Method and apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one seller

• US 8,732,066 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2011
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Priceline.com LLC (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Priceline Com Incorporated (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Inventors: Walker, Jay S., Tedesco, Daniel E., Mik, Magdalena
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Nga B.
• Application Number:
  US13/298,561
• Publication Number:
  US 20120066014A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 705/38, 705/39, 705/40, 705/26, 705/27, 705/80
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• 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 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A seller server receives an offer which specifies a type of product (e.g. a seat on a flight), at least one condition (e.g. destination and date of departure), and an offer price specified by a buyer. The seller server also receives an associated payment identifier that specifies a financial account, such as a credit card account. The payment identifier essentially “guarantees” the offer in that the seller may receive payment from the financial account even if the buyer attempts to renege. The seller determines whether to accept the offer, based on various factors such as the offer price and the availability of appropriate products to satisfy the conditions of the offer. If the offer is accepted, payment is provided to the seller using the payment identifier.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method for assessing demand for a product, comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a plurality of offers, each offer specifying

a type of product,

at least one condition, and

an offer price specified by a buyer;

each offer further being associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account for rendering payment upon acceptance of the offer; and

storing data from the plurality of offers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a price of a product based on the offer price of at least one offer.

3. The method of claim 2, in which adjusting comprises:

selecting a subset of offers, the product satisfying each condition of each offer of the subset of offers; and

adjusting a price of the product based on the offer price of each offer of the subset of offers.

4. The method of claim 3, in which selecting a subset of offers further comprises:

selecting a subset of offers that were accepted.

5. The method of claim 2, in which the price is a retail price of the product.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a future supply of a product based on the offer price of at least one offer.

7. The method of claim 6, in which adjusting comprises:

selecting a subset of offers, the product satisfying each condition of each offer of the subset of offers; and

adjusting a future supply of the product based on the offer price of each offer of the subset of offers.

8. The method of claim 7, in which selecting a subset of offers further comprises:

selecting a subset of offers that were accepted.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of product is an airline ticket.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial account associated with each offer renders guaranteed payment upon acceptance of the offer.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least one product corresponding to the type of product for which the at least one condition is satisfied for each offer of the plurality of offers.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

adjusting a price of the at least one product based on the offer price specified by the buyer for each offer of the plurality of offers.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein adjusting further comprises:

increasing the price of the at least one product, from a first price to a second price, when a representative price, determined from the offer price of each offer of the plurality of offers, exceeds the first price.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

adjusting a supply of the at least one product based on the offer price specified by the buyer for each offer of the plurality of offers.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein adjusting further comprises:

increasing the supply of the at least one product when a representative price, determined from the offer price of each offer of the plurality offers, exceeds a seller-defined price.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

adjusting a price of the at least one product based on a count of the plurality of offers.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

adjusting a supply of the at least one product based on a count of the plurality of offers.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

adjusting either a supply or a price of the at least one product based on a time when each offer of the plurality of offers was submitted.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment identifier is received after the buyer has submitted the offer.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment identifier is received before the buyer has submitted the offer.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the payment identifier is a stored payment identifier received in connection with a previous offer.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the payment identifier is received during a buyer registration.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer price specified by the buyer is comprised of a first amount specified in a first form of currency and a second amount specified in a second form of currency.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second form of currency is a currency offered by a seller of the type of product specified in the offer.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the currency offered by a seller of the type of product specified in the offer is in the form of miles or points.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of product is specified by the buyer clicking on a button or hyperlink that specifies the type of product.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of product is specified by the buyer selecting a seller to submit the offer to.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the condition is any of:

a destination, an origination, or a date or time of departure.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the date or time of departure is specified as a range of values.

19. An apparatus for assessing demand for a product, comprising:

a memory;

a processor disposed in communication with the memory and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to;

receive, by the processor, a plurality of offers, each offer specifying

a type of product,

at least one condition, and

an offer price specified by a buyer;

each offer further being associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account for rendering payment upon acceptance of the offer; and

storing data from the plurality of offers.

20. A processor-accessible medium for assessing demand for a product, comprising:

a plurality of processing instructions stored in the medium and issuable by a processor to;

receive, by the processor, a plurality of offers, each offer specifying

a type of product,

at least one condition, and

an offer price specified by a buyer;

each offer further being associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account for rendering payment upon acceptance of the offer; and

storing data from the plurality of offers.

32. An apparatus for assessing demand for a product, comprising:

a memory;

a processor disposed in communication with the memory and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to;

receive, by the processor, a plurality of offers, each offer specifying

a type of product,

at least one condition, and

an offer price specified by a buyer;

each offer further being associated with a payment identifier that specifies a financial account for rendering payment upon acceptance of the offer by a seller, wherein the payment identifier guarantees payment to the seller upon acceptance of the offer;

select a subset of offers that were accepted;

adjust the price of at least one product, from a first price to a second price, when a representative price, determined from the offer price of each offer of the plurality of offers, exceeds the first price;

adjust a future supply of a product based on the offer price of at least one offer; and

store demand data from the plurality of offers.