Woot-Off!

Let me take a break from playing Charlie cynical and instead play consumer advocate. If you haven't Woot'd today, you don't know what you're missing.

Woot is a novelty in the world of online commerce; instead of selling thousands of items from a vast, anonymous warehouse, Woot sells one item each day. You heard me right – it's truly "One Day, One Deal". Each day at midnight central time a new Woot is put up – usually its something techy, and its always priced 5 – 25% lower than you can find elsewhere online.

Quantities are limited, so if you don't act fast you can often miss out on the really cool stuff. Woot fans are known to be a rabid bunch and many stay up late just to see what that day's Woot is.

On extremely rare occasions – today being one of them – Woot changes formats. Ladies and gents, we are currently in the midst of a Woot-Off. In an attempt to clear inventory from the Woot Warehouse, a new item is being put up for sale as soon as the old one is sold out (it's a lot more exciting than it sounds…trust me). Here is a sample of the first few items for sale in today's Woot Off (time/quantity available/price/description appear below):

12:00 AM . .1000 . . . $49.99 . . Western Digital Caviar 250GB Hard Drive
12:22 AM . . . 30 . . . $79.99 . . Koolvac KV-1 Robotic Vacuum
12:29 AM . . 200 . . . $22.99 . . Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth Headset
12:37 AM . . 100 . . .. $9.99 . . Sushi at Home Kit for 4
12:43 AM . . . 30 . . . $49.99 . . Lightning Audio Complete Bass System
12:51 AM . . . 65 . . .. $4.99 . . World Series of Poker Wireless Plug and Play 15-in-1 TV Game
12:57 AM . . . 30 . . . $29.99 . . Zodiac Radar and Laser Detector
01:03 AM . . . 40 . . $189.99 . . iRiver 20GB Portable Media Player
01:16 AM . . . 69 . . . $39.99 . . BFG GeForce FX5500 OC 128MB 8x AGP Video Card
01:24 AM . . . 10 . . . $39.99 . . Monster Big Screen TV Kit
01:30 AM . . 200 . . . $49.99 . . Gyration Ultra GT Full-Size Keyboard Suite
02:14 AM . . . 86 . . . $14.99 . . Xact M3X X-Linx Two-Way FRS Radio – 2 Pack
02:34 AM . . 400 . . . $29.99 . . Nikko 1/14 Scale R/C Lamborghini Murcielago
05:56 AM . . . 66 . . . $29.99 . . The Ultimate Matrix Collection Limited Edition Collector's Set
06:04 AM . . 200 . . . $89.99 . . Voq Professional Unlocked GSM Smartphone
07:20 AM . . . 80 . . . $49.99 . . Memorex Dual Layer 16x DVDR/RW USB2.0/Firewire
07:27 AM . . 500 . . . $24.99 . . Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
07:41 AM . . 200 . . . $249.99 . . Audiovox Portable 10" LCD TV with DVD Player & In-Car Mounting Kit
09:49 AM . . . 60 . . . $39.99 . . Salton Fresh Soy Food Center
10:16 AM . .1500 . .. $49.99 . . Western Digital Caviar 250GB Hard Drive
10:30 AM . . . 50 . . . $599.99 . . Denon DVD Entertainment System with iPod compatibility

As you can see, some of it is high-priced gadgetry, while other Woots are cheap and useless (the Soy Food Center was a puzzling item, to say the least. Exactly how much soy milk does anyone really need to make themselves, especially when you can make only 5 ounces at a time?).

If you haven't Woot'd yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so (I can't believe I got a 250 GB hard drive for less than I paid for an 80 GB one two months ago!). There is no telling when the current Woot-Off will end; some have lasted just hours, others days. The more often you check the site, the better prepared you will be to snatch up the perfect Woot when it comes along!

One last thing: at all costs, you must be ready for the Bride of Chucky. You will not be disappointed ( wiki Woot will tell you why).