METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING A TRANSACTION BETWEEN A BUYER AND ONE SELLER

• US 20080010099A1
• Filed: 09/25/2007
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Priceline.com LLC (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Priceline Com Incorporated (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Inventors: Tedesco, Daniel, Mik, Magdalena, WALKER, JAY
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,450 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/004
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A seller server receives an offer which specifies a type of product (e.g. a seat on a flight), at least one condition (e.g. destination and date of departure), and an offer price specified by a buyer. The seller server also receives an associated payment identifier that specifies a financial account, such as a credit card account. The payment identifier essentially “guarantees” the offer in that the seller may receive payment from the financial account even if the buyer attempts to renege. The seller determines whether to accept the offer, based on various factors such as the offer price and the availability of appropriate products to satisfy the conditions of the offer. If the offer is accepted, payment is provided to the seller using the payment identifier.

Claims

1-38. -38. (canceled)

39. A method for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one seller of airline carriage, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an offer which specifies an origination, a destination, and an offer price specified by a buyer;

receiving a payment identifier specifying a financial account, the payment identifier being associated with the offer;

determining whether to accept the offer; and

receiving payment by using the payment identifier upon determining to accept the offer.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

determining a plurality of flights that specify both the origination and the destination.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

transmitting an indication of the plurality of flights to the buyer.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

receiving from the buyer a selection of one of the plurality of flights.

43. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

selecting a flight from the plurality of flights to fulfill the offer.

44. The method of claim 43, in which the step of selecting comprises:

selecting a flight based on expected profit from the product.

45. The method of claim 43, in which the step of selecting comprises:

selecting a flight based on availability of the seats on the flight.

46. The method of claim 43, in which the step of selecting comprises:

selecting a flight based on a comparison of predicted sales of seats on the flight and actual sales of the seats on the flight.

47. The method of claim 43, in which the step of selecting comprises:

selecting a flight based on whether actual sales of seats on the flight are less than predicted sales of seats on the flight.

48. The method of claim 43, in which the step of selecting comprises:

determining, for each flight, an amount by which actual sales of seats on the flight are less than predicted sales of seats on the flight; and

selecting a flight that has a maximal amount by which actual sales of seats on the flight are less than predicted sales of seats on the flight.

49. The method of claim 43, in which the step of determining whether to accept the offer comprises:

determining whether sales of seats on a first flight are less than sales of seats on a second flight; and

selecting a seat from the first flight if sales of seats on the first flight are less than sales of seats on the second flight.

50. The method of claim 49, in which each seat of a plurality of seats is allocated for fulfilling offers.

51. The method of claim 39, in which the step of determining whether to accept the offer comprises:

determining whether to accept the offer based on an availability of seats on a flight.

52. The method of claim 39, in which the step of determining whether to accept the offer comprises:

determining whether to accept the offer based on a comparison of predicted sales of seats on a flight and actual sales of seats on the flight.

53. The method of claim 52, in which the step of determining whether to accept the offer comprises:

determining whether to accept the offer based on whether actual sales of seats on the flight are less than predicted sales of seats on the flight.

54. The method of claim 39, in which the step of determining whether to accept the offer comprises:

determining a minimum price for a seat on a flight; and

accepting the offer if the offer price is greater than the minimum price.

55. The method of claim 54, in which the step of determining a minimum price comprises:

determining a minimum price for the seat based on an availability of seats on the flight.

56. The method of claim 54, in which the step of determining a minimum price comprises:

determining a minimum price for the seat based on a comparison of predicted sales of seats on the flight and actual sales of seats on the flight.

57. The method of claim 54, in which the step of determining a minimum price comprises:

determining a minimum price for the seat based on whether actual sales of seats on the flight are less than predicted sales of seats on the flight.

58. A method for assessing demand for a product, comprising:

receiving a plurality of offers, each offer specifying a type of product, at least one condition, and an offer price specified by a buyer;

each offer further being associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account for rendering payment upon acceptance of the offer; and

storing data from the plurality of offers.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

adjusting a price of a product based on the offer price of at least one offer.

60. The method of claim 59, in which the step of adjusting comprises:

selecting a subset of offers, the product satisfying each condition of each offer of the subset of offers; and

adjusting a price of the product based on the offer price of each offer of the subset of offers.

61. The method of claim 60, in which the step of selecting a subset of offers further comprises:

selecting a subset of offers that were accepted.

62. The method of claim 59, in which the price is a retail price of the product.

63. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

adjusting a future supply of a product based on the offer price of at least one offer.

64. The method of claim 63, in which the step of adjusting comprises:

selecting a subset of offers, the product satisfying each condition of each offer of the subset of offers; and

adjusting a future supply of the product based on the offer price of each offer of the subset of offers.

65. The method of claim 64, in which the step of selecting a subset of offers further comprises:

selecting a subset of offers that were accepted.

67. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave comprising:

an offer which specifies a type of product, at least one condition, and an offer price specified by a buyer; and

a payment identifier specifying a financial account, the payment identifier being associated with the offer.