These days, it’s cool to be a “geek.” While that’s great news for those of us who are into comics, games, apps, gadgets and the like, there is also a downside. As something becomes popular, more and more companies show up out of the woodwork and attempt to make some quick cash off the latest trends. It can be hard to find a site which sells the cool, unique items. StackSocial.com is a very popular site for geek/techie gear – but is it just trying to capitalize on a current fad, or is it something real geeks should go check out?

About StackSocial

StackSocial is an online marketplace filled with gadgets, apps, tools and toys. You can find everything from drones to current video games to instructional courses on popular software.

Headquartered in Venice Beach, California, StackSocial has been supplying geeks with gear since September of 2011. Their team hand-picks every item on the site, working around-the-clock to find unique, interesting products

The products on the site are constantly being updated, but they are arranged according to the following permanent categories:

StackSocial Items and Prices

The site is all about good deals. Every item lists the retail price, and then StackSocial’s sale price. While the retail prices do seem a little high at times, there’s no question good deals are to be had at StackSocial. For instance, they have the DJI Phantom FC40, known as “the world’s number one rated drone,” listed on their site for $499, with a retail value of $649. For smaller items, the deals are usually even greater, sometimes even more than 50% off.

StackSocial states on their site that the reason they are able to offer such great deals is because manufacturers of the items find it beneficial to reach StackSocial’s community of 400,000 geeks, so they’ll lower their prices in order to reach that market.

Items for Sale

There are definitely cool items on StackSocial that can’t be found on other “geek” sites. The drone is on the high end, but there is also a program called Motion Artist, which lets you make your own motion comics. You can also buy PC and Mac games for cheap – The Walking Dead game, including the 400 Days DLC, is only $14.99.

In addition to individual items, StackSocial also offers cool bundles. They have a Mystery Mac Bundle which costs $29 and includes eight video courses to help you become a “Mac power user.” Along those same lines, they also offer a $48 Loot Crate, which features a variety of toys and gadgets related to Batman, Star Wars, Futurama and more. These bundles make fun gifts for yourself or someone else. While you can see the contents when you order, the recipient of the gift, when they first open the Crate, will just see a ton of cool toys.

Items for Free

There are plenty of fun things on StackSocial which don’t even cost a dime. There are two sections: Freebies and Giveaways. The Freebies are usually software, and are available for limited time periods. The giveaways are free entries to contests run by StackSocial. While, obviously, your chances of winning a sweepstakes aren’t great, it certainly doesn’t hurt to enter. Previous prizes included a Playstation 4 bundle and an Xbox One bundle.

Criticism of StackSocial.com

Generally, customers have a good experience, although it’s possible to find complaints online. StackSocial’s community is 400,000 geeks strong, and the extended StackSocial network reaches 3 million people, so some complaints are going to be pretty normal.

A few complaints center around issues typical to any company involved with a lot of shipping: lost packages, delays and the like. However, most of StackSocial’s inventory is virtual. With digital downloads, your product is delivered to you instantly and you don’t have to deal with shipping at all.

The bulk of complaints actually center around certain manufacturers, not StackSocial. It’s unfortunate that StackSocial fronts the blame, when they really have no control over the issue.

Customer Support

The reason complaints are centered around various manufacturers is because, when you purchase something from StackSocial, you’re actually purchasing it from the manufacturer. StackSocial is mainly just discovering the items. Now, when the item is a well known, reliable manufacturer, you’ll probably be fine. For instance, if you buy a digital download of The Witcher 2, you’ll probably be all right, because that’s a huge game sold successfully worldwide.

However, sometimes a small company will suddenly develop a unique geek product, and you do want to make sure that everything’s on the up-and-up. Online reviews and such can help. StackSocial is constantly shuffling through new products. They do make every effort that the products they promote are created by companies you can trust, however. If you do have a problem, they’ll help you out. If a manufacturer gets too many complaints, StackSocial stops doing business with them.

StackSocial Business Opportunities

Even if you’re not a customer, there are still ways you might be able to benefit from a relationship from StackSocial. StackSocial has programs in place to work with content publishers and product sellers.

Publishers:

If you have a geek-related site, you might want to add StackSocial products to it. Aside from being of interest to your readers, this can also be an effective revenue stream for you. StackSocial works will with sites which are generally geeky, or you can also cherry-pick products which fit your site’s specific niche.

Products:

StackSocial is part of a network of over 20 technology websites. If your product is a good fit, it can been seen by over 30 million people each month across that network. Any gadget, app or “geek-centric” item is potentially an item which can be sold on StackSocial – although newer, novel products are usually preferred.

Additionally, if you have a free item you’d like to promote, they might want it for their Freebie section. If you’d like to promote your brand, a high-end item might be a good choice for a sweepstakes prize. On the product seller side of things, StackSocial seems to be about discounted prices in exchange for promotion of your item, but that’s only if your item is selected by the StackSocial crew.

Final Thoughts

There are some pretty cool items on StackSocial which I’ve never seen before. Also, for items which I have seen before, such as games, the prices are pretty low compared to what you’ll find elsewhere. Plus, it’s a great destination if you’re looking for a reliable source of software, especially anything related design, animation, and web page creation and maintenance.

Of all the items, I think my favorite was probably the Loot Crates. These goodie bags, usually arranged by theme, have a whole host of cool items. For instance, one has a Batman doll, an Empire Strikes Back T-shirt, a Dhalsim doll (from Street Fighter 2), some pixel-shaped sunglasses, a Bender mug and a few other small, geeky items. The whole thing’s only $48. It seems like it’d be a fun gift, perfect for a variety of occasions – like the geek equivalent of sending flowers.

You’ll find familiar characters and items that you’ll probably like, but you’ll also discover geek stuff you’ve never seen before. Plus, the items are constantly refreshed, which makes it the sort of site you can visit each day. Time to geek out!