Kidbox Review: Natalie's Box

Last week I reviewed my son John's box from the kids clothing subscription service Kidbox.

This week I wanted to share what my daughter Natalie received.
Now, Natie is small for her age, so while most of what she got was too big, that isn't a real problem because kidbox allows you to exchange items based on needing a bigger or smaller size. I am assuming that in exchanging an item, you are purchasing it since when I clicked on the "exchange" option in the "Review  my Box" section, the total price didn't change. It would be nice to get some clarification from Kidbox, so I reached out to them about whether or not you still have the option of returning an exchanged item in case you change your mind, the item still doesn't fit right, or your child decides they don't like the item any more.
As of today they haven't responded and all I can find on their site is that they can only exchange an item once-so I guess that means if you get a size wrong the second time your out of luck.

First up

This cute romper:

Natie's opinion: She likes the color and the fabric, telling me that its soft and she can sit, stand, jump, and dance in it comfortably.
My Take: It is cute and the fabric is indeed soft. The fit is a little big, but nothing too bad. It doesn't look humongous on her but I can tell it is a bit loose and that she will have to grow into it. I do feel that a smaller size would be too tight or at least too short in the overall length, making it uncomfortable for her to wear.

Design History

Girls Tie Dye Romper | Size 6X

List Price $40.00

Kidbox Price $30.00

 Out of all the items in the box, this fit her the best but the price was too high. Had I been allowed to use my $25 code I would have bought this in a heartbeat because Natalie seemed to really enjoy jumping around in it and the fabric was soft. But $30 fora simple romper was too much. Target has cute rompers for $12.99 up to $25.00, the most expensive being done by Victoria Beckham.

Natie's opinion: She liked the lace and how it looked. She did not have any issues with the fabric.
My take: It was too big both at the "arms" and the chest/body. I liked the look of the top aside from the fit, but I was concerned about the crochet. Kids run and play and the first thing I thought of was how easily the  shirt could catch on things.

Next, the mint jeans
Natie's opinion: She loved the color and how soft the fabric was, but she was very aware of how huge they were on her.
My take: I love the color and I was so sad to see that these did not fit. This color just pops so well with all sorts of otherwise boring tops and shoes. Now, Target does have pants like this for sale in this color and in Natie's size!

LUCKY Girls Crochet Lace Tank | Size 6X

List Price $26.00

Kidbox Price $19.00
I did not find a comparable shirt at Target, but I am okay with that since I am not a fan of a shirt with the much crochet on it (think snags, rips, strecthes and tears) They do have tops with crochet on them around the neckline or on the sleeves. Regardless, since it did not fit, we sent it back. 

 7 For All Mankind

Girls Skinny Jeans | Size 6X

List Price $55.00

Kidbox Price $39.00

 You are probably guessing that I am going to say that the price is way too high and you'd be right. $55 for a pair of pants for a kid is too much unless we are taking a sweet suit or snow clothes. $39 is still to high, especially when I can find pants that are equally nice in color and fabric at Target for $14.99





 Natalie's opinion: She liked the pattern of the top and how it fit, although the fabric was not as soft as the other shirts she tried on. The pants she liked when she saw them and she was disappointed that they did not fit her-they were way too big.
My take: I did not like the pattern on the shirt and the fabric wasn't anything great. I liked the sleeves and the bottom and it did not seem as big as the other top she got.

 

 

7 For All Mankind

Girls Cropped Denim | Size 6X

List Price $55.00 
Kidbox Price $39.00

 LUCKY

Girls Flutter Sleeve Top | Size 6X

List Price $34.00

Kidbox Price $24.00

Both items were priced too high for my taste. The top was nothing impressive and is not a pattern I like. The style of the cut is not hard to find elsewhere in softer fabrics and in patterns that my daughter and I both like. The jeans while nice looking and soft, were too big and also way to much money. I can spend less than half of that getting pants at Target in a variety of colors and styles.

Last but not least,

Natie's opinion:
She liked this shirt a lot and tried to tell me that it wasn't too big. She especially liked the details on the sleeves.
My take: It was too baggy on her but I did the like fabric and the detail on the sleeve. IT was a bit thin and see through which I don't think is necessary for a little girls top.

 7 For All Mankind

Girls Embellished Sleeve Tee | Size 6X

List Price $33.00

Kidbox Price $21.00

This is a pretty basic tee shirt and why anyone would pay over $30 for it retail is beyond me. Even the kidbox price is too high to pay for a regular, thin tee with a cute detail on the sleeves.


Bottom line:
While we sent back everything I did learn a lot about the pricing differences between Kidbox and ROA. I liked the ROA consistency and variety in choices. The kidbox did not contain a single skirt or dress. The ROA box had 2 skirts and 2 dresses along with a pair of leggings, a pair of tubler shorts, a jacket, and 4 tops. The cheapest thing in the ROA box was the shorts for $10 (the next was an $18 tee shirt) and the most expensive thing was a tie between the Jacket and a dress at $36. The kidbox had its cheapest item at $19 for a top and the most spendy was a tie between the pants at $39.
The average prices (total for whole box divided by the number of items) is $24.54 for ROA ( $270/11items) and kidbox is $ 28.66 ($172/6 items)- this is looking at the price you pay if you were to discount the $98 for an entire box thing. With that deal in place, the average cost per item goes down to $16.13.
Like I stated in the previous review of my son's box, ROA doesn't offer a discount on keeping the whole box like Kidbox does, but the drawback to the Kidbox is that if you don't keep everything, your price jumps way up. If we took the discount of approximately 43% that you see with the kidbox price if you keep the whole thing, ROA would go form being $270 for everything down to $153.90 and the average cost per item would be $13.99 which is much more palatable. So, again, I am HOPING Rockets of Awesome will realize that doing a keep the box deal would go a long way towards tearing me away from Target. I am a busy person and the thought of having to drag either all of my kids to go try on new clothes, or having to take them all separately, thus having to get a sitter multiple times, or having to guess and bring home items and being stuck with an item that doesn't fit or trying to make it out to return it is a lot of work and i would much rather have the convenience of trying stuff on at home.