Method and system for grouping merchandise, services and users and for trading merchandise and services

• US 20070043651A1
• Filed: 08/15/2006
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meimei Zhao, Quan Xiao
• Original Assignee: Meimei Zhao, Quan Xiao
• Inventors: Xiao, Quan, Zhao, Meimei
• Granted Patent: US 7,729,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

The apparatus and method disclosed herein is a new e-commerce business model and its possible embodiments. By grouping merchandise and users, the invention provides new interfaces between multiple merchandises/service, multiple askers and multiple bidders. Certain merchandises/services will be identified and grouped with a Merchandise Group ID (MGID). Each MGID represents a group of merchandise/service with some common properties. MGID works like the stock tickers, which represents all products from the same category. It then enables users (bidders/askers/shipping carriers), who are also grouped by their User Group ID (UGID), to put bid/ask/cAsk offers on the above said merchandise or the shipping services. With MGIDs, the merchandise and service would then be identified and traded like stocks. With UGID that categorize users into user groups and then matching UGID, one group of users can find the counterparty user group they would like to deal with much easier. It reshapes the business operation chain of current e-commerce. It combines all elements (merchandise/services/users) of the chain with same/similar/equivalent properties into corresponding groups and assigns these groups with identifier—the groupID. Grouped users are identified by User Group ID (UGID). They can select their desired counterparties through the counterparties'"'"' UGID. Matched parties (buyer/sellers/carriers) can then trade grouped merchandise/services by using the merchandise/service'"'"'s Group ID (MGID) like trading stock tickers. This invention changes the current “Instance Trading”, which only deals with each single pieces of merchandise instance, into “Group Trading”, which is based on categorized merchandise groups and categorized user groups. It provides communication and interaction between these user groups and merchandise groups. MGID, BGID, AGID and CGID work together to divide all bid/ask/cAsk offers into subgroups. It then peer matches the offers within each subgroup of records to find out the final matched orders for that subgroup. This new business model will also provide a much broader stage for shipping service carriers and manufactures. Every component of the business chain has been offered an adequate position and weight to make the market operate more efficient, transparent and fair. The new trading platform will also help to enhance payment performances and security by reducing payment fraud.

Claims

1. A method for grouped sellers to sell grouped merchandise to grouped buyers via a merchandise trading system, the method comprising the steps of:

a) at least one buyer defining a set of buyer characteristics, defining a set of acceptable seller characteristics and a set of acceptable merchandise characteristics for a desired merchandise item;

,

b) at least one seller defining a set of seller characteristics, defining a set of acceptable buyer characteristics and a set of merchandise characteristics for an offered merchandise item;

c) the merchandise trading system further defining the buyer characteristics, the seller characteristics and the merchandise characteristics;

d) grouping the buyers based upon the sets of buyer characteristics, the buyer characteristics may be encoded;

e) grouping the sellers based upon the sets of seller characteristics, the seller characteristics may be encoded;

f) grouping merchandise items based upon the sets of merchandise characteristics, the merchandise characteristics may be encoded;

g) comparing the sets of merchandise characteristics of the seller'"'"'s offered merchandise against the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer so as to determine a match between buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item and seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item;

h) comparing the buyer'"'"'s sets of buyer characteristics and the acceptable seller characteristics against the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics and the sets of seller characteristics, respectively, so as to determine a match between buyer and seller; and

i) if there is a desired merchandise item/offered merchandise item match from step g and a buyer/seller match from step h, further processing the sale transaction between the buyer and the seller.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes bid price, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes ask price, the merchandise trading system calculating a gap price by subtracting the bid price from the ask price, and the non-zero margin of the said gap price may be further divided between the buyer and the seller, or even the trading system.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising carriers to ship the merchandise from seller to buyer, the method further comprising the steps of at least one carrier defining a set of carrier characteristics and the merchandise trading system further defining the carrier characteristics and wherein step g further comprises comparing the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer, the sets of merchandise characteristics by the seller and by the trading system and the sets of carrier characteristics so as to determine a match between the buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item, seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item and the carrier.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes buyer'"'"'s shipping requirements, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes the seller'"'"'s shipping requirements, and the carrier characteristics includes the characteristics and price of the offered shipping service.

5. The method of claim 4 further including the step of adding the shipping price to the ask price and subtracting the bid price to result in a gap price, and the non-zero margin of the said gap price may be further divided between the buyer, the seller and the carrier, or even the trading system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein to complete the transaction to move the merchandise from seller to the buyer is associated with a final fee, the method further including the step of calculating the final fee by adding to the gap price all fees associated with the transaction including the shipping price, a commission price and a tax price etc., and the method may also including the step of subtract from the gap price all discount fees associated with the transaction including coupon, store credit etc.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising carriers to ship the merchandise, the step of providing the carriers the characteristics of the grouped buyers, grouped sellers and grouped merchandise, and the step of holding an auction among the carriers to compete to provide the shipping services of the merchandise between the sellers and the buyers.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the buyer'"'"'s buyer characteristics include the characteristic of how much money the buyer is willing to place as a down payment, and the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics include the downpayment requirement by the seller.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the buyer characteristics and seller characteristics provided by the merchandise trading system include the statistics of their previous history of transaction behavior and feedback rating from their counter parties, and further wherein the merchandise characteristics include rating from its users or other 3^rd party sources, and further wherein the rating of the users and merchandise could be double-ranked which means the effectiveness of the rating is weightened by the creditability of the rater.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the buyer'"'"'s acceptable merchandise characteristics or the seller'"'"'s merchandise characteristics may include an option of future execution time of the transaction

