So, I gave ePantry a try (and you can get a freebie from them!)
I think I first read about ePantry over at Modern Mrs. Darcy, but since then I also keep seeing it pop up at places like Sarah Mae and MoneySavingMom.
So, I was super pleased when ePantry offered to have me give their service a try (and give you guys an awesome offer at the same time.)
ePantry is small company (15 people!) that offers a subscription service for natural cleaning and personal care products for a discount from the list price.
They have a few in-house brands, but mostly they offer things like Method, Mrs. Meyers, Tom's of Maine, Seventh Generation, and more.
Because ePantry is serious about preserving the earth, for each order placed, they donate 25 sq feet of rainforest, and each shipment is carbon offset. And they're a certified B Corporation.
When you sign up for ePantry, you just answer a few quick questions about the types of products you'd like, and then you can customize your order, adding as many or as few products as you like.
And then ePantry delivers your stuff right to your door.
What I ordered
I opted for mostly Method products, which I do love, but rarely buy, because Target is the main brick and mortar store that carries them, and I am almost never at Target.
(This is probably very good news for my bank account. Target trips are rarely cheap!)
Mostly, I ordered soap. Because if there is one thing I forget to buy frequently, it's liquid soap and dish soap.
(Why? I don't like Aldi's options in these two categories, and I'm not at a regular grocery store all that often, so I slack at buying these. My family will be very pleased to have a steady supply arriving in the mail.)
Also, I don't use a lot of spray cleaner type of things, so dish soap and hand soap seemed to be the most practical options.
Oh, and I threw in a scented candle just because occasionally it's good for me to buy something that's not ENTIRELY practical.
(Sometimes I err on the side of Too Much Sensibility.)
Because this was my first order, I had no Method soap pumps, so I opted for several dispensers.
However!
Now that I have the dispensers, I'm opted in to the refill packages, which are both less expensive and less wasteful.
Unlike some subscription services, ePantry is totally customizable. You can add more items, take items off, or change dates as wanted/needed.
I appreciate this feature because I hate being locked into a contract kind of arrangement. And who's to say I want exactly the same amount of soap every time?
Right now, I'm set for an every other month delivery, which seems like it might be just about right.
Oh, and I forgot to say that ePantry surprised me by putting an extra candle into my box! I'm not sure if they do this every time, but it was a lovely surprise.
I like both scents, but the eucalyptus and spearmint is my favorite of the two.
ePantry would love for YOU to give their service a try, so they've put together a special offer for you guys that is only good through March 20th.
(That's this Friday.)
Here's the deal...sign up for an ePantry account through any link in this post and you'll get a free Method dish soap and a $10 credit (off a $30 purchase), PLUS free shipping.
How ePantry works
1) My limited-time offer is only available now through March 20th so sign up for an account with this link.
2) Next, answer a few quick questions about your home, cleaning schedule, and favorite products (this only takes 2 minutes!) ePantry takes your responses into consideration to get a feel for what you like & to suggest products for future shipments.
3) Then, customize your basket. You can add or remove as many products as you like.
4) To get the dish soap and $10 off, there is a $20 minimum. The minimum is for first-time orders only.
(Note: it appears that there is a $20 spending minimum, so put $30 of product in your basket and you should get the $10 off plus your free soap and your total out of pocket should be $20.)
5) Last step! Once you have filled your basket, click Finish & Pay. Your free dish soap and $10 credit will already be included.
Even if you decide not to continue with ePantry, the introductory offer is definitely worth a try...$10 off, free shipping, and a free Method product is hard to pass up, and the prices with this discount should beat any brick and mortar store prices.
Also, if you refer friends and family to ePantry, each person you refer will get $10 in credit for their first order! You will also receive $10 in credit for each person who checks out. It’s a win-win!
One last thing...ePantry has great customer service. The ePantry customer service “wizards†are truly attentive & helpful and they even offer an extra $2 off if you answer the question in the chat box.
Let me know if you have any questions or run into any problems, and the ePantry crew and I will help ya out!
Links in this post are my referral links, which means that orders placed through links in this post will help to keep my family supplied with soap. And the occasional candle. 😉
Hmmmm...I am going to pop over and see about trying this, as I love Method products as well and we do not have a Target near where we live. One item I am looking for in particular is a refill option for the Method shower spray. I will need to see if they offer that...
