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Woot's interesting one-a-day model

10 Aug 2004 by Jason Fried

Woot, a new online electronics store, has an interesting business model: they just sell one product a day. And they’ve wisely jumped on the bandwagon: you can subscribe to the store via RSS so you’ll always know what today’s item is. Smart use of RSS, fellas.

13 comments so far (Post a Comment)

10 Aug 2004 | Chris S said...

Outstanding idea. Wish I'd thought of it.

10 Aug 2004 | bradnelson said...

Great idea, but might be hard to catch on. People have to remember to go there to look for products. If they don't see anything they like for several days in a row, they might quit visiting completely. But yeah, setting up RSS might help keep it going.

10 Aug 2004 | Nick Finck said...

I think you'll find that most tech savvy people read blogs via RSS... bookmarks are a fading fad.

10 Aug 2004 | MrBlank said...

I like Woot. They have a twisted sense of humor. If you buy something from Woot and then sell it on eBay, be sure NOT to link to their original picture in the item description. You might get a surprise. :)

(Id give a link, but the auction image was fixed.)

10 Aug 2004 | pb said...

RSS makes ideas like Woot and freeafterrebate.info work.

10 Aug 2004 | RS said...

Great idea, but might be hard to catch on. People have to remember to go there to look for products.

Which is also part of the fun. I used to check my Amazon Gold Box frequently before it became overwhelmed by jewelry, vacuum cleaners, crappy DVDs and other things I never, ever buy online.

10 Aug 2004 | Benjy said...

Damn! This would be a perfect idea for my company... In fact I'm wondering if it is somebody from my company. Nah, nobody here's smart enough and nobody's heard of RSS...

11 Aug 2004 | One of several Steves said...

OK, it's got a certain coolness from a purely conceptual level. Is it a great idea, though? I'm skeptical. Businesses that require customers to do the work generally don't hang around long. Relying on customers to check every day, and then buy on impulse something that's not really an impulse purchase, doesn't seem to be a blueprint for a thriving business to me.

11 Aug 2004 | Scrivs said...

If you guys notice it's not their whole business model. It's something they do to get rid of the surplus in stock supposedly. With that in mind, no better way to do it (besides eBay).

11 Aug 2004 | One of several Steves said...

Yeah, I read a bit further and saw it was their surplus clearing method. In which case, that is a clever way of doing it.

11 Aug 2004 | Michael Spina said...

Great idea, until the item is out of stock and you stop taking any orders for half a day.

11 Aug 2004 | Michael Spina said...

Major annoyance: having a 1600x1200 ppi monitor and having to read a long FAQ in a 500x400px frame. Ugh.

11 Aug 2004 | Michael Spina said...

I sound pretty negative, but it is actually a pretty cool idea, and a way to get visitors to check back frequently. Their prices seem decent too.

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