"The Nugget" A Kid's Couch Resells for an Adult Reason

Are you familiar with Nugget couches? They're what the manufacturer calls a "play couch", which is both a functional piece of furniture and an opportunity for kids to engage in creative play. Originally produced in small numbers starting in 2017, the Nugget saw an explosion in popularity on social media, and it became a must-have item in 2020. Parents raced to get their hands on their very own Nugget, and while most were purchased for children, some Nuggets were intended for more adult play.

So what is the Nugget?

The core of the Nugget’s design is it’s modularity. Unlike other furniture, the Nugget has no rigid frame or single shape. Instead, it’s made up of interchangeable, stackable, and self-contained foam pieces. You build up the couch how you want, put armrests and cushions where you see fit, adjust the height by removing or adding platforms, or just tear the whole thing down and jumble it back together.

There’s no need to put anything away afterwards, since the couch is just furniture. You can simply rearrange it back to how it was and have a seat when you’re done. It’s great for kids because it engages their creativity, encouraging them to imagine and then create the ideal couch. Additionally, it’s made out of soft, kid-safe certified foam, with interchangeable machine-washable covers.

The Nugget Comfort Story

As of 2022, Nugget Comfort, the manufacturer of the Nugget couch, is a well established and profitable company operating out of North Carolina. Their state-of-the-art factory can produce a thousand couches per day, and they have partnerships with huge properties like Disney and Sesame Street to create licensed designs for limited edition couches. But for a long time, they were just a small, independent business shipping around 50 couches on a good day.

Founded in 2017 by three friends, Nugget Comfort aimed to create something engaging for both kids and adults, and a piece of furniture that was fun but stylish, without the outrageous high prices. Operating out of a small warehouse, Nuggets were produced, packed and shipped by hand, on the same folding plastic tables you'd expect at a barbecue. Demand was steady, and the founders worked hard to meet it, shipping between 20-40 couches in a day. They used a forklift and 2,000 pounds of cinderblocks to compress each package down enough to make it economical to ship.

Like so much else, COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns would change everything for Nugget Comfort. Somewhere in the sea of TikToks and viral videos, Nuggets were picked up in the tide. Overnight, demand surged for the couches, and the manufacturer simply had no means to meet it. Even hiring more staff would be inadequate; the current facilities and manufacturing simply could not scale fast enough.

A Reseller's Playground

As Nugget Comfort made plans to build a new facility, an aftermarket bloomed for the couches, and they became a very profitable choice for reselling. Retailing for around $250, resellers could expect to double their money, selling couches for $500 or more. The compact nature of unopened Nuggets meant that shipping costs didn't eat much into profits, and while dropshipping was still advantageous, it was not a necessity, unlike most other furniture and bulky items.

Nuggets were even popular among couples without kids! It turns out that a lightweight, easily adjustable piece of furniture with soft yet supportive cushions and removable, washable covers is quite useful for a different kind of play. Alongside the mainstream hashtags on social media, #NuggetAfterDark had a renaissance among its bedroom enthusiasts.

This actually had a twofold effect on the aftermarket:

First, more people wanted more Nuggets. Second, people who wanted a couch for their kids did NOT want one that had been used in the bedroom, enough so that secondhand couches would be marked as used for "Nugget after dark" or not. After all, a ketchup or apple juice stain is forgivable, but anything else? Hard pass. It was actually somewhat common for families to own two (or more) Nuggets, keeping track of which pillows went where, and contributing to the healthy aftermarket in the wake of their sudden popularity.

Future Profits

The heyday of Nugget reselling would come to an end in late 2020, following the opening of Nugget Comfort's new factory, and the massive scaling of production to meet demand. While still a popular product, the wild days of viral fame have since subsided. For the most part, Nuggets can easily be purchased at retail, and the aftermarket for them is now secondhand products available at a discount.

There may still be an opportunity for resellers however. Nugget Comfort seemed to take note of the power of exclusivity, offering unique colorways and licensed designs in limited quantities and timeframes. Some have since become quite valuable, like the J & J Polka Dot Confetti design, which resells for $700, a profit of over $400.

Intrepid resellers should keep their eyes out for new designs for the Nugget, and even if things don't work out, they have a fun toy for their kids, or their partner.