This year, getting a good deal on outdoor equipment doesn't have to mean rummaging through your buddy's basement for free stuff. Bargain-hunting outdoor enthusiasts can visit a new Web site, www.steepandcheap.com, instead. The recently-launched online retailer sells new and undamaged outdoor gear and apparel at prices close to wholesale cost.

There is a catch, however: Steepandcheap.com markets only one item at a time and in a limited quantity, so when that product sells out, the site shuts down. "We've had a couple of sell-out days since we started the site," says Kendall Card, communication manager for steepandcheap.com. "We haven't even advertised it."

Steepandcheap.com was launched in late February by backcountry.com, an online retailer of high-end outdoor gear based out of Park City, Utah. "It's a perfect opportunity to test the idea if we can create a buzz around a product each day," says Card.

Steepandcheap.com sells excess inventory out of backcountry.com's Salt Lake City warehouse, a set-up that allows the clearance site to offer heavily-discounted deals, says Card. Shipping is easy since the site only has to pull one product each day.

Boulder resident Kenny Rowe says he likes the idea of steepandcheap.com. "It's cheap, and it's a great way to keep loyalty if people have to go online every day," says Rowe, 27. "I'd be skeptical, though, to buy something of a high price because it almost seems too good to be true."