Subscription Box Review: Jan. 2014 Little Black Bag Review

Today I got my first shipment from Little Black Bag, so I wanted to share my very first experience and my first impressions in a subscription box review.

How It Works:

Little Black Bag is not like a lot of other subscription box services. Registration is free. When you sign up, you answer some very brief style questions and then they immediately give you a selection of accessories that you might like. That's an indication that no human stylist is picking out things for you, but I must say their computer algorithm did a great job selecting for me. I had a selection of shoes, purses and jewelry to choose from, but I could shop the entire site if I wanted. Apparently there are also cosmetics and home decor items in the collection but none showed up for me.

The way Little Black Bag works is that you pay $39.95 each month to be in the club. You can skip a month if you choose to. When the month starts, the take your $39.95 and put it into an account so that when you shop you have it available. As a member, all of the prices of the items on the site are discounted.

When you select an item from your gallery that their computer puts together for you, you have two options. You can buy it for the price listed or buy it as a set. When you choose a set, the price becomes $39.95 and then you are given two additional accessories that go with the item you purchased--in theory. So basically, every month you'll get one thing that you selected to buy and two accessories. You can buy more if you want as well.

After you are given your accessories, you're taken into a sort of chat room area where you can trade the two accessories that you were given with other women who want to trade. You don't have to talk to anyone. You just get offers and make your choice. If you love what you have, you can just checkout and be finished.

My Experience:

As  I said, I really liked the items they had selected for me. After debating for a short while I opted for these shoes:

I decided to go for the package deal. When I got into the chat room, I had a purple leather bracelet that they are now sold out of.  I also had these earrings:

I liked the earrings a lot and I think they're a pretty decent look to go with the shoes. They have them priced at $10. The purple leather bracelet was nice but I wanted to try out trading so I decided to go ahead and trade it. I had about 10 offers immediately. I ended up with a beaded necklace that is also now sold out on the site. I checked out and that was that.



The Products:

It took about 5 days for my package to arrive. This is the can't-miss-it box.

When I opened it and lifted up the paper, this is what I had waiting for me:

I dug right in and grabbed the earrings first. Here they are:

I am really surprised by how light they were. I thought they were going to be glass but they are plastic. They probably aren't worth $10, but considering that the accessories are pretty much free when you buy the bag, I'm glad to have these. They have a nice rubber stopper on the fish hooks, and they're big but since they're so light they won't pull down my ears or be annoying when they swing.


I actually investigated the shoes next because the pretty box had me so intrigued. I figured if the box that was nice, the shoes were going to be AMAAAAZING...

And they are.

These shoes from Poetic License have a red velvet fabric, peep toes, orange trim and an orange satin bow applique. The heels are 3 inches high, and they have black and purple gemstone brooches on the bows. I love these and I can see myself wearing them to add pop to a little black dress. These are definitely worth the $40 that I paid for the bag. I basically consider the other pieces in the set to be bonuses or freebies.

Then I turned to the necklace:

The necklace is multi-stranded with plastic beads in a nice range of colors. It's probably worth about $5 to $10. I like the colors a lot, and this is definitely something I'd wear, too. I probably would not have bought a piece like this on its own, so it's a fun addition to my jewelry box.

The Takeaway: My Little Black Box is fun if you like to shop. I would recommend it to anyone who would like to buy a new pair of shoes or a handbag every month. They have some really great brands in a range of tastes--Ivanka Trump, BCBG, LAMB, Badgley Mischka, Steve Madden, Chinese Laundry, Seychelles, Big Buddha, Olivia + Joy to name a few. Getting a piece from these brands for the price you get with the membership is a pretty sweet deal. My impressions of the bonus pieces are still out. They are definitely worth owning, but at this point, I'd say the real value comes from the item that you pick yourself.

 If you're pressed for time and you don't want to bother with trading or want a human to actually pick looks for you, this isn't the right subscription box.

Want to try Little Black Bag? If you register here, you'll get 25% off your first month. You can cancel any time you want, so if you're curious, do it with the discount and see what you think!

Not sure if the next post will be tomorrow or Thursday! So stay tuned!