Overstock out-of-stock

Overstock.com is one of my go-to sources for stuff. The selection is good and the price is right. Plus, until recently, it used to be relatively easy to dig up an additional 10% off my order by googling "Overstock promo code". Lately, I think Overstock must be feeling the recession; they aren't as free with the XX-percent-off love anymore.

Here's why I like Overstock this week: If a product is out of stock, you can have an e-mail alert sent to you when the inventory has been replenished. I did this to snag some curtains for my bedroom. It was kind of like a little game to see who, amongst Internet strangers, was fastest on the draw.

The one kind of stupid thing about this inventory notification feature is, once the product is out of stock, you can no longer search for the product on Overstock's site. If you had bookmarked that particular product page, you can get to it that way, or you can go to Google and type in the name as best you remember it along with "overstock". And if you never even knew the out-of-stock product ever existed, I guess you may be out of luck.

Want these curtains? You gotta work for 'em!