Method and system to enable a fixed price purchase within a online auction environment

• US 7,340,429 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2001
• Issued: 03/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Maltzman, Reed
• Primary Examiner(s): Subramanian; Narayanswamy
• Application Number:
  US09/820,574
• Publication Number:
  US 20020107779A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,533 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 705/26, 705/28
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• 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 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A method of allowing a seller in an auction facility to offer buyers the option of buying an offering at a pre-auction seller determined price or using a regular auction process. If a buyer is given the option to purchase at the seller determined price and decides to use the regular auction process by submitting a bid, the option to buy the offering at a pre-auction seller determined price is discontinued.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of facilitating an electronic transaction, the computer implemented method comprising:

presenting, via a first computer system, both an auction purchase process and a fixed price purchase process for purchase of an offering to a buyer; and

responsive to receipt of a bid from the buyer as part of the auction purchase process, removing the presentation of the fixed price purchase process.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the presenting includes generating a first user interface identifying both the auction purchase process and the fixed price purchase process to the buyer.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 wherein the first user interface is a markup language document generated at the first computer system, and wherein the presenting includes communicating the markup language document from the first computer system to a second computer system via a network.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein removing the presentation includes generating a second user interface tat identifies only the auction purchase process to the buyer.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the auction purchase process is presented with an initial bid value and wherein the fixed price purchase option is presented with a seller determined price.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 including, responsive to the receipt of the bid from the buyer, as part of the auction process, maintaining only the auction purchase process for a predetermined period of time to receive further bids from further buyers.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 including, at the conclusion of the predetermined time period, establishing the electronic transaction between a winning buyer, who submitted a highest valid bid, and a seller.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 including presenting to a seller a purchase process option to sell the offering by both the auction and the fixed price purchase processes, and receiving a purchase process indication from the seller responsive to the presentation of the purchase process option.

9. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a computer system, selling information for an offering from a seller including an offering description, an indication whether to allow a buyer a chance to buy the offering at a seller determined price, and if the indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price is affirmative, the seller determined price;

receiving purchase information from the buyer including at least one of an affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price if a seller has given affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price and a bid the buyer will buy the offering at; and

determining a successful buyer comprising;

if an affinnative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price is received from the buyer and no bids have been received for the offering, the buyer, having given affirmative indication, is the successful buyer;

if a first bid is received from the buyer then a buyer from which the highest bid is received is the successful buyer. if the seller gives the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price, the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price terminates upon receipt of the first bid from the first buyer.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9 further comprising requesting additional bidding information from the buyer giving the affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price if the additional bidding information has not been received before;

the additional bidding information used to determine whether to accept the affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein if the selling information received from the seller includes a reserve price, generating a notification for the seller to communicate an error indication if the reserve price is not equal to or less than the seller determined price if the seller gives the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein if the seller gives the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price, a desired bid of the first buyer is compared to the seller determined price and if the desired bid is greater than the seller determined price, a message is sent to the first buyer inviting the first buyer to give the affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price before the first buyer'"'"'s desired bid is received.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein if the seller gives the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price, a desired bid of the first buyer is compared to the seller determined price and if the desired bid is less than the seller determined price, a message is sent to the first buyer inviting the first buyer to give affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price before the desired bid is received.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 9 further comprising presenting a part of the selling information to a buyer on a computer screen.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14 further comprising displaying a visual indicator in association with the selling information if the seller of the offering has given the affirmative indication to allow the buyer the chance to buy the offering at the seller determined price.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15 further comprising removing the visual indicator after the first bid is received on that offering from a first buyer.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 15 further comprising generating a user interface to receive the affirmative indication to purchase the offering which the seller has given the affirmative indication to allow the buyer to purchase at the seller determined price.

18. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a computer system, offering information from a plurality of sellers at a computer-based transaction facility;

organizing the offering information into predetermined categories;

receiving a category selection from a buyer at the computer-based transaction facility;

automatically displaying a list of offering information in the selected category, the offering information including a plurality offerings including a first offering that is associated with a visual indicator if a seller of the first offering has given affirmative indication to allow a buyer a chance to buy the first offering at a seller determined price; and

removing the visual indicator after a first bid is received on the first offering from a first buyer.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 18 further comprising removing the offering information for the offering if a seller has given an affirmative indication to allow the first buyer a chance to purchase the first offering at a seller determined price and an affirmative indication to purchase the offering at the seller determined price has been received.

20. A tangible machine readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

present, via a first computer system, both an auction purchase process and a fixed price purchase process for purchase of an offering to a buyer; and

responsive to receipt of a bid from the buyer as part of the auction purchase process, remove the presentation of the fixed price purchase process.