New Subscription Box Alert! Yarnbox – Monthly Yarn Subscription Service

I had a pretty horrible experience with yarnbox. I got a 3mth luxe box as gift for friend, on the site it advertised free shipping (I have all the screenshots) but when the bill came, I noticed I was charged for shipping. When I politely inquired about it, they said it was a mistake, but I have to pay for shipping, or I could just cancel my order. The owner Michael also accused me of trying to take advantage, saying the they could not “let our customers capitalize on price mistakes and technical glitches”. (I just orderd >$200 worth of yarn.) I didn’t want to cancel on my friend’s gift, but I talked to her and she agreed that we cannot endorse this kind of behavior. In the end, I cancelled the order and asked for a refund. Micheal agreed and said he had refunded it, I waited a few days, nothing showed up on my credit card so I had to dispute it. Honestly, I great idea and I really wished it worked and I would have loved to support it, but this type of bad business ethics really sours my desire to do so.

I’ve gotten both of the Yarn Boxes to come out so far and absolutely love this subscription. The value is amazing and so is the yarn. First box had two gorgeous skeins that valued at $30 each. The second had three (full sized!) skeins, again, lovely yarn.
Yes there was a few issues with some yarn having chocolate melting on it but hey its a new company, they are learning from their mistakes. The owners are wonderful to talk to, and they are on Ravelry a lot, always answering questions. Very involved community there!

I Googled Yarnbox as I am afraid to hand over money to such a new company (and they have really been beat up on their Ravelry thread for screwing up their first box – melted chocolate all over yarn) and I found this description Yarnbox gave to a webdesiger of who their target market is, which totally turned me off (I pasted the link below):
“Describe the target audience for your website design Knitters! Knitters are passionate about their hobby. They pour their entire lives into the craft. They spend as much time on knitting as you do working on art…maybe more. They knit at night, in the morning, at business meetings at work, in the car. Knitters love yarn.
Knitting takes 10 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. There are a few different types of knitters.
The casual knitter. This knitter picks up yarn to begin a project one to three times a year. They typically visit a big box store and buy cheap stuff – OR they visit a local yarn store and ask the owner to figure out a project for them. This is not our target audience.
The emotional knitter. This knitter buys yarn when they feel blue. Like an alcoholic having a bad day, this knitter will buy yarn just to feel better about life. They love color, the feel of yarn, and the possibilities of what that yarn can create. They shop at yarn stores at least once or twice a month, possibly more. They mill around the store until something speaks to them. The yarn they buy ends up on a shelf at home. This is called “stash” and they probably have a closet full…maybe more. This is definitely our target audience.
The avid knitter. This knitter can finish 12 sweaters in a year and still have time for other small projects. They constantly have 6 projects going at once. They are talented and educated about fiber. When they shop they have a good idea what they are looking for ahead of time. This is also our target audience.”

I followed a link from Yarnbox’s Twitter account to this site. I had no idea you could get subscriptions for lots of things! I am going to hit my back button as soon as I finish this post!

Pricing is$39 month to month, $36/month for a 3 month subscription, and $33/month for a 6 month subscription. ( http://www.yarnbox.com/how-yarnbox-works/ ) You have to pay up front for the 3 and 6 month subscription.

I am pretty excited and have already been saving up my pennies!