Secure sales method and system in an online auction
First Claim
1. A method for securely selling an item on an online auction computer system, comprising the steps of:
- offering an item for sale on the online auction website supported by the online auction computer system;
receiving at the online auction computer system messages from potential buyers that are considered bids on the item offered for sale on the online auction website;
accepting at the online auction computer system at least one of said bids to be the purchasing bid for the sale of the offered item;
receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the payment corresponding to the bid amount for the item was received by an entity associated with a payment and inspection service;
receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the purchased item was received by an inspection service site;
after providing the purchased item to the buyer for a monitored inspection at the inspection service site in such a manner as to allow the buyer to inspect the item but not alter or swap the item during an inspection period, receiving a notification message that the buyer'"'"'s payment is being transferred to the seller upon acceptance of the item by the buyer during the monitored inspection or the buyer'"'"'s payment is being returned back to the seller upon rejection of the item by the buyer after the monitored inspection.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is a method for using a payment and inspection service to purchase merchandise on an online sale website. A buyer or seller can select using a payment and inspection service. The buyer pays the payment and inspection service, which holds the payment. The seller ships the item to a store where the payment and inspection service is located. The buyer goes to the store and while being monitored by an agent or employee of the service, the buyer inspects the merchandise. If the buyer accepts the item, he leaves the store with the item and the service releases the payment to the seller. If the buyer does not want to accept the item, he rejects the item, which is then repacked and returned to the seller, and the service returns the payment, less cost of shipping the item back to the seller, to the buyer.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for securely selling an item on an online auction computer system, comprising the steps of:
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offering an item for sale on the online auction website supported by the online auction computer system; receiving at the online auction computer system messages from potential buyers that are considered bids on the item offered for sale on the online auction website; accepting at the online auction computer system at least one of said bids to be the purchasing bid for the sale of the offered item; receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the payment corresponding to the bid amount for the item was received by an entity associated with a payment and inspection service; receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the purchased item was received by an inspection service site; after providing the purchased item to the buyer for a monitored inspection at the inspection service site in such a manner as to allow the buyer to inspect the item but not alter or swap the item during an inspection period, receiving a notification message that the buyer'"'"'s payment is being transferred to the seller upon acceptance of the item by the buyer during the monitored inspection or the buyer'"'"'s payment is being returned back to the seller upon rejection of the item by the buyer after the monitored inspection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for securely selling an item on an online auction computer system, comprising the steps of:
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providing an online auction website operated by the online auction computer system to display offered items put up for an auctioned sale, said online auction computer system receiving bids from potential buyers of the offered item and accepting at least one of said bids as the accepted bid to purchase said item; receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the purchased item was received from the seller at an inspection location site operated on behalf of a payment and inspection service; receiving a notification message at the online auction computer system that the payment finds corresponding to the accepted bid from the buyer were received by an entity associated with the payment and inspection service; after allowing the buyer to inspect the purchased item at the inspection location during a monitored inspection at the inspection location where the buyer can inspect the purchased item without altering or swaping the item, receiving a notification at the online auction computer system that the payment finds were released by the payment and inspection service to the seller if the item is accepted by buyer or were refunded to the buyer upon rejection of the purchased item by the buyer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification