METHODS AND MACHINE READABLE MEDIUMS TO ENABLE A FIXED PRICE PURCHASE WITHIN AN ONLINE AUCTION ENVIRONMENT

• US 20070088654A1
• Filed: 12/20/2006
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Maltzman, Reed
• Granted Patent: US 7,873,562 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• 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 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A method of allowing a seller in an auction facility to offer buyers the option of buying an offering at a pre-auction seller determined price or using a regular auction process. If a buyer is given the option to purchase at the seller determined price and decides to use the regular auction process by submitting a bid, the option to buy the offering at a pre-auction seller determined price is discontinued.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request to list an offering to a buyer using an auction purchase process and a fixed purchase process;

determining whether a bid has been received for the offering to the buyer; and

presenting, via a first computer system, both an auction purchase process and a fixed-price purchase process for purchase of the offering to the buyer responsive to the determining that the bid has not been received.

2. The method of claim 1, responsive to receipt of a fixed price offer from the buyer as part of the fixed-price purchase process, establishing an electronic transaction between the buyer and a seller for purchase of the offering at a fixed price.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting includes generating a first user interface identifying both the auction purchase process and the fixed-price purchase process to the buyer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first user interface is a markup language document generated at a second computer system, and wherein the presenting includes communicating the markup language document from the second computer system to the first computer system via a network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the auction purchase process is presented with an initial bid value and wherein the fixed-price purchase process is presented with a seller determined price.

6. The method of claim 1, further including presenting to a seller a purchase process option to sell the offering by both the auction and the fixed-price purchase processes, and receiving a purchase process indication from the seller responsive to the presentation of the purchase process option.

7. The method of claim 1, further including receiving a bid from the buyer as part of the auction purchase process.

8. The method of claim 7, further including inviting the buyer to use the fixed price purchase process responsive to determining the bid is greater than a pre-auction seller determined price.

9. The method of claim 7, further including removing the presentation of the fixed-price purchase process responsive to receiving the bid.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computer system, offering information from a plurality of sellers at a computer-based transaction facility;

organizing the offering information into predetermined categories;

receiving a category selection from a buyer at the computer-based transaction facility; and

automatically displaying a list of offering information in the selected category, the offering information including a plurality of offerings including a first offering that is associated with a visual indicator if a seller of the first offering has given an affirmative indication to allow a buyer a chance to buy the first offering at a seller determined price and a first bid has not accepted for the first offering.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the visual indicator includes a fixed-price purchase process availability icon.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first offering is associated with a pre-auction seller determined price.

13. The method of claim 10, removing the offering'"'"'s selling information if a seller has given an affirmative indication to allow a first buyer a chance to purchase the first offering at a seller determined price and an affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price has been received.

14. The method of claim 10, removing the visual indicator if a first bid has been accepted for the first offering.

15. A tangible machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive a request to list an offering to a buyer using an auction purchase process and a fixed purchase process;

determine whether a bid has been received for the offering to the buyer; and

present both an auction purchase process and a fixed-price purchase process for purchase of the offering to the buyer responsive to the determination that the bid has not been received.

16. The tangible machine readable medium of claim 15, responsive to receipt of a fixed price offer from the buyer as part of the fixed-price purchase process, establishing an electronic transaction between the buyer and a seller for purchase of the offering at a fixed price.

17. A tangible machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive offering information from a plurality of sellers at a computer-based transaction facility;

organize the offering information into predetermined categories;

receive a category selection from a buyer at the computer-based transaction facility; and

automatically display a list of offering information in the selected category, the offering information including a plurality of offerings including a first offering that is associated with a visual indicator if a seller of the first offering has given an affirmative indication to allow a buyer a chance to buy the first offering at a seller determined price and a first bid has not accepted for the first offering.

18. A tangible machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive an offering'"'"'s selling information from a seller including an offering description, an indication whether to allow a buyer a chance to buy the offering at a seller determined price, and if the indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price is affirmative, the seller determined price;

receive purchase information from the buyer including at least one of an affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price if a seller has given affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price and a bid the buyer will buy the offering at; and

determine a successful buyer comprising;

if an affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price is received from the buyer and no bids have been received for the offering, the buyer, having given affirmative indication, is the successful buyer;

if a first bid is received from the buyer then a buyer from which the highest bid is received is the successful buyer, if the seller gives the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price, the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price terminates upon receipt of the first bid from the first buyer.

19. A tangible machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive offering information from a plurality of sellers at a computer-based transaction facility;

organize the offering information into predetermined categories;

receive a category selection from a buyer at the computer-based transaction facility;

automatically display a list of offering information in the selected category, with a visual indicator appearing in association with a respective offering if a seller of the offering has given affirmative indication to allow a buyer a chance to buy the first offering at a seller determined price; and

remove the visual indicator after a first bid is received on the first offering from a first buyer.