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Priceline plans YardSale
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December 27, 1999: 12:34 p.m. ET
New site set for January launch to sell low-priced goods, to allow haggling
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Priceline.com Inc. wants to compete with your front lawn card table as a way to sell unwanted rollerblades, obsolete baby cribs or that extra TV in the attic.
The Stamford, Conn.-based company plans next month to launch Perfect YardSale, which will apply its patented "name-your-price” online sales system for consumer-to-consumer vending.
Priceline’s system, which was first used to buy and sell airline tickets, said YardSale targets individuals who want to earn cash for their unwanted items. Priceline insists that sets it apart from the online auction sites of eBay Inc. (EBAY), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), which often lure professional antique vendors and large-scale goods dealers.
Priceline spokesman Brian Ek said the company has been planning an entrée into the consumer-to-consumer online vending for some time, according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
"The reason for the January launch is that focus groups told us they’d likely be sitting with [holiday] gifts that they would just love to see go away if they could do it and get quick cash for it,” Ek said.
Priceline will use its patented "name-your-price” online-selling formula, in which buyers tell sellers how much they want to spend, and which has most recently been applied to grocery shopping.
Ek said Priceline will pair buyers and sellers who live near each other to avoid shipping charges and to allow buyers to inspect the for-sale goods first-hand.
"We’re going after the on-the-lawn yard sales,” Ek said. "This is a faster way to move the items than if you set up the card table on the front lawn.”
While the exact pricing scheme has not been determined, Ek said Priceline plans to charge sellers a fee of "a couple of bucks” to put items on the site and then a "success fee” of $1 to $5 once a deal between the buyer and seller is struck.
As is common in cyberspace, Priceline will offer priority listing for vendors who agree to pay more.
Shares of Priceline (PCLN) rose 1/2 to 55-1/2 around noon Monday. 
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Priceline
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