Ipsy revealed their first Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate in October and overall, it wasn’t half bad. However, there were a few shady things about Ipsy’s first Glam Bag Ultimate.
Let’s get straight to the point:
- Many repeat products from previous months
- Same Betty Boop bag for both Ipsy Glam Bag Plus and Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate
- Differentiating between full-size products and deluxe products wasn’t easy
- Duplicate products for Ipsy subscribers who are subscribed to other Ipsy subscription bags
- A change in Ipsy’s strategy
Many repeat products from previous months
A couple of the products were already distributed by Ipsy.
Now while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing especially for those subscribers who didn’t receive these products in the past, it really didn’t add much for those customers who already received the major of these products.
Read More Related Posts:
- Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate Unboxing! See What The Hype is About
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Same Betty Boop bag for both Ipsy Glam Bag Plus and Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate
While Ipsy did try their best to alleviate this issue by adding an extra product to subscribers’ bags the damage was ready done.
Thus, adding an extra product most subscribers didn’t care for in the first place didn’t make the situation any better.
However, moving forward to November the brand ensured three different designs were used. However, while some of Ipsy’s subscribers love the design others didn’t care for the design.
You can’t really blame them after all everyone has different taste and in general, you just can’t please everyone.
What did I think about the bags … To me, they alright and I am saying alright only because I actually like the print and also because I am still salty about my October Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate.
Allow Subscribers to Choose Whether They Want The Makeup Bag
However, with all things considered, I do think they should give subscribers an opportunity to choose whether they want the makeup bag.
Overall, I don’t mind the bags. I actually repurpose my Ipsy glam makeup bags easily so I have no problem with them. However, this isn’t the case for everyone.
Now if you consider subscribers who are subscribed to all of Ipsy’s subscription beauty glam bags these makeup bags can pile up really quickly.
However, getting rid of the bags altogether isn’t a good idea because the bag is part of the Ipsy’s brand identity.
Therefore, they can still keep the bags. However, give customers a choice – if they want the bag then give it to them if not send them glam bags without makeup bags.
Differentiating between full-size products and deluxe products wasn’t easy
Differentiating between full-size products and deluxe products was a chore that pissed the hell out of me. Overall, this was really shady and shouldn’t have been the case.
The same way they can add “You Picked This” and “Add-On” labels they can also add labels to show which products are full-size and which products are deluxe. No one should have to assume what’s full-size or deluxe – I am just saying.
So they didn’t add it online okay … Guess what? They also didn’t differentiate between the products on the product notecard they include with the bag. In fact, to add insult to injury they didn’t include any prices or any information about the products. So they gave no information to help subscribers value the bag.
Overall, it seems these product notecards were deliberately not added to these boxes due to the crazy backlash they were already receiving online for the launch of their less than stellar Glam Bag Ultimate.
My @IPSY glam bag and ultimate bag are finally here 😁
Unfortunately there wasn’t any prices included to tell you the total value of the boxes#ipsy #discoveryourself #subscriptions#monthlysubsciption #glambag #glambagultimate #ipster #beauty #beautyblogger #blogger pic.twitter.com/ufULvYgsDE— Luiisa_mua (@LuiisaMua) October 19, 2019
Anyway, overall it’s just makeup, right? But when these details are left out the question is what were they hiding?
I mean if they are confident in the value that’s been created in their Ultimate Glam bag why hide the prices and not differentiate between full-size and deluxe products?
Now to be fair they don’t show the prices of the items on the product notecard for their original glam bag.
However, when one of their main marketing strategies for the Ultimate bag was offering 8 full-size products and 4 deluxe products it’s weird when they don’t make it crystal clear what’s full-size and what’s deluxe. Overall, shady, shady, just shady.
Hopefully, they change this in the future but I am not counting on it at this point.
Duplicate products for Ipsy subscribers who are subscribed to other Ipsy subscription programs
Some subscribers including me who were subscribed to more than one bag received duplicate products. Now while I was disappointed it wasn’t a huge deal for me – I just wanted them to change one the products before the bags were shipped.
