How the Grinch Stole My Mug - A little Mug Release Insight

By Daniel White

The last Mug release / drop, the Grinch mug was an astounding success! The Grinch mug released at two different times over two different days and sold out in minutes / seconds! It was a rollercoaster of emotions, the thrill of the chase, the triumph when successful and unfortunately the disappointment when checkout was unable to completed. Mug releases can be unpredictable, and we definitely don't like to leave anyone empty handed if we can help it.

This blog is just to explain things a bit and give some tips for future success. 

Iron Bean is a small business, predicting demand for mugs is always a challenge. Some mugs are immediate hits and sell out crazy fast, causing a lot of excitement and uproar. Others aren't so exhilarating and hang about for a while, trickling off the website at a slower pace.

If they all sold out so quickly certainly larger purchases would be in order, but as not all mugs cause such a stir, it's hard to know which ones to bump the numbers up on. Preorders are the best route to avoid an overstock issue.

A preorder is in discussion for the Grinch mugs, so if you missed out on one be on the lookout!

Another problem to address is mugs being 'stolen from the cart'.

Many an Iron Bean patron has had the unfortunate experience of happily adding a mug to their cart and continuing through checkout, entering all of their info only to then get the dreaded 'Sold Out' notification.

It can be gut wrenching!

Many have asked why carts cannot be 'held' for a period of time to allow checkout. Unfortunately such a feature is cost prohibitive and ultimately will leave many customers in the same position.

Rather than receiving a 'sold out' notification, they would be unable to even add the mug to their cart.

The unfortunate reality with this recent drop was there were only 500 total mugs and over 700+ people on the website all vying for their chance at a coveted Grinch mug. We understand the emotions though, feeling like you almost got the mug can sting, sadly the thrill of the chase can lead to highs and regrettable lows.

Highly popular mug drops do ultimately come down to speed. We try our best to give everyone a chance by splitting releases up into two 'drop times'.

Even if the cart was able to be held, it would be a race to hit 'add to cart' before everyone else. Since the cart cannot be held, it's a race to be the first to check out.

The best bet is to be logged in on the website ahead of time and have your payment information already saved. If you are wanting to buy other goodies have them preloaded in your cart. Precious seconds can be wasted by logging in, updating addresses, and entering credit card numbers, if all of this is set up ahead of time you'll have the best possible shot.

In the end we know it can be a huge let down to miss out and we are absolutely humbled that so many people wanted these mugs so badly.

We are always working on ways to improve things and make sure everyone is taken care of and able to purchase the items they want.

Your support is appreciated and never taken for granted! If you ever have an issue reach out and we will try to help if we're able.