Snap is now selling Snapchat Spectacles online — but there's a catch
Finally, Spectacles are going online. Snap's video-camera sunglasses can now be purchased on Spectacles.com.
The e-commerce launch comes after 102 days of watching the same website for a countdown clock that revealed secret locations to access the Spectacles. The one semi-permanent location, which opened Nov. 21 in New York City, closed Sunday.
While you can order them online starting Monday, the glasses are only available to ship in the U.S., and each household (a.k.a. address selected for shipping) is limited to six pairs. The glasses still cost $129.99 and will ship in two to four weeks.
People also can shop for extra cases and cables, which were previously only available on Amazon. The move is bound to bring more revenue from and reach to Spectacles just weeks ahead of the company's initial public offering.
Snapbot, Snap's interactive vending machines that dispensed the glasses, will continue to drop in secret locations around the U.S. It's taking a short break, according to a Snap spokesperson.
Snapbot may be taking a break from traveling throughout the U.S., but Snap's executives aren't. Cofounders Evan Spiegel, CEO, and Bobby Murphy, CTO, will go to different states for the roadshow of its IPO and visit with investors and analysts.
For Snap, Spectacles have not generated meaningful revenue yet, but the company is touting them as a sign of their creative investments and future potential.
"Our latest effort to reinvent the camera is Spectacles, our sunglasses that make Snaps. Spectacles connect seamlessly with Snapchat and are the best way to make Memories because they capture video from a human perspective," Snap wrote in an S-1.
The bot has dropped at 45 locations so far. Here's the full list, compiled with the help of change detection service Visualping:
Snap said the limited rollout was intentional, in part, to "assess product demand," according to its S-1 filing.
Snapbot has drawn excited people to every stop, selling out in just a few hours. The New York location once drew 18-hour lines. Since December, the store has been mostly empty throughout the day.
Snap made the details behind its launch quite secretive. It's unclear how many bots there are. According to Visualping, there may be four.
The larger rollout of Spectacles comes with some risks.
"We plan to significantly broaden the distribution of Spectacles, which will increase our costs and overall financial risk," reads Snap's S-1 filing.
Still, Snap has not expanded the reach of Spectacles and Snapbot outside the U.S., at least directly. People can, of course, visit or have a friend or a stranger purchase a pair on their behalf.
Snap did not make the reason behind their limit to the U.S. known.
Topics Snapchat
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
