Apparatus and method for optimizing group bulk purchases

• US 7,080,029 B1
• Filed: 05/31/2000
• Issued: 07/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fallside, David C., Stanford-Clark, Andrew J., Ibbotson, John B.
• Primary Examiner(s): CUFF, MICHAEL A
• Application Number:
  US09/583,479
• Time in Patent Office: 2,239 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/26.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Disclosed are a method, system and computer program product for placing a group order, mediated by a system having one or more computers, the method comprising the steps of: publishing, by a publisher, information about a quantity of a material; subscribing, via a subscriber, to a topic comprising said information; receiving, via a subscriber, said information; aggregating, via a subscriber, said information from at least one of said publishers; and responsive to said step of aggregating, selecting based on at least one criterion a best time to place said group order.

Claims

1. A method for placing a group order, mediated by a system having one or more computers, the method comprising the steps of:

publishing, by a publisher, information about a quantity of a material;

subscribing, via a subscriber, to a topic comprising said information;

receiving, via a subscriber, said information;

aggregating, via a subscriber, said information from at least one of said publishers; and

responsive to said step of aggregating, selecting based on at least one criterion a best time to place said group order.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said criterion comprises at least one of a time criterion, a price criterion, a quantity criterion and an urgency criterion.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said order is an order for a bulk good.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information comprises information about a remaining quantity of a material.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said order comprises an order in partial satisfaction of said criterion.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of said publishers comprises an automatic monitoring system.

7. A computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium and comprising computer program instructions to, when loaded into a computer and executed thereon, perform the steps of the method as claimed in claim 1.

8. A computer system for placing a group order, the computer system comprising:

means for publishing, by a publisher, information about a quantity of a material;

means for subscribing, via a subscriber, to a topic comprising said information;

means for receiving, via a subscriber, said information;

means for aggregating, via a subscriber, said information from at least one of said publishers; and

means for selecting based on at least one criterion, a best time to place said group order.

9. A computer system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said criterion comprises at least one of a time criterion, a price criterion, a quantity criterion and an urgency criterion.

10. A computer system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said order is an order for a bulk good.

11. A computer system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said information comprises information about a remaining quantity of a material.

12. A computer system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said group purchase comprises partial satisfaction of said criterion in said information of said at least one publisher.

13. A computer system as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of said publishers comprises an automatic monitoring system.