Bag of Crap

You're familiar with the site Woot, right? They offer one product every day at a fairly good price. However every month or so they go into Woot-Off Mode, wherein they sell a whole bunch of stuff over a 24-48 hour period in succession. So once item #1 sells out, it's on to item #2. It's really a brilliant marketing ploy, because it generates excitement in things such as Roombas, TVs, and golf clubs. (Hey, thanks Google Adsense!)

Anyway, the big item that everyone really gets worked up about is the Bag of Crap. Woot sells a Bag of Crap at least once in each Woot-Off, but you don't know when it's coming. For $1 (plus $5 shipping) you get... uh... something. Could be worth $1, could be worth more. For instance, you may get a dinosaur or you may get a giant flat panel TV. No, really!

The funny thing is that since then other sites have taken to offering their own Bags of Crap. Right now, for instance, a site called Home and Beyond is offering Random Box O Stuff - more polite - for $10, and throwing in the possibility of getting a Wii or PS3 or iPod or Land Rover. Okay, no Land Rover.

It's all interesting stuff. Some people think the Bag of Crap concept is, uh, crap. Others think it's fun. Me? I think that if it's just a few bucks, and you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, why not? You might get a network cable! Come on, who wouldn't want that?