Whatever Happened To Potty Safe After Shark Tank?

Many skills are learned in a child's early years, and parents are the sole instructors. Some of these lessons can be adorably simple, like first bites of solid food, while others, like first steps, can be unsteady. And then, there's the dreaded potty training. Although this process can end up seamless for some lucky parents, most discover that common steps include near-misses, tears, rewards, distractions, and of course, the inevitable mess. When Stacy and Colt Hall stepped in front of the moguls on ABC's "Shark Tank," they presented a product that could help eliminate some of that stress.

During Season 11, Episode 22 of "Shark Tank," the Halls brought their big idea, the Potty Safe, to the sharks. Based on the couples' description, the Potty Safe keeps a waste bowl attached using childproof latches. This way, young ones cannot attempt to dump their accomplishments into the toilet themselves.  

Despite the pitch catching some attention, none of the sharks expressed interest in investing. Reasons for dropping out ranged from being unimpressed with the couples' sales to having zero experience in the baby product business. In fact, it wasn't long before all sharks dropped out of a possible deal, sending the Halls away empty-handed. But, surprisingly, Lori Greiner (widely seen as one of the best Sharks) called the entrepreneurs back and offered them $50,000 for 20% of the business, a deal they immediately accepted. So, now that some time has passed, what exactly happened with the Potty Safe?

It looks like the gamble the Stacy and Colt Hall took on Potty Safe didn't pan out for them, at least in the long run. While the product saw an initial post-"Shark Tank" push that got them into some major retailers, those days appear to be over. The Potty Safe, which was once available on Walmart's website as well as through Amazon and Buy Buy Baby, is now nowhere to be seen. The company's official website gives a security error when visited. Additionally, their socials now appear to be unused. An Instagram account went dead in late 2023, with an X (formerly known as Twitter) account having gone silent in 2021.

So, what happened? As SharkTankBlog reports, the deal that they struck with Lori Greiner ended up never closing. Of course, that didn't stop the couple from pushing forward with their product, which proved successful even without the Sharks' involvement – the product made a reported $5 million in lifetime sales during its existence. However, it seems as though the lack of a Shark's backing ultimately proved fatal for the product. That's quite a sad fate for Potty Safe, which was clearly a passion project for the Hall family at large. And it's doubly unfortunate, since the invention earned multiple parenting magazine awards and held a perfect 5 out of 5 rating on Walmart when it was available. Hopefully they got to pocket some of that change before the Potty Safe was flushed from stores.