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Will Pluto Pillow make it after rejecting $400,000 offer? 'Shark Tank' fans say 'hard pass' to $95 pillow

'I love pillows but 95$ is too rich for me. What is with these expensive products, especially in a struggling market. We want inexpensive but good products. #SharkTank', wrote a fan

A good pillow can be a serious gamechanger when it comes to helping you get a good night's sleep. Nobody likes waking up to a sore and stiff neck or shoulder pain, and nobody knows that better than Kevin Li and Susana Saeliu, the founders of Pluto Pillow.

Kevin and Susana walked into 'Shark Tank' seeking $400,000 for a 5 per cent stake in their company. The duo made a passionate pitch about how their brand could customize a pillow to meet every customer's specific preferences using their unique algorithm, and the 35 various options of pillow stuffings and pillowcases they had. They also revealed that they sold their pillows for $95 and charged an additional $18 for shipping. The Sharks were obviously intrigued by the product, but the $8M valuation they added to their company didn't sit well with them. So Lori Greiner decided to sit out from making the deal. 

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The duo then tried to convince the Sharks by pointing out how they relied heavily on machine learning and algorithms to determine the perfect pillows for each customer and even shared that they had a utility patent pending on their process of assigning the perfect pillow for each customer. Unfortunately for them, Mark Cuban was further put off from making an offer as he felt that they were under-utilizing their machine learning and algorithms, and suggested they should explore more into predicting what each customer might order before declaring that he wouldn't be making any offer either. Daniel Lubetzky followed Cuban's footsteps and he too decided not to make any offer.

It finally came down to Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavec. Mr Wonderful too felt that it would be too risky for him to invest in the company and backed out. However, Robert surprised everybody by deciding to invest in the company. He explained how he loved the entrepreneurs' personalities and pointed out the broad scope of their patent to justify his decision to make an offer. Although Kevin and Susana walked into the tank ready to part with a 5 per cent stake in their company, Robert felt that it was too low and made an offer of $400K for a 20 per cent stake. 

The duo made a counter offer of $400,000 for a 9 per cent stake and requested Robert if he would be okay with 9 per cent instead of 20. Robert wasn't willing to budge and felt that 20 per cent was a fair ask. So, the duo politely declined the offer and walked away without any deal. When fans watched the exchange, they began wondering why Pluto Pillow didn't accept Robert's reasonable offer. A fan tweeted, "@robertherjavec omg, i cannot believe they didn't take that offer. Mind boggling. #SharkTank #pluto." Another fan wrote, "It takes balls & belife in your brand to turn down 400 grand #SharkTank."

Many fans also began wondering if Pluto Pillow would be able to make it in the market without a Shark's backing while pointing out the hefty $95 price tag of each pillow. A fan commented, "They completely lost me with 5% equity, then again with the $95 for one, then again with their overuse jargon of "algorithm." Everybody and their mother has an algorithm nowadays. #SharkTank."

Several fans felt that $95 was too expensive for a pillow and expressed their disinterest in the product. A fan shared, "#SharkTank #PlutoPillow $95.00 is too much for a pillow. It's a hard pass for me. @BarbaraCorcoran @ABCSharkTank." Another fan seconded, "I love pillows but 95$ is too rich for me. What is with these expensive products, especially in a struggling market. We want inexpensive but good products. #SharkTank." Another said, "Oof the pillow is expensive #SharkTank."

Do you think $95 for a pillow is too expensive? Let us know. 'Shark Tank' Season 12 airs every Friday at 8/7c only on ABC.

Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.