By Anindita Basu
Priceline is a site for people trying to find a bargain in long distance,
home financing, new cars, hotel rooms, car rentals or plane tickets.
The rules are simple. Pick the parameters that you want, for example
dates for departure and arrival for plane tickets (but not time) and
name your price. Within an hour, Priceline will let you know if they
have been able to find your deal. If so, and you accept the offer,
the offer cannot be changed, refunded or transferred.
The page starts out with links to the different domains. There are
several ways to get to the rules, and they are very plainly stated
on the site. The instructions are simple. There is a banner that runs
across the bottom displaying some of the offers that have been accepted
by users and the large savings they received on these reduced rates.
There are also links to information on Priceline jobs, affiliations
and investors.
Priceline serves as a good intermediary between companies and individuals.
The individual gets a great deal, reduced rates for some service,
and the company has guaranteed service. The Priceline contracts are
fully binding, so although the company is making less money from an
individual, that person cannot cancel the tickets or reservations
once accepted. Or they can, but the company still receives the money.
In some of the deals, Priceline receives a fee, which is clearly outlined,
but the Priceline cost, including the fee, would still undercut regular
prices.
Many of these online services work in similar ways-from Amazon to
Ebay to Priceline-they all offer a cheaper and more convenient way
to do business. One doesn't need to leave one's room. They require
savvy consumers, especially Priceline which requires that the user
do homework to name a low price that isn't completely ridiculous,
but that consumer is saved from quite a bit of work and can also save
quite a bit of money. The rules can cause a bit of inconvenience,
such as an early flight when one likes to sleep in, but the site is
extremely popular, showing that people would rather face an inconvenience
like that than pay extra. The idea of the site is quite clever and
beneficial to all of the parties involved, although probably least
helpful to Priceline, who gets the smallest cut of the deal.