When they were first launched back in November of last year, they were a minor phenomenon.

Tech geeks and Snapchat fanatics were intrigued, astounded and fascinated that the company would release such a perfect product fit.

But soon the hype died down as the novelty of finding a USA-based Snapchat vending machine, that showed up in various locations for a few hours a day, wore off.

The bots – who are currently “napping” – were cute, though:

This week, however, the company released the gear for sale online.

But hold on, what even are Snapchat Spectacles? Here’s a short breakdown from Tech Republic:

• What are Spectacles? Spectacles are sunglasses built by Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc. They contain a camera and microphone capable of recording 10-second videos for playback on Snapchat.
• Why do Spectacles matter? It’s easy to dismiss Spectacles as a novelty, but they’re much more important than that. Businesses can use them to show off new products, and they’re also conceptual proof of the possible evolution of wearable tech.
• Who do Spectacles affect? Spectacles affect anyone who uses Snapchat and wants to get more out of it. They also have a huge effect on businesses that use Snapchat since they can be leveraged for increased social media exposure.
• When will Spectacles be available? Spectacles are out now but are only available online at the Spectacles website.
• How do I start using Spectacles? If you’re lucky enough to have a pair of Spectacles you can start using them by simply connecting them inside the Snapchat app.

Pretty sweet, huh – if words aren’t your thing, however, then here’s a video:

Want a pair? Cool, listen up.

Snapchat has released the Spectacles for $129.99 at Spectacles.com. That equates to about R1 713 at the current exchange rate.

As you might have noticed, deliveries are only being made in the USA, but before you damn the man, check this out…

Postbox Courier wants to help, so they broke down what it would cost to order a pair through them.

Firstly, the glasses are duty-free – you would just have the import VAT to consider. Using today’s exchange rate of R13,18 to the $, the charges would be as follows:

Specs                    USD129.99 / R1 713.27
Courier                 USD35.00 / R461.30
Clearance            R125.00
Import VAT         R263.84
Disbursement   R13.19
________
Total                      R2 576.60

I mean, that’s not actually that bad if Snapchat is your thing and you want to up your game considerably.

And please note, while buyers should wait about four to six weeks for their Spectacles to ship, households are limited to six pairs.

This is PostBox Courier’s process:

• Sign Up
  Register free of charge with Postbox Courier via their website. They will assign you with a Personal Postbox at each of our worldwide depots. Look out for the confirmation email which provides a link for activating your account.
• Sign In
  Once you have activated your account, you will be able to login to view your unique Postbox addresses, by clicking the “View your Personal Postbox addresses” banner. Your addresses are permanent, so you can save them and start sending items to your Postbox!
• Notify them of incoming items
  Each time you send something to Postbox Courier, please notify them via the Parcel Pre-Alert (in your Parcel Manager).
• Manage your orders
  You can ship single items or multiple pieces combined into a single shipment. If you do wish to consolidate orders from different suppliers (in the same origin country), you will be able to do so in your Parcel Manager. Just notify them of each shipment that is en-route to your Postbox, and then use the ‘Group’ button to let them know which items you wish to combine.
• Pay for shipping
  Once they receive the items that correspond with your booking they’ll let you know via email and invite you to login to your Parcel Manager and make payment, upon which they will courier your items to your door within South Africa immediately.

Excited! Yay, me too. Come visit and show me when you got them? Cool

[source:petapixel&quartz&techrepublic]