Subscription services bring in recurring revenue streams that any business owner would be grateful to have, myself included. However, as a new business, I think it is important to offer one-time purchase options to my customers. If you are thinking about buying from me for the first time, you might be hesitant to subscribe on a month-to-month basis. Therefore, offering a one-time purchase option puts me in front of more customers as opposed to only offering a month-to-month option. Booster Crate sells Challenger Decks, Commander Decks, and 2-Player Starter Kits. Inked Gaming has several one-time purchase options. At Geek Box, you can buy our past and present monthly boxes (Questing Adventurer), our surplus boxes (Traveler’s Satchel), and other options that are soon to be announced.
As far as who offers what and for how much, I will discuss comparable options from least to most expensive. Exotic MTG charges $17.99 for their Mystery Loot Box which contains singles and packs. Collectible Card Club’s Magic The Gathering box comes with 5 packs and sells for $24.95. Geek Boxes Questing Adventurer costs $25; it comes with 3 set booster packs and 2 accessories. Inked Gaming’s Essentials box costs $30 which comes with packs and accessories. Mystery Cards & Games sells their Monthly Mystery Packs (3) for $36. Booster Crate’s self-titled box has 10 packs (+1 bonus) and sells for $39.95.
I am sure there may be plenty of competitors out there that offer semi-annual/annual savings. However, Collectible Card Club was the only competitor I found in my research. They charge $284.43 for an annual subscription. This works out to $23.70 a month, saving customers $1.25 a month. Geek Box has both semi-annual (Dungeon Crawler) and annual (Raid Team) options. I charge $125 semi-annually and $250 annually, which work out to a savings of over $25 and $50 dollars respectively. This also does not include the savings of the exclusive boxes, which I will cover more later.
When it comes to accessories, both Exotic MTG and Inked Gaming have something to offer. Exotic MTG has playmats and apparel. Inked Gaming, on the other hand, has just about every accessory you can think of. When I first imagined a Magic the Gathering subscription box, Inked Gaming was exactly what I pictured. I modeled Geek Box very similarly to Inked Gaming. In fact, coming soon, Geek Box will offer custom accessories (Deck Boxes, Card Sleeves, and Booster Packs), much like Inked Gaming.
There are a handful of options when it comes to exclusive items. Mystery MTG offers The Legendary Spice lord Crate for $120. This is a one time box and comes with items such as customized tumblers. Inked Gaming has a Treasure Chest Upgrade. They select 1/200 subscribers for a free upgrade worth $120. Geek box offers 2 guaranteed exclusives. The Dungeon Crawler Box ships once every 6 months on top of the five other monthly boxes for $125. The Raid Team Box ships annually on top of the 10 other monthly boxes, as well as the Dungeon Box, for $250.
Many of my competitors offer Commander Decks. Booster Crate offers one-time purchases of Commander Decks for $39.99. Geek Box Commander Edition will feature a new Commander Deck at least every Quarter for $50 a Quarter. Inked Gaming’s Epic box usually, if not always, will have a Commander Deck for $100 a month. Mystery Cards and Games offering comes with a lot of bonuses for $114 a month.
Much like Semi-annual/Annual savings, I only found one competitor that offers Singles. Mystery Cards and Games sells Random singles packs in various spice levels from as low as $29.99 on a one time basis. Geek Box is still researching offering singles. However, initial findings show I would charge significantly less, perhaps as little as $1.
Exotic MTG and Geek Box are the only two companies I found in my research that offer exclusive formats. Offering other formats is something I consider frequently. However, I feel that specializing in a single format sets you apart from the competition and makes you look like the Subject Matter Expert. Also, I don’t feel any affinity for other formats. If I were to offer additional formats, I would probably offer Sports Cards.
I have more data that I researched on these companies if anyone is interested. For now, I think this is a good place to wrap up this content. My goal was to give you a better understanding of what my competitors offer versus what Geek Box offers. If you are in the market for a Trading Card Subscription service, I have given you plenty of information to make an informed decision. Hopefully you choose Geek Box, but if not, would you let me know who you went with and why? Thank you so much for tuning in.