Thrive Market Review

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Online discount markets are rapidly growing in popularity, due to their convenience. In addition to saving time and money at the grocery store, some sites, such as Thrive Market, offer a selection of health foods that are good for you and the planet. Read on for a thorough Thrive Market review covering membership basics, key features, and pros and cons of the site.

What is Thrive Market?

Thrive Market is an online health market-based in Los Angeles, California that specializes in a wide range of foods and household products at exclusive, wholesale prices – usually 25 to 50 percent off retail. Think of Costco or Sam's Club only for health foods and environmentally friendly household products.

The company describes itself as being “committed to sustainability and social justice”.

Key Features

To begin a Thrive Market review, it is important to highlight the best aspects of being a member of the site. Thrive Market features a variety of beneficial qualities that make it unique and help justify the cost of membership.

Following is a list of 9 of the biggest perks of being a member of Thrive Market.

1. Trial Membership

If you are curious about Thrive Market but not quite ready to commit, they offer a free 30-day trial that allows you to get a discount on your first order and give the company a try. Upon completing the 30-day membership, you can either choose to cancel your subscription or pay the annual fee of $59.95 and continue on as an official member.

Thrive market review

2. Give Back to Those in Need

Thrive Market strives to make healthy food available and affordable to everyone. Each time a new member joins Thrive, the site offers a free membership to a family in need. Last year, Thrive Gives raised over $400,000 for low-income families.

3. Free Gifts

Often, orders over a certain amount (typically between $49 and $69) are eligible to receive a free gift. In the past, free gifts have included a free container of organic virgin coconut oil, almond butter, pasta sauce, ghee, granola bars, and more.

4. Free Shipping

Thrive Market offers free standard shipping on all orders in the United States over $49 (shipping is not available to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and Puerto Rico).

If your order is less than $49, the cost of shipping is still relatively low at $5.

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According to the company, orders are shipped within 24 to 72 hours of being placed (most customers are satisfied with the company's shipping rates).

5. Environmentally-Friendly

This eco-conscious online shopping site prides itself on being 100% carbon neutral. They utilize packaging made from recycled materials and aim to practice sustainable methods. They also help support fellow brands that use organic, eco-friendly growing and production techniques.

6. Efficient Packaging

The company takes great care in protecting items during the shipping process. All orders come securely and thoughtfully packaged to ensure the safe arrival of products.

7. Consistently Expanding Product Selection

The company is rapidly expanding their product selection to include a wider variety of items.

8. Non-GMO

The company does not carry any GMO – Genetically Modified Organisms – items. This is no simple task considering over 70 percent of the food items in this country are thought to contain genetically modified ingredients. Thrive also aims to provide organic options when possible.

9. Savings Protection

Thrive offers a guarantee that your annual membership will pay for itself. The company states that if you fail to “make your membership fee back in saving” at the end of the year, they will automatically place the difference into your account when you renew.

For example, if you only saved $50 during the year, Thrive will add a $10 credit to your account upon renewal to fully cover the cost of your $60 annual fee.

PROS

Variety

The site offers a large selection of non-perishable foods (2,500 items and growing) that increase convenience for anyone following certain dietary restrictions or plans including the paleo diet, veganism, raw diets, or gluten-free diets. In addition to a huge selection of foods – including hard-to-find items – Thrive also offers beauty items and products for your home, pets, and kids.

Organization

The site features excellent organization and user-friendly navigability. For food items, they offer several categories such as “mom”, “paleo”, “raw”, “vegan”, and “gluten-free” that simplify shopping and save time.

Exceptional Customer Service

The company features excellent customer service. Customer service agents are available by phone or email and are attentive to detail, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Win-Win Sharing Opportunities

When you become a Thrive member, you are provided with a special link to share with friends, family, or social media followers. If someone uses your link and becomes a member, they receive a 15 percent discount off their first order and you are given $25 in your Thrive account to spend on the site.

Health Promoting Foods

The site helps make it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle by offering products from a variety of healthy companies such as Garden of Eatin’, Bob’s Red Mill, Earth’s Best, Seventh Generation, Jason Naturals and many others.

CONS

Membership fee

Each year, members are required to pay a $59.95 fee. No one likes fees so the yearly membership fee is an obvious drawback (although it is possible to justify this fee through the money you save and any free gifts you receive).

