>> After a little confusion yesterday about when it would launch, Net-a-Porter's new designer outlet site The Outnet finally got up and running at around 3 am this morning.  The first customer was a Londoner who scored a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps for forty percent off, and since the site has been visited by legions checking out the goods — a number of items are already sold out.

So what has been the first impression?  The consensus seems to be disappointment.  A commenter on Racked notes, "[Net-a-Porter] addicts will recognize all of this merch as leftover from last seasons' sales, despite their claim that there would be new stuff on the site!! Plus, there are no small sizes in anything. Very disappointed."

A chorus of commenters on Fashionista echo the sentiment. "I was a bit disappointed. All the cute items were not in my size." Another saw the site as a displacement of the Net-a-Porter sale section: "The site is very disappointing, especially the prices. All the old stock that failed to sell isn't any cheaper than when it was listed in the sale section of Net-a-Porter. At least then it was all on one site."  And still another was frustrated with the prices: "How come there are some things marked down by only 30% on an outlet site? That are over a year old? Ridiculous."

Granted, the "Flash Sales" section of the site, which is more sample sale-style, has not yet launched.  The first Pop-Up sale, which features a group of Spring dresses marked down 80 percent for only 72 hours, starts in a little over a week; and the first Going, Going, Gone sale on May 1 features the Chloe Saskia tote.  The idea for the latter, which runs for a very short time, is for you to chose a price to pay for the bag — the sale starts with the bag at original price, which then drops until the stock is sold out, allowing you either to score a deal or miss out on the goods, depending on the price you chose and how fast the bag goes.