One Day Sales

One thing about New Zealand is that for a relatively large piece of land, they have a small population.  Picture the UK minus Ireland, spread 4 million people around it, elongate it like a fish, and you have New Zealand.  Which means the people have a highly developed sense of communication and travel.

One way this manifests itself, besides a really good courier service, is the internet culture.  With so many people living far from urban centres, there’s a highly developed willingness to buy stuff over the internet.  The Kiwis are addicted – and I mean addicted – to TradeMe, the eBay equivalent.  They buy a lot over the internet.  And they absolutely excel at One Day Sales.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, here’s the lowdown: For twenty-four hours, starting at 9:00am or 10:00 or whenever (but usually noon), a very small number of products go on sale.  The next day, another lot.  And so on.  Shipping is usually minimal, and you can get some great deals that way.  So you could get, say, Emu wool boots for $89 (RRP $189), plus $8 shipping.  Or Burberry eau de parfum for 70% off.  Or the 30-disc Penguin set of Roald Dahl audiobooks for $35.  Things like that.

There are specialty sites that cater towards shopping, books, electronics, city activities, charities, fishing, wine, T-shirts – you name it, it probably exists.  I only know the Kiwi websites, but intuition and a quick browse tell me the US has their own One Day Sales as well (including the appropriately Woot).

Do you know about online One Day Sales?  Any great deals you’ve scored?

– Jean AAR