AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR ADAPTING MARKET DATA AND EVALUATING THE MARKET VALUE OF ITEMS

• US 20150278839A1
• Filed: 06/16/2015
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Buymetrics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Buymetrics Incorporated
• Inventors: Hansen, Valerie
• Granted Patent: US 9,418,371 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/08 Sorting, i.e. grouping record carriers in numerical or other ordered sequence according to the classification of at least some of the information they carry by merging two or more sets of carriers in ordered sequence G06F7/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/201 Price look-up processing, e.g. updating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0629 for generating comparisons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 : Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 : Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 : Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 : Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A computer system including a service provider server receives price data sets responsive to one or more product specification data sets. The service provider server invokes an evaluation service that causes a metric application to obtain metric data including market reference price data for items responsive to attributes of an item identified in a price data set. The attribute data for each responsive item is algorithmically processed to dynamically identify differences. One or more adjustment values are generated and applied to the market reference price data for a responsive item that differs from the item identified in the price data set, transforming the market reference price data into normalized metric data that is used to produce a normalized metric value. At least a subset of the price data sets and the respective normalized metric values are communicated via a network interface to a remotely located buyer-agent computing device.

Claims

1. In a networked service provider environment, a system comprising:

a service provider server comprising;

a network interface;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metric application; and

a processor in communication with the network interface and the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable medium;

wherein;

the metric manager is programmed to manage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefined instructions for adapting metric data,

the metric application is programmed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation service and execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metric data that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manage one or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the service provider server, and

in operation, the metric application configures the service provider server to;

receive, from a remotely located buyer-agent computing device, via the network interface, one or more product specification data sets, wherein each product specification data set identifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items;

receive a plurality of price data sets responsive to the one or more product specification data sets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one item that is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or more product specification data sets, wherein the at least one item is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein each received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least one item, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price data set differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item as identified in the product specification data set and/or another received price data set; and

for at least a subset of the received price data sets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automatically produce one or more normalized metric values for at least one item identified in each of the price data sets in the subset, wherein the subset includes at least one received price data set that identifies at least one item that differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item as identified in the product specification data set and/or another received price data set, and wherein invoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to;

obtain, from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server, metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price data for the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period of time;

algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item in the metric data and the attribute data of the at least one item identified in the price data set to dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute data are used to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item in the metric data;

normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item in the metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the market reference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by at least one parameter value from the at least one item identified in the price data set, transforming the market reference price data for the at least one responsive item into normalized metric data; and

produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using the normalized metric data;

wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of the received price data sets and the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item identified in each of the communicated price data sets, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the one or more product specification data sets were received.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is separate from the metric manager, and wherein coordinated operation of the metric application with the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service to algorithmically process the attribute data to dynamically identify at least one relationship comprising a difference within the attribute data, including a new or previously unknown relationship, without relying on a pre-constructed model having a predefined relationship that remains fixed within the model and outputs predictable results.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtain metric data from two or more different data sources and to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set by generating and applying adjustment values to the market reference price data in the metric data obtained from the two or more different data sources, and inputting the normalized metric data into at least one predefined algorithm that was preassociated with the at least one evaluation service, wherein the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item identified in the price data set is a synthetic value.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the parameter values represent variable attributes including a grade, a rating measure, a species, an item type, a brand, a quantity, a size, a unit of measure, a tally, a location, a method of delivery, a delivery date, a time of service, a warranty, a payment term, or a transaction type.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine, for exclusive use by a buyer-agent, at least one instruction for adapting metric data or to modify at least one previously predefined instruction for adapting metric data, and further causes the metric manager to store the at least one predefined or modified instruction for retrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application, wherein coordinated operation of the metric application with the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service to identify and execute the predefined instructions that pertain to the buyer agent, providing an evaluation service that is customized for the buyer agent without custom-coding computer-executable instructions that comprise the metric application.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more instructions for adapting metric data, to preassociate the one or more instructions with attributes of an item, parameter, metric data source, event, and/or one or more other instructions, and to store the predefined and preassociated instructions in the metric manager for retrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application, wherein the instructions are predefined and preassociated by the buyer-agent computing device without regard to the item or items identified in any specific price data set.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, prompts a buyer-agent computing device to define one or more attributes associated with an item identified in the product specification data set and/or to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more attributes to be associated with an item and to store the one or more predefined attributes in association with the item, wherein the stored attributes are automatically associated with the item when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application in response to receiving from the buyer-agent computing device a product specification data set that identifies the item.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of at least one predefined instruction that pertains to the buyer-agent and the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to filter, for inclusion or exclusion, the metric data for one or more responsive items using one or more predefined control values, criteria, or parameters, and to use only a filtered segment of the metric data to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to use only metric data resulting from a purchase or executed contract to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to use only metric data resulting from a computer-based interaction and comprising only electronically-created metric data to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein the electronically-created metric data does not include human-reported transaction data or transaction data that was manually transcribed into a digital format.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to generate at least one adjustment value corresponding to each parameter value that differs from the parameter value of the item identified in the price data set using one or more predefined algorithms that were preassociated with the at least one evaluation service, including a least squares or curve-fit algorithm, wherein the at least one adjustment value serves to minimize a difference between the metric data for the item with the differing parameter and (1) an average of the market reference price data of responsive items in the metric data at the particular time or period of time, or (2) an average of market reference price data generated from a control group of items that are responsive to at least one parameter of an identified item, and wherein the at least one adjustment value is applied to the market reference price data associated with the responsive item with the differing parameter value to normalize the data.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to convert data defined by a unit-of-measure into a standardized or common unit of measure and to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using data possessing consistent units of measure, and wherein the transformation of the market reference price data for the at least one responsive item occurs independent of the unit-of-measure conversion of the data.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to generate at least one comparison value, wherein the value of the difference between the price data associated with the at least one item identified in the price data set and the normalized metric value produced for the at least one item is divided by the normalized metric value for the at least one item, to generate the at least one comparison value as a ratio or percent.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically query one or more databases or data sources accessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more data streams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, facilitates data communication in XML format, enabling the metric application to dynamically change, dynamically route, and/or pre-configure the data for movement of the data in an integrated data exchange.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric manager is programmed to manage one or more predefined instructions that are conditionally executed by the metric application, including:

one or more formulas operationally combining data values and using variables relating to a plurality of items, parameters, events, or metric data sources;

or

a combination of rules, variables or criteria, including validation rules, relating to a plurality of items, parameters, events, metric data sources, obtained metric data, or normalized metric values, the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control;

or

a combination of evaluation services, wherein at least one evaluation service is further combined with at least one predefined instruction that specifies employing a process step, action, function, or subroutine, or combined with at least one other evaluation service, the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to dynamically apply all of the predefined instructions determined applicable to the responsive item in the metric data and to only produce the normalized metric value for the at least one item when all adjustments resulting from the instructions have been applied and to only communicate the resulting normalized metric value for the at least one item to the buyer-agent computing device when the one or more predefined validation rules have been satisfied.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage multiple visual interfaces that, in operation, configure the service provider server to communicate for alternate or simultaneous visual display at least a subset of the received price data sets and the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item to the remotely located buyer-agent computing device, and wherein the multiple visual interfaces facilitate interactions that enable the buyer-agent to expose underlying data in one or more layers of detail, to display data in one or more pop-up windows, to display linked information, or to display the same data in a different form or from one or more different sources of metric data or as determined at a different period of time.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage one or more interfaces that, in operation, facilitate via the service provider server a dynamic negotiation between the buyer-agent computing device and at least one seller-agent computing device that provided a price data set responsive to at least one item identified in the product specification data set, wherein at least one additional price data set is received, via the network interface, from the at least one seller-agent computing device in response to a counter-offer from the buyer-agent computing device, wherein the metric application produces at least one normalized metric value for at least one item identified in the at least one additional price data set, and to communicate, via the network interface, the at least one additional price data set and the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item to the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the product specification data set was received, and wherein the dynamic negotiation continues until an offer or counter-offer is accepted or the dynamic negotiation is terminated.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein facilitating a dynamic negotiation includes facilitating, via the network interface, streaming of voice communications between the buyer-agent computing device and the at least one seller-agent computing device.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to evaluate the metric data for satisfaction of one or more predefined validation rules and/or statistical criteria and to only produce the normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using metric data that satisfies the predefined validation rules and/or statistical criteria, wherein the one or more predefined validation rules and/or statistical criteria cause the metric application to evaluate the metric data for at least one of:

