Survey Time! Are You Interested in Product Reviews on MSA?

I agree with most of the others. No product reviews please. This site has been a part of my life for so many years. I can’t put my finger on what has sadly changed. It just doesn’t feel personal, not like family to me like it used to. Other than Luna’s amazing insight that is!

I just came to the MSA site this morning to read about the new Target box released this morning and there is nothing. I usually receive an email about it. I went to Target’s website and there is a new box called Nailed It! which has a nail care theme. I enjoy reading comments on these boxes before purchasing. MSA, please, please, please stay with sub boxes reviews only.

I used to be on this site multiple times a day, now I may pop-in a couple times a week. It can take over a month to see a review of a box I’m interested in and by that time all the excitement is already gone. Typically I scroll through, See the same few boxes multiple times and don’t click on anything. When I do bother to look at something anymore, I’ll look at the review to see the items and the comments for the actual review.
I also think if a box is having massive trouble with shipments ther shouldn’t be anymore promotion of the box. It’s one thing to be a couple weeks late, but another to go months without a shipment. I thinks it’s dishonest to promote something you know is unlikely for people to actually receive. It’s part of the reason MSA has lost its appeal for me.
On the other hand I’m spending a lot less on sub boxes.

I don’t really trust the reviews on MSA. While I Would want to see more product reviews, I wouldn’t want them to be through MSA’s usual ingratiating filter. I come here for spoilers mostly, but damn, a glowing review means it’s average and the slightest grade below that means BAD. The real review/discussion will be in the comments anyway.

Spoilers for Bombay and Cedar were put up yesterday on the other box site, which MSA apparently won’t let me name here. Customization is open for the first spoiler.

I agree with a lot of these comments. Spoilers, box information, and box reviews are the reason I visit the site. I am not really into product reviews as I can read them on many other sites. There haven’t been as many spoilers lately. There are many boxes out there that aren’t being posted about. I would rather see more spoilers and a wider variety of boxes.

Glad to see so many people in agreement. I discovered (and became addicted to sub boxes 7 years ago) due to MSA. It has become more commercial and less personal. I realize they need to make money but there seems to be favoritism to the larger boxes with the highest values (which means nothing to me if they are over priced or not something I’d use.)

I desperately still miss the camaraderie of the forum and a place to ask questions. I also miss the swaps and am starting to get a pile of items to list. It does not require going to the post office to mail a swap, you can print postage and get pick up at home. Online ordering is at an all time high right now due to quarantines, people are getting sub boxes with no place to swap.

I miss when MSA was smaller and more personal. I would not like weeding through product reviews. If I want a product review I go to amazon. I still go to MSA daily to read reviews but it’s not as exciting and I’ve noticed a lot less comments, so it seems without the swaps there are a lot less people going to the site.

Go back to your roots and focus on what MSA does best, no to product reviews. And if you decide to do them, please keep them separate from sub box reviews.

Sure! I’ve cancelled all but one of my subs because, after a year it’s just too much stuff lol. But it’d be interesting to read reviews of some of the stuff you see advertised on IG or wherever.

Stop with the non sub box stuff. If Sephora has new favorites people will find it on their own. If Birchbox has new gift with purchase people will figure it out. I don’t need to see reviews for Sephora favorites or Birchbox kits. This site is called my subscription addiction but more than half the content is non subscription stuff. People can find tons of makeup tutorials or fashion shows elsewhere.

I also want to add that this site absolutely needs to stop accepting free boxes. It really makes me doubt anything you say. When I see a glowing review for a box that is laughable it makes me think how would the review be if they had paid for it. And seeing a review that says the reviewer believes it’s worth it when they haven’t actually paid for it makes you lose all credibility.

This is still my favorite site, but lately I’ve noticed spoilers and reviews posted much earlier on other sites.

I would love to see more reviews of new boxes, especially home decor and lifestyle boxes. Also more timely and consistent reviews on existing boxes would be appreciated too.

I can find product reviews elsewhere, so I would prefer to read timely spoilers here.

Thanks to the MSA entire staff for all their hard work and for asking for reader input ❤️

I think you should bring the forum back, I can honestly say the number of boxes I get without splits and the community have gone down.

Is there a date for swaps to reopen ?

I agree with what many of you guys have already said. I come here mainly to find out the latest deals and look at spoilers. I love reading reviews here and everyones comments. I have noticed how I see spoilers/deals posted on other sites before MSA and that reviews seem to be coming out later. I would think priority would be trying to make MSA the place to get the news first. Also – nothing is more annoying than reading a review for a box no longer available and wanting to buy it after reading the review, but unable to. I totally get there’s nothing that can be done if it’s not received in time though.

I understand money has to come from somewhere to keep this site in business and I’m guessing it comes from when people buy through your links. It makes sense to me that you want to release the news first so people click through on THIS website instead of finding out about it through reddit or instagram and then just going to the website on their own to purchase. Anyways, I vote just stick to box-related stuff.

Oh and I agree with what some people have said wanting “less sugar-coating” in reviews, but not trashing products so you don’t make people feel bad who really did like the product. That’s probably why I value the comments here so much too.

Again, love everything you guys are doing and am appreciative to have you! I read the site daily and am even excited when I come back from vacay to have catching up reading to do here 🙂

This entire site has now gone downhill. Liz needs to jump back in and create an MSA seasonal or monthly box. I will prepay a year without any spoilers. I am now for the first time looking at other sub box sites. Don’t get me wrong, LOVE everybody here but it’s just not the same.

So…..how does one become a part of the MSA Team? Is there an application process that includes a full review of a box one already receives (not for publishing but as a sample of writing/review style)? I would love the information; you guys rock!!!

Thank you so much!!!
~Diane~

NO separate product or services reviews please! Despite Liz’s departure from MSA, the original mission of the company, subscription box reviews, should remain the focus. And as many others have pointed out, the timeliness of reviews has really fallen off. Why would MSA even consider doing any other types of reviews when they aren’t even promptly posting box reviews?? Just no.

Not interested in reviews I can get anywhere, especially with more precise testing. I come here for sub boxes – that’s what distinguishes you.

Absolutely agree with: more diverse reviewers, Ragan is awesome, more varied boxes!

Too many beauty boxes. Maybe they could be varied over the months, ie: not every box every month. So many other sites review beauty products.

Would love more game/puzzle boxes, garden boxes, sports, home, really anything other than beauty and fashion.

The reviews do seem to be later and later for some boxes. For example, I had my May Barkbox for several days before the April Barkbox review was posted. And this tends to be the pattern, not a one off situation. There seem to be just a few reviewers doing the vast majority of the reviews right now and that leads to a lot of the reviews being delayed and sounding the same (ie cheery and not critical… I don’t expect reviewers to tear apart items, but at least be honest in pointing out the obvious flaws and false claims like Ragan does!). Diversify your staff and get more opinions from people who are different (more males, a range of ages and backgrounds). At times, MSA has done this well by having Hispanic, black, and Asian reviewers. Now the only diversity we get is in hair color/texture and skin tone (very pale to light is the range, aside from ONE reviewer).

Further, the two primary reviewers honestly seem to be converging into one person. They work together, go to school together, and their reviews sound identical. I’ve been reading MSA for at least 7 years, probably longer but I don’t want to overestimate, and used to play a fun game with myself where I would skip the name at the top and just read the review. While reading, I would try to guess who the reviewer was. I was right the vast majority of the time because the writers had such unique styles and voices and factors they brought to the table! That has been next to impossible to do for the last few years because they all sound the same, except, once again for Ragan’s reviews, which still carry her trademark wit, sarcasm, and facts from her whip smart scientist brain.

What I dont understand is why is their a survey for product reviews when the site needs improvement on the reviews. There are to many reviews that are a month or two late. I have no desire to see a review on a box 2 months later.

I used to love going on msa. I dont any more. I would read reviews see spoilers then get the current box.

The swap portion is what made this site unique. Now that’s ob pause mode. Which basically makes this site no different and worse then other sites that have current box reviews not from boxes a few months ago

I agree with some of the other comments on the bigger boxes the reviews seem more positive if the boxes are sent for review. All boxes should be reviewed equally. Some of the smaller boxes are critiqued by value instead of quality. I a makeup product is awful or if jewelry leaves rust stains those are things that need to mentioned.

The forum had great potential yet needed more beta testing before it was live. Gradually allowing more and more people on.

