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You are here: Home / Beautiful Hair, Skin, and Makeup / How Does Birchbox Work

May 21, 2015 By Cassie 10 Comments

How Does Birchbox Work

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How Does Birchbox Work

A question/request that I get a lot is to explain just how Birchbox works. In every Birchbox Unboxing I make to mention that you can get 4-5 beauty samples for $10/month. However, when I do my Birchbox Hauls I mention things like points and it can be a bit a confusing. Today I’m answering that “How Does Birchbox Work” question. Complete with Birchbox Plus and Sample Choice!

Subscribing

How Does Birchbox Work Step 1

If you’re not using a referral link and you’re interested in subscribing to Birchbox you’re probably going to start out on the Birchbox website. The first thing you’re going to look for is that button there at the top that says “Subscribe”. Don’t click it! Just hover over it.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 2

As you can see once you hover over “Subscribe”, you have two options the Women’s Box and the Men’s Box. I have never subscribed to the Men’s Birchbox Subscription so we’re not going to go into that today. Instead, we’re going to be focusing on the Women’s Subscription so under Women click “Get Box”

How Does Birchbox Work Step 3

Now you have a decision to make, month-by-month or a full-year. Before you decide I will tell you that Birchbox Points can NOT not be used to lower the cost of a subscription (more on points later) so don’t let that influence your decision. The month-by-month allows you the freedom to cancel at anytime, however, with the one-year you are essentially getting a free box for committing to them for a year. It’s up to you which you decide to do, I will say that for the longest time I was a month-by-month subscriber, which meant that every time I got a crappy box I unsubscribed for a month or so. The last time I came back I decided to bite the bullet and commit to the full-year and I’ve actually been pretty happy with that decision.

Before we move on I should mention that when you subscribe depends on what box you will get. I did not realize this when I resubscribed and wound-up with several boxes (and charges as I was a month-to-month until I could afford the upgrade) all together. I resubscribed at, I think, it was the beginning of the month so I wound up being charged for the previous month’s box on the first and then receiving it on the 14th, I then got charged for the current month’s box on the 15th and then received it around the 22nd, and I then got charge for the next month’s box on the first of that month and received it around the 15th (putting me back on the regular schedule). If you’re not prepared for that it can be a bit ticking off.

Profile

How Does Birchbox Work Step 4

Once your subscription starts you can go back to the Birchbox site and once you’re logged in the “Subscribe” button is now a “Your Box” button. Again, don’t click, just hover! As you can see there are multiple options here, if you’re just starting your subscription it may not look this detailed. However, there are two options I want you to notice the “This Month’s Box” and the “Update Your Profile”. We’re going to talk about the profile first but remember the “This Month’s Box” button because we’ll be discussing that in a few.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 5

This is my finished profile, but you can see the kind of questions you’ll answer when completing your profile. You’ll want to fill this out because while I won’t say that your boxes will 100% fit this, you stand a better chance of getting things you CAN use if you do complete it. It doesn’t take that long as there are only like three sections.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 6

If you fill out no other question in your profile you’ll want to make sure you get the one that I marked with a Green Arrow (ha!) in the photo above, especially if you’re not a huge fan of perfume samples. You have two options with this one “Anytime” and “No more than 6 times per year”. There are a few things to note with that second option, first that just because you “6 times per year” it doesn’t mean that you’ll get them every few months, they can send you six-in-a-row if they choose and they’re still fine, as long as they don’t send a 7th one (if they do just send an email to customer support and they’ll get it fixed for you). Secondly, I don’t believe that Sample Choices and Editor’s Boxes fall within this rule. So if you get 3 Editor’s Boxes in a row that have perfume in them, they can still send you six more.

