An Open Letter to Woot and Yahoo!

If you haven’t heard the news, our biggest “competitor”, Woot, has just inked a deal with the internet giant Yahoo! The site will be called “Sellout” through sellout.woot.com. Of course, as co-founder of OfferOfTheDay.com I am a little rattled by this news. People are always coming up to us and saying ‘there’s this silly little site called “Woot” that’s trying to copy you guys’. I’m sick and tired of telling people that OfferOfTheDay.com is in no way “flattered” by their blatant imitation. For Woot to get a big deal over us is the catalyst for me writing this letter.

Forgive my boldness, but OfferOfTheDay.com is the GREATEST daily offer site on the internet…PERIOD! And for Yahoo! to flagrantly disrespect OfferOfTheDay.com, the market leader, by teaming up with “number 2″ is beyond me. We here at OfferOfTheDay.com weren’t even approached about a deal. The guys working under the strategic partnerships division at Yahoo! Shopping must be spending too much time sipping margaritas¹ at the Mexicali Grill.

Because I am a Yahoo! user (I love MyYahoo!, Yahoo Answers!, YUI etc..), I address this statement to the boys and girls over at Yahoo! with utter and complete disappointment: We NEVER wanted your crappy partnership in the first place! That bridge has burned and now you have to live with your decision.

For you “lucky” bastards at Woot, that’s it…the proverbial gloves are off. OfferOfTheDay.com will no longer be “Mr. Nice Guy” in this market. Your little stunt you pulled with Yahoo! has awoken the “sleeping giant”. Our focus from now on will be to crush any other daily deal site on the web, and unfortunately Yahoo and Woot, this includes your precious little partnership.

Reasons why we’re the best & why Yahoo! screwed up:

Daily Deal Comparison - OfferOfTheDay.com vs. Woot

First of all, let’s examine one of our daily deals and compare it to the crap Woot was trying to push on the public that same day. On September 4th, our daily deal was a big can of salted almonds from TryMyNuts.com. Now answer me this…where on the planet can you ever find a fantastic deal like this? The only obvious answer - OfferOfTheDay.com. That same day, Woot had the audacity to try and “one-up” our almond offer with their so-called “deal” - Aspire Digital Amplified 5.1 Speaker Set. Pure absurdity I tell you! Anyone who’s anyone would choose to pop salty nuts in their mouth over listening to music on some dilapidated speakers.

Names and Branding - OfferOfTheDay.com vs. Woot

Now let’s discuss our names. “OfferOfTheDay.com” is a TRILLION times easier to say and remember than “Woot”. Who are these guys…a bunch of owls? Is that even a word…”Woot”? I just looked in the dictionary, and guess what? I didn’t find a damn thing relating to “woot”. I saw “woof”. At least with “woof”, their mascot could have been a dog or something more creative. OfferOfTheDay has 4 words in our name, and they’re ALL in the dictionary! Plus, we HAVE a mascot that we have named “The Smiling Jackass” and also an honorary mascot we have named “Chewbacca Jr.“.

Classy Users - OfferOfTheDay.com vs. Woot

We have the greatest and most loyal members a site could ask for. Just take a look at the tasteful comments some of our members have left for us. The comments are so intelligent and appropriate to the discussion at hand. Now look at some of the dribble that the “wooters” make.

So, in conclusion, I would like to ask Yahoo and Woot, “What do you have to say for yourselves now?”. To our loyal community of “OTD Nut-Huggers“, we would like to say “thank you” for your support and let’s crush these “Yahooters“!

Note: This post is meant to be sarcastic…

1. In response to this “letter”, some “higher up” at Yahoo! Shopping actually sent me this photo of their group at the Mexicali Grill. [^]