Back to the swap aspect … I would even consider paying a $5 membership fee a month to get back on swaps. That’s how much I miss swaps

If swaps dont come back up. Please consider seasonal exchanges on the main site. I like so many others have a lot of swap stuff to get rid of and would rather swap it or do a random exchange verses selling the items on Ebay .

If this site starts doing reviews with product links maybe the name of the site needs to be changed. To something other then subscription addition.

I’ve thought more about this. I use this site daily and love it. Could you expand to reviews on Instagram products? Bleusalt for example is something IG keeps showing me and I cannot find reviews on the longevity of their products. Perhaps keep it in a separate section of the site?

I’m not interested in reviews of non-sub items. But I would appreciate a more honest critique in the box reviews that are currently done. Also, there are lots of lifestyle boxes that are not reviewed here. I would love to see more non makeup/ skincare/ fashion boxes. For example Decocrate or other home item boxes.

I agree with a lot of the other commenters here that subscription boxes are why I use this site and I can get my product reviews elsewhere. I would really love to see a renewed focus on subscription boxes – I’m starting to see more and more posts pop up that aren’t related to subscription boxes (i.e. Universal Standard sales – I know they have had one time boxes, but they aren’t a subscription box, they’re just a regular clothing company, so why are you posting about their site sales that have nothing to do with boxes?). I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of boxes that used to be reviewed that aren’t any longer, and the overall number of reviewers on the site seems to have dwindled (or maybe it just feels that way because a lot of the regular reviewers I remember aren’t reviewing as much as they used to or seem to have disappeared altogether).

I also know that there are some really unique and cool looking subscriptions that are constantly coming out, especially on Cratejoy. I would love to see some of these reviewed here instead of just the more mainstream boxes! I have so many boxes that I’ve already subscribed to and tired of after several months, so it would be great to see some fresh new boxes on here. I’m always hesitant to subscribe to the boxes on Cratejoy without seeing a review.

And as always, thanks for everything you do and for taking feedback from your viewers/users!

Of course I remember the negative Walmart review. It was great, and Walmart deserved it. Sometimes you just have to let commenters argue it out. Anyone who wants to discuss $1 items, pro or con, isn’t a commenter I want anyway.

There is no way that MSA reviewers like so many beauty items. Please help us believe in more, by telling the truth more! Authenticity! It’s especially troublesome in the Finale Breakdown, where it always says:
But if you consider the variety…
I liked the curation theme…
The value isn’t that high, but it’s worth it to me to get a box in the mail…

Just spit it out! Not a good box!!

I don’t need product reviews (I only read beauty boxes here anyway), but what would be great is if your Search box was much improved. We can find boxes, but never individual products. If I saw that palette or whatever reviewed, I often can’t remember what box it was in, especially months ago, and I would want to read that to consider another box!

I also miss the forum – someone said it was negative, but not at all. Great to get advice there…now I’m turning to reddit.

First let me just say I love MSA and every reviewer on here. Truly, madly, deeply. I come to this site multiple times a day. You all are my favorite. But as some others have mentioned, unless there is going to be a large increase in staff it feels like maybe adding to the plate right now is not the best idea. I also feel that I go to other sites for reviews of products and come here for a specific need which is subscription box spoilers, announcements, reviews, etc. As others have said sometimes when boxes are reviewed they are late or feel not super thorough. So I would prefer more attention paid to things like that.

I also get a weird feeling thinking about reviews on here. I feel like MSA already refuses to say anything even a tiny bit negative about products so I would feel like I didn’t really get a true review. And it also feels like it would just be for revenue. Because MSA is a very specific site. And that’s why I come here. So this feels like heading in a different direction.

In my opinion, there are a ton of ways to stick to subscription box reviews but still spice things up on MSA. Reviewers over 50, male reviewers, or reviewers of color could all enhance MSA without changing the core of what it is which is a subscription box site.

I hope none of this is taken as criticism. It’s not meant that way at all. I just love MSA and would hate for it to lose its specialness. Thanks for the opportunity to give our opinions!

If you guys need to start asking about doing anything you can to fill space it’s time to admit defeat and end this site while you’re still ahead. Don’t be like a tv show that can’t bring themselves to end on a high note and waits until they have no viewers left. I think it’s time.