Simplified seller listing service

• US 9,141,985 B1
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wiebe, Joanna K., Miles, Steven A., Rothmayer, Evan N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen, Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US13/409,314
• Time in Patent Office: 1,300 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.41, 705/26.44, 705/27.1, 705/27.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments of a method and system for providing a simplified listing process for sellers. A computing device obtains contact information for a seller and a representation of an item that may be purchased through an electronic marketplace. This information is obtained without requiring the seller to register with the electronic marketplace. Using the representation of the item, a seller listing for the item in the electronic marketplace is generated. The seller is notified through the contact information when a buyer purchases the item from the seller through the generated seller listing.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a computing device, the program comprising:

code that obtains, from a seller operating from a guest account in an electronic marketplace, an image representing a product, attributes of an offer for sale of the product in the electronic marketplace, and contact information for the seller, wherein operating from the guest account does not require the seller to provide disbursement information until the seller is notified of a purchase;

code that determines an identifier of the product based at least in part on the image using computerized image recognition;

code that searches an electronic catalog for at least one matching product that at least partially matches the identifier;

code that presents, to the seller, information about the at least one matching product;

code that receives an indication from the seller to proceed with the offer for the at least one matching product;

code that generates, upon receiving the indication and based at least in part on the attributes and the identifier, the offer by the seller to sell the product in the electronic marketplace; and

code that obtains the disbursement information from the seller and notifies the seller through the contact information when a buyer purchases the offer to complete a sale of the product.

2. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:

obtaining from a seller, by at least one computing device, a representation of an item to be offered for sale in an electronic marketplace and contact information for the seller, wherein the representation of the item is obtained without requiring the seller to provide disbursement information until the seller is notified of a purchase;

matching, by the at least one computing device, the representation of the item to be offered for sale with an item in an electronic catalog using computerized image recognition;

generating, by the at least one computing device and based at least in part on the matched item, a seller listing for the item to be offered for sale in the electronic marketplace; and

notifying, by the at least one computing device, the seller through the contact information when a buyer purchases the matched item from the seller through the seller listing.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising identifying the item to be offered for sale from the representation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the representation corresponds to at least one of a bar code associated with the item to be offered for sale, an image of the bar code associated with the item to be offered for sale, and a photographic image of the item to be offered for sale.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the representation corresponds to a unique identifier of the item to be offered for sale.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

subsequent to the buyer purchasing the matched item through the generated seller listing, obtaining the disbursement information from the seller; and

using the disbursement information to pay the seller for the purchase.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising registering the seller with the electronic marketplace subsequent to the buyer purchasing the item.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein registering the seller further comprises obtaining the disbursement information from the seller, and the method further comprises using the disbursement information to disburse funds to the seller for the purchase.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein matching further comprises searching the electronic catalog for at least one item that matches the representation, and wherein generating the seller listing is conditional upon the search successfully finding the at least one item that matches.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

matching the representation of the item with a plurality of items in the electronic catalog;

presenting, to the seller, information about the plurality of items; and

obtaining from the seller a designation of one of the plurality of items as the item in the electronic catalog.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the seller listing is further conditional upon receiving the designation from the seller and generating is further based at least in part on a designated one of the plurality of items that matches the representation.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising obtaining from the seller a price of the item and a quantity of the item, wherein the seller listing includes the price and the quantity.

13. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

an application in the at least one computing device, the application comprising;

logic that obtains, from a seller operating from a guest account in an electronic marketplace, an image representing an item and contact information for the seller;

logic that maps the image representing the item to an identifier of the item using computerized image recognition;

logic that generates, based at least in part on the identifier of the item, a seller listing for the item in the electronic marketplace;

logic that notifies the seller through the contact information when a buyer purchases the item through the seller listing; and

logic that defers obtaining disbursement information from the seller until after the seller is notified of a purchase by the buyer.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the image representing the item comprises at least one of a bar code associated with the item, an image of the bar code associated with the item, or a photographic image of the item.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the application further comprises logic that presents, to the seller, information describing a sales performance of the item.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the information relates to the sales performance of the item at a retailer other than the electronic marketplace.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the application further comprises logic that presents, to the seller, a price for the item as listed by at least one other seller in the electronic marketplace.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the application further comprises logic that presents, to the seller, information describing at least one source through which the seller can purchase the item.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the application further comprises logic that obtains, from the seller, an instruction to obtain the item from the at least one source.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the application further comprises logic that obtains, from the seller, an indication of a fulfillment method used to fulfill the purchase of the item.