A Revolution in Pricing? Not Quite: With the Internet, alternative systems are doable--just not desirable most of the time

The early successes of Priceline.com Inc., as well as online auctioneers such as eBay Inc. and other dot-coms with alternative pricing systems, convinced many experts that conventional seller-posted prices were relics of the Industrial Age. But, although technology and venture capital have produced dozens of alternatives to seller-posted prices, most have flopped and none has moved beyond a narrow niche.