

ManPacks.com - a different kind of startup - zaidf
http://manpacks.com/

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chaosmachine
I'm not sure what's "different" about this. Google "subscription socks" or
"subscription underwear", you'll find about 10 startups doing the same thing.
One of them was even featured in the WSJ last year.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=534330>

[http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/19/socks-dont-match-
how-...](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/19/socks-dont-match-how-about-a-
subscription/tab/article/)

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constantinople
How often do you need to buy new underwear? The last time I did so was
sometime in the mid 1990s. They don't look as good as they used to but they
still do the job. When it becomes a necessity to do so, most underwear can be
bought pretty cheaply locally without paying for shipping costs. This seems
rather fussy to me.

~~~
Qz
"How often do you need to buy new underwear?"

If you're asking that question, the answer is yesterday!

~~~
constantinople
Why? In case I need to come out and say it - My underwear is clean! It's just
not _new_. Sounds like typical consumerist propaganda.

~~~
aw3c2
I wonder about that too. Maybe people are not washing theirs properly (hot)?

~~~
Qz
Maybe you buy more expensive stuff than I do, but mine would always end up
getting holes near the seams just from washing them (yes, hot).

~~~
aw3c2
That might be, I try to buy from manufacturers that do not exploit.

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bugs
Your site is really slow for me and quite a few times has thrown up error
pages for php though I didn't screenshot them.

edit: here you go <http://imgur.com/fFQ4G.png>

I might have given it a try if these were available as boxers:
[http://www.hanes.com/Hanes/Products/Men-
Hanes/Men_ShopByCate...](http://www.hanes.com/Hanes/Products/Men-
Hanes/Men_ShopByCategory-Hanes/Men_Underwear-Hanes/Men_Underwear_Boxers-
Hanes/20222.aspx)

some of us just prefer buttons

~~~
coderdude
I don't know about the owner of the site, but I would not have appreciated
that screenshot. Then again, if you're letting your site spit out detailed
errors, you're doing it wrong.

~~~
madeby
We appreciate the screenshot -- issue should be fixed.

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sanswork
I'm seeing all errors. One suggestion on a technical side is that one of the
errors is a problem parsing the xml from a remote geoip
service(<http://ipinfodb.com>). Maxmind offers their maxmind light products
for free and will probably have equal or better quality to the service you're
using. It will also most certain improve the performance of your site(I hope
you're not doing the geoip look up on every request).

~~~
mattblalock
Yeah, looks like the geoip is happening every request.

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dzlobin
This is a great idea, but they need to expand to american apparel gear as
well. I really dislike Hanes undergarments

~~~
madeby
Hanes has a great wholesale program which made it the most logical choice for
launching our business. The brand offers great value, but not for everyone --
we are looking to expand our offerings in the coming weeks.

~~~
jmackinn
Have you looked into the American Apparel wholesale pricing? I bought from
them a few years ago (only tshirts) and yes, their prices were higher than
Hanes, and while the quality was only marginally better, customers assumed
they were much higher quality and were willing to pay much higher prices.

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jrnkntl
I knew I've read about this on a site that was submitted here a couple of
months ago: <http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Subscription_20Underwear>

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sumeeta
Beautiful. The site really made me feel like this is something I need.

I’m also confused about whether it's `Manpack` or `ManPack`; I see both. I
recommend you stick to one.

~~~
anonymousDan
The latter looks better imo.

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ojilles
If it was truly "Girlfriend Approved" I (male) should be able to pick a
subscription, pay for it and have someone else (female) pick the actual pieces
of clothing ;-)

~~~
timbonicus
The Trunk Club uses a model in this vein:
[http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/the-trunk-club-for-men-
neve...](http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/the-trunk-club-for-men-never-shop-
for-clothes-again/)

------
Ras_
There could be a market for monthly pack, including a pair of socks, t-shirt,
toothbrush, underwear etc. in other customer segments.

I'm thinking of all of those over-protective moms, whose offspring leave home
for good (or for extended periods). There's plenty of recurring occasions
where this could apply. Summer job away...

This would be an alternative to usual "sending food & money". Mothers could be
a sizeable market and since they often can't get to you, sending stuff is the
only option. This could be easily outsourced (both options lead to mailing
packages). The package can even include a personal note from mom, if that's
needed to make it as good as DIY-option. For the user himself ordering mail-in
packs instead of buying stuff locally is much more drastic choice. In this
case the other option has nothing to do with mail packages.

------
sdfx
I understand that you'd pay a premium for convenience, but if you compare the
prices to hanes.com I can't see the additional value. I've compared a sample
"Manpack" (8 of each for 120$ per year) with similar items on Hanes (45$ + 10$
shipping, free above 50$). Why don't you buy 3 years worth of stuff in advance
and open a new pack every few month? You still have to decide what items to
throw away. I get the "stuff gets icky and you'll forget to change" argument
for toothbrushes, maybe for razorblades, this one smells more like marketing
spin.

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Groxx
I like the "Free Your Mind" up-side. Time to see if I can finally jump to that
other building!

An interesting idea, and the price isn't too bad... but I get out to
department stores at least this frequently. Remembering isn't _that_ hard,
though I wish them good luck on the business. I know some people will go for
it, and it'd make a great parents-to-college-students gift.

Having a functioning website is always a good thing, though. Getting YC'd?

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jdietrich
I'd be more interested if the underwear on offer wasn't such lousy quality. I
can see that they're looking for hefty markups, but it makes no sense to me to
set up a service like this and then sell really crummy socks. From the link:

Hanes Classics Comfort Cool Ankle Fiber Content:
Cotton/Polyester/Acrylic/Nylon/Spandex/Other Fiber

I don't know about you, but I have a general policy of not wearing anything
made of "Other Fiber".

------
Entlin
Interesting. This reminds me of blacksocks.com, which have been doing nearly
the same thing for over 10 years now.

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pufuwozu
I think this is a great idea! I wonder if I can get them to ship to
Australia...

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muxxa
The underwear sizing chart link on this page:
<https://www.manpacks.com/order/manpack_24> incorrectly pops up the shirt
sizing chart

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sheldonwt
I think this is a brilliant. You know how many goofy girlfriends there are out
there who would find this to be a unique, funny, yet functional gift for their
boyfriends? Lots.

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Monkeyget
Razwar has the same model for razor blades :
<http://www.razwar.com/products/blade-subscriptions>

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Shamiq
Interesting. Is it actually cheaper to get the single pack ($13 per unit) than
it is to get the macho pack (13.33 per unit)?

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zaidf
Seems like the site can't keep up with the HN traffic. Hope the guys are able
to fix it(I've no idea who they are)!

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mattblalock
I love the idea (I managed to get the home to load once)! But some errors
being thrown up mighty hard.

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zaidf
Most interesting startup I've run into all week=)

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olalonde
Cool concept, I hope it works out !

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jamesbritt
What? No pocket T's?

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dnsworks
This sounds quite a bit like Amazon's Subscriptions. I've used that for
diapers, so I'm thinking that underwear and socks would probably work the same
way.

