A system is provided in which a sale price is determined based on a
product description, and the sale price is transmitted to a customer. The
customer is not guaranteed what specific product will be sold to the
customer before an agreement to purchase a product for the sale price is
received from the customer. After receiving the agreement, a retailer
selects a product conforming to the product description, and identifies
the product to the customer. The retailer is able to evaluate a
customer's individual demand based on the received description and to
determine a sale price accordingly, thereby reducing losses associated
with conventional single-price systems. Although this may result in
different sale prices for an identical product, the system is perceived
as fair because a higher-paying customer likely agreed to a different
product description than a lower-paying customer, and neither would have
agreed to the other's product description and sale price. The system also
allows a retailer to mask product discounts by selecting undesirable
redemption conditions under which to sell the product, such as pickup at
a faraway location, even if the product is available at a closer
location. As a result, the customer believes that the discount is
attributable to the undesirable redemption conditions, rather than to the
product quality or to decreased demand. Accordingly, price and brand
dilution are minimized.