User interfaces and methods for facilitating user-to-user sales

• US 20030200156A1
• Filed: 05/09/2002
• Published: 10/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Roseman, Neil C., Kotas, Paul, Bezos, Jeffrey P., Blackburn, Jeffrey M., Dalzell, Richard L., Moore, Bruce C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,472,077 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

An online marketplace system provides various features for assisting users in listing products for sale, locating the listings for a product, and performing related actions. A user wishing to sell a product can browse to an existing description of the product in an electronic catalog and then select an option to create a corresponding listing. If the user previously purchased the product via the system, the user may alternatively select the product from a personal purchase history. To create the listing for the selected product, the user preferably specifies the product'"'"'s condition and a selling price. The pending listings for a product are preferably displayed or summarized on the product'"'"'s detail page in the catalog. When no such listings exist, an option to preorder the product from an unspecified seller may be provided. In one embodiment, the catalog also servers as a retail sales catalog of an online merchant.

Claims

1. An electronic marketplace system that supports user-to-user sales of products, the system comprising:

a browsable electronic catalog that includes descriptions of products that may be listed by users for sale to other users;

a marketplace listing creation component that enables a seller to specify a product to be listed for sale by browsing the electronic catalog to a description of the product and then selecting an option associated with selling a unit of that product, whereby the seller may create a marketplace listing for the product without supplying an identifier of the product; and

a marketplace listing display component that displays pending marketplace listings of products in conjunction with the corresponding product descriptions in the electronic catalog, whereby a buyer may browse the electronic catalog to a description of a target product to locate pending marketplace listings for the target product.

2. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein the option associated with selling a unit of a product, and the pending marketplace listings for the product, are displayed on a common product detail page for the product.

3. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein the option associated with selling a unit of a product is displayed in the electronic catalog in conjunction with an option to purchase the product.

4. The marketplace system as in claim 1, further comprising a data repository that stores pending marketplace listings in association with corresponding unique product identifiers.

5. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein, in response to a user selecting said option, the marketplace listing creation component prompts the user to select a condition descriptor that describes a condition of the product unit, and wherein the marketplace listing creation component suggests a selling price to the user based at least in-part on the condition descriptor selected by the user.

6. The marketplace system as in claim 1, further comprising a transaction processing component that collects payments from buyers, and transfers sales proceeds to sellers, to facilitate sales transactions resulting from the marketplace listings.

7. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein the electronic catalog provides an option to purchase new units of products described therein from a retail merchant associated with the marketplace system, whereby the electronic catalog serves as both a retail sales catalog and a forum for user-to-user sales.

8. The marketplace system as in claim 1, further comprising a preordering component through which a user may browse to a description of a desired product in the electronic catalog and then select an option associated with preordering a unit of the desired product from an unspecified seller to initiate creation of a preorder listing.

9. The marketplace system as in claim 8, wherein preorder listings generated using the preordering component are displayed within the electronic catalog, whereby the system communicates product demand levels to potential sellers.

10. The marketplace system as in claim 8, wherein the preordering component prompts the user to specify at least (a) a maximum price the user is willing to pay, and (b) a minimum product condition, and wherein the marketplace system further comprises a component that uses the maximum price and minimum product condition specified by the user to search for a matching marketplace listing for the desired product.

11. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein the marketplace listing creation component further supports an ability for a user to specify a product to be listed for sale by selecting the product from a display of a purchase history of the user.

12. The marketplace system as in claim 1, wherein the marketplace listing creation component supports an ability for sellers to create auction-type marketplace listings.

13. An online sales system that supports user-to-user sales, the sales system comprising:

a database containing descriptions of a plurality of products that are sellable within a marketplace; and

a server system that provides a browsable electronic catalog of the products represented in the database, wherein each of the plurality of products is represented in the electronic catalog by at least one corresponding product detail page that specifies the product and provides an option to sell a unit of that product within the marketplace, wherein selection of said option by a user initiates a process in which the user creates a listing in the marketplace for selling a unit of the product;

wherein the server system further displays within a product detail page an indication of whether a unit of the corresponding product is currently listed for sale within the marketplace.

14. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein the server system stores the listing in association with a unique product identifier.

15. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein, in response to a seller selecting said option, the server system prompts the seller to select a condition descriptor that describes a condition of the product unit, and wherein the server system suggests a selling price for the product unit to the seller based at least in-part on the condition descriptor selected by the seller.

16. The sales system as in claim 13, further comprising a transaction processing system that collects payments from buyers, and transfers sales proceeds to sellers, to facilitate sales of products listed in the marketplace.

17. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein at least some of the product detail pages further provide an option to purchase new units of products featured therein from a retail merchant associated with the sales system, whereby the electronic catalog servers as both a retail sales catalog and a forum for user-to-user sales.

18. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein, at least when no units of a first product are currently available within the marketplace, the server system displays within a product detail page for the first product an option to preorder a unit of the first product from an unspecified marketplace seller.

19. The sales system as in claim 18, wherein, in response to preordering of the first product by a marketplace buyer, the server system displays within a product detail page for the first product an indication that a pending preorder currently exists within the marketplace for the first product.

20. The sales system as in claim 18, wherein, in response to selection by a first user of the option to preorder, the server system prompts the first user to specify at least (a) a maximum price the first user is willing to pay, and (b) a minimum product condition.

21. The sales system as in claim 20, wherein the server system uses the maximum price and minimum product condition specified by the first user to automatically search for a matching marketplace listing for the first product.

22. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein the server system provides a service in which users may submit product reviews for display on corresponding product detail pages.

23. The sales system as in claim 13, wherein the server system further supports an ability for a user to specify a product to be listed for sale within the marketplace by selecting the product from a purchase history.

24. An electronic sales system, comprising:

an electronic catalog of products that are sold by a retail merchant, wherein the electronic catalog provides an option to purchase retail units of the products from the retail merchant;

a listing creation component that provides functionality for users to add marketplace listings to the electronic catalog for selling at least used units of products represented in the electronic catalog, wherein at least some of the marketplace listings are displayed in the electronic catalog in association with corresponding product descriptions used for retail sales of such products by the retail merchant; and

a transaction processing system that supports at least (a) sales of products from the retail merchant to users, and (b) user-to-user sales associated with the marketplace listings.

25. The electronic sales system as in claim 24, wherein the marketplace listings for a product, and the option to purchase the product from the retail merchant, are displayed on a common product detail page of the electronic catalog.

26. The electronic sales system as in claim 25, wherein the product detail page further displays a user option to create a marketplace listing for the product.

27. The electronic sales system as in claim 24, wherein the listing creation component provides functionality for a seller to initiate creation of a marketplace listing for a product from a description of the product in the electronic catalog.

28. The electronic sales system as in claim 24, wherein the listing creation component provides functionality for a user to initiate creation of a marketplace listing for a product from a description of the product in a purchase history of the user.

29. The electronic sales system as in claim 24, wherein the listing creation component provides a bulk uploading service for allowing a user to upload multiple marketplace listings at a time.

30. The electronic sales system as in claim 24, wherein the electronic catalog also includes descriptions of products that are not sold by the retail merchant but that may be listed for sale by users.

31. A method of listing a unit of a product for sale within an online marketplace system that supports user-to-user sales transactions, the method comprising:

registering with the online marketplace system as a seller;

browsing an electronic catalog of products to locate a description of the product to be listed for sale, said description displayed in the electronic catalog in conjunction with an option to purchase a unit of the product; and

selecting an option to list a unit of the product for sale, said option to list a unit of the product displayed within the electronic catalog in conjunction with both the description of the product and the option to purchase a unit of the product

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the description of the product, the option to list a unit of the product, and the option to purchase a unit of the product, are all displayed on a common product detail page of the electronic catalog.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the option to purchase a unit of the product includes an option to purchase a new unit of the product from a retail merchant.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the option to purchase a unit of the product includes an option to purchase a used product unit from another user of the marketplace system.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising specifying at least a condition of a unit of the product to be listed for sale.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising receiving from the marketplace system an indication of a suggested price for selling the unit of the product to be listed for sale, wherein the suggested price is based at least in part on the specified condition.

37. A product detail page of an electronic catalog, the product detail page adapted for display by a computer of a user of the electronic catalog, the product detail page comprising:

a description of a product;

an option to sell a unit of the product, wherein selection of the option to sell a unit of the product initiates a process in which a user may add a marketplace listing to the product detail page to offer a unit of the product for sale to other users of the electronic catalog; and

a representation of pending marketplace listings for the product, said pending marketplace listings including listings from each of a plurality of sellers of units of the product, and being selectable to initiate purchases from said sellers.

38. The product detail page of claim 37, further comprising an option to purchase a new unit of the product from a retail merchant associated with the electronic catalog.

39. The product detail page of claim 37, further comprising an option to preorder a unit of the product from an unspecified marketplace seller.

40. The product detail page of claim 37, further comprising a representation of at least one marketplace listing of a second product that is deemed to be similar to said product.

41. The product detail page of claim 37, further comprising at least one customer review of the product, said customer review submitted by a user of the electronic catalog.