Ryan Acuff and Aaron Thedford, co-owners of Hutto-based In My Parents Basement, have been professionally selling “geek stuff” online since 2008. When they started they were in their early and mid-30s, but because of their business name some customers thought the men were two boys selling merchandise out of their parents’ basement, Acuff said.

“Of all the [name] ideas, In My Parents Basement was the one that the two of us liked the best,” he said. “It’s a memorable name. It doesn’t necessarily describe us, but it describes the stereotype of the customer that we look for—the typical ‘nerd’. We sell a lot of nerd stuff, geek stuff.”

Products they have sold through their website include a lamp in the form of Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” films, an edition of the board game “Trivial Pursuit” themed after the movie “The Nightmare before Christmas,” video games, action figures and band T-shirts.

Their 8,000-square-foot warehouse holds about 12,000 different items, but that changes daily because they constantly receive pallets of products, the co-owners said. Sixty to 70 percent of their products are clothing, and the rest are toys, games and accessories.

Thedford said they offer many products that are not available in the big-box stores anymore.

“[Larger stores] have a certain amount of toys that they want to sell,” he said. “And when the next movie comes out, they immediately get rid of those toys. We know that there are going be kids out there that still like the old movie and still want those toys.”

Bestsellers right now are items related to the Disney XD cartoon “Gravity Falls,” licensed merchandise from the online video game “Defense of the Ancients,” everything from “The Legend of Zelda” video game series and anything related to “Star Wars,” the owners said.

“We also have weird stuff that does well, like licensed Whataburger shirts,” Acuff said.

The most expensive items they ever sold:

Acuff said the most expensive item they ever sold was an imported, high-end Darth Vader doll for $750 and limited-edition Indiana Jones statue for $400.

The strangest item they ever sold:

Ryan Acuff, co-owner of Hutto-based online retailer In My Parents Basement, said the strangest item the store ever sold was a “weird” doll of rock singer Freddie Mercury.

“I don’t remember where we got it, but it was maybe 2 feet tall and it was designed to make noises like Freddie Mercury singing,” Acuff said. “It had a little speaker in its chest. It sounded terrible. It had an almost horror movie quality to it.”

Acuff said the doll cost about $100.

“It was really creepy,” he said. “But the creepiness actually kind of added to the appeal.”

671 W. Front St., Hutto www.inmyparentsbasement.com Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Location not open to public. See website for merchandise. Orders are normally shipped within one business day. Shipping options are available.