Systems and methods using a representation of a stored benefit to facilitate a transaction

• US 6,839,683 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2000
• Issued: 01/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Dore, Marisa S., Rutledge, Joseph R., Palmer, Timothy A., Bemer, Keith, Mik, Magdalena, Jorasch, James A., Lin, Wen Yan, Walker, Jay S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Myhre, James W.
• Application Number:
  US09/504,180
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0237 at kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided using a stored benefit to facilitate a transaction in which a buyer offers to purchase a product. According to one embodiment, offer information, including an offer amount, is received from a buyer. The offer information may be received, for example, via a Web page. An indication that the buyer is willing to redeem one or more stored benefits is also received. A stored benefit may be, for example, a token associated with the buyer when he or she applies for a service. A value associated with the stored benefit is determined, and the offer information is evaluated based on the offer amount, the value associated with the stored benefit, and an amount associated with a product. According to one embodiment, the offer information includes a product category, and the product provided to the buyer is determined based on the product category.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating a transaction, comprising:

determining, on a processing device, a plurality of suggested offer amounts based on a product category;

transmitting an indication of the plurality of suggested offer amounts to a buyer;

receiving offer information from the buyer,

the offer information including an indication of an offer amount selected by the buyer from the plurality of suggested offer amounts;

receiving an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem a stored benefit associated with the buyer;

determining a value associated with the stored benefit;

selecting a product based on the product category; and

evaluating the offer information based on;

(i) the offer amount, (ii) the value associated with the stored benefit, and (iii) an amount associated with the product.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the offer information comprises receiving the offer information via at least one of:

(i) a Web site, (ii) the Internet, (iii) a buyer computer, (iv) a personal digital assistant, (v) a kiosk, (vi) an electronic mail message, (vii) a telephone, (viii) an interactive voice response unit, (ix) an operator, and (x) a point of sale terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer information further includes at least one of:

a product identifier, a product manufacturer, a product brand, a product description, a product quantity, a product class, at least one product feature, an accessory associated with the product, an age associated with the product, a product condition, a product preference, an offer period, delivery information, and payment information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit is included in the offer information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit comprises receiving a predetermined type of offer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit comprises a verifiable token code received from a buyer device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying that the stored benefit is associated with the buyer.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying that the stored benefit may be associated with at least one of;

(i) the product, and (ii) the offer information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored benefit is associated with a plurality of buyers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit comprises receiving an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem a number of stored benefits and said evaluating is further based on the number.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit is performed without revealing the value to the buyer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit is performed in response to the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit is performed prior to receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit comprises retrieving a stored value.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the stored value is calculated based on at least one of:

(i) an amount of profit associated with a controller, and (ii) a number of transactions associated with the controller.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the stored value is manually determined by an operator associated with a controller.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the stored value is determined by at least one of:

(i) a merchant, and (ii) a subsidy provider.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit is based on information associated with the buyer.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the information associated with the buyer comprises at least one of:

(i) a transaction history associated with the buyer, (ii) an address associated with the buyer, (iii) demographic information associated with the buyer, (iv) psychographic information associated with the buyer, (v) a credit rating associated with the buyer, and (vi) another offer associated with the buyer.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the value associated with the stored benefit is based on at least one of:

(i) the product and (ii) the product category.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises:

adding the value associated with the stored benefit to the offer amount to determine an adjusted offer amount; and

comparing the adjusted offer amount to the amount associated with the product.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the amount associated with the product is based on an amount a merchant will accept in exchange for providing the product to the buyer.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

subtracting the amount associated with the product from the adjusted offer amount to determine an excess offer amount;

storing an indication of the excess offer amount for use with respect to another transaction.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the other transaction is associated with the buyer.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating comprises:

determining a probability that an offer will be accepted based on;

(i) the offer amount, (ii) the value associated with the stored benefit, and (iii) the amount associated with the product.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein said evaluating is further based on at least one of:

(i) another pending offer associated with the buyer; and

(ii) a number of stored benefits associated with the buyer.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a suggested number of stored benefits; and

providing an indication of the suggested number of stored benefits to the buyer.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said calculating comprises:

subtracting the amount associated with the product from the offer amount to determine a difference; and

dividing the difference by the value associated with the stored benefit.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that an initial offer from the buyer will not be accepted prior to receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

providing an indication of a suggested number of stored benefits to the buyer after said determination that the initial offer will not be accepted.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging for the buyer to purchase the product in exchange for payment of an amount based on the offer amount.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein said arranging is performed by a controller and the buyer purchases the product from a party other than the controller.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the buyer provides the payment to a controller and takes possession of the product from a party other than the controller.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording that the stored benefit has been redeemed by the buyer.

35. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging for the buyer to perform a task; and

associating the stored benefit with the buyer based on the performance of the task.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein said associating is performed prior to receiving the offer information.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein said evaluating is performed by a controller and the task is associated with a subsidy provider.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the task comprises at least one of:

(i) applying for a service, and (ii) subscribing to a service.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the service comprises at least one of:

(i) a telephone service, (ii) an Internet service, (iii) a banking service, (iv) a credit card account service, (v) an insurance service, (vi) a securities trading service, (vii) a satellite television service, and (viii) a cable television service.

40. The method of claim 35, wherein the task comprises at least one of:

(i) purchasing another product, (ii) accessing a Web page, (iii) visiting a merchant, (iv) dialing a telephone number, (v) providing information, and (vi) answering a question.

41. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the stored benefit with the buyer based on a transaction history between the buyer and a controller.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the transaction history comprises at least one of:

(i) an amount of profit associated with prior transactions between the buyer and the controller, and (ii) a total number of prior transactions between the buyer and the controller.

43. The method of claim 1, wherein (i) said receiving the offer information and said receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit are performed by a controller, and (ii) said evaluating is performed by a party other than the controller.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the offer information, said receiving the indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit, and said evaluating are performed by a controller.

45. A method of facilitating a transaction, comprising:

determining, on a processing device, a plurality of suggested offer amounts based on a product category;

transmitting an indication of the plurality of suggested offer amounts to a buyer;

receiving offer information from the buyer,

the offer information including an indication of an offer amount selected by the buyer from the plurality of suggested offer amounts;

evaluating the offer information to determine that the offer information is not acceptable based on the offer amount;

receiving an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem a stored benefit associated with the buyer; and

re-evaluating the offer information to determine that the offer information is acceptable based on the stored benefit.

46. A method of facilitating a transaction, comprising:

arranging for a buyer to perform a task;

associating a stored benefit with the buyer based on the performance of the task;

determining, on a processing device, a plurality of suggested offer amounts based on a product category;

transmitting an indication of the plurality of suggested offer amounts to the buyer;

receiving an offer to purchase a product from the buyer,

the offer including an indication of an offer amount selected by the buyer from the plurality of suggested offer amount;

receiving an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem the stored benefit; and

determining a probability that the offer from the buyer will be accepted based on;

(i) the offer amount, (ii) an amount associated with the stored benefit, and (iii) an amount associated with the product.

47. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device coupled to said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to;

determine a plurality of suggested offer amounts based on a product category;

transmit an indication of the plurality of suggested offer amounts to a buyer;

receive offer information from a buyer,

the offer information including an indication of an offer amount selected by the buyer from the plurality of suggested offer amounts;

receive an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem a stored benefit associated with the buyer;

determine a value associated with the stored benefit;

select a product based on the product category; and

evaluate the offer information based on;

(i) the offer amount, (ii) the value associated with the stored benefit, and (iii) an amount associated with the product.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising:

a communication port coupled to said processor and adapted to communicate with at least one of;

(i) a buyer device, (ii) a subsidy provider device, and (iii) a merchant device.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein said storage device further stores at least one of:

(i) a buyer database, (ii) an offer database, (iii) a product database, and (iv) a transaction database.

50. A medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method for facilitating a transaction, said method comprising:

determining a plurality of suggested offer amounts based on a product category;

transmitting an indication of the plurality of suggested offer amounts to a buyer;

receiving offer information from the buyer,

the offer information including an indication of an offer amount selected by the buyer from the plurality of suggested offer amounts;

receiving an indication that the buyer is willing to redeem a stored benefit associated with the buyer;

determining a value associated with the stored benefit;

selecting a product based on the product category; and

evaluating the offer information based on;

(i) the offer amount, (ii) the value associated with the stored benefit, and (iii) an amount associated with the product.