Beating the staff at their own game?
Occasionally, one of us plebians manages to unearth a deal that bests a staff posting. To my mind, such postings deserve a special tag; it is a badge of honor when an amateur beats a pro. It should talk trash without being mean spirited. It should be geeky, irreverent, and reflective of the other values we cherish as wooters.
I propose "Bazinga" as an homage to the great, if entirely fictional Sheldon Cooper. What say you all?
ZOMG I love Big Bang Theory!
Maybe every time you Bazinga the staff you get a different colored playpen ball, a la when Leonard had to try to drag Sheldon out of the arcade.
I wanna play!
Shoot... Another badge of coolness?!? Count me in! I like a challenge!
You sell yourself short @heymo or are you just trying to lower my guard? Either way, win or lose we all save. I accept any deals challenge!
Although, do you really want to open up the Cannon cage? I can't be liable for what might happen...again. :)
Fair warning, I watch this video every morning before deal hunting. I wanted to go ahead and share this with everyone before the media gets a hold of it and says I have some sort of 'unfair advantage'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uitngv82FPo
@loosecannon67: that problem was fixed, it's called collapsing. :)
Last time I saw this happen was with a Crocs 'Sponsored Deal'...
I forget who posted a deal that beat their price, even got voted up to popular... next thing you know, the sponsored deal had a price change, and the user posted deal was nowhere to be seen.
Edit: By searching back through the deals.woot Twitter feed I was able to locate the user posted link. Of course, the link is invalid now.
Far cry from getting a badge of honor... lol...
@wootfast: since you linked that so effectively, I don't doubt it. ;)
I can see if I deal gets moved into the sponsored slot because it beats out the posted deal, but you'd think the OP would still get some credit. I used to pick random people's deals when this first went public and tried to beat what they found. Mainly because I didn't know what else to hunt for.
@loosecannon67: It's important to recognize that the pros are supposed to beat the joes. You wear that staff badge, you get a bullseye on your back. Still, you're right: a friendly rivalry will only result in better deals for everyone.
Bring. It. On.
Hmm... concentric squares from yellow to white to black... it IS a bullseye!
Your ON! We can still be friends right? wink
Everyone has a motivational video, here is my Deals Hunting, gets me going, LOVE it video!
Okay - So, what do I get? Sorry @faughtey, but I beat you on this one..
@1rudeboy: "Bazinga"!! :)
@faughtey: That was more than I ever could have expected. Now I can die ;)
@1rudeboy: Great deal you found there!
@wootfast: you can't play that is teh point neither can loosecannon67 and sadly @faughtey who we adore and who used to be one of us.
@hobbit: I'm still one of you! And I adore all of you too. Let me explain a little so you will understand why I am not upset that @1rudeboy found a better deal. I work from lists, and find the best deal within that list. My lists do not include some of the best places like Amazon and approved sellers on Ebay. The guys who work days have those lists. So I do what I can, with what I am given. Plus I moderate in the evenings, so I get to play with the pew pew! gun!
@hobbit: Yes, and no. The pros are supposed to be better than the joes. So while they should certainly post if they hunt (or negotiate) a better deal than one of ours, it's not exactly a bazinga. I mean, it's a big deal when a Jordan Crawford dunks on LeBron, but not vice-versa.
But at the same time, we can't play the game without their assent. It's only fun if accepted in the same good humor it is intended; otherwise, it's just mean. Plus, every bazinga tag would simply disappear in a cloud of pew-pew dust.
I don't want to get the staff mad at me. Who knows what will be in my next Bag of Crap? shudders
@mtrlgrl: That had not occurred to me. Owch.
P.S. If staff want to bazinga me, I can take it. And I'm sure there are others who feel the same way. Just leave the n00bs alone.
@heymo: I agree, I'm up for some friendly competition :)
The n00bs could cry; no one wants to see grown wooters cry.
How about if we just beat the staff with a game? Lawn darts anyone?
Bazinga.
I have nothing constructive to add, I just felt I needed to make a joke.
I once bazingad (is that a word?) @loosecannon67, on The Princess Bride, and mentioned it on his post. He was great about it, and told me to post mine as a deal and he would delete his, which he did. So the staff doesn't always delete our posts and edit theirs.
It went popular (my first), and earned me my purple triangle. :) Now to keep working towards the elusive black triangle.....
