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Priceline now worth $100B

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Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#191

Post by twic »

Naga wrote: post #100
gordon_freeman wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On their wikipedia page, it states this: Total Assets: US$17.42 billion (2015) I wonder if Priceline group companies act as middlemen then how come the assets they own total to almost $18 billion? Someone can please explain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Priceline_Group

As per their most recent (unaudited) financial statements released May 9, 2017, they had almost $22 billion in assets. The large majority of them ($13 billion) are investments, $2.4 billion in cash and a paltry $400,000 in property plant and equipment. So from this perspective, they are really an investment company that happens to let you compare prices for things. However, financial statements don't consider data as…

What are the investments? Does that mean the various companies in the group, or some kind of outside investments?

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#192

Post by dragontamer »

sbarre wrote: post #164
dragontamer wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft commoditized PC hardware No. Tandy (aka Radio Shack), Dell, Compaq, and so forth commoditized PC Hardware. Microsoft made the OS a commodity, reducing the cost of an OS from thousands of dollars to only $100. Android / iOS have done the same thing except reduced the cost to $0. The hardware manufacturers don't make as much as the software guys. Because people and habits are tied to the software, not hardw…

I think OP meant that Microsoft commoditized PC hardware through software , in other words by making Windows the thing that people wanted to have, and the hardware under it could be interchangeable. Most people didn't care if they had a Dell or a Compaq, as long as it ran Windows. So in this case: I don't care what hotel I stay in or who rents me a car, as long as I know that through Priceline I'm getting a good deal…

I personally didn't read it like that, but your interpretation makes sense. After thinking about it, I think your interpretation of the post is superior.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#193

Post by drinkzima »

misterbwong wrote: post #112

If you were to tell a non-HNer that Kayak, Booking, Priceline, CheapFlights, OpenTable, and other large websites are worth 100B combined , I don't think they would even blink an eye. Come here and the top discussion thread is about how little Priceline does, how they're "just middlemen", and that they don't add any value. It's clear that HN (and techies as a whole, I assume) highly discounts the value of users, marke…

Really it's booking.com is worth ~$95B and the rest of those brands combined are worth ~$5B (OpenTable just got written down from an accounting perspective).

There is a huge general misunderstanding in the profitability of directing hotel bookings vs flight bookings or other types of travel consumables. Rate parity and high commission rates mean that directing hotel rooms is hugely profitable and Expedia (hotels.com, trivago, expedia) and Priceline (booking.com) operate as a duopoly in most markets. They are both marketing machines that turn brand + paid traffic into highly profitable room nights.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#194

Post by neerkumar »

misterbwong wrote: post #112

If you were to tell a non-HNer that Kayak, Booking, Priceline, CheapFlights, OpenTable, and other large websites are worth 100B combined , I don't think they would even blink an eye. Come here and the top discussion thread is about how little Priceline does, how they're "just middlemen", and that they don't add any value. It's clear that HN (and techies as a whole, I assume) highly discounts the value of users, marke…

In fairness, it also comes from the fact that booking is especially huge in Europe. So it is hard for a very US based audience like HN to realize how big they are. It is like Whatsapp. 60 billion messages a day, but it doesn't look that big from the US.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#195

Post by projectramo »

dopamean wrote: post #141
misterbwong wrote: post #112

If you were to tell a non-HNer that Kayak, Booking, Priceline, CheapFlights, OpenTable, and other large websites are worth 100B combined , I don't think they would even blink an eye. Come here and the top discussion thread is about how little Priceline does, how they're "just middlemen", and that they don't add any value. It's clear that HN (and techies as a whole, I assume) highly discounts the value of users, marke…

In my experience in tech (only a few years, I came from finance, and before that construction, weirdly) people are super cynical and often believe that they know more about _any_ business because they can write some code or something similar. I have never been around more people who consistently think they know better than everyone else. This was a surprising thing for me because I assumed engineers would be more cur…

This is true of many groups: bankers, consultants, doctors, PhDs, and journalists.

Or maybe, it is true of people who choose to comment.

People who believe they don't know much about a subject may choose to remain silent on the matter.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#196

Post by LightskinKanye »

komali2 wrote: post #126
perfectstorm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL. I usually use Kayak and Booking.com (because you've the option to pay when you checkout). This comment made me realize that their only other major competitor is Expedia (fun fact: Expedia originated from Microsoft).

I don't know how skyscanner continues to manage to fly under the radar. I've never found cheaper prices on any other aggregator.

Have ya tried kiwi.com

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#197

Post by raphtheb »

drinkzima wrote: post #193
misterbwong wrote: post #112

If you were to tell a non-HNer that Kayak, Booking, Priceline, CheapFlights, OpenTable, and other large websites are worth 100B combined , I don't think they would even blink an eye. Come here and the top discussion thread is about how little Priceline does, how they're "just middlemen", and that they don't add any value. It's clear that HN (and techies as a whole, I assume) highly discounts the value of users, marke…

Really it's booking.com is worth ~$95B and the rest of those brands combined are worth ~$5B (OpenTable just got written down from an accounting perspective). There is a huge general misunderstanding in the profitability of directing hotel bookings vs flight bookings or other types of travel consumables. Rate parity and high commission rates mean that directing hotel rooms is hugely profitable and Expedia (hotels.com,…

To corroborate your statement, i worked at Booking ~4 years ago, and the internal rumours were that Booking represented ~85% of the PCLN value.

I'm sure it fluctuated since, and from friends still working there, i would guess upwards.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#198

Post by gorkonsine »

dajohnson89 wrote: post #73
Fej wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing he doesn't really need the money at this point, especially given his age.

I really don't understand this line of thinking. Are old people incapable of spending money? Is what they chose to do with capital of less consequence? Even if they do have one foot in the grave, they have a right to legacy.

They have less time to spend it themselves. Sure, they can give it to some charity, or their kids, but when you have a lot of money when you're young, you have far more time to do stuff with that money yourself. Someone with one foot in the grave doesn't. No one's saying they don't have a right to the money if they earn it, just that they likely won't be able to make as much use of it.

Re: Priceline now worth $100B

#200

Post by scottLobster »

raugustinus wrote: post #124
scottLobster wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should also be wondering about the lack of incentive to be a producer/owner when being a middleman is so comparatively lucrative. If capital and talent starts shifting to middlemen in pursuit of higher returns it could cause a lot of markets to stagnate with only the big players having the resources to make a profit off of producing.

Thank you for this interesting thought. My first thought was this. Why wouldn't I make furniture and sell directly to customers. Which is something I've been thinking of doing. One problem is that the computer desks I'm thinking about might not be what people want. Why? They will be expensive and it seems like the whole world thinks the IKEA desks are what they really want/need. Check some YouTube tech reviewers, the…

The issue there is part marketing part economies of scale. A small shop won't be able to compete with IKEA on price. You basically have to do what Tesla, Craft Breweries and other relatively small fish do and start out on the high end where cost is less of a concern and scale doesn't matter as much. Unfortunately that's a tall order in and of itself as it takes a lot of time, talent and money to produce a truly top-shelf product and, as we're discussing here, you're probably better off financially being some sort of broker for current goods than producing new/innovative goods yourself.

That said, if you're capable of producing high quality furniture with expensive materials, with the right marketing I imagine you could make quite a bit. People pay boatloads of money for reclaimed/exotic wood desks with attractive aesthetics.

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