Send Me Gluten Free

I’ll admit it…. I’m a Subscription Box addict.  I really LOVE getting things in the mail.  Just ask our mail-carrier… I don’t think he likes me….. but the UPS and FedEx guys are nice.

You may remember me talking about the Find Me Gluten Free App.  It is an absolute MUST for the Gluten Free traveler.  This app has been a life saver during some of our travels… the reviews are from other GF people.  You don’t just have to take the restaurant’s word for the fact that they are GF.  Real people, who have already eaten the food can tell you if it was good and if they got sick or not.  We offer ourselves up as guinea pigs…. sad but true.

I got an email from Find Me Gluten Free a while back… they were starting a subscription box service…. Send Me Gluten Free. Oh, dear.  How could I resist?!  A subscription box… of FOOD!  Food that wouldn’t make me sick!  (Nature Box has a GF option now too… so tempted.) I held out for a while, but recently Pamela’s Products had a promo code for 20% off a subscription (which is a fairly healthy chunk if you go for the year-long subscription) and I couldn’t resist any longer.

My first box arrived during a snow storm… along with several boxes from Amazon… which may have something to do with why my mail carrier doesn’t like me so much….  (March Box Review – COMING SOON)

“It’s time to try something new.”  Yes!

According to their FAQ’s

“Each month we will send you 8-12 new gluten-free products to try that will include at least 1 full-sized item. You’ll get full-size and sample size food, personal care items, supplements and household products that support your gluten-free lifestyle.”

Likes & Dislikes So Far: 

Likes:

• Yummy Food that doesn’t kill me…  Yay!
• Discovering new products and not paying a ton.  For $16 a month (with my 20% off) I get 8-12 new new products to try.  Anyone who has been living GF knows the disappointment of spending $10 or more on a new GF product that tastes awful.  With SMGF I get to try several products… at least a few should be good.
• Something fun to look forward to each month!

Dislikes:

Submitting Reviews – Unlike with Birchbox, if you want to submit a review of the box or a product, you have to go to their site, fill out an application and submit your blog post or video review.  So if you don’t have a blog or YouTube you don’t get to do a review.  You also don’t earn anything for your reviews… With Birchbox you earn points for your product reviews that you can use to purchase products in the Birchbox store.

UPDATE:  Okay, apparently I misunderstood their review thingie.  You’re not submitting your review of their box… you’re asking them to send you a box to review and submitting your reviews of other boxes as an example of your work.  Oops.  

No Store – You can’t buy the products from SMGF… you have to find them in a store or online…. which isn’t the end of the world, but it is nice to be able to just reorder the product directly from Birchbox.

Refer a Friend – Again, not the end of the world, but it would be nice to get a bit of credit for sending new subscribers to SMGF. With Birchbox (I know, I know… I really like their program though.) you get a personal referral code and you earn 50 points to use in the BB store when someone uses your code to subscribe.  With SMGF you have to sign up with a third-party (Share-A-Sale) to become an affiliate.  And they have to review your site and…. I dunno… it just feels like I have to audition to help sell their box….. Come on people…. make it easy!

All in all, so far I am enjoying the Send Me Gluten Free subscription box.  I’ve already found a couple itms that I’ll add to my shopping list (March Review).  SMGF is a new subscription service so hopefully they will improve their review and referral programs as they progress.