METHOD AND SYSTEM OF FACILITATING A TRANSACTION

• US 20110137744A1
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: Halfcom Incorporated (eBay Inc.)
• Inventors: Balijepalli, Srinivas, Borowsky, Pete, Geshel, Vadim, Schwankl, Michael, Kopelman, Joshua
• Granted Patent: US 8,732,027 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A method and system facilitate a transaction via a network-based transaction facility. For example, a pre-order relating to an item is recorded in a database; a plurality of offers to sell the item is received; and a matching operation to detect a correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers is automatically performed using processor-implemented logic. The pre-order is set to a reserve state in the database based on at least one offer of the plurality of offers matching the preorder, in which the reserve state reserves the at least one offer pending establishment of a transaction for the at least one offer.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate a transaction, the method comprising:

recording a pre-order relating to an item in a database;

receiving a plurality of offers to sell the item; and

automatically performing a matching operation to detect a correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers using processor-implemented logic,

wherein the pre-order is set to a reserve state in the database based on at least one offer of the plurality of offers matching the preorder, the reserve state reserving the at least one offer pending establishment of a transaction for the at least one offer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to confirming an order between the at least one offer of the plurality offers and the pre-order, an establishment of a transaction is communicated to a buyer of the pre-order and a seller of the offer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching operation utilizes a plurality of pre-order attributes and a plurality of the offer attributes to detect the correspondence.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the pre-order specifies a plurality of pre-order attributes including a pre-order product condition and a minimum seller rating.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the pre-order product condition includes an item descriptor, an item price, and a pre-order expiration specification.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein each offer of the plurality of offers specifies a plurality of offer attributes including an offer product condition and a seller rating.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the offer product condition includes an item descriptor, an item price and a seller identifier.

8. A commerce system to facilitate a transaction, the system comprising:

first means for recording a pre-order relating to an item in a database;

second means for receiving a plurality of offers to sell the item; and

third means for automatically performing a matching operation to detect a correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers using processor implemented logic,

wherein the pre-order is set to a reserve state in the database based on at least one offer of the plurality of offers matching the preorder, the reserve state reserving the at least one offer pending establishment of a transaction for the at least one offer.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein responsive to confirming an order between the at least one offer of the plurality of offers and the pre-order, an establishment of a transaction is communicated to a buyer of the pre-order and a seller of the offer.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the third means automatically performs the matching operation by utilizing a plurality of pre-order attributes and a plurality of the offer attributes to detect the correspondence.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the pre-order specifies a plurality of pre-order attributes including a pre-order product condition and a minimum seller rating.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the pre-order product condition includes an item descriptor, an item price, and a pre-order expiration specification.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein each offer of the plurality of offers specifies a plurality of offer attributes including an offer product condition and a seller rating.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the offer product condition includes an item descriptor, an item price and a seller identifier.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the seller rating is established based on a trading history of a seller from which the offer originates.

16. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method of facilitating a transaction via a network-based transaction facility, the method comprising:

recording a pre-order relating to an item in a database;

receiving a plurality of offers to sell the item; and

automatically performing a matching operation to detect a correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers using processor-implemented logic,

wherein the pre-order is set to a reserve state in the database based on at least one offer of the plurality of offers matching the preorder, the reserve state reserving the at least one offer pending establishment of a transaction for the at least one offer.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein responsive to confirming an order between the at least one offer of the plurality of offers and the pre-order, an establishment of a transaction is communicated to a buyer of the pre-order and a seller of the offer.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the matching operation utilizes a plurality of pre-order attributes and a plurality of the offer attributes to detect the correspondence.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the pre-order specifies a plurality of pre-order attributes including a pre-order product condition and a minimum seller rating.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein each offer of the plurality of offers specifies a plurality of offer attributes including an offer product condition and a seller rating.