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COTD "Pressure Cooker" Sale - ASUS Eee PC / GHD Hair Straightener for $199 + Others

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COTD "Pressure Cooker" Sale - ASUS Eee PC / GHD Hair Straightener for $199 + Others
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msbluberry on 17/08/2009 - 12:55 catchoftheday.com.au (4238 clicks)
Last edited 26/08/2009 - 00:24 by 1 other user

Hi guys, COTD is having another sale similar to a baitathon, this time called a Pressure Cooker (very appropriate name :P) Its on midday 25th of August, at the moment there are two items: GHD limtited edition straightener at $199, and an Asus EEE PC at $199. I'm not sure which model it is as it doesn't state, but I believe that is still pretty cheap.

Keen to see what other items they are going to have, and how the servers will go this time. Not an offer for the faint hearted!

Mod — edited title, added expiry date, corrected category and edited description.

Mod — Marking this as highlighted deal to avoid duplicates.

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      • pbjabba on 25/08/2009 - 21:55

        Ready to be disappointed? Yes, yes I am…

  • o555o on 25/08/2009 - 21:49

    Next is Wii

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 21:51
    +2

    Love how much people crack when these are on, so funny. They don't understand there is at least quarter of a million prob heaps more people trying at the same time to get a product when there is only 100 advailable what do you expect the odds are against u. And of course the site will crash with that many people on it clicking refresh every 1 second. A company like this wouldn't make enough money to have good servers which is only need like 3 times a year look at jetstar owned by Qantas they have heaps of money but there server still crashes this is a small business.

    But keep up the anger its funny I have no probs with them I got a lot of things in there last one I'll let u's fight this one unless a ipod comes out

    • shaun-o on 25/08/2009 - 21:54

      I'm glad you can see the funny side of things.

      • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 21:55
        +1

        I can
        U got to think of it's like winning a prize if u actually get a item

    • bountyhunter on 25/08/2009 - 23:44

      The thing is that the odds of getting lucky and getting one item are pretty damn low(items:potential buyers), but the odds of getting even more lucky and getting multiple separate items increases logarithmically not linearly with each successive item. That is unless I'm mistaken? It is 11.45PM so my brains not working too well:P

  • rewstar on 25/08/2009 - 21:55

    ready for the server to crash :)

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 21:56

    Might have a go at the wii that price is pretty good
    Come on lady luck

  • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 21:57

    ready ;D

  • Davo1111 on 25/08/2009 - 21:58

    did anyone notice this down the bottom?
    "Due to the high amount of orders for todays Pressure Cooker, these items will be shipped in 7 Days"

    • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 21:59

      it said on my order upto 10 so thats cool

  • DVDGuy on 25/08/2009 - 21:59

    Haha, server has crashed, and the new hourly deal isn't even up yet

  • msbluberry on 25/08/2009 - 22:01

    Just scored one without even seeing the redirect page! Woo!

    • missbinda on 25/08/2009 - 22:12
      +3

      It's just amazing how every single time COTD have one of these, you manage to get exactly what you want while the rest of us can't even get on. How lucky are you???!

      • msbluberry on 25/08/2009 - 22:36

        I never said that I got everything I wanted, did I??? I missed out on things last time just like everyone else. I just don't happen to be bitter about it

        • bountyhunter on 25/08/2009 - 23:07

          I'm kinda with missbinda on this one TBH. It DOES seem strange. The pure maths of some of the people on here getting so many items on these days makes it quite unlikely IMO. Any of you LUCKY folks care to give a "I am in no way associatied, either directly or indirectly, with Catchoftheday.com.au" statement?

        • missbinda on 26/08/2009 - 00:15
          +1

          Oh you touchy msbluberry, you totally took my comment the wrong way. I'm really glad, since you're such a COTD fan (as not just the OP but about 75% of your comments are on COTD threads) that they came through for you…yet again. Cheers!

  • Davo1111 on 25/08/2009 - 22:02

    alright thats it for me, not going to get on. night all. :P

  • Quick Ink on 25/08/2009 - 22:04

    Woo hoo …I got me one…Now just to figure out why I want it

  • SuperBoi on 25/08/2009 - 22:04

    is there any updates on the Samsung tv?

