System and method for providing logistics for a sale of goods

• US 8,032,442 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2001
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: StubHub, Inc.
• Inventors: Kernes, Shawn, Fluhr, Jeff, Lawson, Jeff, Levenson, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi; Hani M
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAHAM, CLEMENT B
• Application Number:
  US09/967,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20030061147A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,659 Days
• Field of Search: 705/31, 705/30, 705/26, 705/80, 705 35- 38
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0615 Anonymizing
• 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

Abstract

A system 10 for providing logistics for a sale of goods. The system 10 may be implemented over a global computer network 20, and is effective to provide financial logistics for a sale of goods between a seller and a remote buyer, in a manner that does not require interaction between the seller and buyer. The system 10 further implements a geography-based and time-based strategy for executing the logistics of shipping time-sensitive goods from the seller to the buyer.

Claims

1. A system for providing logistics for a sale of one or more goods, said system:

receiving information from a remote seller, the information from said remote seller providing a description of said one or more goods, a price of said one or more goods, and a geographic location of said one or more goods;

obtaining from the description of said one or more goods provided by said remote seller an expiration time associated with said one or more goods and a point of last delivery;

receiving information from a remote buyer, the information from said remote buyer providing a purchase request, a method of payment, and a geographic location of the buyer; and

providing financial logistics and shipping logistics for completing said sale of said one or more goods without requiring interaction between said remote buyer and said remote seller;

wherein said shipping logistics include automated variation of shipping options that permit said one or more goods to reach said remote buyer from the geographic location of said one or more goods prior to the expiration time and that are presented by said system to said remote buyer as a function of the expiration time associated with said one or more goods and a geography-based consideration determined by said system from the geographic location of said one or more goods received from said remote seller, the geographic location of said remote buyer received from said remote buyer, and the point of last delivery.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said system receives the information from said remote seller and the information from said remote buyer over a communications network.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said system determines a maximum amount of time required for said one or more goods to reach the point of last delivery by use of at least one geography-based and time-based strategy.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more goods are time-sensitive.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said one or more goods are event tickets.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said shipping logistics include generating a shipping label for shipping said event tickets from said remote seller to said remote buyer.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein said shipping logistics include arranging for a courier to receive said one or more goods from said remote seller and to deliver said one or more goods to said point of last delivery.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein said system utilizes said at least one geography-based and time-based strategy to provide said remote seller with a latest possible time for said sale to end.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein:

said system lists said one or more goods for sale at the price provided by said remote seller, and

said system reduces the price by a predetermined amount upon expiration of a predetermined time period.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said system further utilizes said at least one geography-based and time-based strategy to provide said remote buyer with at least one option for shipping said one or more goods to said remote buyer with at least one courier.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said financial logistics include authorizing an amount of sale on a credit card of said remote buyer, charging said credit card for said amount of sale, receiving said amount of sale, and transferring at least a portion of said amount of sale to said remote seller.

12. A computer system for providing logistics for a sale of one or more goods, said computer system executing a program stored in memory including computer-executable portions comprising:

a first portion that receives information from a seller including a geographic location of said one or more goods, a desired sale price of said one or more goods, and description of said one or more goods and that obtains from said description of said one or more goods provided by said seller an expiration time associated with said one or more goods and a point of last delivery;

a second portion that presents said desired sale price and said description of said one or more goods to a buyer;

a third portion that receives a purchase request, a geographic location of said buyer, and credit card information from said buyer;

a fourth portion that provides financial logistics including authorizing and charging a credit card of said buyer and providing funds to said seller; and

a fifth portion that provides shipping logistics including arranging for shipping said one or more goods from said seller to said buyer;

wherein available shipping options that permit said one or more goods to reach said buyer from the geographic location of said one or more goods prior to the expiration time are automatically provided to said buyer as a function of shipping logistics associated with said one or more goods determined from said expiration time associated with said one or more goods, said geographic location of said one or more goods received from said seller, said geographic location of said buyer received from said buyer, and said point of last delivery.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said first, second and third portions each comprise at least one interactive Web page.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said first portion determines a last sale time for said sale to end based upon said geographic location of said one or more goods received from said seller, said point of last delivery, and said expiration time associated with said one or more goods.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said fourth portion receives confirmation from said seller and charges said credit card of said buyer only after receiving said confirmation.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein said fifth portion determines a maximum amount of time required for said one or more goods to reach said point of last delivery.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said fifth portion presents at least one shipping option for selection by said buyer for delivering said one or more goods to said point of last delivery via a courier.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said fifth portion is integrated with a computer system of said courier.

19. The system of claim 12 wherein said second portion reduces said desired sale price by a predetermined amount upon expiration of a predetermined time period.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein said second portion reduces said desired sale price based upon market conditions.

21. The system of claim 12 wherein said one or more goods are time-sensitive.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein said one or more goods are event tickets for an event.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein said fifth portion generates a shipping label for shipping said event tickets from said seller to said buyer.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein said point of last delivery is a venue location of said event and said expiration time is a time of said event.

25. A computer-implemented method for providing logistics for a sale of goods without requiring interaction between a seller and a buyer, comprising the steps of:

receiving information at a computer system from a computer of a seller regarding certain goods that said seller desires to sell;

providing said information from said computer system to a computer of at least one prospective buyer regarding said certain goods;

receiving a purchase request at said computer system for said certain goods from a buyer;

confirming said buyer'"'"'s ability to pay for said goods;

arranging for said certain goods to be transferred from said seller to said buyer;

receiving payment from said buyer;

confirming that said certain goods have been received by said buyer; and

providing at least a portion of said received payment to said seller;

wherein said logistics are provided to said seller and said buyer via an automated system wherein identities of said seller and said buyer are maintained confidential from one another.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said certain goods are time-sensitive.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein said certain goods are event tickets.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said event tickets are electronically transferred from said buyer to said seller.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said event tickets are physically transferred from said buyer to said seller.

