Method and apparatus for generating a sale offer over an electronic network system

• US 8,005,747 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2007
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Triumvirate Systems LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: Kyklos Entertainment Srl
• Inventors: Forlai, Luigi
• Primary Examiner(s): Subramanian, Narayanswamy
• Application Number:
  US11/806,802
• Publication Number:
  US 20100262474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/37, 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0211 Determining the effectiveness of discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• 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

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for communicating sale offers through an electronic network system. The method includes inputting a sale offer parameter for randomly generating at least one sale offer to purchase a product or service on the electronic network system at an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace. The method further includes randomly displaying, through the electronic network system, the at least one sale offer at the offer price to a buyer in communication with the electronic network system at an unexpected period of time; and withdrawing the display of the randomly generated sale offer in response to an absence of an indication of acceptance of the randomly generated sale offer by the buyer within a predetermined period of time after displaying the randomly generated sale offer.

Claims

1. A method for communicating sale offers through an electronic network system, the method comprising:

inputting a sale offer parameter for randomly generating at least one sale offer to purchase a product or service on the electronic network system at an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace;

randomly displaying, through the electronic network system, the at least one sale offer at the offer price to a buyer in communication with the electronic network system at an unexpected period of time; and

withdrawing the display of the randomly generated sale offer in response to an absence of an indication of acceptance of the randomly generated sale offer by the buyer within a predetermined period of time after displaying the randomly generated sale offer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein randomly displaying the at least one sale offer includes displaying the at least one sale offer to a buyer at a plurality of alternative time periods selected by the seller and unknown to the buyer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein randomly generating the at least one sale offer includes providing a random frequency device for displaying the at least one sale offer in an unpredictable manner.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of randomly generating the at least one sale offer includes displaying the at least one sale offer to a buyer over a predetermined period of time determined by the seller and unknown to the buyer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein randomly generating the at least one sale offer includes displaying the at least one sale offer to a buyer selected by the seller.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, through the electronic network system, a first indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one randomly generated sale offer;

displaying at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer in response to the first indication of acceptance;

receiving a second indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer;

displaying an acceptance form to the buyer in response to the second indication of acceptance from the buyer;

receiving a third indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the acceptance form for forming a purchase agreement concerning the offered product or service;

displaying at least one payment method option in response to the third indication of acceptance;

receiving at least one payment method selection from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one payment method option;

transferring a sum corresponding to the selected payment method from the buyer to the seller; and

requesting delivery of the offered product or service to the buyer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one term associated with the randomly generated sale offer comprises an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price associated with the sale offer transaction.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one payment method option comprises a credit card payment option or a cash-upon-delivery payment option.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the acceptance form.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the at least one payment method option.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining if a predetermined monetary amount is available to transfer from the buyer to the seller.

13. An apparatus for facilitating a sale offer transaction between a seller and a buyer, the apparatus comprising:

a random sale offer generating device configured for randomly generating an offer to purchase a product or service on an electronic network system at an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace;

a communication device configured for communicating the randomly generated offer through the electronic network system for a predetermined period of time to at least one buyer; and

a processing system configured for completing the sale of the product or service through the electronic network system in response to an acceptance of the offer by the buyer within the predetermined period of time,

wherein the processing system is configured for removing the offer from the electronic network system when the at least one buyer does not indicate acceptance of the offer within the predetermined period of time.

14. An apparatus for facilitating a sale offer transaction between a seller and a buyer, the apparatus comprising:

a processing system for receiving a sale offer parameter from the seller and randomly generating at least one sale offer to purchase a product or service based on the sale offer parameter inputted from the seller at an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace; and

a random generation device configured for randomly displaying the at least one sale offer to a buyer at an unexpected period of time,

wherein the processing system is configured for withdrawing the randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance of the randomly generated sale offer within a predetermined period of time after the random generation device has displayed the randomly generated sale offer.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the random generation device is configured for displaying the at least one sale offer to the buyer at a plurality of alternative time periods selected by the seller and unknown to the buyer.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the random generation device is configured for displaying the at least one sale offer in a manner that is unpredictable to the buyer visiting the electronic network.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the random generation device is configured for displaying the at least one sale offer to a buyer over a predetermined period of time determined by the seller and unknown to the buyer.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the random generation device is configured for displaying the at least one sale offer to a particular buyer visiting the electronic network system in a manner selected by the seller.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processing system is configured for:

receiving a first indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one randomly generated sale offer;

displaying at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer in response to the first indication of acceptance;

receiving a second indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer;

