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PopSockets turned a simple lifehack into $169M in revenue (jilt.com)
35 points by pmp301 on Jan 24, 2019 | hide | past | favorite | 12 comments



Odd. Never seen anyone using this in the wild. Is it just convention tchotchke fodder?


When I went back to Canada to visit my family at Christmas, my neice's friend (14 years old) had one. Definitely not a techie, or from a techie family. I thought it was pretty clever.


Never seen this one before. The folding rings that acts as stand and the magnets are more common


Seen a couple of my friends and family with these, never really thought about where they came from though, quite interesting to see how big it is


>PopSockets is currently moving over 10 million products a month, with a unit price of just $10.

10 million units per month at $10/unit? I call bullshit. That would put them at $1,200,000,000 per year.

I've seen them around, but maybe 1 per 1000 people. Amazingly successful, but someone screwed up the numbers.


Maybe... but consider my counter-anecdotes 1) almost everyone uses them: I am a mid 30s professional and I’d say 1 out of every 2 people I work with has one - judges, law clerks, attorneys, judicial assistants, clients, all of their children... and 2) I see them all the time for promotions, from radio stations to non-profits giving them away at fairs, and bands both big and small selling them at shows. So those are two segments that are buying huge amounts of product in bulk. I doubt it will last, and would not be surprised if the numbers are inflated a bit, but right now they are hugely popular. Heck, my State Bar Associaiton even had dozens at a CLE recently, and I went to an Indian Child Welfare Act Conference 2 months ago and the tribes had stacks of them and were giving them out for free as well. It is the new hot advertisement/brand placement(?) avenue.


Hey hnnh44,

Good eye. I should have caught that one. I've updated the post to indicate the correct numbers (which was more like ~35 million units in 2017) and added an editor's note about the mistake. Thanks!


They retail at $10, but wholesale they sell for $3.

Source: I work for a company that sells hundreds of these a week.


They probably get thrown away. I have received a few of them and throw them all away.


I’m 30 and I’d say 50% of my friends use one. They’re super convenient.

-sent from my iPhone SE with indents in my fingers


I see people using them all the time. I tried with my current phone but I took it off once I realized it broke my wireless charging.


I never saw a use for it, but I’m still an iPhone SE user. Kids and adults in my area use them though.




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