Automated item pricing

• US 8,676,631 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2009
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Basak, Jayanta, Jain, Prashant, Parija, Gyana R., Saronwala, Anupam
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): NELSON, FREDA ANN
• Application Number:
  US12/364,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,869 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/26.41, 705/400, 705/7.35, 705/7.33, 705/306
• US Class Current: 705/7.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0278 Product appraisal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Techniques for automated pricing of an item are provided. The techniques include obtaining historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item, performing a regression on the historical data, and using the regression to obtain a buying price and a selling price for the item.

Claims

1. A method for automated pricing of an item, comprising the steps of:

obtaining historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item, wherein obtaining historical data is carried out by a module executing on a hardware processor;

performing a regression with non-zero utilities on the historical data to obtain a buying probability curve for a third party that shows the probability of successfully purchasing the item as a function of value of the item and to obtain a selling probability curve for the third party that shows the probability (P) of the item being sold as a function of price of the item, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account refurbishment costs of the third party via

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the item comprises a vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the regression to perform vehicle bidding.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item comprises obtaining historical data of one or more purchases of at least one of a used version of the item and a new version of the item.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising making an optimal point determination.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating one or more models for one or more regions with one or more third party outlets.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising quantifying a similarity between the one or more models to obtain segregation in a customer base.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item comprises a price of the item over a selected time period, and wherein obtaining the historical data further comprises performing price normalization over the selected time period by analyzing a past pricing trend.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item comprise historical data indicating success and failure in purchasing a used version of the item.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account parameters of the item including age of the item, location of the item, and waiting time in an inventory of the item against its price.

11. A non-transitory computer program product comprising a tangible computer readable recordable storage medium having computer readable program code for automated pricing of an item, said computer program product including:

computer readable program code for obtaining historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item;

computer readable program code for performing a regression with non-zero utilities on the historical data to obtain a buying probability curve for a third party that shows the probability of successfully purchasing the item as a function of value of the item and to obtain a selling probability curve for the third party that shows the probability (P) of the item being sold as a function of price of the item, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account refurbishment costs of the third party via

12. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code for making an optimal point determination.

13. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 11, wherein the item comprises a vehicle, and further comprising computer readable program code for using the regression to perform vehicle bidding.

14. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 11, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account parameters of the item including age of the item, location of the item, and waiting time in an inventory of the item against its price.

15. A system for automated pricing of an item, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to said memory and operative to;

obtain historical data of one or more previous purchases for the item;

perform a regression with non-zero utilities on the historical data to obtain a buying probability curve for a third party that shows the probability of successfully purchasing the item as a function of value of the item and to obtain a selling probability curve for the third party that shows the probability (P) of the item being sold as a function of price of the item, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account refurbishment costs of the third party via

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor coupled to said memory is further operative to make an optimal point determination.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein performing the regression comprises taking into account parameters of the item including age of the item, location of the item, and waiting time in an inventory of the item against its price.