displaying an acceptance form in response to the second indication of acceptance from the buyer;

receiving a third indication of acceptance from the buyer in response to the display of the acceptance form for forming a purchase agreement concerning the offered product or service;

displaying at least one payment method option in response to the third indication of acceptance;

receiving at least one payment method selection from the buyer in response to the display of the at least one payment method option;

transferring a sum corresponding to the selected payment method from the buyer to the seller; and

requesting delivery of the offered product or service to the buyer.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one term associated with the randomly generated sale offer comprises an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price associated with the sale offer transaction.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one term associated with the randomly generated sale offer comprises an offer price substantially equal to a discounted value less than a market value of the offered product or service plus a delivery price associated with the sale offer transaction.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one payment method option comprises a credit card payment option or a cash-upon-delivery payment option.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the at least one term associated with the at least one randomly generated sale offer.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the acceptance form.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for withdrawing the at least one randomly generated sale offer in the event the buyer does not indicate acceptance within a predetermined period of time after displaying the at least one payment method option.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for determining if a predetermined monetary amount is available to transfer from the buyer to the seller.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for allowing the seller to select one of a plurality of different frequencies for displaying sale offers over a predetermined period of time.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing system is configured for allowing the seller to select the number of sale offers to be displayed to a selected number of buyers during a predetermined period of time.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the predetermined period of time is one hour.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the predetermined period of time is one minute.

31. A method of making a sale offer from a seller to at least one buyer visiting an Internet website, comprising the steps of:

displaying, on the web site, a sale offer of a product or service to the at least one buyer at a random point in time unknown to the buyer, the sale offer having an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace;

displaying on the website, based on a predetermined period of time, an amount of time remaining for the buyer to indicate acceptance of the sale offer; and

withdrawing the displayed sale offer from the Internet web site when the at least one buyer does not indicate acceptance of the sale offer within the predetermined period of time.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein displaying the sale offer includes generating a sale offer based on at least one parameter defined by the seller.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a period of time for displaying the sale offer to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a number of sale offers to be made to the at least one consumer visiting the electronic network during a selected period of time.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one location on the Internet web site for displaying the sale offer to the at least one consumer visiting the electronic network.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one type of good or service associated with the sale offer to be displayed to the at least one buyer visiting the web site.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a number of sale offers to be displayed during a predetermined period of time based on a number of buyers visiting the Internet web site.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the predetermined period of time is one hour.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one term associated with the sale offer to be displayed to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the at least one term comprises an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price associated with delivery of the product or service.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the at least one term comprises an offer price equal to a discounted value less than a market value of the product or service plus a delivery price associated with delivery of the product or service.

42. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of displaying includes displaying a sale offer for a type of product or service that is related to the Internet web site being visited by the at least one buyer.

43. A system for making a sale offer from a seller to at least one buyer visiting an Internet website, the system comprising:

a generating device for generating an electronic sale offer of a product or service based on at least one parameter defined by the seller, the at least one parameter including an offer price substantially less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace;

a display device for displaying the electronic sale offer of the product or service to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site at a point in time unknown to the buyer, the electronic sale offer including an indication of, based on a predetermined period of time, an amount of time remaining for the buyer to indicate acceptance of the offer; and

a timing device in communication with the generating device and the display device for withdrawing the displayed sale offer from the Internet web site if the at least one buyer does not indicate acceptance of the offer within the predetermined period of time.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a number of sale offers to be made during a selected period of time.

46. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a type of sale offer to be made during a selected period of time.

47. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one location on the Internet web site for displaying the sale offer to the at least one buyer.

48. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one type of good or service associated with the sale offer to be displayed to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site.

49. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a number of sale offers to be displayed during a predetermined period of time based on a number of buyers visiting the web site.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the predetermined period of time is one hour.

51. The system of claim 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one term associated with the sale offer to be displayed to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the at least one term comprises an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price associated with delivery of the product or service.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the at least one term comprises an offer price equal to a discounted value less than a market value of the product or service plus a delivery price associated with delivery of the product or service.

54. The system of claim 43, wherein the generating device is configured for displaying a sale offer of a type of product or service that is related to the Internet web site being visited by the consumer.

55. The method of claim 43, wherein the offer to accept a product or service includes an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price of the offered product or service.

56. The method of claim 43, wherein traffic comprises a number of users visiting an Internet site during a predetermined period of time, and the generating device is configured to increase a frequency of generating sale offers when traffic to the Internet site increases.

44. The system of 43, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a period of time for displaying the sale offer to the at least one buyer visiting the Internet web site.