It’s The WootAgent!
I wrote about Woot! back in April of last year. I called it one of the most interesting sites I’ve ever came across.
If someone were to come to me with the concept I would have said it would never work. At first glance, the business model seems stupid: sell a single different product each day, offer little to no customer service — and make fun of the products in the daily promotions. But Woot, Inc. does all of this, with great results.
Woot sells one product per day. It goes on sale at midnight, Central Standard Time, and once sold out, nothing else is offered for sale until the next day. This creates a problem for many Woot users. If they forget to check the page, they may miss out on a great deal. This is where the WootAgent comes in.
Still in private beta (you cannot download it yet), the WootAgent is a small piece of software that installs a W! icon in your Windows system tray (sorry Mac users) and automatically pops up when a new Woot is available, or running out, or sold out. You can right click the icon at any time to see the latest Woot offering. The WootAgent screen also includes product description and price check so you can compare the Woot price with prices from other stores.
If you’re not a Woot user, the WootAgent can be annoying because a new Woot pops up on you every night at midnight, and it will pop up again to warn you the item is about to sell out. However, for the addicted Wooter, this is a Godsend.
- Posted in Technology, The Net
- 21 comments what's your take?
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I’ll have to pass this along to my friend, Eddie. He’s a wOOt junkie!
Reply to this commentI’m glad I’ve never fallen into the pits of w00t addicts!
You could also try using the w00t Google personalized home page widget if you can’t use the agent yet.
Reply to this commentFirefox users already have an option to check the woot page automatically.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4458/
(hat tip lifehacker.com
Side note: What is up with feedburner today. It’s practically bringing down the whole internet.
Reply to this commentIf it comes out at midnight why do you need this?
Reply to this commentMany wooters forget to check the latest woot. I don’t check the woot page everyday and I’ve missed out on a few great deals.
Reply to this commentagreed!
Reply to this commentI have used Woot in the past and it’s such a simple model, yet highly effective at the same time like you say. This would be nice for me, as I sometimes forget to keep checking slickdeals or Woot for good things. I wouldn’t mind it popping up at midnight; it can be my alarm clock too, telling me that maybe I can try sleeping instead of abusing the keyboard.
Thanks Brian for the FF extension; I appreciate posting the link here. I installed it before writing this second paragraph.
Reply to this commentw00t is awesome, I just wish us poor Canucks could get in on the action.
Reply to this commentIs woot only available in the states?? or can you buy if you live in Canada?
Reply to this commentI haven’t checked it out because I thought that was the case, but if John’s buying stuff then I guess it’s fair game to Canucks too.
Reply to this commenthehe, yeah i wished that to
Reply to this commentSorry, but this is nothing new. If you had been in the Woot community, you’d know these things have been around for ages.
Reply to this commentI missed this too! Although, I haven’t been checking the site too often lately!
Reply to this commenthehe cool, never heard of them. I like the concept
Reply to this commentI’ve never heard of them either. I guess they prey on the impulse buyer, which would be me. I can’t go to this site or I’m gonna lose all my money. Evil John! EVIL!!!
Reply to this commentWell I’d not heard of them until now. It is a great idea, while definitely a different one. It’s one of those things though that sounds like a bad idea until you build the critical mass and excitement. Good for them for making it work.
Reply to this commentNormally most of the supposed “bad ideas”, are indeed the good ones. Woot was one of them. It’s like the Colombo’s Egg.
Reply to this commentJohn,
Have you been able to buy stuff from woot? I’ve wanted to a few times, however I read somewhere on their website that they only ship to the states.
Reply to this commentA product that is remarkably similar already exists - wootSnoop, http://www.wootsnoop.com, and has existed for almost a year.
IMO has a better interface, is more customizable, and was around first. Also has a proven reputation to constantly add new features and correct any issues within hours.
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