total volume in units per item per period of time specified;

frequency/liquidity of the metric data;

concentration/fragmentation of the metric data by the type of transaction;

or concentration/fragmentation of the metric data by the source of the metric data.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in a price data set within a specified period of time from receipt of the price data set by the service provider server, or with sufficient speed that the price data set and the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set are communicated to the buyer-agent computing device in near real-time, wherein near real-time can vary by the environment of the transaction and is statistically measurable as occurring before the offer to sell as represented by the price data set is no longer actionable.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtain updated market reference price data from at least one source of metric data accessible to the service provider server, wherein the updated metric data is for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item previously identified in a received price data set and comprises more-current market reference price data for the at least one item and/or excludes previously-obtained metric data that is no longer responsive to the at least one item or no longer represents market reference price data associated with the at least one item at a particular time or period of time, and further causes the metric application to produce at least one more-current normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using the more-current metric data, and wherein at least one predefined instruction that pertains to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically update the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item continuously, at a predefined time, over a predefined interval of time, or upon occurrence of a predefined event, wherein an interval of time can include a continuously sliding interval of time that represents the most current period of time.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the price data for the at least one item identified in at least one received price data set is specified as a formula in which the price is derived at one or more times in the future using at least in part one or more specified market-prices or metric values that are to be generated or reported at one or more times in the future, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically obtain the one or more market-prices or to generate the one or more metric values and to determine the price for the at least one item in accordance with the formula, and further causes the metric application to produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using normalized metric data for the at least one item, and to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, the price determined for the at least one item identified in the price data set and the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item to at least the buyer-agent computing device from which the product specification data set was received.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtain metric data for at least one alternate item, wherein the alternate item is a substitute item and/or differs by at least one parameter value from the at least one item identified in the price data set, and further causes the metric application to produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using, at least in part, the normalized metric data for the alternate item.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that facilitates an integrated data exchange between at least one application running on a remote computing device under control of the buyer-agent and the processor of the service provider server and/or facilitates an integrated data exchange with at least one other computing device in communication with the service provider server, and to execute movement of data in the integrated data exchange via the network interface, wherein the integrated data exchange does not include a pre-mapped or pre-structured electronic data interchange (EDI) transmission.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to impute one or more item attributes or parameter values using one or more mathematical or statistical processes applied using at least one known attribute or parameter value of the at least one item identified in the product specification data set or identified in a previously received price data set, and/or one or more instructions previously received from the remotely located buyer-agent computing device.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to expose to at least one tracking system at least a subset of the data received or generated by the service provider server, wherein the exposed data is defined by a time or period of time.

29. The system of claim 1, wherein the service provider server is accessible, via the network interface, to the buyer-agent computing device without specialized application software on the buyer-agent computing device and without a need to synchronize buyer-agent data across multiple computing devices used by the buyer-agent.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage one or more interfaces to control one or more preprogrammed utilities or functions running on the service provider server or the remotely located buyer-agent computing device that pertain to the at least one evaluation service invoked by the metric application, and to execute movement of data in an integrated data exchange between the service provider server and at least one preprogrammed utility or function.

31. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one normalized metric value represents relevant market information dynamically produced for use by the buyer-agent to evaluate a specific offer to sell, and wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service does not cause the metric application to:

(1) identify and value the one or more differences between the at least one item identified in the price data set and the at least one item identified in one or more other received price data sets;

(2) compare the price data of the at least one item identified in the price data set to a last cost, historic cost, or an average cost for the item previously paid by the buyer-agent;

