Woot Gets Still More Attention

Overhype

from the where-are-the-other-woots? dept

Just a week after we linked to a Tech Review article about how successful Woot has been as an e-commerce project, the Associated Press is running a similar story talking about how some people seem to get obsessed with the site — including myself. The article contains a short quote from me talking about how the nature of Woot makes it seem more like a game (you have to check every day, you have to order before they run out) in the same way that people first got hooked on eBay because it seemed more enjoyable to get involved in the whole auction “game” than to just buy something (though, that thrill may be fading away). Though it didn’t make the article, I did tell the reporter that, as fun as it is from a consumer angle, I’m not sure whether Woot can really be all that successful from the business side. While the company claims it’s profitable, that’s partly because they share warehouse space, workers and connections to vendors with an electronics distribution firm. The fact that, so far, there’s really just been one major copycat site, despite Woot’s popularity, suggests that others haven’t figured out a way to make a Woot-like site profitable.