Key Takeaways:

• A period product subscription automatically ships the products, absorbencies, and quantities you choose, so you're never caught empty-handed.
• Good subscriptions let you move, skip, edit, or cancel shipments from your account whenever your needs change.
• Menstrual care products count as qualified medical expenses, so HSA and FSA funds can help cover your deliveries.

We’ve all had that moment where your period shows up, you open the cabinet, and there's one lonely tampon left. Cue the sprint to the drugstore.

At Cora, we think that little panic is one of the most avoidable parts of having a period, which is exactly why we deliver period care straight to your door. If you've been curious about feminine hygiene delivery but aren't sure how it actually works, here's the full rundown.

A period product subscription is a recurring delivery of the period products you use most. You choose the items, absorbencies, and quantities once, and they arrive on a regular schedule without you having to reorder.

With a subscription, your payment method stays on file, and each shipment is charged automatically before it heads out to your door. The products stay the same until you decide to change them, and the timing runs in the background while you get on with your life.

Setting up a period product subscription only takes a few minutes, and most of the thinking happens right at the start. Here's how it typically goes.

Start by choosing the formats you actually reach for. Maybe that's tampons for daytime, overnight pads for sleep, and liners for the last day or two. There's no rule that says a subscription has to be one product, so build it around your real routine.

At Cora, our subscriptions ship on a three-month schedule. That timing lines up well with most bodies, since a typical menstrual cycle runs anywhere from 21 to 35 days, so one shipment tends to cover about three periods. If your cycle runs shorter or your flow runs heavier, you can simply bump up your quantities to match.

This is where a little self-knowledge pays off. Think about how many heavy days you usually have, how often you change products, and whether you tend to run through one absorbency faster than the others. Customizing the mix up front means fewer leftovers stacking up in the cabinet and fewer surprise shortages.

Some quick back-of-the-napkin math helps here. Count roughly how many products you use on a heavy day and on a light day, then add them up across a typical period. If that lands around 20 products, for example, a three-month box would need about 60, split across the absorbencies you actually use. Your first shipment is a starting point, and it's easy to fine-tune once you see what's left over.

Once your charge date rolls around, your order heads out, and your products arrive at your doorstep before you need them. That's it.

Yes, you can change, skip, or cancel your period product subscription as you see fit. Life changes, and your period care should be able to change with it.

With Cora, everything lives in your account under Manage Subscriptions, where you can:

• Move your next charge date: Push a shipment later (or pull it earlier) if you're traveling, moving, or still well stocked. Your schedule then resets from the new date.
• Order now: Running low sooner than expected? Trigger your next shipment right away.
• Skip a shipment: Have more than enough on hand? Skip the upcoming order, and your next one arrives on its regular date.
• Edit your plan: Swap absorbencies, adjust quantities, or add a new product as your flow or preferences shift.
• Cancel: Stop a subscription whenever you like, right from your account.

A quick tip: if your needs are changing in a big way, like after giving birth or heading into perimenopause, editing your plan is usually easier than canceling and starting fresh. And if you're not sure which setup makes sense, our support team is happy to help you figure it out.

With Cora, each product you subscribe to runs as its own subscription with its own ship date. So your tampons might be scheduled for the 23rd while your liners are set for the 30th.

Free shipping is based on the value of each shipment, so products that ship individually count separately. The easiest move is to align the charge dates for all your subscriptions so everything arrives together in one box. You get a single delivery, a better shot at free shipping, and fewer boxes to break down.

Orders ship the day after your charge date, so if you're adjusting dates around a trip, you might want to build in a little cushion.

You sure can. Since 2020, tampons, pads, liners, cups, and similar menstrual care products have qualified as medical expenses, making them eligible for HSAs, health FSAs, and HRAs.

Depending on your plan, that might mean paying with your HSA or FSA card or submitting your receipt for reimbursement. Either way, a subscription makes this especially easy because your purchases are regular, predictable, and documented in your order history. It's also a smart way to use up FSA dollars before your plan year ends, since stocking up on products you'll definitely use beats watching those funds disappear.

You can find Cora at plenty of retailers, and a store run is still a lifesaver when you need something immediately. Buying direct has a few perks that are hard to beat, though:

• The full lineup in one place: Our site carries everything we make, from the Less-Is-More Thong Liner to our reusable cups and discs, so you're not hunting across shelves for the one size your store never stocks.
• One box for your whole routine: Tampons, pads, and liners in the exact absorbencies you use can all ship together.
• Controls you'd never get in an aisle: Moving, skipping, and editing shipments puts the schedule in your hands.
• Real humans on standby: Questions about which absorbency or quantity makes sense go straight to people who know our products inside and out.

Buying direct also means our relationship is with you, which helps us keep improving the products and the experience based on what you actually tell us.

Beyond the convenience, every Cora order does a little good in the world. An estimated two in five menstruating people in the U.S. struggle to afford period supplies, and we don't think anyone should have to choose between period products and other basics.

With each Cora purchase, we provide period products and body literacy resources to people who might otherwise go without. That happens whether you buy once or subscribe, but a subscription keeps the giving going with every single shipment. Together, our community has helped give more than 26 million products and counting. You can see where that giving goes on our impact page.

We're also a Certified B Corp, and Cora earned a B Impact score of 106.2, compared with a median of 50.9 for ordinary businesses that complete the assessment. In other words, your recurring delivery is also a recurring contribution.

A subscription tends to be a great fit if you:

• Have a fairly predictable cycle and know which products you go through
• Would rather never think about restocking again
• Are juggling a packed schedule, a new baby, or a household of people who all have periods
• Have HSA or FSA funds you want to put to work
• Are heading off to college or living somewhere without a convenient drugstore nearby
• Like mixing formats and want them all to arrive together

If your cycle is less predictable, a subscription can still work well. The ability to move or skip shipments means you're never locked into a schedule your body doesn't follow.

A period product subscription takes one recurring chore off your plate. You pick your products once, set a rhythm that fits your cycle, and adjust as you go, with every shipment landing before you need it. Add in HSA and FSA eligibility and a purchase that gives back, and it's a pretty easy upgrade. When you're ready to build your box, our period care collection is the place to start.

No. Every product is also available as a one-time purchase, which is perfect if you want to test a new format or grab a little extra.

Yes. You can subscribe to as many products as you like, so tampons, pads, and liners can all be part of the same routine.

Often, yes. Subscribe & Save orders on our site come at a discount compared to one-time purchases.

Just update your address in your account before your next charge date, and your upcoming shipment will head to the right place.

Sources:

Period products: what are the options? | IPPF 

Menstrual Cycle (Normal Menstruation): Overview & Phases | Cleveland Clinic

IRS Outlines Changes to Health Care Spending Available Under CARES Act | IRS

Period Poverty in the United States of America: A Socio-Economic Policy Analysis | Journal of Global Health Economics and Policy