(3) estimate an available supply of the item and demand for the item in the marketplace to identify a price level at which the item is most likely to be bought or sold;

or (4) input market reference price data into a pre-constructed model to produce one or more market values.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one product specification data set identifies a plurality of items that vary by at least one parameter value and are to be evaluated as a bundled item or wherein at least one item identified in a product specification data set is a combined item that represents a packaged product or transaction, a tally, or an assembly of one or more component parts defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items,

wherein a received price data set identifies at least one bundled or combined item or transaction that is responsive to a respective bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the at least one product specification data set, wherein the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein the received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data comprising a single combined price for the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction, and wherein the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the received price data set differs by at least one parameter value from the respective bundled or combined item or transaction as identified in the at least one product specification data set and/or another received price data set;

and

for the received price data set, invoke at least one evaluation service to automatically produce one or more normalized metric values for at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, wherein invoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to;

obtain, from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server, metric data for one or more items or component parts responsive to attributes of the items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items or component parts in the metric data is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price data for the one or more responsive items or component parts at a particular time or period of time; and

algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item or component part in the metric data and the attribute data of the items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set to dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute data are used by the metric manager to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item or component part in the metric data;

normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item or component part in the metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the market reference price data for at least one responsive item or component part that differs by at least one parameter value from the item or component part of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, transforming the market-reference price data for the at least one responsive item or component part into normalized metric data;

produce at least one normalized metric value for each of the plurality of items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction using the normalized metric data for the responsive item or component part; and

generate a normalized metric value for the bundled or combined item using the normalized metric values produced for the plurality of items or component parts; and

wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, at least the received price data set and the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one bundled or combined item identified in the communicated price data set, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the at least one product specification data set was received.

33. In a networked service provider environment, a system comprising:

a service provider server comprising;

a network interface;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metric application; and

a processor in communication with the network interface and the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable medium;

wherein;

the metric manager is programmed to manage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefined instructions for adapting metric data,

the metric application is programmed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation service and execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metric data that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manage one or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the service provider server, and

in operation, the metric application configures the service provider server to;

receive, from a remotely located buyer-agent computing device, via the network interface, one or more product specification data sets, wherein each product specification data set identifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items;

receive a plurality of price data sets responsive to the one or more product specification data sets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one item that is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or more product specification data sets, wherein the at least one item is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein each received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least one item, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price data set differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item as identified in the product specification data set and/or another received price data set; and

for at least a subset of the received price data sets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automatically generate one or more relative value metrics for at least one item identified in each of the price data sets in the subset, wherein invoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to;

obtain, from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server, metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price data for the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period of time;

algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item in the metric data and the attribute data of the at least one item identified in the price data set to dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute data are used to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item in the metric data;

normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item in the metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the market reference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by at least one parameter value from the at least one item identified in the price data set, transforming the market reference price data for the responsive item into normalized metric data;

produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using the normalized metric data; and

generate one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein the price data for the at least one item is divided by the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item to generate a ratio or index value; and

wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of the received price data sets and the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified in each of the communicated price data sets, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the one or more product specification data sets were received.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to rank or sort the plurality of received price data sets by the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified in each price data set, and to communicate only a ranked or sorted subset of the received price data sets to the buyer agent computing device, and further causes the metric application to control the order and/or number of price data sets communicated to the buyer-agent computing device by limiting the price data sets to a ranked or sorted subset of the received price data sets.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the one or more relative value metrics measure the price data for the at least one item identified in the price data set in relation to the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item, and wherein a price data set with the lowest relative value metric for the at least one item represents an optimal market value among the plurality of received price data sets.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein at least one of the plurality of price data sets identifies at least one item that is not a perfect substitute for the item as identified in another price data set in that the at least one item is an alternate item or an item that differs by one or more parameter values from the item as identified in the other price data set, and wherein the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified in each of the plurality of price data sets provide the buyer-agent an objective measure with which to compare the item or items across the plurality of received price data sets, including the one or more price data sets that identify an alternate item or an item that differs by at least one parameter value.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtain metric data from two or more different data sources and to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set by generating and applying adjustment values to the market reference price data in the metric data obtained from the two or more different sources, and inputting the normalized metric data into at least one predefined algorithm associated with the at least one evaluation service, wherein the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item identified in the price data set is a synthetic value.

38. The system of claim 33, wherein the service provider server is accessible, via the network interface, to the buyer-agent computing device without specialized application software on the buyer-agent computing devices and without a need to synchronize buyer-agent data across multiple computing devices used by the buyer-agent.

39. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage multiple visual interfaces that, in operation, configure the service provider server to communicate for alternate or simultaneous visual display at least a subset of the received price data sets and the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item to the remotely located buyer agent computing device, and wherein the multiple visual interfaces facilitate interactions that enable the buyer-agent to expose underlying data in one or more layers of detail, to display data in one or more pop-up windows, to display linked information, or to display the same data in a different form or from one or more different sources of metric data or as determined at a different period of time.

