Marion Smith Designs A5 Planner Binder Review

I recently received my Marion Smith Designs A5 Planner Binders in the mail a few days ago, and mind you, I had previously pre-ordered them back in September, so it took quite a few weeks and then some for them to arrive. Nonetheless, they are here. I must say, though they look much better in pictures. When I first pre-ordered them they were on retail for $59.99 each+ tax and shipping expenses. When I recently went to the Marion Smith website, I saw they were sold out and that they were selling for $69.99. Lucky for me I purchased them when they were still $59.99.

Here are the specs as stated on the (www.MarionSmithDesigns.com) Marion Smith website:

A5 Planner in Luscious Pink: "This planner binder is A5 with heavy duty saffiano vegan leather. Animal cruelty free plant based polyurethane material. It has gold foil heart pattern on the inside with gold 3.5cm rings. It has seven pockets and extra long strap closure so you can bulk up your planner more than ever before. This listing does not include inserts."

A5 Planner in Luxury Gold: This planner binder is A5 with heavy duty saffiano vegan leather. Animal cruelty free plant based polyurethane material. It is extremely shiny like gold foil. It has gold foil heart pattern on the inside with gold 3.5cm rings. It has seven pockets and extra long strap closure so you can bulk up your planner more than ever before. This listing does not include inserts.

As you can see, both binders have the same interior. Having the cute gold foil hearts. As well as having a great amount of different sizes of pockets on the interior, 7 pockets to be exact. Each Binder has lovely gold hardware, the rings measure up to 3.5cm, leaving for ample amount of space for inserts and extra notes to be added into the binder. 

Both binders also include a pen loop and an extended strap, button closure. This will allow the user to be able to "bulk" up the planner adding yearly/monthly inserts, as well as stickers, added note loose paper and many other planner accessories. 

 Here is a close-up of the interior gold foiled hearts. As you can see, after much love and usage they may have the potential to rub off eventually, but hey lets face it, that means you've been using your planner A LOT, and thats never a bad thing =)

As you can see from the interior, Marion has her signature logo and name embossed as well as on the bottom of the exterior spine of the binder as seen below. 

Here is a great picture of the close up of the saffiano texture she talks about in the specs listed in the beginning of this post. It has sort of a criss-cross texture effect, which I have seen in many popular purses these days. Might I add, I absolutely love this textured design, as some may appreciate it, like myself, some other's won't, but thats ok, we can't please everyone. This texture is also reminiscent of the Filofax saffiano planners. Being a vegan leather, Marion did a great job with the saffiano texture, and it offers something different in the "planner world". 

The Cons:

• The price ($59.99 pre-order price/ $69.99 retail); this is very important and is a make it or break it deal for most people. Having no yearly/monthly inserts or dividers included with this planner's price can be quite disappointing for some adding an extra expense of having to purchase those inserts separately. 
• The quality of the interior is lacking, and does not offer that high quality feel that some may be searching for with the price of the planner. 
• The gold foiled heart design on the interior has potential to rub off with much use. 
• Personal experience for pre-order: It took quite awhile for the items to arrive and ship out to buyers. The expected shipping date was pushed back almost 2 weeks. 

The Pros:

• The color selection was spot on. The pink was just a perfect pink, not too light and not too dark. What girls doesn't love pink? The combination of the luscious pink with gold accents was brilliantly executed. As for the gold, it was definitely shiny, and with that being said it made the look of the exterior planner look "grandeur" I mean it is called Luxury Gold. 
• The saffiano texture was a great addition to Marion Smiths planner line. It offers something different to the consumers. 
• The binder rings are much bigger this time around compared to the first edition Aqua planner that she released, from what I heard. They measure 3.5 cm.
• The planner offers plenty of space and offers 7 different sizes of pockets from the front and back of the planner. 
• I couldn't forget about the cute gold heart pattern on the interior. 

Now for my opinion on the Marion Smith Planner Binders. This was my first time purchasing, as well as first time owning a Marion Smith Planner. When I first purchased them back in September, I was excited and in love with the color selection that she came out with. The expected shipping date was October 31, 2015 for the gold and pink planners. So naturally, I didn't think too much of them during October, but as October passed and November came, news from Marion stated that planners were delayed and that would also effect the shipping time, I'll be honest, that really disappointed me. I understand the production of the items is out of Marion's hands, I don't blame her at all, but as an avid "planner collector" I wanted the planners ASAP as any "planner collector" would, right? At some point, prior to receiving the planners, I almost didn't want them anymore because I was waiting so long for them. Nonetheless they came 2 days ago November 20, 2015 to be exact. As I opened the box and found the planners I was over joyed. The exteriors of the planners were gorgeous, I actually loved the pink more than the gold, when I initially pre-ordered them I actually liked the gold more than the pink. Having them both in hand the gold was just too shiny for me. Everything was great, until I opened the binders. The feel of the interior was lacking for me. I felt that the quality for the price just wasn't there and found myself even more disappointed in the items. Now I understand that they aren't made of real leather, but the material with the gold foiled hearts just seemed/felt "low-grade" for lack of a better word. You can feel the cardboard structure more on the interior. In addition the planner binders did not come with inserts or dividers and as stated on her website they were "Binder Only." To sum it up, for the price I paid $59.99(pre-order)+tax ($69.99 retail) I felt like the quality of the product wasn't there for me. Being an owner of a Kikki K A5 planner, I was left sad, and disappointed. Yes I understand, the Kikki K is made with real leather so of course it feels much better, but I also got it for the same amount ($50-$60 this price was earlier this year) and the Kikki K came with inserts for the year and dividers as well. So was it a "hit" or a "miss"? It was a huge miss for me, unfortunately. 

XOXO,

Melissa May