What the...? There are 53 states there. Aside from the fact that at first glance that seems like 3 too many states until you realize they probably put Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in as states wouldn't it be easier to list the states it CAN be shipped to? Which by the way would be 0 if I'm not mistaken. Then shouldn't they just say online purchase for in store pickup only? Derp.
Here's what happened:
1) Home Depot partnered with a local energy provider in Washington state, which subsidized the cost of the bulbs to $2.50/each, which made a 4-pack of bulbs $10 instead of the regular price of $38.00
2) The product listing on Home Depot's website didn't take into account that this was supposed to be a Washington-state only promotion.
3) Someone discovered the low pricing and posted it to Slickdeals.
4) Home Depot starts getting flooded with orders from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY; not just Washington state and likely goes into panic mode. The local power utility that sponsored the promotion likely wasn't too happy either.
5) I think it was about 12 hours after the deal was posted, Home Depot put up the disclaimer and halted sales to non-compliant states.
6) Those that had already gotten their orders in before the restrictions took place (they would only let you order one set per order; so I had to make five separate orders) all received their orders. Mine were shipped to my local store within a week or placing the orders.