40. The system of claim 33, wherein the parameter values represent variable attributes including a grade, a rating measure, a species, an item type, a brand, a quantity, a size, a unit of measure, a tally, a location, a method of delivery, a delivery date, a time of service, a warranty, a payment term, or a transaction type.

41. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, prompts a buyer-agent computing device to define one or more attributes associated with an item identified in the product specification data set and/or to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more attributes to be associated with an item identified in the product specification data set and to store the one or more defined or predefined attributes in association with the item, wherein the stored attributes are automatically associated with the item when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application in response to receiving from the buyer-agent computing device a product specification data set that identifies the item.

42. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine, for exclusive use by a buyer-agent associated with the buyer-agent computing device, at least one instruction for adapting metric data or to modify at least one previously predefined instruction for adapting metric data, and further causes the metric manager to store the at least one predefined or modified instruction for retrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application, wherein coordinated operation of the metric application with the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service to identify and execute the predefined instructions that pertain to the buyer agent, providing an evaluation service that is customized for the buyer-agent without custom-coding computer-executable instructions that comprise the metric application.

43. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more instructions for adapting metric data, to preassociate the one or more instructions with attributes of an item, parameter, metric data source, event, and/or one or more other instructions, and to store the predefined and preassociated instructions in the metric manager for retrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application, wherein the instructions are predefined and preassociated by the buyer-agent computing device without regard to the item or items identified in any specific price data set.

44. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is separate the metric manager, and wherein coordinated operation of the metric application with the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service to algorithmically process the attribute data to dynamically identify at least one relationship comprising a difference within the attribute data, including a new or previously unknown relationship, without relying on a pre-constructed model having a predefined relationship that remains fixed within the model and outputs predictable results.

45. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, facilitates data communication in XML format, enabling the metric application to dynamically change, dynamically route, and/or pre-configure the data for movement of the data in an integrated data exchange.

46. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric manager is programmed to manage one or more predefined instructions that are conditionally executed by the metric application, including:

one or more formulas operationally combining data values and using variables relating to a plurality of items, parameters, events, or metric data sources;

or

a combination of rules, variables or criteria, including validation rules, relating to a plurality of items, parameters, events, metric data sources, obtained metric data, normalized metric values or relative value metrics, the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control;

or

a combination of evaluation services, wherein at least one evaluation service is further combined with at least one predefined instruction that specifies employing a process step, action, function, or subroutine, or combined with at least one other evaluation service, the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control.

47. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to generate the one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in a price data set within a specified period of time from receipt of the price data set by the service provider server, or with sufficient speed that the price data set and the one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in the price data set are communicated to the buyer-agent computing device in near real-time, wherein near real-time can vary by the environment of the transaction and is statistically measurable as occurring before the offer to sell as represented by the price data set is no longer actionable.

48. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to manage one or more interfaces that enable at least one seller-agent and/or third-party intermediary to stream or expose, without prompting by the service provider server, one or more price data sets representing actionable offers-to-sell one or more items, or one or more catalogs or price lists that identify actionable price data for one or more items, via the network interface, to the service provider server.

49. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is programmed to manage at least one interface that enables the buyer-agent to generate at least one request for quote (RFQ) that identifies at least one product specification data set comprising the at least one item, and further causes the service provider server to communicate the RFQ, via the network interface, to at least one seller-agent computing device on behalf of the buyer-agent, and to receive one or more price data sets responsive to the at least one item identified in the RFQ from at least one seller-agent computing device, via the network interface, wherein each received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data for at least one item, wherein the metric application is caused to automatically generate one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in each received price data set, and to communicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of the received price data sets and the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified in each of the price data sets, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the RFQ was received.

50. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage one or more interfaces that, in operation, facilitate via the service provider server a dynamic negotiation between the buyer-agent computing device and at least one seller-agent computing device that provided a price data set responsive to at least one item identified in the product specification data set, wherein at least one additional price data set is received, via the network interface, from the at least one seller-agent computing device in response to a counter-offer from the buyer-agent computing device, wherein the metric application produces at least one relative value metric for at least one item identified in the at least one additional price data set, and to communicate, via the network interface, the at least one additional price data set and the at least one relative value metric produced for the at least one item to the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the product specification data set was received, and wherein the dynamic negotiation continues until an offer or counter-offer is accepted or the dynamic negotiation is terminated.

51. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically query one or more databases or data sources accessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more data streams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.

52. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service cause the metric application to use only metric data resulting from a purchase or executed contract to produce the at least one relative value metric for the at least one item identified in the price data set.

53. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service cause the metric application to use only metric data resulting from a computer-based interaction and comprising only electronically-created metric data to produce the at least one relative value metric for the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein the electronically-created metric data does not include human-reported transaction data or transaction data that was manually transcribed into a digital format.

54. The system of claim 33, where execution of at least one predefined instruction that pertains to the buyer agent causes the metric application to manage at least one interface that facilitates an integrated data exchange, via the network interface, on behalf of the buyer-agent wherein at least one purchase notice is automatically transmitted to the at least one seller-agent computing device that provided at least one price data set with a lowest relative value metric for the at least one item in the received plurality of price data sets.

55. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of at least one subsequent evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one subsequent evaluation service causes the metric application to generate at least one evaluation metric that provides a predefined performance measure, wherein the at least one normalized metric value generated for the at least one item identified in the price data set, or at least one of the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item based at least in part on the at least one normalized metric value, is a predefined data element that is automatically input into at least one predefined algorithm associated with the subsequent evaluation service to generate, at least in part, the predefined performance measure, and to manage at least one interface to communicate, via the network interface, the at least one evaluation metric to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device and/or at least one output specified in the one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one subsequent evaluation service.

56. The system of claim 33, wherein at least one product specification data set identifies a plurality of items that vary by at least one parameter value and are to be evaluated as a bundled item or wherein at least one item identified in a product specification data set is a combined item that represents a packaged product or transaction, a tally, or an assembly of one or more component parts defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items,

wherein a received price data set identifies at least one bundled or combined item or transaction that is responsive to a respective bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the at least one product specification data set, wherein the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein the received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data comprising a single combined price for the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction, and wherein the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the received price data set differs by at least one parameter value from the respective bundled or combined item or transaction as identified in the at least one product specification data set and/or another received price data set;

and

for the received price data set, invoke at least one evaluation service to automatically produce one or more normalized metric values for at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, wherein invoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to;

obtain, from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server, metric data for one or more items or component parts responsive to attributes of the items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items or component parts in the metric data is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price data for the one or more responsive items or component parts at a particular time or period of time; and

algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item or component part in the metric data and the attribute data of the items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set to dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute data are used by the metric manager to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item or component part in the metric data;

normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item or component part in the metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the market reference price data for at least one responsive item or component part that differs by at least one parameter value from the item or component part of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data set, transforming the market-reference price data for the at least one responsive item or component part into normalized metric data;

produce at least one normalized metric value for each of the plurality of items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction using the normalized metric data for the responsive item or component part;

generate a normalized metric value for the bundled or combined item using the normalized metric values produced for the plurality of items or component parts; and

generate one or more relative value metrics for the at least one bundled or combined item identified in the price data set, wherein the single price identified for the at least one item is divided by the at least one normalized metric value generated for the at least one item to produce a ratio or index value; and

wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, at least the received price data set and the one or more relative value metrics produced for the at least one bundled or combined item identified in the communicated price data set, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the at least one product specification data set was received.

57. In a networked service provider environment, a system comprising:

a service provider server comprising;

a network interface;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metric application; and

a processor in communication with the network interface and the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the computer-readable medium;

wherein;

the metric manager is programmed to manage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefined instructions for adapting metric data,

the metric application is programmed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation service and execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metric data that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manage one or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the service provider server, and

in operation, the metric application configures the service provider server to;

receive, from a remotely located buyer-agent computing device, via the network interface, one or more product specification data sets, wherein each product specification data set identifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items;

receive a plurality of price data sets responsive to the one or more product specification data sets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one item that is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or more product specification data sets, wherein the at least one item is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, wherein each received price data set represents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least one item, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price data set differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item as identified in the product specification data set and/or another received price data set; and

