System and method for facilitating exchanges between buyers and sellers

• US 7,702,545 B1
• Filed: 01/12/2006
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Compton, J. Benjamin, Peterson, Jeffrey N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pond; Robert M.
• Application Number:
  US11/331,255
• Time in Patent Office: 1,559 Days
• Field of Search: 705/27, 705/26
• US Class Current: 705/26.9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A method and system facilitates the exchange of goods and services at a local level. For each party, information is received including an indication of one or more items desired to be exchanged and an indication of one or more exchange locations acceptable to the party. Potential matches are identified by identifying exchange locations that are mutually agreeable to respective ones of the parties involved in a given exchange.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating exchanges of items, comprising:

receiving information from users who are potential sellers of items such that, for each potential seller, the information includes an indication of an item that the potential seller desires to sell and a selection of one or more exchange locations at which the potential seller is willing to meet with prospective buyer users to provide the item, the one or more exchange locations selected by the potential seller each being a publicly accessible location that is not a retail business selling the item indicated by the potential seller;

receiving information from users who are potential buyers of items such that, for each potential buyer, the information includes an indication of a type of item that the potential buyer desires to purchase and a selection of one or more exchange locations at which the potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users to receive an item of the indicated type, the one or more exchange locations selected by the potential buyer each being a publicly accessible location that is not a retail business selling the type of item indicated by the potential buyer;

under control of one or more configured computing systems, and after the receiving of the information from the users who are the potential sellers and the receiving of the information from the users who are the potential buyers, automatically analyzing the information received from the potential sellers and from the potential buyers to identify potential matches between the potential buyers and the potential sellers, the potential matches each including one of the potential sellers and one of the potential buyers and being identified at least in part by identifying an exchange location that was previously selected by both the one potential buyer and the one potential seller; and

for each of the identified potential matches, notifying the one potential seller and the one potential buyer for the identified potential match of the identified exchange location that was selected by both the one potential buyer and the one potential seller, so as to facilitate a potential purchase at the identified exchange location by the one potential buyer of the item indicated by the one potential seller.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after the receiving of the information from one of the potential buyer users of the indicated type of item that the one potential buyer desires to purchase and of the selected one or more exchange locations at which the one potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users, providing the one potential buyer with information concerning items available at those selected one or more exchange locations from one or more of the potential sellers, the one or more potential sellers being willing to meet at those selected one or more exchange locations of the one potential buyer, the provided information being based at least in part on filter criteria defined by the one potential buyer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the providing of the information to the one potential buyer includes providing the one potential buyer with an interactive screen display showing, for each of at least one of the selected one or more exchange locations at which the one potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users, indications of at least some of the items available at that selected exchange location from the one or more potential sellers.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after the receiving of the information from one of the potential seller users of the indicated item that the one potential seller desires to sell and of the selected one or more exchange locations at which the one potential seller is willing to meet with prospective buyer users, providing the one potential seller with information concerning types of items that one or more of the potential buyers desire to purchase, the one or more potential buyers being willing to meet at the selected one or more exchange locations of the one potential seller, the provided information being based at least in part on filter criteria defined by the one potential seller.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the providing of the information to the one potential seller includes providing the one potential seller with an interactive screen display showing, for each of at least one of the selected one or more exchange locations at which the one potential seller is willing to meet with prospective buyer users, indications of at least some of the types of items that one or more of the potential buyers desire to purchase, the one or more potential buyers being willing to meet at the selected one or more exchange locations of the one potential seller.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the potential buyers, the one or more exchange locations at which the potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users are selected by the potential buyer from a default list of exchange locations provided to the potential buyer.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising, for each of the at least one potential buyers, displaying a map of the exchange locations from the default list to the potential buyer to enable selection by the potential buyer of the selected one or more exchange locations of the potential buyer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the map includes icons indicating geographic locations of the exchange locations from the default list.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising, for each of the at least one potential buyers, identifying exchange locations from the default list that have business-type attributes similar to other exchange locations previously selected by the potential buyer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the indication of the type of item desired to be purchased by one of the potential buyers includes an indication of one or more categories of items, each category including multiple distinct items.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are operated on behalf of an electronic marketplace, and wherein the method further comprises providing one of the potential buyers with information concerning the indicated item that one of the potential sellers desires to sell, the provided information including information obtained from an on-line product catalog of an on-line retailer that is distinct from the electronic marketplace.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the included information obtained from the on-line product catalog includes customer review information for the indicated item of the one potential seller.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are operated on behalf of an electronic marketplace, and wherein the method further comprises receiving a product catalog number from one of the potential sellers, the product catalog number being received in connection with the indicated item that the one potential seller desires to sell and relating to a corresponding item available in a product catalog of an on-line retailer that is distinct from the electronic marketplace, the product catalog number being associated with item details including at least one of a description, images, and review information for the indicated item that the one potential seller desires to sell, and wherein the item details are made available to one or more of the potential buyers.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are operated on behalf of an electronic marketplace, and wherein, for one of the potential buyers, the indication of the type of item that the one potential buyer desires to purchase includes an item imported from a wish list maintained for the one potential buyer by an online retail website that is distinct from the electronic marketplace.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are operated on behalf of an electronic marketplace, and wherein, for one of the potential buyers, a notification is provided after a predetermined period of time in which no match has been found for the indicated type of item that the one potential buyer desires to purchase, the notification including a prompt for the one potential buyer to purchase an item of the indicated type on a retail website that is distinct from the electronic marketplace.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the potential buyers and the potential sellers are grouped into friend networks, and wherein the method further comprises providing one of the potential buyers with information concerning a common friend shared by the one potential buyer and one of the potential sellers based on one of the friend networks.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising notifying one of the potential buyers of a newly available item that is available at one or more of the selected exchange locations at which the one potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users and that satisfies other filter criteria defined by the one potential buyer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the notifying includes sending at least one of a text message and an electronic mail message.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein a first exchange location is part of a business that sponsors the first exchange location, and wherein the method further comprises indicating that the business is sponsoring the first exchange location.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein a first exchange location acts as an escrow service for sale of an item from a potential seller by keeping the item at the exchange location and allowing a potential buyer to purchase the item at the exchange location without the potential seller of the item being physically present at the first exchange location during the purchase of the item.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the potential buyers are able to pay for items electronically and thereafter arrange for pickup of the items at exchange locations.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the identified potential matches results in a transaction that has an associated transaction fee, the transaction involving the sale of indicated item from the one potential seller for the identified potential match to the one potential buyer for the identified potential match.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the transaction fee is charged as a percentage of a total value of the transaction and is charged contingent upon completion of the transaction.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the transaction fee is charged by a business entity that is the identified exchange location for the identified potential match at which the transaction occurs.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the transaction fee is charged by a business entity that serves as an escrow service for the indicated item in connection with the transaction.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the transaction fee is a fee charged to the one potential seller for the one identified potential match.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the potential sellers, the indicated item that the potential seller desires to sell is a second-hand item.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the identified potential matches, the identified exchange location of the identified potential match is a health club.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the identified potential matches, the identified exchange location of the identified potential match is a school.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the identified potential matches, the identified exchange location of the identified potential match is a coffee shop.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the identified potential matches, the identified exchange location of the identified potential match is a book store.

