Method and system to provide wanted ad listing within an e-commerce system

• US 20060277145A1
• Filed: 11/30/2004
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Garcia, Edward O'Neil, Speiser, Leonard Robert, Raccah, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,698,169 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• 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 and method to provide wanted ad listings within an e-commerce system. Wanted ads are posted by buyers of goods and services seeking to purchase items described within the wanted ad listings. Sellers of goods and services on the e-commerce server respond to wanted ad listings by providing a response on the wanted ad listing that provides a reference to the seller'"'"'s listings for items currently being offered for sale. Buyers may use these responses from sellers to locate items matching wanted items. Buyers then may purchase the items offered for sale.

Claims

1. A system for providing buyer request listings within an e-commerce system, the system including:

a buyer request creation module to specify a buyer request listing;

a buyer request searching module to locate a buyer request listing corresponding to a search criteria; and

a buyer request response module to add a response to the buyer request listing, the response comprising a reference to a listing for an item offered for sale on the system;

wherein the buyer request creation module automatically determines a listing category for the buyer request listing.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system further includes a buyer request category module to determine a best listing category from information contained within the buyer request listing.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the buyer request listing includes:

a title;

an item description; and

buyer identification information.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the buyer request listing further comprises one or more responses generated by the buyer request response module.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the buyer request listing further comprises photographs and attribute information for a wanted item.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the system further includes:

a buyer request posting module to post buyer request listing created by the buyer request creation module; and

a buyer request deletion module to delete buyer request listings.

7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the buyer request category module is to generate a frequency distribution for categories of existing buyer request listings containing description information matching item description information.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the buyer request listing is automatically posted to an appropriate listing category.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the appropriate listing category is presented to the buyer as a proposed listing category for the buyer request listing.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the item offered for sale on the system comprises a listing for an on-line auction.

17. The method according to claim 7, wherein the best listing category is presented to the buyer as a proposed listing category for the buyer request listing.

11. A method for providing buyer request listings within an e-commerce system, the method including:

creating a buyer request listing for an item wanted to be purchased using the e-commerce system by a buyer;

posting the buyer request listing into a listing category maintained by the e-commerce system;

receiving responses to the buyer request listings from a seller, the responses comprise a reference to an item offered for sale on the e-commerce system; and

ending the item offered for sale with an offer to purchase the item offered for sale by the buyer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the buyer request listing comprises:

a title;

a item description; and

buyer identification information.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the buyer request listing further comprises one or more responses generated by the buyer request response module.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the buyer request listing further comprises photographs and attribute information for the wanted item.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

automatically determining a listing category for the buyer request listing using the title and the item description.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the determining a listing category for the buyer request listing using the title and the item description comprises:

generating a frequency distribution for categories of existing buyer request listings containing description information matching item description information; and

determining the best listing category having the highest frequency distribution.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

deleting the buyer request listing after ending the item offered for sale by the seller.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the listing for the item offered for sale is associated with an on-line auction price-setting process.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the listing associated with the item offered for sale is associated with a fixed price-setting process.

32. The method according to claim 11, wherein the item offered for sale on the e-commerce system comprises a listing for an on-line auction.

21. A system for providing buyer request listings within an e-commerce system, the system including:

means for creating a buyer request listing for an item wanted to be purchased using the e-commerce system by a buyer;

means for automatically determining a listing category for the buyer request listing using a title and an item description.

means for posting the buyer request listing into a listing category maintained by the e-commerce system;

means for receiving responses to the buyer request listings from a seller, the responses comprising a reference to an item offered for sale on the e-commerce system; and

means for ending the item offered for sale with an offer to purchase the item offered for sale by the buyer.

wherein the buyer request listing includes;

the title;

the item description; and

buyer identification information.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the buyer request listing further includes one or more responses generated by the buyer request response module.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the buyer request listing further includes photographs and attribute information for the wanted item.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein the means for automatically determining a best listing category for the buyer request listing using the title and the item description includes a:

means for generating a frequency distribution for categories of existing buyer request listings containing description information matching item description information; and

means for determining the listing category having the highest frequency distribution.

25. The system according to claim 24, wherein the best listing category is present to the buyer as a proposed listing category for the buyer request listing.

26. The system according to claim 21, wherein the item offered for sale on the e-commerce system comprises a listing for an on-line auction.

27. A machine-readable medium including a set on instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause of the machine to perform a method for providing buyer request listings within an e-commerce system, the method including:

creating a buyer request listing for an item wanted to be purchased using the e-commerce system by a buyer;

posting the buyer request listing into a listing category maintained by the e-commerce system;

receiving responses to the buyer request listings from a seller, the responses comprise a reference to an item offered for sale on the e-commerce system; and

ending the item offered for sale with an offer to purchase the item offered for sale by the buyer.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the buyer request listing comprises includes:

a title;

an item description; and

buyer identification information.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the buyer request listing further includes:

one or more responses generated by the buyer request response module;

photographs; and

attribute information for the wanted item.

30. The method according to claim 27, wherein the method further includes:

automatically determining a listing category for the buyer request listing using the title and the item description.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the determining a listing category for the buyer request listing using the title and the item description includes:

generating a frequency distribution for categories of existing buyer request listings containing description information matching item description information; and

determining the best listing category having the highest frequency distribution.