AUTOMATED PURCHASING AGENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20080021808A1
• Filed: 07/24/2007
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Edlund, Stefan, Ford, Daniel, Kraft, Reiner
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A system and method of automating and managing bids within the context of an Internet auction is disclosed. The present invention permits continuous monitoring and verification of auctions on the Internet based on criterion such as highest bid on an item, maximum permissible bid, and a restriction on the number of successful bids in the auctions by any given participant (0109). The present invention permits embodiments incorporating an auction profile database (0101) that is generated by an auction profile configuration tool (0102) to act as input to an item search manager (0104) that takes data from an item database (0105) and control from an item selector (0103) to then interact with an auction bid controller (0106) that communicates with the remote auction site via an auction command interface (0107).

Claims

1. A purchasing agent system for managing a purchase of at least one product and/or service from a plurality of websites, the purchasing agent comprising:

an auction profile database for storing information necessary to register a given user on at least two auction sites each with a separate command language, a separate auction database, and a separate user interface thereto;

a search manager for searching with the separate command language for the separate auction database of each of the at least two auction sites for at least one of item as specified by the given user; and

in response the item being available at a first price through a first site of the at least two auction sites and the item being available at a second price through a second site of the two auction sites, an auction bid controller for automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using

the separate command language of the first site if the first price is lower than the second price; and

the separate command language of the second site if the second price is lower than the first price.

2. The purchasing agent system of claim 1, wherein the auction bid controller automatically determines, without further user intervention, if the bid is accepted on at least one of the at least two auction sites and then sends a request to cancels any outstanding bids on any remaining sites for the item in the separate command language for each of the remaining sites.

3. The purchasing agent system of claim 1, wherein the item is one of a product and a service.

4. The purchasing agent system of claim 1, wherein the search manager periodically and without further user intervention, searches again with the separate command language for the separate auction database of each of the at least two auction sites for the at least one item as specified by the given user;

and

in response the item being available at a third price through a third site of the at least two auction sites, the auction bid controller for automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using the separate command language of the third site if the third price is lower than the first price and the second price.

5. The purchasing agent system of claim 1, wherein the auction bid controller for automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using

the separate command language of the first site if the first price is lower than the second price and the first bid is below a limit maximum permitted;

and

the separate command language of the second site if the second price is lower than the first price and the second bid is below a limit maximum permitted.

6. The purchasing agent system of claim 4, wherein the auction bid controller for automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using the separate command language of the third site if the third price is lower than the first price and the second price and the third price is below a limit maximum permitted.

7. The purchasing agent system of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface to a manufacturing resource and/or inventory planning (MRP) system for providing to the search manager the at least one of item for searching by the search manager.

8. A method on a computer system for managing a purchase of at least one product and/or service from a plurality of websites, the method comprising:

storing, on an auction profile database, information necessary to register a given user on at least two auction sites each with a separate command language, a separate auction database, and a separate user interface thereto;

searching with the separate command language for the separate auction database of each of the at least two auction sites for at least one of item as specified by the given user; and

in response the item being available at a first price through a first site of the at least two auction sites and the item being available at a second price through a second site of the two auction sites, automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using

the separate command language of the first site if the first price is lower than the second price; and

the separate command language of the second site if the second price is lower than the first price.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein if the bid is accepted on at least one of the at least two auction sites then sending a request to cancel any outstanding bids on any remaining sites for the item in the separate command language for each of the remaining sites.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the item is one of a product and a service.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein without further user intervention, searching again with the separate command language for the separate auction database of each of the at least two auction sites for the at least one item as specified by the given user;

and

in response the item being available at a third price through a third site of the at least two auction sites, automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, using the separate command language of the third site if the third price is lower than the first price and the second price.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, includes using

the separate command language of the first site if the first price is lower than the second price and the first bid is below a limit maximum permitted;

and

the separate command language of the second site if the second price is lower than the first price and the second bid is below a limit maximum permitted.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the automatically placing a bid, without further user intervention, includes using the separate command language of the third site if the third price is lower than the first price and the second price and the third price is below a limit maximum permitted.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing the at least one of item for searching by the search manager using an interface to a manufacturing resource and/or inventory planning (MRP) system.

15. A computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions on an information processing for automatically purchasing products without user interaction, the programming instructions performing the steps of:

(a) utilizing a user dialog to register at a plurality of auction sites to obtain a user identification and/or password;

(b) utilizing a user dialog to enter a product purchase request;

(c) communicating with a first and/or next auction site;

(d) determining if said product purchase request is available, and if not, returning to step (c);

(e) determining if a current bid from said auction site is below a limit maximum permitted, and if not, returning to step (c);

(f) placing a bid for said product purchase request with said auction site;

(g) determining if said bid has been accepted and if so, canceling outstanding bids at other auction sites;

(h) if said bid has not been accepted, determining if bidding has been terminated and if so, returning to step (c);

(i) determining if time is running out on any current outstanding bids and if so, canceling all high-cost outstanding bids and returning to step (g); and

(j) if time is not running out on any current outstanding bids, returning to step (c) to inquire if there are additional auction sites for placing a bid at a lower price on said product purchase request.