One Day, One Deal, Woot.com

You guys gotta check this out. Woot.com has one of the coolest sales models I've seen.  Everyday, they sell a new product.  That's one product.  And they only sell a limited amount, a very limited amount.  After they sell out, or the day is done that product is no longer available.  Period.  Sometimes these things sell out in a matter of hours.  Most importantly, they sell the product cheap.  Like, really cheap.  50% or more off cheap.  Today's product is an Ion TTUSP05 USB Turntable, normally listed at $99.  Woot.com lists it at $49.  Check out past offers here.

Now, I'm not plugging the site or anything.  If you like USB turntables, go for it.  The site sells a bunch of other stuff (one at a time, mind you).  I'm only talking about it because I think the idea is really cool.  Questions arise, like how the hell does this site turn a profit?  The site itself doesn't anticipate profitability until 2043, although their marketing style is often self-depreciative, in a kind of cool and honest way.  Or dishonest mocking.  Like their projected profitability, maybe.  There is some advertising on the site, like from other deal offers from other sites.  From what I can gather, Woot.com takes advantage of excess inventory in the same way that Overstock.com does.  The difference is the One Day, One Deal model, which apparently banks on the appeal of real scarcity.  Not only is the product itself scarce, but the price at which it is offered is also scarce.

Sounds like a cool model.  I'm going to pay attention.  You should too.