Price Drop

Price Drop was a British television shopping channel based in the UK, that ran daily live reverse auctions. It was the first reverse auction channel of its kind in the world. The channel was owned by Bid Shopping.

History

2003–2005: Price-Drop.TV

The channel first launched as Price-Drop.TV on 11 June 2003. The channel began broadcasting from 4pm to 12am, Wednesdays to Saturdays. The hours of live broadcast have been extended since and currently operates from 7:45am to 1:30am, 7 days a week. It is available to more than 12 million homes in the UK, and makes weekly revenue of over £3 million.

Prior to December 2004, each 'price drop' started at the guide price. After guide prices were removed, it is no longer possible to judge how closely the starting prices reflect the true value of products. A certain number of units of a product are advertised at a specified price, and buyers can place orders by telephone. The price is decreased in steps until all units are sold. All purchasers pay the final, lowest, price. Occasionally, the channel has promotions where a small number of products "Megadrop" to £1 during a special event (it appears to be random, but directors choose which products will Megadrop beforehand). Megadrops are also used on sister channel Bid, but Price Drop was the first to use the promotion.