OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Shopping online has become an everyday occurrence and merchants and consumers, alike, benefit from competing cyber-shopping sites that strive to provide the best and most reasonable products available. PriceUniverse.com is one such online shopping network that has developed a new niche where consumers choose their price, while merchants realize increased sales.
Every merchant on PriceUniverse posts two, three, or four prices for the same product and members pick the price they want to pay.
So, how does it work? For merchants, interested parties simply log on to the site: www.PriceUniverse.com and go to the merchant area. Then, they click on “add new product,” post it, and save it; it’s as easy as 1-2-3.
Each product offer has a sale price, a period that offers will be accepted, and a minimum number of orders that must be made before goods are sold.
Finally, merchants must set up a page where members can go to order specific products.
“We have also set up the site where merchants do not ‘pay per click,’ Christopher Kirtley, co-owner PriceUniverse, explained. “Many competing online shopping web sites cannot claim that.”
Members who are interested in getting the best price available have several choices. They can “buy it now” and pay full price, but have no wait time; or, they can join one of three clubs – the third having the cheapest price, but, the longest wait.
For example, a hot new toy is on the market and one of PriceUniverse.com’s merchants is offering the product on line via their web site. Consumers can log on and “buy now” without becoming a member, or they may join one of the clubs; all clubs are free to join.
Club one might offer the toy at a discounted rate of $95 which requires 30 members to join within one-week; club two drops the toy’s price to $90 with a two-week wait time and 35 members needed; and club three is the bottom line price of $85 with 40 members needed over a three-week period. It is up to the consumer to decide how long they want to wait to save significant money.
In some cases, a club may not fill up by the expiration date. If this happens, clubs can be combined whereby members may benefit from a lower price and quicker turnaround time than the initial club they signed up for. If a club does not fill up, even after being combined, members will still get their products, and merchants will have the added advantage of not having to pay for the club list.
Merchants will benefit from bulk orders. Once a club join time has closed, the merchant will be notified via email of the names and number of orders. Members will be notified the same way and a link to the merchant’s web site will appear in the email instructing them how to pay for product(s).
PriceUniverse.com is the brainchild of three Oklahoma City friends who believe shoppers deserve more choices and should be able to choose their own price.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Kirtley said. “Consumers get the product at the price they want and merchants get the sales they want. Everyone benefits.”
Currently, PriceUniverse.com has 16 online shopping categories that include: electronics, jewelry, software, automotive, computer, toys and more. Category expansion is expected in the near future.
[tags]PriceUniverse online shopping network, comparison shop for best price, B2C business portals[/tags]