30. The method of claim 25 wherein said step of confirming said buyer'"'"'s ability to pay for said goods includes authorizing a credit card of said buyer.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein said step of receiving payment from said buyer includes charging said credit card.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of:

confirming said seller'"'"'s ability to provide said certain goods prior to charging said credit card.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said step of providing said information to at least one prospective buyer is performed by use of a Web site.

34. The method of claim 25 wherein said step of arranging for said certain goods to be transferred from said seller to said buyer includes determining a plurality of shipping options by use of a geography and time-based strategy, and providing said plurality of shipping options to said buyer.

35. The method of claim 25 wherein each of said steps is performed without disclosing the identities of said buyer and said seller to one another.

36. A computer-implemented method of providing logistics for a sale of one or more event tickets, comprising the steps of:

providing a Web site via a computer system for completing said sale of said one or more event tickets without requiring interaction between a seller of said one or more event tickets and prospective buyers of said one or more event tickets;

receiving information at said computer system from a computer of said seller, the information received from the computer of said seller including attributes of at least one event ticket that said seller desires to sell and a geographic location of said at least one event ticket;

obtaining from said attributes an expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket and a point of last delivery based upon a venue location of an event;

determining a last sale time for said sale to end based upon said geographic location of said at least one event ticket, said point of last delivery, and said expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket;

presenting said at least one event ticket for sale to prospective buyers, by use of said Web site, until said at least one event ticket is sold or said last sale time passes;

receiving information at said computer system from a computer of a buyer, the information received from the computer of said buyer including a purchase request for said at least one event ticket and a geographic location of said buyer;

providing at least one shipping option to the computer of said buyer for selection by said buyer, said at least one shipping option determined by said computer system based on said expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket, said geographic location of said at least one event ticket received from the computer of said seller, said geographic location of said buyer received from the computer of said buyer, and said point of last delivery;

receiving a selected shipping option from said buyer;

querying said buyer for information regarding a credit card to pay for said at least one event ticket;

authorizing the credit card of said buyer for an amount of sale;

arranging for a courier to receive said at least one event ticket from said seller and to deliver said at least one event ticket to said buyer or to said point of last delivery, according to said selected shipping option;

charging said credit card of said buyer for said amount of sale;

receiving said amount of sale; and

providing at least a portion of said amount of sale to said seller upon delivery of said at least one event ticket to said buyer.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising the steps of:

receiving confirmation that said seller can provide said at least one event ticket prior to charging said credit card of said buyer.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein said point of last delivery is determined to be the venue location of said event.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein said geographic location of said at least one event ticket is determined to be the location of said seller.

41. The method of claim 36 further comprising the steps of:

receiving a desired sale price for said at least one event ticket from said seller;

receiving a minimum sale price for said at least one event ticket from said seller; and

displaying a purchase price for said at least one event ticket to prospective buyers, said purchase price being initially equal to said desired sales sale price; and

selectively reducing said displayed purchase price by a predetermined amount each time a predetermined time period expires until said at least one event ticket is sold or until said purchase price equals said minimum sale price.

42. The method of claim 36 further comprising the steps of:

receiving a desired sale price for said at least one event ticket from said seller; and

displaying a purchase price for said at least one event ticket to prospective buyers, said purchase price being initially equal to said desired sale price; and

selectively varying said displayed purchase price based upon market conditions.

43. The method of claim 36 further comprising the steps of:

determining a time remaining before said event tickets expire upon receiving said purchase request from said buyer; and

determining said at least one shipping option based upon said time remaining before said event, and said location of said at least one event ticket.

40. A computer-implemented method of providing logistics for a sale of event tickets, comprising the steps of:

providing a Web site via a computer system for receiving information from and presenting information to prospective sellers and buyers of event tickets;

providing a seller an option for selling event tickets within a season ticket package;

providing an interactive page on said Web site which automatically displays all events remaining in said season ticket package to said seller;

allowing said seller to select any of said displayed events to place for sale, to enter sales information including a number of tickets for sale for each event, and a price per ticket for each event; and

presenting said sales information to prospective buyers by use of said Web site;

receiving information at said computer system from a computer of a seller, the information received from the computer of said seller including attributes of at least one event ticket that said seller desires to sell and a geographic location of said at least one event ticket;

obtaining from said attributes an expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket and a point of last delivery based upon a venue location of an event;

determining a last sale time for said sale to end based upon said geographic location of said at least one event ticket, said point of last delivery, and said expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket;

presenting said at least one event for sale to prospective buyers, by use of said Web site, until said at least one event ticket is sold or said last sale time passes;

receiving information at said computer system from a computer of a buyer, the information received from the computer of said buyer including a purchase request for said at least one event ticket and a geographic location of said buyer;

providing at least one shipping option to the computer of said buyer for selection by said buyer, said at least one shipping option determined by said computer system based on said expiration time associated with said at least one event ticket, said geographic location of said at least one event ticket received from the computer of said seller, said geographic location of said buyer received from the computer of said buyer, and said point of last delivery;

receiving a selected shipping option from said buyer; and

providing one or both of financial logistics and/or shipping logistics to a prospective buyer.