  • BarginHunter on 25/08/2009 - 22:05

    i was on the checkout confirmation then it died

  • shiba on 25/08/2009 - 22:06

    i cant believe i actually have the luck in getting one! :DDDDD

  • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 22:06

    sites fcked now, I got to the bite me next page then dead

  • rewstar on 25/08/2009 - 22:06

    sold out yet?

    • Broden on 25/08/2009 - 22:07

      Yep.

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 22:07
    -1

    Got to the credit card details and changed my mined don't want the hassle of selling it
    Congrats to the people who got one seems to be a few from here and whirlpool forum

    • bountyhunter on 25/08/2009 - 23:11

      How do you seem to be able to get through at will (both last baitathon & today)?

  • applebyte on 25/08/2009 - 22:08

    last step, confirm order… CRASH

    • shiba on 25/08/2009 - 22:09

      try checking email?it might have been processed just that the site doesnt load?

      • skinny on 25/08/2009 - 22:12

        Ahh… I have gone through this.. no it does not come through.. I sent an e-mail - no response till now.

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 22:08

    Sold Out BTW

  • ShortyX on 25/08/2009 - 22:10

    All gone

    Bah, missed out…oh well…

  • bargainhunter on 25/08/2009 - 22:14

    It took me 19 minutes to see the DS 'sold out' page and only 13 for the Wii. At this rate…

  • BarginHunter on 25/08/2009 - 22:18

    What a load of bullsh** I had it in my cart clicked paypal clicked continue then it died then it came back to life and i logged in to paypal clicked pay then as it was going back to cotd it dies then when it finally comes back to life it says sold out.

  • Palpatine on 25/08/2009 - 22:19

    The same. Got to payment page, entered card details and clicked on confirm and then nothing, it just crashed. This is beyond useless. How do they expect people to buy from them?

  • IanPlatypus on 25/08/2009 - 22:19

    I got to the cc details place, put in my details, looked for my csv not there.

    Seems I lost my debit card the other day and was using my eftpos one (not visa)>

    Thanks COTD for making me realise >.<

    So close though :(

  • igrabaustralia on 25/08/2009 - 22:21

    i was in befor sold out but when in paypal ready to pay, i was spined out

  • Durian Pancake on 25/08/2009 - 22:23

    I don't like this lottery system…

    I have a wii in my shopping cart but its sold out. Maybe I should just leave it in there until the next baitathlon >_<

    • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 22:27

      if it's sold out it's gone already :P

      they don't hold your item until you confirm payment, you should of read that on their website as you were going through checkout.

      • Durian Pancake on 25/08/2009 - 22:34
        +1

        lol yeah, I was being sarcastic. There was meant to be a less than symbol to make the face of frustration but it doesn't show up for some reason - even when I try and edit

  • nutty on 25/08/2009 - 22:25
    +2

    LoL @ crash of the day

    • pull the lever on 25/08/2009 - 22:34
      +1

      +1 crash of the day.

      "up next is the crapathon."

      love the COTD culture that has developed on the interwebs. brilliant and funny. you got to look at the whole situation and laugh.

      offcourse one would hope COTD would implement some smarter measures into their purchasing system (e.g. have the software intelligently track IPs to avoid geeks from setting up multiple scripts and refreshes and have a faster 'buy it now' option with a paypal button so no one has to go through 5 pages then dissapointment!)

  • J-B on 25/08/2009 - 22:27
    +1

    What good is a product if you can't buy it!?!
    If they knew that their servers were going to crash, they should have increased capacity.

  • naira on 25/08/2009 - 22:29
    +3

    Who ever wrote the code for COTD should be fired. I was already logged in Paypal to pay and then click on pay and bang website not available. I can't even refresh… 5 minutes later … WII is out of stock. What kind of devoloper writes this code where you loose all information or connectivity to servers when you are aleady connected. Maybe COTD don't even have 200 items to sell or their server is just a pc with 1 CPU. What a waste of time.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 23:00

      you try having 250,000 people all browse to a website hosted on your IP address and constantly hitting refresh and see if your connection can take it.

      It's pretty much like a DDoS attack on the website. When enough people browse to it, it will fail to handle all the connections.

      • bountyhunter on 25/08/2009 - 23:17

        Don't you mean a plain DoS? I thought that DDoS is when one individual/entity uses an array of comps (like a botnet etc.) to perform a DoS?

