System and method for determining latent demand for at least one of a plurality of commodities

• US 20020073009A1
• Filed: 12/08/2000
• Published: 06/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Huberman, Bernardo A., Hogg, Tad
• Granted Patent: US 7,146,334 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system for determining latent demand for at least one of a plurality of commodities includes an offer analyzer and a commodity selector. The offer analyzer analyzes at least a plurality of initially unaccepted offers for each of the plurality of commodities. The commodity selector selects at least one of the plurality of commodities to offer for sale which satisfies at least one criteria based on the analysis by the offer analyzer.

Claims

1. A method for identifying latent demand for at least one of a plurality of commodities, the method comprising:

analyzing at least a plurality of initially unaccepted offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

selecting at least one of the plurality of commodities to offer for sale which satisfies at least one criteria based on the analyzing.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the analyzing further comprises:

determining an average offer for each of the plurality of commodities from the offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

dividing each of the average offer for each of the plurality of commodities by a total number of items in each of the plurality of commodities to obtain an analyzed value for each of the plurality of commodities.

3. The method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the at least one criteria is the analyzed value with the highest numerical value.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising;

averaging the offers for at least the selected one of the plurality of commodities; and

selecting a price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities based on the average.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities is the average.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities is a combinations of two or more items.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising obtaining the offers for each of the plurality of commodities.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein the offers on the plurality of commodities are obtained from at least two different sources.

9. A system for identifying latent demand for at least one of a plurality of commodities, the system comprising:

an offer analyzer that analyzes at least a plurality of initially unaccepted offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

a commodity selector that selects at least one of the plurality of commodities to offer for sale which satisfies at least one criteria based on the analysis by the offer analyzer.

10. The system as set forth in claim 9 wherein the offer analyzer further comprises:

a determiner that determines an average offer for each of the plurality of commodities from the offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

a divider system that divides each of the average offers for each of the plurality of commodities by a total number of the items in each of the plurality of commodities to obtain an analyzed value for each of the plurality of commodities.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10 wherein the at least one criteria is the analyzed value with the highest numerical value.

12. The system as set forth in claim 9 further comprising;

an averager that averages the offers for at least the selected one of the plurality of commodities; and

a price selector that selects a price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities based on the average.

13. The system as set forth in claim 12 wherein the price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities is the average.

14. The system as set forth in claim 9 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities is a combinations of two or more items.

15. The system as set forth in claim 9 further comprising at least one source for the offers for each of the plurality of commodities.

17. The medium as set forth in claim 16 wherein the analyzing further comprises:

determining an average offer for each of the plurality of commodities from the offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

dividing each of the average offers for each of the plurality of commodities by a total number of items in each of the plurality of commodities to obtain an analyzed value for each of the plurality of commodities.

18. The medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein the at least one criteria is the analyzed value with the highest numerical value.

19. The medium as set forth in claim 16 further comprising;

averaging the offers for at least the selected one of the plurality of commodities; and

selecting a price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities based on the average.

20. The medium as set forth in claim 19 wherein the price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities is the average.

21. The medium as set forth in claim 16 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities is a combinations of two or more items.

22. The medium as set forth in claim 16 further comprising obtaining the offers for each of the plurality of commodities.

23. The medium as set forth in claim 22 wherein the offers on the plurality of commodities are obtained from at least two different sources.

25. The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the analyzing further comprises:

determining an average offer for each of the plurality of commodities from the offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

dividing each of the average offer for each of the plurality of commodities by a total number of items in each of the plurality of commodities to obtain an analyzed value for each of the plurality of commodities.

26. The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the at least one determined criteria is the analyzed value with the highest numerical value.

27. The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein the price for the selected one of the commodities is the average.

28. The method as set forth in claim 24 wherein at least one of the commodities is a combinations of two or more items.

29. The method as set forth in claim 24 further comprising obtaining the offers for each of the commodities.

30. The method as set forth in claim 29 wherein the offers on the commodities are obtained from at least two different sources.

16. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for identifying latent demand for at least one of a plurality of commodities which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

analyzing at least a plurality of initially unaccepted offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

selecting at least one of the plurality of commodities to offer for sale which satisfies at least one criteria based on the analyzing.

24. A method for selling a commodity, the method comprising:

analyzing a plurality of offers for a plurality of commodities in an auction using a determined criteria;

selecting the at least one of the commodities based on the analysis of the determined criteria; and

offering to sell the at least one commodity for a price based on an average offer for the commodity.

31. A system for selling a commodity, the method comprising:

a commodity analyzing apparatus for analyzing a plurality of offers for a plurality of commodities in an auction using a determined criteria;

a commodity selecting apparatus for selecting at least one of the commodities based on the analysis of the determined criteria; and

a commodity offering system for offering to sell the selected commodity for a price based on an average offer for the commodity.

32. The system as set forth in claim 31 wherein the offer analyzer further comprises:

a determiner that determines an average offer for each of the plurality of commodities from the offers for each of the plurality of commodities; and

a divider system that divides each of the average offers for each of the plurality of commodities by a total number of the items in each of the plurality of commodities to obtain an analyzed value for each of the plurality of commodities.

33. The system as set forth in claim 32 wherein the at least one criteria is the analyzed value with the highest numerical value.

34. The system as set forth in claim 31 wherein the price for the selected one of the plurality of commodities is the average.

35. The system as set forth in claim 31 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities is a combinations of two or more items.

36. The system as set forth in claim 31 further comprising at least one source for the offers for each of the plurality of commodities.