# What's Up With BOO.COM? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958 "2007-01-14T17:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/1 "2007-01-14T17:30:01Z")
I recall reading that [Boo.com](http://Boo.com) was one of the first “dot-bombs”-it was started by a swedish entrepreneur, and lost its total investment within a few months-then it came back, now it is shut down, but will reopen. Anybody know what kind of crap they plan on selling? I always thought the website name was ludicrous-what the hell were they thinking? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/2 "2007-01-14T20:38:43Z")
The word “BOO” is designed to get your attention. 😛 next question? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/3 "2007-01-14T20:50:07Z")
I don’t get it. What’s inflammatory about [boo.com](http://boo.com)? Is there some racial slur I’m not aware of hidden in the URL? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/4 "2007-01-14T20:57:41Z")
[Wikipedia says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com) among other things, > [@](#): > > “Boo Is Back” > > Currently, Boo’s website is displaying a cryptic message stating that “[Boo.com](http://Boo.com) is back and a new site will be launched in 2006”. The design of the page bears some similarities to the site’s design in 2000, although the domain name is of course owned by a different company. The web title of the page is “[Boo.com](http://Boo.com)”. Boo’s Website was not launched in 2006 despite the claim. It consists of nothing more than a form where visitors can enter their names and email addresses to be informed of news. Unfortunately, it is most likely an email harvesting scam page that tries to capitalize on [boo.com](http://boo.com)’s former popularity. Visitors would be wise to avoid entering their information to avoid getting spammed until a reputable source indicates that the site is genuine. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/5 "2007-01-14T21:04:18Z")
To give a little history, [Boo.com](http://Boo.com) was a European dotcom that was started in 1999 and was supposed to offer online clothing sales. They had something like $120 million in venture capital funding and blew it in less than a year, by overpaying employees and contractors, and lavish spending on five-star hotels and first-class airline tickets. The extent of the overspending was unusual even for the time, so it was a notorious story. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/6 "2007-01-14T21:09:23Z")
Aha. Thanks for the background, **Dewey Finn**. Amazing how screwing up bad enough will make you just as famous as succeeding. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/7 "2007-01-14T21:13:32Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] To give a little history, [Boo.com](http://Boo.com) was a European dotcom that was started in 1999 and was supposed to offer online clothing sales. They had something like $120 million in venture capital funding and blew it in less than a year, by overpaying employees and contractors, and lavish spending on five-star hotels and first-class airline tickets. The extent of the overspending was unusual even for the time, so it was a notorious story. [/QUOTE] Sounds vaguely [familiar](http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/12/gizmondo_inside_the_eye_of_the.php). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/8 "2007-01-14T23:06:43Z")
Did [boo.com](http://boo.com) actually SELL anything? Or was it just a scam to fleece investors? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-boo-com/387958/9 "2007-01-15T00:06:10Z")
They made a little money; I found articles that said its revenues during the last fiscal year was under $1 million, so not nearly enough. Apparently they offered free shipping on returns, which cost them a lot of money (among _many_ poor decisions they made). I don’t think the company set out to fleece investors; instead I think it was just really poorly managed, like so many of the other dotcoms back then. The venture capitalists _were_ awfully loose with investment money back then, so I wondered why no one tried to simply walk away with $10 or $20 million in VC money instead of wasting it on building a company that was sure to fail. At least the money might have lasted longer that way.