Abstract: This paper proposes a two-part platform pricing model with a mix of membership and transaction prices considering that bilateral platforms of rural logistics have the characteristics of network externality. Mathematical analysis methods are applied to obtain the optimal price strategy under two conditions: the same number of consumer orders and different patience between consumers and platforms. Results show that in a two-part pricing strategy with the same number of orders, consumers can achieve a combination between fixed membership prices and unit transaction prices, as long as there is a certain quantity relationship between the two prices, the optimal profit of the platform is not affected; platforms can adopt flexible and diverse pricing strategies based on different settlement time nodes of membership and transaction prices, including “collect first, return later” or “subsidize first, offset later” pricing strategies, to effectively achieve consumer order stability; when the opportunity cost of capital for consumers and the platform is different, the platform can provide different price strategies to achieve profit maximation based on different degrees of patience.

Key words: terminal distribution platform, bilateral market, two-part pricing, patience degree