Prompt's TechBlog
Placing money directly in the trash just isn't as rewarding
13 May 2008
Posted by Zach Hofer-ShallJust in case there aren't enough ways to waste money online, along comes SomethingStore.com, a service that allows you to pay ten US dollars to get "something". That's it. There's not really much more to explain.
The variety of items can be viewed on the site's SomethingTracker, which lists previously purchased items. This page shows the assortment of the objects and also indicates that there are in fact people ordering somethings every day.
The best aspect to the site is that it truly is selling it's randomness as a key feature. From the FAQ section:
Do you match somethings by gender or age?
Nope. During ordering we only collect your name, mailing address and e-mail information only, so we will not know how old you are or whether you're male or female. You can be a 25 year-old man and your something maybe a white tank top embroidered with a pink heart. We won't know so we can't match.
Now maybe the dollar is just too valuable these days... or the US economy is just too strong... but this site seems ridiculous. In the early days of eBay many joked about how you could now find anything you wanted online. But now it seems that only a decade later we have evolved to a point where "anything" is too broad so "something" will have to do.
As of this post, the site claims to have sold 5,867 somethings which means nearly six thousand people have fallen into this trap of a tantalizing shopping mystery. How sad. And yet sadly, I'm incredibly tempted to order a "something" of my own... it's just too tempting... this something could be anything!
Consider me duped. I'll check back in once it arrives and let you know the extent to which my $10 was wasted.
Labels: ebay, online shopping, websites
Comments:
Looking at the site, I'd have to say that some of the 'somethings' are quite cool.
I especially like the USB rocket launcher. It has so many practical uses.
I'd be tempted to give it a go myself if it weren't for the fact that a) I don't live in the US, and b) I'm almost certain I would end up with a frilly pink dress.
Not buying it because you're not here in the US? For you, it's only 5 quid then Duncan...that's not a bad price for a frilly pink dress
Unfortunately (or do I mean fortunately?) they won't take orders from outside the US.
It's horribly unfair - I want something.
"A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything! It could even be a boat! You know how much we wanted one of those!"
<< Home