I personally had no idea what “Webkinz” word meant? Or where this term came from until one day I was browsing through webmaster forums reading what cool sites are out there.

I read everyday on the internet about latest technology news to how to make money online strategies so I’m pretty much broad on knowledge. But when I ran across this person talking about Webkinz store website? I had no idea until I read about how much this person was earning from Webkinz Sales. I was pretty much SHOCKED! So from there, I spent few days researching Webkinz company history and why so many kids are in love with them.

What are Webkinz Pets? I can sum this up for you really quick. I would say Webkinz are the Millienium version of Beanie Babies except that you get to interact between online and offline world. Haha! Pretty good description eh? I really favor Webkinz founders and their employees for really focusing on safety of these children interacting on the internet. I have to give them high props and the parents for focusing on safety first and not all about how much this company can make. I’m sure if you were a parent of these kids you would want to know what this site is about and why kids want to spend so much time on it. Parents, you need to research Webkinz yourself and learn much about it as well. More you know about this will only help your child.

Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz gift company in 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the "Webkinz World" which is a website to "adopt" a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction. There is are also smaller versions of the toys called "Lil' Kinz". [1]
The toys have been marketed in similar fashion to Ty Beanie Babies with some being retired after some time, which encourages high secondary selling prices. Webkinz have been extremely popular, with Ganz claiming more than 2 million units sold to retailers and 1 million registered users of the Webkinz website. At the height of the toys' popularity, shortages of supply at some stores have been reported. [2] [3] NPD Group reports that the product brought in more than $1 million (USD) in United States retail sales in 2006. [4]

From Wikipedia: Webkinz