenting products to art to crafts to books and magazines to... Best of all, list includes organizations specified according to where they ship. Yes! Europe, UK, Australia and Canada unite!
posted by likeso at 3:54 PM on July 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Coffee doesn't really have calories if you drink it black

• Craft Coffee
• Tonx
• MistoBox
• lots of individual roasters offer subscriptions

I don't think you have to give Sock Panda a size (although you can choose between men's and women's, as well as "bold" and "cool"), $9/month.
posted by cybertaur1 at 6:51 PM on July 20, 2012

Umba Box has monthly etsy-esque crafts every month. I've gotten a bracelet, a necklace, candy, soap, a little notepad, a purse, a magnet, and some other miscellaneous stuff every month.
posted by lilac girl at 7:37 PM on July 20, 2012

I've been kinda wanting to sign up for Dive bar shirt club.
posted by annsunny at 10:51 PM on July 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

Pocket square of the every other month club by Put This On, Jesse Thorn's men's fashion blog. Been thinking about it.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:28 AM on July 21, 2012

I'm loving this thread! I had a Birchbox sub but I cancelled it. I wanted costmetics/skincare samples but the stuff they sent was often kind of strange. Haircare I'd never heard of, a Kind bar (which, to be fair was delicious), and one time, laundry detergent. I cancelled right after the laundry detergent. I mean, I was like, WTF???

A similar service which I've never tried is Glossybox.


Think I might try the socks or sunglasses for myself, and then give some subs as gifts if I like them!
posted by Groovymomma at 9:34 AM on July 22, 2012

Dollar shave club - http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/
posted by amitai at 7:00 PM on July 22, 2012

Pickle of the Month and Nebraska of the Month are only two of the many offers from MonthClub.com.
posted by 23 at 1:17 AM on July 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

You can sorta subscribe to bloggers here.
posted by mattbucher at 11:59 AM on July 23, 2012

Bespoke Post has a monthly giftbox for 'gentlemen' that usually looks pretty awesome, even if you're not a gentleman. There's also good & lovely for the ladies. I know you're not looking for kid stuff, but there are some cool ones just in case: Babbabox, little pnuts, wittlebee, kiwicrate, and citruslane.
posted by logic vs love at 5:20 PM on July 23, 2012