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the seller is a service provider and buyer is a service receiver, and further wherein the merchandise may be but not limited to one of the following services:

shipping service, communication service, media service, news service, catering, entertainment service, insurance plan, consulting, guide, designer, music, photography, gym, training, advertisement, healthcare, attorney service, or brokerage service.

12. A merchandise trading system for allowing grouped sellers to sell grouped merchandise to grouped buyers via a merchandise trading system, the system comprising:

a) at least one database server;

b) a central application server;

c) a user database for receiving and storing from at least one buyer a set of buyer characteristics, a set of acceptable seller characteristics and a set of acceptable merchandise characteristics for a desired merchandise item and for receiving and storing from at least one seller a set of seller characteristics, a set of acceptable buyer characteristics, and for receiving and storing from the database server further buyer characteristics and seller characteristics for the at least one buyer and at least one seller,

d) a merchandise database for receiving and storing from the at least one seller a set of merchandise characteristics and receiving and storing from the trading system a set of merchandise characteristics;

e) an offer/order database for receiving and storing from the at least one seller characteristics of an offer for an offered merchandise item and for receiving and storing from the at least one buyer characteristics of an offer for a desired merchandise item;

f) the central application server having program code to group the buyers based upon the sets of buyer characteristics, the buyer characteristics may be encoded, to group the sellers based upon the sets of seller characteristics, the seller characteristics may be encoded, to group merchandise items based upon the sets of merchandise characteristics, the merchandise characteristics may be encoded, to compare the sets of merchandise characteristics of the seller'"'"'s offered merchandise against the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer so as to determine a match between buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item and seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item, to compare the buyer'"'"'s sets of buyer characteristics and the acceptable seller characteristics against the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics and the sets of seller characteristics, respectively, so as to determine a match between buyer and seller, and if there is a match between buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item and seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item and a match between the buyer and seller, trying to bind a contract and to complete a sale transaction between the buyer and the seller.

13. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes bid price, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes ask price, the central application server having program code for calculating a gap price by subtracting the bid price from the ask price, and the central application server may further use the said gap price to determine if the requirement of issuing a transaction contract to bind the buyer, seller and carrier has be met, and the non-zero margin of the said gap price may also be divided between the buyer and seller, or even the trading system.

14. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 further comprising a shipping service database for receiving/retrieving and storing from at least one carrier a set of carrier characteristics and from the central application server further carrier characteristics and wherein the central application server further has program code for comparing the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer, the merchandise characteristics by the seller and by the trading system and the carrier characteristics so as to determine a match between the buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item, seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item and the carrier.

15. The merchandise trading system of claim 14 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes buyer'"'"'s shipping requirements, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes the seller'"'"'s shipping requirements, and the carrier characteristics includes the characteristics and price of the offered shipping service.

16. The merchandise trading system of claim 15 wherein the central application server further has program code for adding the shipping price to the asking price and subtracting the bid price to result in a gap price, and the central application server can further use the said gap price to determine if the requirement of issuing a transaction contract to bind the buyer, seller and carrier has be met, and the nonzero margin of the said gap price may also be divided between the buyer, the seller and the carrier, or even the trading system.

17. The merchandise trading system of claim 16 wherein the completed transaction to move the merchandise from seller to the buyer is associated with a final fee, and wherein the central application server further has program code for calculating the final fee by adding to the gap price all fees associated with the transaction including the shipping price, a commission price and a tax price, and the central server may also subtract from the gap price all discount fees associated with the transaction including coupon, store credit etc.

18. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 further comprising carriers to ship the merchandise, wherein the central application server further has program code for providing the carriers the characteristics of the grouped buyers, grouped sellers and grouped merchandise, the characteristics can be encoded, and for holding an auction among the carriers to compete to provide the shipping services of the merchandise between the sellers and the buyers.

19. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 wherein the buyer'"'"'s buyer characteristics include the characteristic of how much money the buyer is willing to place as a down payment, and the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics include the downpayment requirement by the seller.

20. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 wherein the buyer characteristics and seller characteristics provided by the merchandise trading system include the statistics of their previous history of transaction behavior and feedback rating from their counter parties, and further wherein the merchandise characteristics include rating from its users or other 3^rd party sources, and further wherein the rating for users and merchandise could be double-ranked which means the effectiveness of the rating can be weightened by the creditability of the rater.

21. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 wherein the buyer'"'"'s acceptable merchandise characteristics or the seller'"'"'s merchandise characteristics may include an option of future execution time of the transaction

22. The merchandise trading system of claim 12 wherein the seller is a service provider and buyer is a service receiver and further wherein the merchandise may be, but not limited to, one of the following services:

shipping service, communication service, media service, news service, entertainment service, catering, insurance plan, consulting, guide, designer, music, photography, gym, training, advertisement, healthcare, attorney, or brokerage service.

23. A computer readable medium for allowing grouped sellers to sell grouped merchandise to grouped buyers via a merchandise trading system, the computer readable medium comprising program instructions for:

a) in a user database, for receiving and storing from at least one buyer a set of buyer characteristics, a set of acceptable seller characteristics and a set of acceptable merchandise characteristics for a desired merchandise item and for receiving and storing from at least one seller a set of seller characteristics, a set of acceptable buyer characteristics, and for receiving from the database server further buyer characteristics and seller characteristics for the at least one buyer and at least one seller;

b) in a merchandise database, for receiving and storing from the at least one seller a set of merchandise characteristics and receiving and storing from the trading system a set of merchandise characteristics;

c) in an offer/order database, for receiving and storing from the at least one seller characteristics of an offer for an offered merchandise item and for receiving and storing from the at least one buyer characteristics of an offer for a desired merchandise item;

d) in the central application server, to group the buyers based upon the sets of buyer characteristics, the buyer characteristics may be encoded, to group the sellers based upon the sets of seller characteristics, the seller characteristics may be encoded, to group merchandise items based upon the sets of merchandise characteristics, the merchandise characteristics may be encoded, to compare the sets of merchandise characteristics of the seller'"'"'s offered merchandise against the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer so as to determine a match between buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item and seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item, to compare the buyer'"'"'s sets of buyer characteristics and the acceptable seller characteristics against the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics and the sets of seller characteristics, respectively, so as to determine a match between buyer and seller, and if there is a match between buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item and seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item and a match between the buyer and seller, trying to bind a contract and to complete a sale transaction between the buyer and the seller.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes bid price, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes ask price, the central application server having program code for calculating a gap price by subtracting the bid price from the ask price and for dividing the gap price margin between the buyer and the seller, and the central application server may further use the said gap price to determine if the requirement of issuing a transaction contract to bind the buyer, seller and carrier has be met, and the nonzero margin of the said gap price may also be divided between the buyer and seller, or even the trading system.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 23 further comprising program instructions, in a shipping service database, for receiving/retrieving and storing from at least one carrier a set of carrier characteristics and from the central application server further carrier characteristics and, the central application server, further program instructions for comparing the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer, the merchandise characteristics by the seller and by the trading system and the carrier characteristics so as to determine a match between the buyer'"'"'s desired merchandise item, seller'"'"'s offered merchandise item and the carrier.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the set of acceptable merchandise characteristics by the buyer includes buyer'"'"'s shipping requirements, the set of merchandise characteristics by the seller includes the seller'"'"'s shipping requirements, and the carrier characteristics includes the characteristics and price of the offered shipping service.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 further having program instructions, in the central application server, for adding the shipping price to the asking price and subtracting the bid price to result in a gap price, and the central application server can further use the gap price to determine if the requirement of issuing a transaction contract to bind the buyer, seller and carrier has be met, and the nonzero margin of the said gap price may also be divided between the buyer, the seller and the carrier, or even the trading system.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27 wherein the completed transaction to move the merchandise from seller to the buyer is associated with a final fee, and wherein, in the central application server, the computer readable medium further comprises program instructions for calculating the final fee by adding to the gap price all fees associated with the transaction including, but not limit to, the shipping price, a commission price and a tax price, and the central server may also subtract from the gap price all discount fees associated with the transaction including, but not limited to, coupon and store credit.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 23 further comprising, in the central application server, has program instructions for providing carriers to ship the merchandise the characteristics of the grouped buyers, grouped sellers and grouped merchandise, the characteristics may be encoded, and for holding an auction among the carriers to compete to provide the shipping services of the merchandise between the sellers and the buyers.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the buyer'"'"'s buyer characteristics include the characteristic of how much money the buyer is willing to place as a down payment, and the seller'"'"'s acceptable buyer characteristics include the downpayment requirement by the seller.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the buyer characteristics and seller characteristics provided by the merchandise trading system include the statistics of their previous history of transaction behavior and feedback rating from their counter parties, and further wherein the merchandise characteristics include rating from its users or other third party sources, and further wherein the rating for users and merchandise could be double-ranked which means the effectiveness of the rating is weightened by the creditability of the rater.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the buyer'"'"'s acceptable merchandise characteristics or the seller'"'"'s merchandise characteristics may include an option of future execution time of the transaction

33. The computer readable medium of claim 23 wherein the seller is a service provider and buyer is a service receiver and further wherein the merchandise may be, but not limited to, one of the following:

shipping service, communication service, media service, news service, entertainment service, catering, insurance plan, consulting, guide, designer, music, photography, gym, training, advertisement, healthcare, attorney service, or brokerage service.