Method and apparatus for promoting resale of foods

• US 20060136300A1
• Filed: 12/23/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Balijepalli, Srinivas, Kopelman, Joshua M.
• Application Number:
  US11/318,003
• Publication Number:
  US 20060136300A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.110
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0208 Trade or exchange of goods or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A method for promoting resale of goods. The method includes solicitation of agreement to offer a good for resale from a buyer of the good near the time of the sale, near the time of confirmation of a desire to purchase a good and/or subsequent to the time of the sale. The buyer may agree to offer the good for resale at a specified future time or upon occurrence of a trigger event. Alternatively, the buyer may agree to be solicited at a future time. Additionally, a relisting agent may solicit the buyer subsequent to the time of sale upon occurrence of a trigger event. A seller, a marketeer, etc. may act as the relisting agent. In electronic commerce applications, a software-implemented relisting controller is used to solicit agreement from buyers to offer the good for resale. An apparatus for performing a computer-implemented version of the inventive method is provided.

Claims

1-34. -34. (canceled)

35. A computer-implemented method for promoting resale of a seller'"'"'s good, the method comprising a computerized marketeer party communicating via a computerized communications interface to:

confirm a buyer'"'"'s desire to purchase the good;

solicit the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale;

present to the buyer an incentive for agreeing to offer the good for resale;

receive the buyer'"'"'s agreement to offer the good for resale;

facilitate sale of the good from the seller to the buyer to complete a sale transaction; and

present the good for resale, the good being offered for resale by the buyer;

wherein the marketeer party acts as an intermediary between the buyer and a seller.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein confirming the buyer'"'"'s desire to purchase the good is performed responsive to a buyer'"'"'s interaction with a web page displayed on a video monitor.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the buyer'"'"'s interaction to confirm the buyer'"'"'s desire to purchase the good is performed during a computerized communications session, and wherein soliciting the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale is performed during the same communications session.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the buyer'"'"'s interaction to confirm the buyer'"'"'s desire to purchase the good is performed during a computerized communications session, and wherein soliciting the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale is performed after an end of the communications session.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the buyer is solicited subsequent to a trigger event indicating that the buyer may be willing to offer the good for resale.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the trigger event is passage of a fixed period of time.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the fixed period of time is selected by the buyer.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the fixed period of time is selected by a relisting agent.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein the trigger event is release for sale of a good related to the good purchased by the buyer.

44. The method of claim 35, wherein confirming the buyer'"'"'s desire to purchase the good is performed responsive to a buyer'"'"'s selection of a web page button displayed on a video monitor.

45. The method of claim 35, wherein soliciting the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale is performed by a computerized relisting controller.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein soliciting the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale is performed by displaying text on a video monitor of the buyer'"'"'s personal computer.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein soliciting the buyer to agree to offer the good for resale is performed by displaying text via web browser software.

48. The method of claim 35, wherein the incentive is displayed to the buyer via a video monitor of the buyer'"'"'s personal computer.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the incentive comprises an opportunity to purchase the good at a discounted price, and wherein sale of the good is facilitated at the discounted price.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the discounted price reflects a discount that is applied only if the buyer agrees to offer the good for resale.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the incentive for agreeing to offer the good for resale is awarded only if the buyer agrees to offer the good for resale.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein the good may be purchased by the buyer at a price, and wherein the incentive comprises an opportunity to purchase the good at a discounted price only if the buyer agrees to offer the good for sale, and wherein sale of the good is facilitated at the discounted price.

53. The method of claim 35, wherein receiving the buyer'"'"'s agreement to offer the good for resale is performed responsive to a buyer'"'"'s interaction with a web page displayed on a video monitor.

54. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising a UPC code.

55. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising an ISBN code.

56. A controller for processing data for promoting resale of a seller'"'"'s good, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU);

a memory operatively connected to the CPU;

a network interface device operatively connected to the CPU for communicating with a buyer interface via a communications network; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the CPU to carry out the method of claim 35.

57. A method for promoting resale of a seller'"'"'s good, the method comprising a computerized marketeer party:

facilitating sale of the good from the seller to a buyer to cause the buyer to take physical possession of the good;

querying the buyer, at a future time after the buyer has taken physical possession of the good, to solicit the buyer'"'"'s agreement to offer the good for resale;

receiving the buyer'"'"'s agreement to offer the good for resale; and

adding the good to an inventory of goods for sale, the good being offered for resale by the buyer.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising:

presenting the good for sale, the good being offered for sale by the seller.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein adding the good to the inventory of goods for sale comprises storing data indicating that the buyer has agreed to offer the good for resale.

60. The method of claim 59, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising a UPC code.

61. The method of claim 60, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising an ISBN code.

62. A method for promoting resale of a good, the method comprising a computerized marketeer party:

facilitating sale of the good from a seller to a buyer to complete a sale transaction;

at a future time after the buyer has taken physical possession of the good, soliciting agreement from the buyer to offer the good for resale, the future time being a time after elapse of a period of time selected by the buyer;

receiving the buyer'"'"'s agreement to offer the good for resale; and

presenting the good for resale, the good being offered for resale by the buyer.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein soliciting agreement from the buyer to offer the good for resale is performed by a computerized relisting controller.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein soliciting agreement from the buyer to offer the good for resale is performed by displaying text on a video monitor of the buyer'"'"'s personal computer.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein soliciting agreement from the buyer to offer the good for resale is performed by displaying text via web browser software.

66. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

adding the good to an inventory of goods for sale, the good being offered for resale by the buyer; and

modifying the inventory of goods for sale to identify the good as being offered for resale by the buyer.

67. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising a UPC code.

68. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

receiving from the seller a standard identification code identifying the good, said standard identification code comprising an ISBN code.