Described as a "Sharper Image for sysadmins", their merchandise has been likened to "toys for adults, novelties designed to appeal to both your inner child and your inner grad student.

The company was founded by Jen Frazier, Jon Sime, Scott Smith, and Willie Vadnais, all of whom were running a small Internet startup at the time, with ThinkGeek initially starting as a side project.

[5] On May 26, 2015, it was announced that pop culture-oriented retailer Hot Topic had made an offer to acquire Geeknet and ThinkGeek for $17.50 per-share, valuing the company at $122 million.

[13] New product details from after the standalone site closed were made public in January 2020, including Jigglypuff and Get Schwifty (from Rick and Morty) themed Bluetooth Speakers.

[1] Prior to the acquisition, ThinkGeek curated a collection of many unique products, especially for the time; such as Miracleberry tablets, a t-shirt with integrated sound effects, and virtual keyboards, well before other retailers stocked such items.

[28] Some of the more popular items, however, were made into actual products, such as "Canned Unicorn Meat", the cecaelia-themed "Tentacuddle Blanket", the Tauntaun sleeping bag, and the "Technomancer Hoodie".

[29][30] ThinkGeek ran a points-for-reward system called "Geek Points", under which customers could earn rewards for buying more products.