To offset this fee, you need to save at least $5 per month, either through free gifts or savings in products. As mentioned above, if you do not save at least the cost of your membership during the year, Thrive will compensate you the difference in the form of a credit to your account.

Shipping fee

Obviously, free shipping without a minimum purchase would be the preferred method for customers.

My thoughts

I've had a Thrive membership for a little over a year now. I started with their 30-day trial offer so I could compare their prices with my local health food store and Amazon. The price difference was substantial. In fact, just below I'll list a few items I purchased last month. If you tally it up, it's a savings of $42.02, which means I've almost covered the price of my membership in just one month.

Here's a price comparison between Thrive Market and Amazon:

Item

Thrive Market

Amazon.com

Organic Valley Ghee

Thrive Price $10.95

Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour

Thrive Price $8.95

Pamela's Pancake Mix

Thrive Price $5.95

Justin's Almond Butter

Thrive Price $11.25

Mary's Super Seed Crackers

Thrive Price $4.45

Java Love Organic Coffee

Thrive Price $7.95

Mighty Leaf Chamomile Tea

Thrive Price $5.95

Seventh Generation Laundry Soap

Thrive Price $13.95

Mrs. Meyer's Dish Soap

Thrive Price $3.45

Auromere Ayurvedic Toothpaste

Thrive Price $4.45

But my favorite thing about Thrive Market is the recipes they send with their orders. In my first order last year I got this recipe for “The Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins” made with almond flour, cardamom and pumpkin seeds. I make them often because they're gluten free and absolutely delicious.

thrive market review

Get 1 Month Free + 25% Off Your First Order

Not only will you already be saving 25-50% off the retail price of healthy foods and environmentally friendly products with Thrive Market's already generous discount pricing, you'll also get an additional 25% off your first order!

Click here to get started now! Thrive market review

7 Comments

Linda Watson says:

March 9, 2017 at 2:36 pm

I’ve been interested in getting a Thrive membership, but was not sure if it would be worth it since I have a BJ’s membership and Amazon Prime. However, looking at some of your examples, those price differences are quite substantial for expensive healthy products. Certainly worth it to me as I buy as much healthy, GMO, grain free, etc as I can!

Linda says:

March 9, 2017 at 2:40 pm

Iâ€™ve been interested in getting a Thrive membership, but was not sure if it would be worth it since I have a BJâ€™s membership and Amazon Prime. However, looking at some of your examples, those price differences are quite substantial for expensive healthy products. Certainly worth it to me as I buy as much healthy, GMO, grain free, etc as I can!

- Jackie Parker says:
  
  March 9, 2017 at 3:14 pm
  
  Hi Linda,
  
  I use to shop at Whole foods and my local health foods store but found Thrive’s prices to beat them all by a long shot. Thanks for taking the time to comment and say ‘hi’ xo Jackide
  
Farhan says:

March 9, 2017 at 3:06 pm

This looks like a great way to shop for groceries. No more going to the supermarket and having to deal with big bags of items. I think it’s a good deal, especially for people who love to buy in bulk quantities.

Have you read any reviews by people who live outside of the US? Would be great to know about the quality of their international deliveries. And also, do they have any return or refund policies for damaged goods?

Thanks and great review!

- Jackie Parker says:
  
  March 9, 2017 at 3:17 pm
  
  Hi Farhan, Thrive only ships in the Contiguous US, but maybe in the future. Also, they absolutely will refund or reship for damaged goods. But, honestly they pack so well, I’ve never had that problem. Thanks for connecting and commenting.
  
Lauren says:

March 9, 2017 at 3:31 pm

Hi Jackie,

I really enjoyed learning about Thrive Market! I have actually never heard about this before, but am thrilled to have just read your review because it’s a service that I am definitely interested in!

The fact that they only carry non GMO products is amazing enough, but I think that it is SO cool to hear that they give back to families in need. Eating a healthy, clean diet can be so pricey, especially if you are trying to feed an entire family, so this opportunity to be a part of giving back to people who really can benefit from a service like this is actually an additional selling point in my opinion.

Thanks again for sharing about such an awesome company!

Lauren

- Jackie Parker says:
  
  March 13, 2017 at 1:16 pm
  
  Hi Lauren! Thank you so much for reading my review and taking the time to comment. Please come back and share your experience with me after you’ve tried them! I think you’re going to love the quality and convenience! 🙂 xo