Are you addicted to subscription boxes?
Are you pulled in by the concept of receiving a mystery box of (usually) themed stuff each month that pays tribute to the things you love? Services like this have been around since 2012, when premiere geek box Loot Crate hit the market. Since Loot Crate’s inception, dozens upon dozens of subscription boxes have sprung up to scratch every imaginable itch: from beauty to candy to officially licensed Disney merch.
Record scratch.
Did I just say officially licensed Disney merch?
Why yes, friend, yes I did.
Now, if you’ve been around the subscription box block a few times…
You probably have a preconceived idea of what a Disney box will look like: a tiny, pretty cardboard square filled with confetti that, when opened, provides (maybe. This is being generous) 50% of what you paid for, mostly in cheap trinkets and filler items that can be snapped up at your local dollar store. Not even worth a second glance, never mind a second month locked in with the company, who will gleefully extort you of your hard-earned cash to frolick away to Disney World themselves (aw, man …).
I, too, had been burned by the subscription box hype. (You know what I’m saying. They pack their boxes full of amazing stuff to send to “influencers” on social media. But, when you buy in, you’re left with what looks like that month’s slush pile selection.) I had pretty much turned my nose up at the concept.
And then.
I found out about Magic At Your Door, which is literally the best subscription box I have ever gotten from any business. Ever.
(Example of some of the sweet merch in past MAYD boxes.)
It’s fully-customizable and highly personalized. The more info you provide them with, the more richly-tailored your experience will be. No two boxes are identical. They’re based on what you want and don’t want (an exceptional perk). So, even if you watch a bunch of unboxings, you never know what you’ll be getting. Their company motto is actually honest: A Magic At Your Door box is so much more than a typical box opening. It’s an experience.
(MAYD merch from WDW’s recent Flower and Garden Festival)
I could spend several pages convincing you to give this company a shot, singing its praises from the highest tower (err, my computer tower, anyway).
But that would be kind of boring. You don’t need me to persuade you to spend your hard-earned money. And anyway, this box absolutely speaks for itself. It’s the most expensive one out there for sure. But it’s also worth every penny, and in my honest opinion, if Walt Disney were alive today, this is the box he would proudly curate and share with kids of all ages. This is the product he would digitize his signature on every month, his notorious perfectionism satiated by the time each shipment went out. I know the box is glorious as is and will soon become the #1 choice for Disnerds (if it hasn’t already), leaving those other companies to fall by the wayside.
After I opened my first box, I was inherently curious about the man behind the company.
He comments on YouTube unboxings, jokes freely with his customer base, and pays attention to the little things. (If he sees an engagement ring on your previously bare left ring finger, you can bet there will be something fit for a Disney wedding in next month’s box). As soon as you navigate over to the Magic At Your Door website (linked above), or spend a little time in their Facebook group, the Disney Magic Exchange— which reads more like a social group for Disnerds than a corporate page— it becomes clear that above everything else, at his core, Magic At Your Door founder Mike Goldstein is a family man.
(Founder Mike Goldstein at Disney with his mother in 1973)
Despite its growing size and popularity, Goldstein treats his enterprise like a digitized Mom and Pop shop:
He knows names, remembers birthdays, and asks after your family (right down to the treasured fur-babies). If you’re dissatisfied with something, he strives to fix it. Goldstein was kind enough to sit down with me and do an interview, during which I asked all about the ins-and-outs of his company.
There’s a running theme in Goldstein’s interview:
Everything his enterprise is and will become boils down to an unconditional love for his daughter (the company’s Chief Magic Officer), 10-year-old Jadyn.
(Mike Goldstein and daughter Jadyn)
“I ordered a [Disney] subscription box for my daughter. I’ll never forget watching Jadyn open that first box… Looking all through the confetti like, ‘That can’t be it?’ I decided, ‘Somebody needs to do this right.’”
Goldstein was disappointed with the lack of care put into the boxes he tried. He set out to serve the public with some faith, trust, and pixie dust. (I’m shocked they haven’t hired this guy yet, to be honest).
But Goldstein’s story actually begins in 2010, when he started selling officially licensed Disney merch he no longer had a use for. This, too, can be traced back to his relationship with his daughter.
“When Jadyn was born I made a typical first-time parent mistake in purchasing way too many clothes for her. She grew so fast. Before I knew it she had outgrown a ton of awesome outfits that still had their tags on them. I figured I’d see if I could get anything on eBay for them, and I was shocked when people started bidding more than the original price of the item. That is what led me into purchasing things like Disney Halloween costumes after Halloween when they were on clearance, and storing them until the next season, which led to bigger and more and more and bigger… And then Frozen happened.”
Goldstein made his living selling official Disney merch on Amazon, but that venture went belly-up. On the verge of bankruptcy, he took the plunge and dove, headfirst, into his new full-time job: Magic At Your Door.
Having recently celebrated their first anniversary, Goldstein is matter-of-fact but humble about the company’s growth. “Our first Magic Box went out in April [of 2017] to just under 30 subscribers. This April, we’ll be shipping over 400, so that’s exciting.”
(MAYD sends sweet pins!)
Goldstein credits Disney YouTuber TheMissAllieCakes for “really making us take off. I searched YouTube for the best Disney unboxings I could find. I contacted her and she has been a total pleasure to work with ever since.”
Since TheMissAllieCakes’s first video in April of 2017, other eager voices have joined the Magic At Your Door chorus on social media.
“Although our customer base is 90% adult, if you watch the Disney Magic Exchange at all, you know that I know the customers who have kids. I know the kids’ names. And I know what they like. I watch every single Magic At Your Door unboxing video on YouTube, and honestly it is so rewarding to get to see the joy that people get from this. But when there’s a kid in the video, those are my favourites every time.”
Customer satisfaction is the number one goal for Magic At Your Door.
Their ability to pick the perfect product often hits close to home on both ends of the equation. Goldstein is full of stories of emotional customers, and how those customers make what he does absolutely worth it.
“We sent a Christmas Magic Box to [name redacted]… And when she opened it she found a set of animal print Mickey Icon ornaments. She started to cry in her video and talked about how special that animal print made her feel because it reminded her of her mother who had passed. It wasn’t five seconds before I had an animal print scarf set aside for her next Magic Box, and when she opened it, she knew… She was like ‘no Magic At Your Door, you’re not going to make me cry.’”
With Disney having so many properties to choose from and MAYD’s promise to be as customized as possible, I wondered which preferences were the most popular.
They have up to 2,000 different products available at any given time. But, there are some characters and franchises that capture more hearts than others.
Stitch is definitely one of their most popular preferences (with an all-Stitch box planned for the future!), while Star Wars is a common “un-preference”, though Goldstein heartily champions the franchise. Right before he had to dash, I managed to ask him what his favourite Disney movie is:
“Tangled! But Moana is a close second.”
Not American? Me neither! Magic At Your Door now ships internationally.
So, no matter where you are, you can join in on the fun (but just to triple-check for yourself, visit the website to ensure they’ll ship to your country).
Are you a Magic At Your Door customer? Tell us about your experience with them in the comments!
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