Birchbox Points

How Does Birchbox Work Step 7

Remember when I told you to remember the “This Month’s Box” under “Your Box earlier? This is where you’re going to need that now. Once you’ve gotten your box and you’ve had a chance to try out the products you can review them for points that you can redeem for free products! Once you’ve hovered over “Your Box” and clicked on “This Month’s Box” you’ll see all the products that you received in that month’s box. Once you click on one you can see under the full-size product information a big button that says “Write Review”. Click on that.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 8

I’m not going to show you the full review because once you click on it the questions are all pretty self-explanatory. However, I do want to point out the section down at the bottom that says “Public Review”. Use to you would have to fill that part in to get your 10 points for reviewing that product, however, now you don’t have to. Once you finish the last multiple choice question you can just click submit and you’ll have 10 points. Go back to “This Month’s Box” and repeat the process for all the products.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 9

To redeem your points you’ll need to wait until you have multiples of 100 (i.e. 100 points is $10 to use in the store, 200 points is $20 to use in the store, but 170 is NOT $17 to use in the store). When you want to shop you just hover over “Women” when on the Birchbox site and click on a category you want to shop in. Once you find the products you want add them to your cart and then click Checkout. After you enter in your Billing and Shipping Information and your Shipping method of choice you’ll get to the Payment section and that is where you’ll cash in your points (not in the cart!). If your cart total is $20 but you only have $10 worth of points, it’ll take the $10 in points off and you’ll need to enter your card information for the remaining $10.

How Does Birchbox Work Step 10

Once you hit 500 points you’ve become an Ace! Ace comes with some great benefits (and some that I still haven’t figured out). Ace’s get free standard shipping on all orders with no minimum and free 2-day shipping with $100 order. Aces also get to choose their Birchbox Plus and Birchbox Sample Choices before non-Aces can. The other items mentioned in the picture above I have no clue about but it doesn’t cost me extra so I’m fine with it.

Birchbox Plus, Sample Choice, and Editor Boxes

How Does Birchbox Work Birchbox Plus

First let’s talk about Birchbox Plus. Birchbox Plus is an item that you can add-on to your monthly box for an additional cost. If you’re an Ace you’ll get an email around the 20th inviting you to choose an item, and if you’re not an Ace you’ll get it the next day, chose fast because these sell out FAST! The above picture is from January’s Birchbox Plus Selection. The socks were a $20 value that could be added on to your January box for an additional $15, the tumbler was an $18 value that could be added on to your January box for an additional $15, and the sweater was a $48 value that could be added on for an additional $29.

How Does Birchbox Work Sample Choice

Sample Choice and Editor’s Boxes are something new that Birchbox started doing, I believe, this year. For the Sample Choice selection you would choose one of the products for that month, if still available, and the other 3-4 items in your box would be completely random. As you can see for the month of March all of the options were hair care products.

How Does Birchbox Work Editor's Curated Box

The Editor’s Box, on the other hand, is a box of curated products by the guest editor for the month. What you see pictured with that month’s Editor’s Box is what you will get. Do note that you can only choose to do the Editor’s Box, Sample Choice, or neither. It doesn’t cost you any extra to participate in Sample Choice/Editor’s Box, however, if none of the things for that month are your cup of tea you can chose to just get a completely random box for the month.

I hope that covered most of the “How Does Birchbox Work” questions you may have had. If you have any that I did not address here feel free to leave them in the comments below!

About Cassie

I started Southeast by Midwest back in 2012 as a lifestyle blog. After a few months I felt a pull towards beauty so I rebranded as a beauty specific blog. Over the years I've grown my knowledge and love of beauty products to the point that I am currently in Cosmetology school. If you'd like to know more about me contact me on any of my social media channels or at southeastbymidwestblog@gmail.com

May Birchbox Unboxing
BeautyKind Haul

Comments

  1. Nancy says

    May 21, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    I really love all the beauty subscription boxes. I used to have a YouTube channel (well still do, just don’t upload) where I talked about all the monthly goodies I got from all the Canadian boxes at the time – which was a few years ago. I don’t think Birch Box was avail in Canada at that time, and I was always itching to try it out. Lucky me, I now live in the USA! Lol….

