SortStack #1333 — 2030-02-01

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. One month of Netflix's standard ad-free plan $18

   Netflix began in 1998 mailing DVDs in red envelopes — it shipped its final disc in 2023 after posting over five billion of them.

2. An Instant Pot pressure cooker $90

   The Instant Pot was invented by a laid-off Canadian telecom engineer — it became so beloved that owners formed recipe communities millions strong.

3. A Hermes Birkin handbag at retail, entry size $12K

   The bag was born on a flight when actress Jane Birkin's basket spilled — the Hermes CEO sitting beside her sketched a better bag on an airsickness bag.

4. One year of renting a giant panda from China $1M

   China owns nearly every panda on Earth and leases them to foreign zoos — cubs born abroad are also Chinese property and must eventually be flown 'home.'

5. The Louisiana Purchase, as the US paid France $15M

   The 1803 nominal price bought about 2.1 million square kilometers — roughly three cents per acre — and doubled the size of the United States overnight.

6. Instagram, when Facebook bought it $1B

   In 2012 Instagram had 13 employees and zero revenue. The price was widely mocked as insane — it may be the best acquisition in tech history.

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