Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: H James Morris who wrote (2189)	1/29/2000 5:47:00 PM
From: PeterGx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2743

James - Great article! Thanks! Towards the end of the article, professor Miller actually spells out the recipe under which Priceline.com's service is most effective for consumer, namely - do preliminary research to figure out how low a price is available at the market place and then bid below that, continuously incrementing the bid up until it si accepted (or jump over to alternative sources that have posted a lower price in a traditional way, ie retail / auction, etc.) This is the case if lowest price if the optimum goal of the consumer. I believe that Priceline's type of service provides utility to consumers beyond finding the lowest price. After all, the right price is not necessarily the lowest price - but it always is the price a consumer is willing to pay. There could be considerable expenses (not necessarily monetary) in locating the absolute lowest price. Mathematically, it should become statistically impossible to locate the absolute lowest price. The closer one gets to finding it the higher the expected cost associated with the process...Anyway.. to cut a long story short, when used in combination with alternative sources Priceline.com's services provide an excellent shopping option for utility maximizing consumers. Just another quick comment, if PCLN was making just one side happy (ie sellers or buyers) then their business model will not be viable in the long run - as their reach grows they will tend to cannibalize themselves out of the market. It is good that both Sellers and Consumers are happy. That is why PCLN should do good as a company

To: H James Morris who wrote (2189)	1/29/2000 10:15:00 PM
From: Victor Lazlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2743

Interesting article. Heck look at how well AOL has done - and they have virtually no cutomer service.

To: H James Morris who wrote (2189)	1/30/2000 6:53:00 AM
From: Tom Clarke	Respond to of 2743

Did you happen to notice the author of the CNBC article is Assistant Professor of Economics at Smith College? Maybe I'm biased, but that should give us pause. It spins fairly positive for a "negative" story, though: This means that priceline.com should succeed even though its reverse auction is better for sellers than consumers. The disadvantage to consumers is subtle, and even if they grasp it, consumers are probably still better off at priceline.com than at traditional stores. Furthermore, sellers have control over how their products are sold and will greatly desire a process that reduces price competition. So priceline.com will prosper not only because it helps sellers but also because it has a significant first mover's advantage, stronger even than eBay Inc.'s. PCLN is about building a brand name and customer loyalty more than it is about plane tickets.