    Reply
  2. Melissa says

    May 21, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    This sounds like a fun way to get cool stuff! Getting 10 points to review the product sounds like it is just for me:) I love to talk about all of the products I love! I love the idea of getting a random box too, what a fun surprise!

    Reply
  3. Jeanine says

    May 21, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    Great to know! I wish I was more into make up because all your posts make me want to subscribe to all these great boxes! I love surprises in the mail and would LOVE to get a birchbox or two, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t use anything in the boxes (I know about the profile, but I’m just not that into make up). I am going to check it out though, sounds simple enough. I like the PLUS option, sounds like this box is better than a few others I’ve been keeping an eye on…. You may have convinced me. Now, do they ship to Canada? I will have to check and possibly order one. Can’t hurt, and I could use an excuse to pretty up!

    Reply
  4. Travis says

    May 21, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    This is a clear, well thought out guide to how Birchbox works. I appreciate you taking the time to explain all of the more complicated bits, especially the points system. I know a lot more people will subscribe to this box now that they have all of the facts.

    Reply
  5. Amanda says

    May 21, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    I have always been interested in Birch Box because I love sampling different products. I guess that means that I need to bit the bullet and try it out. I use Stitch Fix for myself and Kiwi Crate for my boys and we LOVE it. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  6. Cara (@StylishGeek) says

    May 21, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    Thank you for featuring How Birchbox works. I actually received a 3-month subscription to Birchbox, sent by my old college roomate. It was so cool to receive a beauty box every month. However, I did notice that I wasn’t keep on the full size stuff they gave. The samples were cool though. So I didn’t extend my subscription. Maybe I might consider them again.

    Reply
  7. Dina Demarest says

    May 21, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    This post was very helpful because I honestly have heard of Birchbox before but never really learned too much about how it works. I love getting samples of beauty products and for $10 a month it’s a great deal. Especially if you are getting 4 or 5 samples each month. I may subscribe now that I know more.

    Reply
  8. Nicci says

    May 22, 2015 at 12:33 am

    I’ve heard good things about BirchBox. I used Ipsy for awhile myself, and the two companies seem very similar. It was fun to get samples every month and try new products. Eventually I just had too many samples in my makeup drawer, so it was time to stop. Maybe next time I’ll give Birchbox a try.

    Reply
  9. lauriel says

    May 22, 2015 at 12:05 pm

    Birchbox really has developed an extensive range of box subscription options! I used to subscribe to it a few years back, when they first started. I loved the range of products and being introduced to new brands, but I found that I couldn’t keep up with the incoming volume, so I eventually stopped. I do think out of the beauty boxes that it’s the best, though! Great description of how it works, and customizable options. 🙂

    xo,
    lauriel of EyeForElegance.com

    Reply
  10. Modern Pilgrim says

    May 26, 2015 at 1:23 am

    People ask me this of all the time. You have it laid out really well in this post! I love Birchbox and I will continue to subscribe to it because I love trying new products!

    Reply

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Southeast by Midwest, your guide to all things beautiful. A primary focus on beautiful hair, skin, and makeup. Secondary focus on beautiful mind (books and information) and beautiful lifestyle (recipes, subscription boxes, and more)! Contact me at southeastbymidwestblog@gmail.com or check out the PR Info via the image below.

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Support Southeast by Midwest

Southeast by Midwest is dedicated to bringing you truthful, unbiased opinions on some of the most popular makeup products and brands today. As Southeast by Midwest is not on most PR lists, if you would like to help support our efforts by clicking through these links when you shop at these stores it would be greatly appreciated. Shopping via these links doesn't cost you anything extra; just a percentage of your total will be shared with Southeast by Midwest to go towards purchasing new products!
Sigma Beauty Sephora Ulta Beauty Nordstrom Birchbox Too Faced BH Cosmetics Bloomingdales Charlotte Tilbury Laura Geller Laura Mercier Marc Jacobs Beauty Saks Fifth Avenue Tatcha The Body Shop Walmart Amazon

Archives

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