Critter Pricker
The Critter Pricker is a product by an entrepreneur from Shohola, PA, that aims to help property owners feel more secure from bandits that cause property damage. But, wait, he's not talking about some "crimewave" sweeping the country that people need to protect themselves from,[1] No, he's talking about raccoons, those clever little rodents that always manage to get into your garbage. And to stop them, this entrepreneur has created Critter Pricker, a spike strip that raccoons just don't like to walk over.
The product is almost exactly as described above. It's a series of plastic squares that can be snapped together to surround whatever the property owner wants to keep raccoons away from. And this works because raccoons have sensitive paws and the pricking bit, well... they hurt!
The entrepreneur says that they can be snapped together in a circle to, say, protect plants.
Daymond comments on how heavy they are (so the raccoons can't move them) and Lori points out that the prickers are, indeed, very pointy. While Barbara asks whether the Critter Pricker can be used to surround a pool, a question she never does get answered, the other sharks are more interested in how raccoons go about doing their thing and how these stop them from doing it.
Each Critter Pricker unit costs $8.99 to manufacture and retails for between $27.99 and $32.99. In the year so far, Critter Pricker has earned $80,000 which isn't bad for spike strips.
Making A Deal
Mark compliments the entrepreneur, saying that he clearly knows his stuff but that he's also afraid of what would happen if he set it up and, so, is out. Barbara, likewise, is worried about product liability and is also out The entrepreneur's talk about the spread of raccoon roundworm doesn't bring her back either.
Daymond is more worried about his dogs than people, and he states that he's not sure how they would react to it, so he then drops out.
After hearing Mark, Barbara, <and Daymond all bring up the potential danger issue, Lori says that, while she knows that raccoons are a real problem for people, she also finds herself concerned that people would hurt themselves.
Which leaves Mr. Wonderful as the lone shark left in the deal. He states flat out that he doesn't have anything like Critter Pricker in his portfolio (because, who does?) and he sees the merit in it. But, because he's Kevin, he also doesn't love the three-quarters of a million dollar value the entrepreneur has put on the business. Strangely, though, he offers the entrepreneur exactly what the entrepreneur was looking for: $115,000 for 15% just with the addition of a $2.50 per unit royalty into perpetuity.
Despite the fact that a perpetual royalty could effect the sale value of the business later down the road and could deprive the business of operating cash from its own sales (though with this margin, maybe that's not such a big deal) the entrepreneur accepts Kevin's offer. On the upside, Mr. Wonderful's royalty deal means that there is, essentially, no Shark Tank Bite!
Notes
- ↑ No, for panic about non-existent crimewaves, see Haven from Season Ten. These jokers threw themselves at a door with a lock to prove how ineffective it was but actually ended up proving the opposite while attempting to pitch their anti-home invasion device. Because, yeah, that's a thing.