Distributed electronic commerce system with merchant bidding for sales of items
First Claim
1. A method of conducting electronic commerce, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a broker computer system, a request from a customer to purchase an item;
determining, by the broker computer system, a defined price at which to offer the item to the customer based on one or more pricing criteria;
completing, by the broker computer system, a sale of the item to the customer for the defined price;
responsive to completing the sale of the item to the customer, accepting, by the broker computer system, bids from a plurality of merchants selling the item, each bid indicating a price at which one of the plurality of merchants is willing to provide the item to the customer; and
selecting, by the broker computer system from the plurality of merchants, a chosen merchant to provide the item to the customer, the chosen merchant selected based on one or more selection criteria.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic commerce system includes a broker that enables customers to purchase an item from a merchant, where one or more merchants provide bids to sell the item to the customer. In one embodiment, the broker can sell the item to the customer for a defined price determined based on pricing criteria, and then accept bids from merchants offering the item for sale to select a merchant to provide the item based on selection criteria. In another embodiment, the bidding is done in real time before the item is sold to the customer. The broker selects a merchant out of the merchants providing bids, and the broker quotes a price to the customer. Once the customer has agreed to pay the price, the broker can sell the item to the customer. The broker manages the completion of the transaction and payment of the merchant.
28 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of conducting electronic commerce, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a broker computer system, a request from a customer to purchase an item; determining, by the broker computer system, a defined price at which to offer the item to the customer based on one or more pricing criteria; completing, by the broker computer system, a sale of the item to the customer for the defined price; responsive to completing the sale of the item to the customer, accepting, by the broker computer system, bids from a plurality of merchants selling the item, each bid indicating a price at which one of the plurality of merchants is willing to provide the item to the customer; and selecting, by the broker computer system from the plurality of merchants, a chosen merchant to provide the item to the customer, the chosen merchant selected based on one or more selection criteria. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer system comprising:
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a computer processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program modules configured to execute on the computer processor, the computer program modules comprising; a purchase request module for receiving a request from a customer to purchase an item; a pricing module for determining the defined price at which to offer the item to the customer based on one or more pricing criteria; a transaction module for completing a sale of the item to the customer for a defined price; a bid management module for, responsive to completing the sale of the item to the customer, accepting bids from a plurality of merchants selling the item, each bid indicating a price at which one of the plurality of merchants is willing to provide the item to the customer; and a merchant selection module for selecting, from the plurality of merchants, a chosen merchant to provide the item to the customer, the chosen merchant selected based on one or more selection criteria. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification