Subscription Box Business

How Much Money Do Subscription Box Businesses Make? (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: June 23rd, 2024

TL;DR:

Based on our data, subscription box businesses can make between $400-$400,000 per month.
The average revenue for a successful subscription box business is $97.9K per month.
The highest grossing subscription box business in our records makes over $4,800,000 per year.
Subscription box business owners salaries can vary wildly depending on industry, niche, and size of the business

So you're thinking about starting a subscription box business?

And now you're wondering how much subscription box business owners actually make...

Well, let’s dive in!

Here are example of real subscription box businesses and how much money they make - as reported by the founders themselves:

1. PenaltyBox Sports ($4.8M/year)

Drew Laine, Founder and CEO of PenaltyBox Sports, came up with the idea for his business while living in his in-law's basement. With no infrastructure or logistics, he decided to start a subscription box company for ice hockey players just two days before Black Friday. Despite the challenges, the idea took off and now the company has a thriving community of 45,000 passionate hockey parents, players, and fans.

How much money it makes: $4.8M/year

2. Cannabox ($4.2M/year)

Michael Berk came up with the idea for Cannabox when he saw a gap in the market for a subscription box for cannabis accessories. As a daily cannabis user, he wanted a convenient solution to purchasing the items he needed. With an initial investment of $1,000, Berk launched Cannabox in 2013 and has since grown it into a successful business with an MRR of $350,000 and 11,000 subscribers.

How much money it makes: $4.2M/year

3. Plate Crate ($3.9M/year)

Josh, the founder of Plate Crate, came up with the idea for his business while playing independent baseball and struggling financially during the offseason. After realizing there were no subscription boxes for baseball, he decided to start his own and launched Plate Crate in 2015. Since then, the business has grown immensely, with over $300K in monthly revenue and a successful expansion into Soccer Crate.

How much money it makes: $3.9M/year

4. Bambox ($720K/year)

Charles Carette, CEO & Co-founder of Bambox, came up with the idea for his business while working at a third-party logistics provider in Argentina. Seeing the opportunity to make the lives of parents easier, Charles and his co-founders designed a monthly subscription-based ecommerce for baby essentials combined with a virtual assistant to guide new parents. Despite facing challenges in a country where ecommerce is not widely trusted, Bambox has grown to ship over 1,100 boxes per month and has an MRR of $60,000, with a projected ARR of $750,000 for 2019.

How much money it makes: $720K/year

5. Urban Tastebud ($612K/year)

Bryan discovered subscription boxes while working on a gluten-free menu blog. His article about the best gluten-free subscription boxes became successful, which led him to focus on niche-specific subscription boxes.

How much money it makes: $612K/year

6. Bundleboon ($420K/year)

Nelli Jeloudar, the founder of Bundleboon, came up with the idea for her curated shopping service for kidswear after seeing a demand for a similar service from her friends with children. She launched the business as a side hustle and quickly received 300 pre-orders, generating close to €45,000 in revenue with only €2,000 spent on startup costs. She later partnered with a retail partner to keep inventory risk low and focused on validating the concept before scaling.

How much money it makes: $420K/year

7. Southern Cigar Co ($240K/year)

Michael Arciola III, founder of Southern Cigar Co, came up with the idea for his business while brainstorming business types that wouldn't require a large time commitment or initial investment. After considering subscription boxes, he decided on cigars as the consumable product to sell. Despite a slow start with only 3 customers in the first month, Southern Cigar Co has grown to generate ~$250k in revenue per year with a 20% year-over-year growth rate.

How much money it makes: $240K/year

8. Mouse Book Club ($120K/year)

David Dewane, the co-founder and president of the Mouse Book Club, came up with the idea while sitting on a bus and noticing everyone on their phones. He realized that people are constantly reading on their phones, but often don't remember what they read. This led him to create phone-sized physical books as an alternative, mailing over 40,000 books to 60+ countries and generating $170,000 in sales in the first two years.

How much money it makes: $120K/year

9. EatTiamo ($120K/year)

Nicholas Figoli and his business partner Francesco Pelosi came up with the idea for EatTiamo while they were living abroad in Paris and missing the taste of authentic Italian cuisine. They noticed the lack of affordable and easily accessible Italian products in the market, especially in the US where the demand for Italian food is high. This led them to launch EatTiamo, the first subscription food box service that brings the best of Italian food directly to American families.

How much money it makes: $120K/year

10. Candy Japan ($78K/year)

After moving to Japan and discovering the diverse and unique candies available, Bemmu Sepponen came up with the idea for Candy Japan. With flavors and varieties that are hard to find outside of Japan, Bemmu decided to start a subscription service that would send surprise boxes of Japanese candy to people all around the world. Since launching in 2011, Candy Japan has shipped over $1 million worth of candy and has paid Bemmu's living expenses in Japan for 7 years.

How much money it makes: $78K/year