Why isn't anyone fair game? To me, if you take the time to post a deal, you're putting your rep on the line. I know I don't mind being beat by staff or anyone else. Bring it! ;)
@1rudeboy: I agree... Anytime you post, you're subject to being judged (or voted for) by the masses. It's not the end of the world if you're deal isn't the best one - It's actually a good thing! Better deal means everyone saves! I'm all for the competition.
@maisyday: You'll get there - it took me a while to earn the black triangle of honour. And honestly, I'm all up for another cool badge too, if that's what this ends up creating.
@heymo: How do you propose we use "bazinga" exactly? What's the past tense? I like the sound, and the tribute is great, but if we could settle on a usage, that'd make it even better :)
@arosiriak: see I have always been about that. One of my pet peeves is when a deal hits popular - and it happens almost EVERYTIME and someone says - I can find it cheaper at (name a store) and I will tell them...then post the deal......yet They won't...well isn't that the point of deals? And it doesn't matter if there are 3, 4, 10 deals for brown leather wallets from 10 different stores as long as they are different deals, that wouldn't be a duplicate.
@hobbit: I know what you mean... Telling us that you can find it cheaper without following through with a link is less than worthless - it makes people frustrated that some idiot is posting in the community, but not actually contributing. My favourite has been watching people do that on Woot-proper, though it's not typically as bad here, Deals-side.
However, that makes me wonder if we can add a feature... Deal-linking? So that if you want to "Bazinga" someone else's deal on the exact same item (that includes accesories, and condition, i.e. new, refurbished), you can link them together, rather than just posting a comment that you'd have to search for within the deal.
@wootfast: Thanks for bringing back memories of Sonic intro from the Sega CD. Those were the days!
I like this suggestions.
@theoneill555: That, my friend, only applies to the fresh tab.
@heymo: Seriously, you sell yourself short. There is no “joe/pro” about this. You black triangle people are the movers and shakers. I consider everyone who has so far posted to be well versed in “deal-fu”. Who do you think I learned from? Having said that…Oh, Its already been brought’n !! *snap snap SNAP!
@maisyday: Hello. My name is Loose Cannon. You killed my Princess Bride Deal. Prepare to die(not really) : p
@arosiriak: I wholeheartedly agree with you about deal links. There must be links to score an e-hit.
I absolutely love the idea to have some FRIENDLY competition here. IF you are able to best a deal of mine feel free to victory dance (must be creative/goofy).
Now, stand back everyone! I’m about to find a deal on some Woop-A$$
Edit: This is what I watch to get pumped in the mornings to find deals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pLj9BoNb1U
My only idea was that it be a "recognized" tag, much the way that people put a #challenge tag when they post deals that respond to a challenge from the questions side:
- "Why is @scrub posting CFL party lightbulbs? Didn't we just see a deal on those from @staffer?"
- "Yes, but see? There's a #bazinga tag. He must have found a better price."
- "Oh! I'll have to vote it up."
After that, feel free to be creative. But if it will make you feel better, here goes nothing:
BAZINGA
Pronunciation \bä·zin'·gä\
Etymology: Unknown. First attributed to Sheldon Cooper, PhD. May relate to the interjections "booyah" and "zing" or to the game Bubble Bazinga.
Date: Early 21st century
Usage
1. Interjection: "Bazinga! None of you ever sees my practical jokes coming, do you?"
2. Noun: "I just opened a can of bazinga on your lame deal."
3. Adjective: "A bazinga deal saves everyone money."
4. Verb: "User @1rudeboy bazingaed @faughtey's deal with both zest and good humor."
Synonyms: zing, burn, serve
I voted up the thread, but just wanted to post an actual comment saying that I think this is an awesome idea. Folks here take a lot of pride in their deal hunting skillz, and they should be recognized accordingly.
@heymo: All I can promise is that I will not pew pew! the Bazinga tags or comments. Hopefully the others will leave them alone as well.
Woot just Bazingaed The AP over on Woot proper:
http://www.woot.com/blog/viewentry.aspx?id=13420
Have I mentioned today how much I love the Woot writers?
I hereby congratulate @heymo for the first Bazinga! 50 points to Slytherin!
@wootwin: You'll notice he already had one before (just click the bazinga tag). Still, congrats are in order. Does this mean heymo gets a job offer?
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