  • Icy on 25/08/2009 - 22:41

    hehe sounds like a ton of people took the bait and got "caught" on the hook instead… this is exactly what they need to be successful, a few items and a lot of hype, hmm ALDI… COTD… if I can just work out the pattern and start my own ICSY (I can sell you?) company and reel in some suckers

  • temuryusuf on 25/08/2009 - 22:42
    +5

    GOT ME A WII!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

    Refreshed the page with 7s left on the clock (was already logged in), loaded straight into Bite Me -> Checkout -> CC Details -> Confirm Order on confirmation page and POOF. Page not loading any further. PATIENCE PAID OFF! Got my order process email at 10.04 :D

    Wonderful surprise, I was more than ready for one of the pages to die on me, and it did, but only after my order had gone through, hehe =)

    Thank heavens the Wii comes after midsems! :p

  • Durian Pancake on 25/08/2009 - 22:46

    Did any of the lucky wii winners get a bonus 4c fuel voucher from bigW?

  • SPYKE on 25/08/2009 - 22:51

    A system which doesn't allow people to have priority once within the checkout process is simply fail.

  • Megan on 25/08/2009 - 22:53
    +5

    Well I had fun :) Got a few catches, totally lame ones but I got 'em! Great for stocking fillers for Christmas. Had a few drinks, made a few Tweets, got a few things on eBay in between, chatted to friends…. and it's only Tues :)

    yeah….meant to say….. I need a life lol

  • applebyte on 25/08/2009 - 22:54
    +2

    ozbargain should have more than + or -

    It should have a double negative just for cotd

    I almost feel I'm being too kind giving a plain -ve

  • jiakz on 25/08/2009 - 22:57
    +1

    Hahha when do you guys ever learn

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 23:00
    +1

    Cuddlee !!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

  • crotchoftheday on 25/08/2009 - 23:00

    Game over man. Time to hit the hash pipe.

  • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 23:01

    And that is the last item too as the clock is counting down in the 12 hours 58 minutes
    dam no ipod

  • applebyte on 25/08/2009 - 23:02
    +1

    lol

    EPIC FAIL

    A cuddlee to finish it off…

    • skinny on 25/08/2009 - 23:02
      +2

      you mean a cuddlee to continue - it never finishes at COTD!

  • abacus on 25/08/2009 - 23:05

    At least it's a record for the number of comments.

    Wonder how many total man hours went into trying to buy something today?

  • bargrin on 25/08/2009 - 23:07

    so I guess there a lot people here not going to jump at the next presure cooker sale.

    • herbie_ford on 25/08/2009 - 23:11

      lol doubt it they will be at it again complaining about not getting a item

    • bountyhunter on 25/08/2009 - 23:30

      I wonder whether these bargainathons are creating a positive or negative association with COTD? I dunno if these loss leader tactics in this sorta situation work all that well personally. In a bricks 'n' mortar they work much better IMO

  • Megan on 25/08/2009 - 23:07

    ROFLMAO I just had to buy one didn't I!

  • scrimshaw on 25/08/2009 - 23:08

    gahhh, the Cudlee strikes again!

    Give us something good dammit!

  • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2009 - 23:09
    +2

    screw it, 5 bucks for this Cuddlee crap just bought two for me and the Mrs. might come in handy one day, if I never use it for anything I'll just give it to my dog to sleep on in his bed!

    • Megan on 25/08/2009 - 23:11

      lol my thoughts exactly!

  • Zawoooo on 25/08/2009 - 23:29

    Dam soo dirty clicked the pay button after logging onto paypal and it stuffed up there goes my $199 wii

  • huntress_love on 25/08/2009 - 23:34
    +3

    well at least the comments has been entertaining!

  • POWERevolution on 26/08/2009 - 00:35

    Server fail again!!!
    +1 for Crash Of The Day.

  • Kranbone on 26/08/2009 - 01:18

    Is 4.95 the cheapest cuddly going around, I bought one as a stocking stuffer so I can't complain :P

  • GerrardLFC on 26/08/2009 - 01:53

    Missed out again :P

  • gamemaster on 26/08/2009 - 11:27

    COTD should not have these sales when they know their servers can't handle the traffic. I am guessing they made no attempt to upgrade servers since the last sales. I have bought items from COTD in the past and I do like the concept of one sale item per day however with other "one item per day" online stores popping up COTD is looking less favourable. It seems COTD may have done more damage to their reputations this time round.