Indeed it appears they do carry the shower spray refills, although backordered, I did place an order to try this service out for myself. Thanks for the recommendation!
Too bad they don`t ship to Canada (I understand, it`s pretty far for soap) 🙁
For what it's worth, Method's All Purpose Cleaner was ATK's top pick for all purpose cleaners. I have more cleaners than I know what to do with at this point but once I am out of 409, Clorox Cleanup, Totally Awesome, Windex etc. I might give it a try. For those wondering why I hoard cleaning supplies it's because my brother used to work cleaning out houses and the company he worked for would always toss out the household supplies but he and the other guys would keep them and bring them home for use. Eventually everyone in my household was stocked to the hilt with cleaners.
Also, am I the only person left who doesn't like liquid hand soap? I exclusively use bar soap at my house so we never have to buy it. I do use liquid dish soap, though (Seventh Generation is nice because it's dye free and doesn't make my hands a mess like Ajax or the Dollar Store version do.)
You're not the only one who doesn't like liquid hand soap! We use bar soap at my house and I even keep bar soap at work. Liquid soap dispensers seem to get so messy and it seems like it's just one more unnecessary thing to clutter up the sink area.
Seriously! There's always a huge puddle of soap on the sinks at work because people don't know how to use the liquid soap dispensers.
I have a Waterfall Soap Saver ($6 on Amazon) and a bar of cheap non-antibacterial soap at both faucets in my house. It works fine and gets my hands clean.
I think maybe I need new bar soap holders or something because whenever I get bar soap out for hand washing, my family can't seem to keep from getting it completely soggy. (Oddly enough, our shower bars are fine.)
Maybe a holder that drains water better would fix this issue?
I checked out the above link and unfortunately the company requires that you give them your email address in order to browse and I truly hate being needlessly required to give out my email address just to shop! Granted this company is not the only one that does it and I don't shop these sites either.
I enjoy your blog but this won't be a business I will use.
No worries, but just wanted to throw out there that having a junk email address is a BEAUTIFUL thing. Sign up for a free account at Yahoo or something and whenever you have to input an email address, just enter the junk one. You can always open the junk email inbox if you're looking for something, but you won't be bothered by that stuff in your regular inbox.
You can make the junk one the same as your regular one, just at yahoo instead of gmail or something. Like if you're julie@gmail.com then you can make a julie@yahoo.com address to use for junk purposes.
(I gave ePantry my regular address because I knew I wanted an order from them!)
Is there a minimum time you have to agree to buy products? How hard is it to cancel?
Nope, except for the free product offer (that's a $20 minimum). Otherwise there's not, and cancelling is a simple process, unlike some subscription companies (cough, Julep, cough).
Just a quick question... why you don´t buy at target, you think it´s expensive? ...
I gonna try this service, just ´cause you say it´s easy to cancel, I had a difficult time trying to cancel Honest company service ... thanks for the recomendation!
Well, I just don't have a Target that's super convenient, and since I can get groceries cheaply at Aldi, I don't usually need to go to Target for things like that.
I do stop there occasionally for flour and tea, which are both great deals there.
Speaking of flour, Gold Medal is 1.99 at Target, buy 4 and a get a free bag of nestle choc. chips. Good deal.
Ooh, sweet! I love even Target's everyday price on Gold Medal, but this is extra good.
Hmmm, these sort of new e-companies are kind of perplexing to me. I guess I don't really understand what the draw is - is it that you don't have to go to the store at all? Does it really provide that steep of a discount after shipping, better than amazon? Or are there products that you truly don't have access to anywhere else (which wouldn't be the case for method of course)? Similar to the various services where you sign-up and get a box of whatever the heck every month. I just honestly don't get it - it sort of feels the antithesis of frugal and low waste. I'm not trying to troll I promise :), I'm just genuinely curious, as I consider myself a smart person but I just don't get it! 🙂
The "get whatever the heck" every month boxes I think are more for delight, surprise, and variety than for practicality. At least that's how they hit me. This one feels different because you do get to choose.
Also, if you are the sort of person who goes out to buy a few things and then comes home with a bunch of impulse purchases, this method of shopping can save you money even if it actually does cost a bit more than the store trip does.
