2025 Subscription Information
Posted by Helen Wang on
Wow, another year in the books! 2024 was my second year running our subscription, and just like the first, it has taught me a lot. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and enthusiasm for my designs! With that being said, let's get into the details.
0. Table of contents
- Introduction
- A Mild Farewell
- The Tiers & Prices
- Other Changes
- The Four Themes
- The Schedule
- Common Questions
1. Introduction
This stationery subscription operates on a quarterly basis, meaning you will receive a delivery every 3 months. In other words, 4 deliveries a year.
Each quarter has a theme (section 5) and the bundle contents revolve around that theme. Though, not every item is necessarily directly related to the theme.
The intention of this subscription is to give customers something to look forward to throughout the year and for customers to have the chance to enjoy the products before the next bundle arrives!
2. A Mild Farewell
To summarize the wall of text: 2025 will be the last year we do a subscription of this nature. For 2026 and onward, the subscription will be dwindled down to a very minimal, single tier subscription.
Contrary to why many business ventures are halted, interest in our subscription has been growing with each quarter. Speaking from the heart, I have expected our subscription to fail every step of the way and somehow I am proven wrong over and over again. Thank you so much for your support and I am grateful for this opportunity. I am especially touched as a subscription means you have put a step more trust in me--agreeing to purchase an unknown bundle of items with your hard earned dollars does not go unacknowledged.
However, with that trust, I feel a lot of mental strain to be able to deliver value to our customers. Unlike regular orders in our store, I know the customer wants a product from me but I am not given the assurance that the customer really wants exactly this product I have designed. That is one part of it. The other part is in general, I have been dealing with declining health issues for a few years. This is not to guilt anyone--I am in control of my decisions, and I decided to put my craft first. But recently I had to face the reality that unless I make a change in my life, nothing will change.
Why not hire more employees?
That would be the sensible thing for businesses to do and I understand why I get this question a lot. Hiring more employees to package orders does not lessen my design workload. I could hire a design assistant, use AI, or outsource my art, but I have zero interest in doing that. I also just have no desire to grow TheCoffeeMonsterzCo (TCMC) out of a small business. I am happy with my quaint office space, I am happy with my team, and frankly I am happy with our revenue. I am able to pay rent, pay our employees, and ensure that my parents can live comfortably as they age--that is pretty rich to me! I think there are so many more ways I can grow TCMC to be better, that isn’t related to more and more sales.
This for sure will lose me customers and I have already lost customers because of this. I understand there is frustration with our products not being readily available. I am committed every day to keep improving our inventory and order processing, but I cannot keep TCMC a small family business while offering unlimited products. There is a trade off somewhere and at this point in my life, I am choosing to improve what we have, rather than to expand.
What about 2026? What is the point of signing up for the subscription then?
The bit of good news in case it was missed at the beginning, is that the subscription isn’t totally ending. For 2026 and onward, all current subscribers will be moved to a single subscription tier. It will just be some stickers, maybe washi tapes and an accessory item once or twice a year. Of course more details will come out as 2026 approaches, but I still want something affordable for everyone to look forward to, while I am not pressured to design a big collection of items every quarter. So if you are still interested in receiving a parcel, even if it’s just something small, I hope you stick around (no pun intended).
Another bit of good news I suppose, is that I will have more headspace to work on other projects for our main store. Maybe I will have time to work on an advent again, or a wall calendar! Or just more washi tapes and other fun products throughout the year.
3. The Tiers and Prices
To make transitioning into 2026 easier, there will be some tier changes to 2025. The major change is that we will be eliminating the Snail Parcel tier. What we will be left with are the Snail Mail, Washi Wizard, and Pen Pal tiers.
Current Snail Parcels will be converted to Pen Pals, unless otherwise requested. We will be sending an email to subscribers beforehand, so everyone is informed.
4. Other Changes
We will also have several tweaks to our subscription setup to better your experience. To sum-up the infographic:
- We wil be allowing combined subscriptions of the same type (maximum 3) to save shipping fees.
- We will be allowing current subscribers to request tier changes.
- For the Q1 2025 enrolment (February 1, 2025 @ noon PT), we will be only allowing customers with no active subscriptions to enrol.
5. The Four Themes
It took me a lot of back and forth to settle on these four themes. I need a theme that most customers would like, but it can't be something generic or boring. I need some themes that are more "functional", but also some fun decorative ones, and something in between. I need a balance between pastel colours, bold colours, a little bit of girliness, but not too girly, some neutrals, darks, lights, flight, might, kite, satellite. I also need to actually like the theme myself, or else I will not be passionate about working on the designs, and consequently it will not be my best work.
With that being said, I finally set my mind on these four and I hope that you are excited for them! While subscriptions can be cancelled freely (section 6), it's nice to know what to expect. The bundles will follow the previews pretty closely, but there may be slight changes when it comes time for me to design the items. My artistic tastes may change during the year.
6. The Schedule
There is a change to the sequence of events for 2025! It's unideal to change the schedule every year, but again, I have learned so much in 2024 and I believe this tweak will make the subscription run smoother.
The main change is that the enrolment for new customers will be during the second month of the quarter. This makes it so that there is less wait time between the payment date and shipping date for all customers, and all products will be revealed before the new slots open.
New slot openings are at noon PT on the indicated days. There will also be a countdown on the website to help with timezone conversion.
7. Common Questions
Can I cancel or skip my subscription?
Yes. You can do so directly in the subscription portal, or email us for assistance. The deadline to cancel or skip is before you are charged (section 6).
Cancel or skip Q1 before January 30th
Cancel or skip Q2 before April 29th
Cancel or skip Q3 before July 30th
Cancel or skip Q4 before October 30th
As shown by the schedule, the bundle contents will be revealed prior to any charges. It is not permissible for a new subscriber to purchase a slot, then request to skip the same bundle as a way to hold the slot for future quarters.
What if I need to change my address?
Address change requests must be emailed. Changing the default address on your website account does not change the address for the already purchased subscription.
Please email prior to the renewal dates! We may be able to change your address after the charge if the bundle has not been shipped, however we process subscriptions in large batches quite quickly, so address changes are not guaranteed if requested past the deadline.
Can I purchase a subscription with other items in the store?
No. Subscriptions must be purchased alone.
How do I request a tier change?
If you are a current subscriber, please email thecoffeemonsterzco@gmail.com with your requested tier change before the billing date.
What are the shipping costs?
Shipping costs vary depending on the tier, whether you are buying multiples, and where you live. As a basic outline:
| Region | Snail Mail | Washi Wizard | Pen Pal |
| Canada | 2.00 USD | 12.00 USD | 12.95 USD |
| United States | 2.85 USD | 7.95 USD | 8.95 USD |
| International (varies by country) | 3.85 USD | 14.00 USD+ | 16.00 USD+ |
Are slots limited?
Yes, slots are limited.
Subscription bundles are prepared months in advance and we are unable to readily add more slots. We are still a small family-run business and we have physical limits for what we can handle.
Historially, there has been a great variance in how long it took for slots to sell out and there is also variance among the popularity of the different tiers. Some slots have taken a few minutes to sell out, while other times slots have lasted over a day. As we have only had 8 past enrolments, data is still quite limited and I am careful not to provide any false expectations.
What I will be transparent about is we will be adding over 500 new slots for Q1 2025. This is in addition to all of the susbcribers we have currently.
I am a current subscriber. Do I need to sign-up again for 2025?
No, subscriptions keep going unless cancelled or skipped.
Comments
Can some please explain to me how to subscribe.
Hi
I was just wondering if I am ordering from Canada can you charge me in CAD rather than USD??
Thanks
Sylvia Kelly
Please tell me where I should be to sign up when the flood gates open.
I can’t believe all of the stuff that I miss by not always seeing posts on here!! I don’t know of many businesses that share so much information with their customers. I would say that most of the planner stuff I buy is from small businesses especially since my favorite things are hand drawn character stickers/hand drawn kits, etc. and I have been purchasing these type of items for quite a while now – I’m pretty sure it was about the same time as Helen starting her business.
I feel bad I didn’t even realize that Helen was having health issues, especially if she had shared this. I know I’m not in the group every day anymore but I still care a lot about the tater family, I feel like they have been with me or I have been with them since the beginning 😂 I have always been concerned about how things would affect Helen, some may not realize it but she truly takes things about her business personally and to heart. Yes I know that’s obvious, it’s her business but if you have been here for a while you will remember how things have evolved and I can still remember the first birthday bundles or anniversary bundles…. People complain about having things in their cart but it being sold out before final check out…. Carts are not holding spots, no one has something until you get an order confirmation on the screen. Believe me I understand how stressful and frustrating this can be. The bundles used to sell out in literally less than a minute, I honestly believe a lot had to do with luck and during those days Helen had to read so many comments from angry, frustrated, mad people. It was horrible!! She may have help from her family and workers now but she still would see this with every release. People were trying to offer suggestions but they also aren’t in Helen’s shoes but like so many times Helen tried to make as many people happy as she could – that is when the hybrid releases began and if you didn’t catch the release quick enough you could order the items for later delivery. This woman is amazing and still manages to amaze me all the time. I still can’t get over the days she was still going to school.. she would share about homework/exams and she just continued to do everything.
I don’t know the point I was getting at here – but I love everything – especially the stamps and I still have every roll of washi since the first mint little roll 😂
Love the entire subscription, especially the vertical washi!
Where should I be to try to get a subscription?
Where should I be to try to get a subscription?
@Kayla – Sorry this seemed like an attack, it wasn’t at all. Merely a suggestion/feedback as it seems Helen knows many are disappointed because of the high demand of her products/subscriptions. I fully honor Helen’s decision to offer limited available slots and did read that the FAQ states “over 500” before I originally commented, I’m not sure what over 500 means, it could be 600 or 700 or even more, so my suggestion was just a fully transparent number and I should have specified that, my apologies. I was not attacking Helen at all for her products selling out so quick, they are amazing and she deserves it! Just wanted to offer some feedback to help possibly offset post sale customer disappointment which is something that a lot of small businesses with high demand deal with. I did not want my comment to seem like an attack which is why I thanked Helen at the end for considering doing this.
Hi Helen and team! Congratulations on selling out so fast this morning (Aussie time 🥰), it’s a real indication of how loved you and your creations are. ♥️ I absolutely understand your reasoning for limiting numbers available, your wellbeing should be a priority. ♥️
Just a thought … Is there any chance there could be a wait list for people who missed out on the subscriptions? This of course is me assuming that there may be movement- people changing tiers or cancelling so this may open up spots?
Have a great Feb! ♥️
@K: Helen does, in fact, transparently list that there were 500 slots opening today. Please don’t attack a small biz owner because you didn’t read the FAQ :(