After all, this was the launch so I didn’t expect everything to be on point. However, receiving duplicates shouldn’t have happened. All, in all, if they were not ready for the launch it should have been postponed.
However, if you received duplicates and wanted one of the products changed Ipsy offered 1,200 points you could, later on, redeem for a full-size product. I received 1,200 points for duplicates but getting in touch with Ipsy was another chore.
The question is, why is it so hard to find Ipsy contact information? Seriously, I was out here looking for Ipsy’s customer service email address for longer than I should have.
Overall, an email address for customer service should be placed in every account. No one should have to search for it. I guess I could always send them messages on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook but I personally prefer sending an email.
Imagine I sent them two emails concerning duplicates in the first Ultimate bag and the first email I used wasn’t the right one… So they have their customers guessing which emails to use. If you are trying to contact them try using ipsy@e.ipsy.com. Good luck.
A Change in Ipsy’s Strategy
There seems to be a shift in strategy. Now don’t get me wrong Ipsy is not a non-profit organization so yes they are in this to make a profit.
I feel you. I just got the glam bag ultimate this month and was pretty disappointed with it. Thinking of canceling. I would rather get one product from Sephora that I actually would use versus a bunch of dust collectors.
— Patrick McKinney (@Peetrick90) October 13, 2019
However, after receiving the last three Ipsy Glam Bag Plus and my first Ipsy Glam Ultimate clearly creating value to truly satisfy their current customers and potential customers is not their main focus anymore.
I mean did they change management? Did the “smartest person in the room” leave? Different strategies altogether? Like what is going on?
It seems their focus has now switched from:
- Creating amazing FOMO beauty subscription bags and kicking to the competition to the curb to …
- Let’s see how many add-ons we can influence customers to buy by ignoring their preferences and by adding less than desirable products to their bags.
I mean someone had to say it and frankly I am pretty sure I am not the only one. Overall, their greed is showing and it’s just on another level.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am here for the add-ons but when the majority of the products I actually want have to now be added on there’s a problem. Especially when the information on my profile matches these products.
Related: Ipsy Glam Bag Plus Add-ons Is The Game Changer Ipsy and Ipsy Subscribers Needed
Was the First Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate Box Is Shady?
Yes, Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate was shady as hell – they definitely played us and some subscribers were rightfully requesting refunds.
While some subscribers successful received refunds others were signing a petition in order to get their money back. Yes, a petition! LOL! Things got really bad, really quick for Ipsy.
@Ipsy: #Ipsy should refund #GlamBagUltimate subscribers due to #overpromising and poor preparation – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/pTw706iZkX via @Change
— Heather Curp (@HCurp) October 2, 2019
Overall, was the petition called for? Yes, especially when you consider many Ipsy subscribers who received the Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate could have skipped Glam Bag Ultimate for the Glam Bag ($12) and Glam Bag Plus ($25) and save $13 because we really didn’t receive 8 full-size products.
Is Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate Worth It?
It deeps on what strategy you use. I personally still think Ipsy Glam Bags are worth it. However, I am now more careful about the bags I order.
While I still subscribe to all three bags I skip according. For, instance if I don’t like the spoilers or there aren’t enough spoilers to make an informed purchase decision I just skip.
Now if they ever remove the option to skip I will most likely just cancel them altogether. However, until then these benefits still exist:
- They still offer a few amazing high-end beauty products at the faction of the retail value
- They offer flexibility i.e you can skip future bags as you see it fit
Overall, if I had to choose one bag it would be their original Glam Bag. Simply because you can add-on full-size products at a bargain.
With all things consider hopefully, they can go back to the drawing table and make some changes or just take notes from Boxy because BoxyCharm Luxe launch wasn’t all that great either but they transitioned nicely and now I am pretty sure they are laughing all the way to the bank.
Related: BoxyLuxe Unboxing! See What’s In The Box! Plus The Shocking Retail Value
Related: Let’s Talk About Glam Bag Plus Or BoxyCharm Plus BoxyLuxe Upgrade Fiasco