Keeping away from stores is my motivation. Schlepping 7 kids to Target ain't no picnic. I save money with epantry because I get free shipping, no impulse buys, and I love getting stuff in the mail. 😉
True, true. And if you are a homebody like me, anything that reduces errands is a win.
Thanks - makes sense. I think I was mainly curious from a business perspective. How is this different from going to method's website and just buying it there - free shipping? Several things appear to be pricier on epantry than on method's site. But maybe it's more the convenience of it all like you say, and as someone who doesn't have kids yet, the convenience part of paying more possibly for something like this hasn't yet hit me yet. 🙂
It is true that having small children to haul around does change one's perspective!
And then there are personality differences. I have a friend who LOOKS for opportunities to go to the grocery store (she loves to leave the house!) whereas I dread it and put it ff (I don't love to leave the house.)
I think my friend would probably hate ePantry because it might take an errand off her list.
I didn't even know that Method had a direct website. (duh!) Still, if people are wanting to have multiple brands/types of items delivered, then I suppose ePantry would offer an advantage because they carry paper towels and toothbrushes and also more brands than just Method.
Surely! Knowing your weaknesses/strengths and having a plan to get around them is a good thing. My impulse issue is Aldi and all the random specials they'll have, whether it's some gourmet food or household products, that are dirt cheap but NOT on my shopping list. 🙂
Emily, for me, I REALLY do not want to go to the store at all. And sometimes, yes, others do have a better price than Amazon and also, Amazon doesn't carry everything. I order my Method products at drugstore.com usually. And I need to stay out of Target. I guess I'm just not strong enough, but I'm easily seduced by the cute this and adorable that. I also really like getting things like coffee delivered on a schedule. For me, I'm also willing to pay a bit more. For example, I have a milk man. The milk is more costly, but it saves stopping just for milk and making those impulse purchases. I feel it's actually MORE economical to pay more for the milk. But, then again, I'm an impulse buyer.
Just now read your comment after typing mine! I see you already said what I said about impulse shopping. 😉
Oh yes, impulse shopping is no good. 🙂
I just started using ePantry a couple months ago and I LOVE IT! Love the flexibility to get what I want when I want it, and their customer service is fabulous!
I don't have Aldi here in SF, but I do most shopping at Trader Joe's. So like you, I rarely get to a regular grocery store and often forget to buy cleaning products and soap. ePantry's prices are fair, and I love anything that can be delivered to me!
A bonus for me... they're located right near my home, so I'm also supporting a local company.
This looks good! I've been using Amazon for some of my cleaning products, but I may give this a try.
I poked around the website and gave it a try. The $10 dollar credit plus free item was a really good deal, although I am not sure how long I will keep the service. I am not so great at managing these kind of subscription services. But I am looking forward to trying it! I just happened to need dishsoap, face wash, and liquid soap refills so it would be crazy not to take advantage of the offer.
I have to admit, though, that one of the things I love best about Method is the seasonal and special edition scents and ePantry's choices were a little limited. Plus I like to smell them in the store before I buy. The prices are a bit higher than my Target, but, as several people noted, avoiding Target impulse buys probably more than makes up for the price difference.
I tried creating an order, but the $10 discount didn't appear before they requested my credit card number. They did apply the free dish soap, though. The order total was greater than $20. Does one have to order $30+ to get the $10 discount?
Oh dear. No, you should only have to order $20. I'll get you in touch with my contact there who can help you!
(or you can try chatting with a helpful rep.)
I did the whole process too. And it turns out you do actually need to purchase at least $30 worth of items and then the $10 will be taken off your total. They require you to spend $20 AFTER all discounts. It was super annoying to me and I didn't end up purchasing anything because of how shady that deal seemed.
Oh, I'm sorry that I didn't understand that! If I had, I'd have made it more clear in the post. In fact, I'll go edit it now to clarify.
wow! They have a great mission, but they are expensive! For mrs Meyers they are $1-$2 more than their website.
I'm gonna try it as I want some Mrs. Meyers stuff I cannot seem to find at HEB and I don't want to drive all over Austin to find it. Driving anywhere is Austin is a nightmare...
Are the plastic bottles recycle friendly
Yep!