for at least a subset of the received price data sets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automatically generate one or more relative value metrics for at least one item identified in each of the price data sets in the subset, wherein the subset includes at least one received price data set that identifies at least one item that differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item as identified in the product specification data set and/or another received price data set, and wherein invoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to;

obtain, from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server, metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price data for the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period of time;

algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item in the metric data and the attribute data of the at least one item identified in the price data set to dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute data are used to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item in the metric data;

normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions that were determined applicable to the responsive items in the metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the market reference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by at least one parameter value from the at least one item identified in the received price data set, transforming the market-reference price data for the responsive item into normalized metric data;

produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set using the normalized metric data;

generate one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein the price data for the at least one item is divided by the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one item, to generate a ratio or index value; and

sort or rank the plurality of received price data sets by the one or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified in each price data set;

wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, via the network interface, at least a sorted or ranked subset of the received price data sets to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which the one or more product specification data sets were received.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service further causes the metric application to filter the received price data sets by the at least one relative value metric generated for the at least one item identified in each price data set and to a limit the number of price data sets communicated to the buyer-agent computing device to a predefined number or portion of the sorted or ranked price data sets.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the one or more relative value metrics measure the price data for the at least one item identified in the price data set in relation to the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item, and wherein a price data set with the lowest relative value metric for the at least one item represents an optimal market value among the received plurality of price data sets.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric application is separate from the metric manager, and wherein coordinated operation of the metric application with the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service to algorithmically process the attribute data to dynamically identify at least one relationship comprising a difference within the attribute data, including a new or previously unknown relationship, without relying on a pre-constructed model having a predefined relationship that remains fixed within the model and outputs predictable results.

61. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution at least one predefined instruction for adapting metric data that pertains to the at least one evaluation service enables the metric manager to identify an item from a plurality of attributes that were predefined and preassociated with the item, or alternately, to identify a plurality of attributes to be associated with a predefined item.

62. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more instructions for adapting metric data and preassociate the one or more instructions with attributes of an item, parameter, metric data source, event, and/or one or more other instructions, and to store the predefined and preassociated instructions in the metric manager for retrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application, wherein the instructions are predefined and preassociated by the buyer-agent computing device without regard to the item or items identified in any specific price data set.

63. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, prompts a buyer-agent computing device to identify one or more sources of metric data to be associated with a specific item identified in a received price data set, and/or to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more metric data sources to be associated with an item or attributes predefined for the item and to cause the metric application to store the predefined metric data sources in association with the item or the attributes predefined for the item, wherein the stored metric data sources are automatically retrieved when at least one price data set is received that identifies the item.

64. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically query one or more databases or data sources accessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more data streams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.

65. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, facilitates data communication in XML format, enabling the metric application to dynamically change, dynamically route, and/or pre-configure the data for movement of the data in an integrated data exchange.

66. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to use only metric data resulting from a computer-based interaction and comprising only electronically-created metric data to produce the at least one normalized metric value for the at least one item identified in the price data set, wherein the electronically-created metric data does not include human-reported transaction data or transaction data that was manually transcribed into a digital format.

67. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to generate the one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in a price data set within a specified period of time from receipt of the price data set by the service provider server, or with sufficient speed that the price data set and the one or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in the price data set are communicated to the buyer-agent computing device in near real-time, wherein near real-time can vary by the environment of the transaction and is statistically measurable as occurring before the offer to sell as represented by the price data set is no longer actionable.

68. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtain updated market reference price data from at least one source of metric data accessible to the service provider server, wherein the updated metric data is for one or more items responsive to attributes of at least one item previously identified in a received price data set and comprises more-current market reference price data for the at least one item and/or excludes previously-obtained metric data that is no longer responsive to the at least one item or no longer represents market reference price data associated with the at least one item at a particular time or period of time, and further causes the metric application to generate at least one more-current relative value metric for the at least one item identified in the price data set using the more-current normalized metric data, and wherein at least one predefined instruction that pertains to the at least one evaluation service causes the metric application to automatically update at least one relative value metric for the at least one item continuously, at a predefined time, over a predefined interval of time, or upon occurrence of a predefined event, wherein an interval of time can include a continuously sliding interval of time that represents the most current period of time.