  • skinny on 26/08/2009 - 12:16

    Could you believe, the CRAPathon has pulled the COTD servers down!

    What a Crap!

  • DVDGuy on 26/08/2009 - 12:29
    +1

    I don't think server upgrades are feasible, since the traffic spikes are expensive to mitigate, as when they're not having this kind of special sale, the servers become very much under-used. The main problem is people refreshing all the time, making the situation even worse since each user actually becomes 10 or 15 users based on hits to the server.

    One way to prevent this is to have users pre-register for payment, and so when they do get to buy an item, they don't have to go through the payment pages and the credit card processing function again (in fact, the payment processing can wait until the day is over, or when the cuddlee's are on, that is, when nobody is hitting the servers anymore). Basically just click on one button, and if you're quick enough, you will have got one (and payment is locked so you can't cancel the order). People trying to get to the payment page and then the server performing payment authentication has got to be expensive in terms of processing power.

    Another way is to simply have a registeration system that acts like a lottery. Everyone registers, but only a selected few (let's say 5 users for every 1 item in stock, so 500 users for the 100 Wii's, for example) get emailed a special hidden link that they can access to buy the product. So instead of 100,000 hits to the server, you only have a set number of users trying to "attack" the server.

    Either way, COTD needs to change their selling method on these types of sales because even though their servers gets a lot of hits, that doesn't give you any financial advantage (and possibly costs them more in terms of hosting costs), and of course there's also the loss of reputation to consider.

  • daydream on 26/08/2009 - 14:46

    Technicals solutions include: Offloading the purchase transactions to another server to handle (to avoid items being sold once there are in someone's trolley). They could also pay a third party host for fall back capacity on the day.

    Personally I think these sales are pointless for the company. As DVDGuy mentioned their reputation gets adversely affected and they can't sell anymore items once they are out of stock. They are better off promoting it as a lottery for interested purchasers. That way they get a lot of people on their mailing list/registered, they servers don't take a hit, people won't waste a day of their life for nothing and people will feel they are getting an offer that appears to be be more reasonable.

    • crumble on 26/08/2009 - 16:35

      My guess is that business wise it is a success. But whether it is or not I've watched the negative votes mount up and I really think for balance I should try and explain the other side.

      Personally I quite enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.

      The difference for me this time around was that I expected server carnage. They even warned us of the possibility (although they could probably make it even clearer). Heck even the name was a tongue in cheek reference to the carnage about to happen. They were careful to advertise the exact quantities of big ticket items.

      I do understand the frustration though and if I'd been a newcomer to these events I may well have been quite annoyed. But I wasn't and I just had to try for the wii, if only for nostalga purposes.

      I didn't get it sadly, but I did get it out of the cart and into the checkout stage woo hoo!

      I just need to keep practising for next time. :)

      So QQQ I think you are on a winner here. Next time, perhaps make it blantantly obvious for the noobs out there. Literally market it as the crashathon, promise people they will almost certainly get nothing and watch us all flock in droves for the challenge/fun of it. It won't stop people trying but it may stop them whinging afterwards.

      But,just for me, please no more of those DVD games! Some cheap items are great though, the helicopters from past events were fantastic :)

  • Davo1111 on 26/08/2009 - 16:49

    I hope the order in say 4000 XBOX360s or PS3 slims…. sell them for half the retail price, :D they would make a killing.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/08/2009 - 17:31

      At half price they would be losing money.

      • Davo1111 on 26/08/2009 - 18:13

        well you know what i mean, something which isn't a joke and doesnt reflect the 'Australian beach tax"

      • skinny on 26/08/2009 - 18:59

        unless you buy them in bulk and sell them at cost for the purpose of gaining advertisement. But then how will you know how many they sold on the day. They might have only sold 5 Wii on the day.

  • dudeeeeeeee on 28/08/2009 - 13:39

    got my straightener today =]

    • Clear on 01/04/2017 - 08:46
      +1

      How is it?

  • Davo1111 on 30/08/2009 - 01:17

    i just spoke 3to a friend who did get the wii for $200, so it is legit….

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