in Canada, Montreal, Quebec

Razzle Clones Woot

Update: Caveat Emptor
Razzle made a serious misstep selling refurbished headphones as new. The first batch of customers felt burned and started discussing their experiences on Red Flag Deals. Razzle made another poor choice by posting a fake testimonial on Red Flag Deals (under the name lohervine); a site administrator outed them by comparing IP addresses. Razzle is offering refunds, but has not yet committed to covering shipping.

Woot sells refurbished items all the time, but they clearly state the item’s condition. While I doubt Razzle was set up to scam users, they really fumbled the ball losing the trust of their very first customers.

On the lighter side and as predicted, a customer ended up at Razzle.com by mistake.

Original Post
Razzle LogoRazzle.ca, Canada’s first deal a day site, launched today. The first deal: wireless headphones for $51.90. Too rich for your blood? Well join the site anyways, because they plan to giveaway a few items every so often.

The Montreal based site was founded by Ryan Closs, 26, who faithfully cloned Woot. Emulating a successful concept is a legitimate business strategy, so I am not going to criticize Ryan for that.

Think Bill Gates came up with the Windows GUI? Heck even Wal-Mart’s Greeter was an idea Sam Walton copied from K-Mart. And let’s not forget to mention the multi-million dollar exits Facebook clones are making (Germany, China). That said, I would have probably paraphrased Woot’s FAQ a little less closely.

Today’s launch had some to be expected hiccups. Fortunately, the admins were on the ball and put out the small fires in the comments. A longer term issue might be the Razzle.ca domain name. It is pretty catchy, but direct navigation traffic will occasionally end up at Razzle.com by mistake. Those users are in for a surprise… not safe for work! There is a lesson here for other entrepreneurs, pay attention to abutting domain names!

Congrats on the launch!

Contact: Ryan Closs

18 Comments

  1. I friggin LOVE WOOT, and since they don’t ship to Canada, this is an AWESOME new site. Will be checking it everyday to see if Canada will have any $90 Zune deals of our own :)

  2. I friggin LOVE WOOT, and since they don’t ship to Canada, this is an AWESOME new site. Will be checking it everyday to see if Canada will have any $90 Zune deals of our own :)

  3. I’m sure this Razzle stuff could end up being really addictive!
    Congrats Mr Closs (damn, only 26!) I was getting really bored with thesource website…

  4. I’m sure this Razzle stuff could end up being really addictive!
    Congrats Mr Closs (damn, only 26!) I was getting really bored with thesource website…

  5. Glad to see another player in Canada’s e-commerce market! Maybe it will inspire other players to get into the game, and give consumers options other than using the higher Canadian dollar to get deals at U.S. sites.

  6. Glad to see another player in Canada’s e-commerce market! Maybe it will inspire other players to get into the game, and give consumers options other than using the higher Canadian dollar to get deals at U.S. sites.

  7. Maybe it will inspire other players to get into the game, and give consumers options other than using the higher Canadian dollar to get deals at U.S. sites.

  8. Maybe it will inspire other players to get into the game, and give consumers options other than using the higher Canadian dollar to get deals at U.S. sites.

  9. P90x .It really is not expensive if you factor in the cost of a gym membership,P90x workout . The cost for P90X is about three months of a paid gym membership but you get to keep the program foreverP90x . You can try many of the online sites, but it will be the same as buying from the company or a Beachbody Coach. Make sure you are getting original DVD's. People are selling copies all over. The problem is how long will they last, P90x workout ,and you truly need the exercise and nutrition guide to even follow the program. You can go to any site http://www.p90xmall.com/ or you can go to and click on products. P90x dvd You can order directly from the site,P90x dvd.

  10. P90x .It really is not expensive if you factor in the cost of a gym membership,P90x workout . The cost for P90X is about three months of a paid gym membership but you get to keep the program foreverP90x . You can try many of the online sites, but it will be the same as buying from the company or a Beachbody Coach. Make sure you are getting original DVD’s. People are selling copies all over. The problem is how long will they last, P90x workout ,and you truly need the exercise and nutrition guide to even follow the program. You can go to any site http://www.p90xmall.com/ or you can go to and click on products. P90x dvd You can order directly from the site,P90x dvd.

Comments are closed.

Webmentions

  • Is Razzle.ca dead? | StartupNorth May 12, 2010

    […] who we covered both when they launched and when they botched their few shipments of products, is now […]

  • Is Razzle.ca dead? | StartupNorth May 12, 2010

    […] who we covered both when they launched and when they botched their few shipments of products, is now […]

  • How to botch a launch: Razzle.ca | StartupNorth May 12, 2010

    […] were excited to cover the launch of Razzle.ca here last week. Things were looking up: Razzle.ca was cloning Woot.com, an American […]

  • How to botch a launch: Razzle.ca | StartupNorth May 12, 2010

    […] were excited to cover the launch of Razzle.ca here last week. Things were looking up: Razzle.ca was cloning Woot.com, an American […]

  • Mark Evans » Blog Archive » Weekly Wrap May 12, 2010

    […] site – a la Woot. Maybe this is a sign Canadian e-commerce is gaining more momentum. ITNewsLink and StartupNorth have more on Razzle’s […]

  • Mark Evans » Blog Archive » Weekly Wrap May 12, 2010

    […] site – a la Woot. Maybe this is a sign Canadian e-commerce is gaining more momentum. ITNewsLink and StartupNorth have more on Razzle’s […]