Bargain Bead Box Subscription Review – June 2017

Bargain Bead Box is a monthly subscription promising over $40 worth of quality jewelry-making supplies every month.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Bargain Bead Box

The Cost: $15.95 a month

The Products: Designer quality beads in materials ranging from crystal to glass to semi-precious gemstones, plus metal beads and findings. Bargain Bead Box does not send any plastic beads or seed beads.

Ships to: U.S. (free), Canada for $7.50

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There was a letter in the box with some more information on the theme (“Mermaid Lagoon”). The back contained a list of the month’s beads.

A note on prices: Items like this can come from a variety of different suppliers at many price points depending on how many you buy, etc. I couldn’t find a lot of these exact beads from common sources (e.g., Fire Mountain Gems) and it’s of questionable value to pick something similar because a slight difference in grading or size or material and you are looking at half or double the price (or an even greater difference). Even different colors of the same size and shape of glass beads are priced differently due to materials needed to make the colors!

11.5” Strand 6 mm Glass Round Beads, Blue Jade Finish

I have a pattern I want to make that calls for 6 mm rounds (well, 6 mm glass pearls, but I can use whatever I want in this size and it will work). I think these will look nice with the other beads I have selected to go in that pattern.

28 mm Anchor Pendant

There are usually a few centerpieces in Bargain Bead Box. I like that this one is a little smaller than usual for them since my preference is for delicate jewelry. I also like that the metal tone of the charms and findings you get always matches!

4 piece 16 mm Shell Charms

4 piece 16 mm Starfish Charms

There were quite a lot of charms this month. But that is just fine with me. These are both small enough to use as part of a charm bracelet if you want, or even earrings (just don’t add too much more to the clam shells or they might get too heavy).

2 Sets Tropical Blossom Toggle Clasps

You will always get clasps with this subscription, usually more than one. I like that these are decorative but still delicate. I used one in a necklace where the clasp shows in front (because why not show that off?).

Freshwater Shell Go Go Pendant

This is pretty big and bold. I think it will go nicely with some small heishi shaped shell or wood beads to balance out its size.

4 piece Imitation Turquoise Starfish Beads

These provide a nice thematic fit but color contrast with the starfish charms up above. They are pretty lightweight and could be used in earrings easily.

4 Piece 25 x 22 Mermaid Charms

These are right on the charm/pendant borderline for me in terms of size. I did use one in a necklace but have a few left over. I might try to add color to one of them (you can paint with nail polish or several other products on metal) to see what it looks like.

6 x 4 mm Seafoam Chinese Crystal Rondelle Beads

There are lots of these and they are a pretty color that will go with a lot of other beads in my collection. They are the same color as some sea glass I bought last year and I will probably try to use the sea glass and these in a piece together.

2 piece 12 x 9 mm Handmade Lampwork Rondelle Beads

I’m collecting pairs of lampwork glass beads for a project I have in mind for the future. Most of mine are blue so far, but these have blue in them, so they are being diverted to the future project storage box with the others.

6 grams of 7.2 x 12 mm Fancy Cone Bead Caps

You will often get bead caps with this subscription. These are a little different than the shapes we usually receive. They could also be used at the ends of multi-strand necklaces to hide where you gather the strands together.

75 x 32 mm Mermaid Pendant

I kind of want to figure out a way to hook both sides of this to a necklace instead of just having it hang down. I guess I can always punch a hole or something (I have a variety of metal hole punches).

15” Strand 8-10 mm Pink Shell Chips

These are fun and there are quite a lot of them. I am not sure what to do with them yet but they are giving off a summery, beachy vibe that I really like.

15.7” strand 6 mm Round High Polished Freshwater Shell Beads

I used a lot of these. I don’t know that I would’ve guessed what they were made from without the list of items provided with the box. They are nice quality and would work well in a lot of different designs.

13.7” strand Freshwater Pearl Rice Beads

These are real pearls, although not the highest grade. They are quite irregularly shaped. The holes are rather large (I originally hoped to do knotting between each pearl, but that was not possible using silk of the thickness I had available).  I did use them for my final piece and I think they add an organic feel to it.

10 piece 9.5 mm Shell Beads

4 piece 23 mm Seahorse Charms

More antique brass finished beads and charms here. (I actually made some of the shells into charms by adding headpins.) I still have quite a few charms from this package left over after making one necklace so I am trying to figure out how to make a cool charm bracelet without weighing down my wrist with 5 pounds of metal. Because I really like all the charms this month!

Here is a necklace I made with the pearls and some of the shell beads, as well as the clasp and some of the charms.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bargain Bead Box, as explained above. I definitely feel that I got a value that greatly exceeded the cost of the subscription; the information letter said the total retail value was $51 and I can believe that. If you divide the cost of the subscription by the number of items, you get under $1 per item, which I think is a very good deal. I especially liked all the charms this month, too.

Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, etc.

What did you think of the June 2017 Bargain Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?