Woot.com has built on its relationship with InFocus and yesterday the one-item-per-day online outlet store flexed the power of its unique retail model: it sold out an allotment of 450 new (not refurbished) 61" ultrathin (6.85" deep) DLP RPTVs over 22 hours for $3000 each. InFocus sweetened the deal further with a $500 rebate. This TV typically cost $5,000 - $8,000, and includes 2 ATSC tuners, an NTSC tuner, a Windows CE-based web browser, and all the trimmings. 
With woot's flat $5 shipping, this leads to some remarkable statistics:
Item Quantity: 450
Item Price: $2,999.99
Total Sold: $1,349,995.50
Last Order time: 10:05 PM Central Time (new items are offered at midnight, Central Time, so that means the entire sale took 22 hours)
Order Pace: a $3,000 TV sold every 2 minutes, 55 seconds, or $61,094.47 an hour.
Shipping Cost: $5
Shipping Total: $2,250
TV Weight (w/ stand): 189.5
Total Weight: 85,275 lbs
Rebate by Infocus: $500
Infocus Payout: $225,000
Obviously, Woot will be paying a bit more than $2 grand to ship 85,275 lbs. of merchandise direct to customers' homes.
In marked contrast to most Woot items, the order pace started slow - very few items moved in the first hour, as customers digested the information about the set and asked spouses for permission. If you follow the flow of conversation in Woot's forum, you find a clear pattern: initially, woot regulars whined about the high cost of the item (some Woot items sell for as little as $10 or $20). Then, as word got out about the deal, a flurry of new customers posted their excitement and celebrating their purchasing savvy (or impending divorce due to differing monetary priorities -- in one case, if the poster is to be believed, marriage counseling would be a far better use of his $3,000 than an HDTV). Woot appears to be following the Costco model and broadening its customer base by offering higher end products to be found in what was always designed to be a bit of a treasure hunt.
The key question other retailers must ask is how this will affect pricing going forward. Will consumers tune out Woots as one-time sales - almost like a lottery win - or will this drive down pricing as customers expect to find "finds" going forward?
-avi
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