Making $25k/month selling chocolate dicks | Hacker News Reader

Making $25k/month selling chocolate dicks

failory.com

144 pointsRedoubts53 comments

Makes sense in the Instagram-optimized commerce world we live in now. People will pay a premium if something makes a good Instagram post (I would put a chocolate dick in this category).

Walking around NYC (maybe less so SF for now) I saw many restaurants repaint exterior walls with angel wings, quotes, neon lights, etc. that were all meant to entice people to take pictures and tag the location on Instagram as a marketing tool. Maybe semi-depressingly so if you're going into e-commerce or otherwise selling some physical good your first marketing question should be "will this look good on Instagram?"

In popular cities with famous landmarks, there are many "tours" (and Airbnb "experiences") that consist of simply a photographer taking pictures of you in front of these famous landmarks, ostensibly for Instagram. They often differentiate themselves based on the Instagram cred of the photographer.

i've always wondered, is it in anybody's interest for these revenue numbers to be correct? both the business and the indiehacker clone website know a bigger number is a better story.

Yes something I always wonder and assume many large numbers are [excessively] exaggerated. I’m surprised this concern doesn’t crop up more here. Someone usually brings it up, but not as much as I’d expect.

A little late to the party, but i was just told this has been shared on Hacker News.

My name is Adam and I am the creator of Dick At Your Door.

Happy to answer any questions people have. Apologies if my formatting is poor. I’m unfamiliar with the forum.

Glad you all have gotten a laugh!

Isn't having only this option sexist? Where's the "Pussy at your door"? (though understandably that might be confused for a kitten adoption service)

We tested it out and it didn’t really sell.

Puss at your door doesn’t really roll off the toungue as well

"Puss at your place"

There you go haha

Pusspop Parcel.

Reminds me of the service years ago that you could send dog shit to someone. There were three levels, all the way up to a dump from 'Buster'.

Do you mean shitsenders.com? That was the best. I don’t recall Buster, but I do recall them offering cow, elephant, and gorilla shit.

For some reason I doubt that Buster is a dog.

Further proof you can make money literally doing anything if you are persistent and able to learn along the way.

I really liked this article, and I thought it really embodied a "hacker" ethos, in doing something originally for personal enjoyment, then realizing it had potential and growing it into a business.

I also really liked this paragraph from a business perspective:

Lastly, this product is viral in nature. People think it’s funny to post about sending a chocolate penis to someone in the mail. Because most people are not sending it to themselves, we always include an offer code and a way to get to our site in every order. It is a literally a direct marketing campaign paid for by our customers.

They should include a fast path to buy (at a modest discount) and send a dick back to the sender. It has to be enough such that the recipient has some pleasure of knowing that they paid less for their dick

Discount Dick-Counter (Sung with the Mattress Discounters jingle[1])

[1] https://youtu.be/G_2l0XWxP-w

I would also look at this as a lesson that anything that might seem weird/odd/strange/abhorrent/unworkable to yourself still has the potential to be a successful money making venture.

One of my biggest problems with starting and growing a business is that I tend to put too much of my own biases and perceptions on things, and tend to dismiss anything outside of that as being outside the norm. This article is a reminder to keep an open mind, always.

re: open mind; for sure... this also reminds me of the business that went viral a few years ago selling edible anuses made from milk chocolate.

More like proof that some random ideas can catch on.

Have they pursued a relationship with Spencer's Gifts? Because that's where I would have expected to find this product.

Would you eat something that you bought from a Spencer's Gifts?

I would love to send a chocolate dick to a company I previously worked for.

Yeah, I’m sure multiple delivered in a bag would do fairly well.

I don’t know. I mean, the gesture is clear, but at the end of the day, all you’ve done is spent a lot of money to send them a delicious (if admittedly risqué) chocolate treat!

Lots of small ones too

You can always send a cardboard one from ShipADick[0], their newsletter is hilarious as well.

[0] http://shipadick.com

I wonder what am I doing wrong, 25k is a good chunk of change

It’s likely gross sales and there are multiple employees.

and this might be their best holiday month

Very true. It is sad that anyone could forget about August and the month-long celebration of chocolate penises.

You are doing nothing wrong. It is risky business to measure oneself against the people that one reads about. Occasionally, it is productive and motivating, but I think it can often be unproductive or harmful.

>we can’t find ways to market to the people who don’t know they need to buy a chocolate dick

Can confirm, I didn't know I needed this service.

I had difficulty sourcing chocolate penises for a gag Easter egg gift. Ended up buying a homemade one off eBay just wrapped in cellophane. I thought it'd be a great business idea – no overhead and not holding unsold stock.

Y Combinator's motto is: "Make Something People Want"

I guess it speaks for it self in this case...

This is not the first time I have read a story about someone sort of stumbling into a viable business. I'm jealous of that aspect, though I don't think I would want this exact business.

For the friend who has everything.

I will create a business called "Eat Your Face" by printing a mold of your face and send it over to you. I wonder if that gets $25K a month. Actually, you know what, I will look into this business. I will copy.

I was expecting fabrication of custom dicks ;)

Best headline in HN history

Not affiliated with this company at all, but I’m really happy this is my first front page submission.

I'm offended. Remove this at once dang. This is gender stereotyping and misogyny. We don't need this kind of harangueing in here.

We've banned this account for repeatedly trolling HN. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

If you insist, here is the female version:

http://www.lagustasluscious.com/shop/bluestocking-bonbons/fu...

That is more of an attempt at the female version, best of luck to them...

Stephen Fry said it best: https://youtube.com/watch?v=UxXbDgLdClc

Here's the transcript:

“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/706825-it-s-now-very-common...

Amazing, just read this story

Does that make them “Professional Dicks”?

Is this some kind of bust?

Meltable. Careful.

> Disclaimer: Products on this site are intended only as gag gifts for adults.

https://imgur.com/a/Td9vl1f

You should remove the picture of children placing an order for your chocolate.

Edit: That's disgusting!

Why remove the picture? It's hilarious.

Unfortunate of the word 'gag'

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