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 12 midnight, Wednesdays to Saturdays. The hours of live broadcast were then extended to 7.45am to 1.30am, 7 days a week. It was available to more than 12 million homes in the UK, and made weekly revenue of over £3 million.
Prior to December 2004, each 'price drop' started at the Clear price. After guide prices were removed, it was no longer possible to judge how closely the starting prices reflected the true value of products. A certain number of units of a product were advertised at a specified price, and buyers could place orders by telephone. The price was decreased in steps until all units were sold. All purchasers paid the final, lowest, price. Occasionally, the channel had promotions where a small number of products "Megadrop" to £1 during a special event (it appeared to be random, but directors chose which products will Megadrop beforehand). Megadrops were also used on sister channel Bid, but Price Drop was the first to use the promotion.