This company pays for weddings and tuition, but sometimes it's better to just get a bigger check

The CEO of Boxed, a startup that is a kind of online Costco or Sam's Club targeting millennials, says he doesn't pay the highest salaries. Instead, the company offers some of the most unusual and generous benefits.

It will pay for the college tuition of any full-time employee's kids. CEO Chieh Huang is personally funding some employee's weddings, too, after learning they couldn't afford them. Boxed workers can take unlimited maternity and paternity leave. But the trade-off is that salaries can't compete with Facebook or Google, Huang said.

"If you're an individual that just needs maximum cash in your base salary, then Boxed probably isn't a place for you," he told Business Insider's BIQ podcast.

But that raises a question: Is it better to have more pay or better perks? Researchers such as Nancy Rothbard at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School say that in tough times, it's easier for an employer to roll back a perk than cut pay. At the same time, benefits that target certain workers - such as those with college-aged children - can lead to resentment from those who can't take advantage of them.

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