32. A computer-implemented data processing system for facilitating exchanges of items, comprising:

a processing unit; and

a storage device coupled to the processing unit and having information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to;

receive information from users who are potential sellers of items such that, for each potential seller, the information includes an indication of an item that the potential seller desires to sell and a selection of one or more exchange locations at which the potential seller is willing to meet with prospective buyer users to provide the item, the one or more exchange locations selected by the potential seller each being a publicly accessible location that is not a retail business selling the item indicated by the potential seller;

receive information from users who are potential buyers of items such that, for each potential buyer, the information includes an indication of a type of item that the potential buyer desires to purchase and a selection of one or more exchange locations at which the potential buyer is willing to meet with prospective seller users to receive an item of the indicated type, the one or more exchange locations selected by the potential buyer each being a publicly accessible location that is not a retail business selling the type of item indicated by the potential buyer;

after the receiving of the information from the users who are the potential sellers and the receiving of the information from the users who are the potential buyers, automatically analyze the information received from the potential sellers and from the potential buyers to identify potential matches between the potential buyers and the potential sellers, the potential matches each including one of the potential sellers and one of the potential buyers and being identified at least in part by identifying an exchange location that was previously selected by both the one potential buyer and the one potential seller; and

for each of the identified potential matches, notify the one potential seller and the one potential buyer for the identified potential match of the identified exchange location that was selected by both the one potential buyer and the one potential seller, to facilitate a potential purchase at the identified exchange location by the one potential buyer of the item indicated by the one potential seller.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to provide one of the potential buyers with information concerning items available at one or more of the exchange locations for purchase from one or more of the potential sellers, the provided information being based at least in part on filter criteria defined by the one potential buyer.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to provide one of the potential sellers with information concerning one or more watch list items that one or more of the potential buyers desire to purchase at one or more of the exchange locations, the provided information being based at least in part on filter criteria defined by the one potential seller.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to cause a map of the exchange locations selected by one or more of the potential buyers to be displayed to one or more of the potential sellers.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the map comprises icons indicating locations of the exchange locations selected by the one or more potential buyers.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to provide at least one of the potential buyers with information concerning at least one item desired to be sold by at least one of the potential sellers, and wherein the information provided to the at least one potential buyer includes information obtained from an on-line product catalog of an on-line retailer.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the on-line product catalog comprises customer review information for the at least one items.

39. The system of claim 32, wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to receive a product catalog number for a product catalog from one of the potential sellers, the product catalog number being received in connection with a first item that the one potential seller desires to sell and being associated an item that is available in the product catalog, the product catalog number enabling one of the potential buyers to view information in the product catalog related to the associated item in the product catalog, and wherein the information in the product catalog includes a description, images, and review information and is made available to one or more of the potential sellers.

40. The system of claim 32 wherein the data processing system is operated on behalf of an electronic marketplace, and wherein, for one of the potential buyers, a notification is provided after a predetermined period of time in which no match has been found for the indicated type of item that the one potential buyer desires to purchase, the notification including a prompt for the one potential buyer to purchase an item of the indicated type on from an online retailer distinct from the electronic marketplace.

41. The system of claim 32 wherein one of the identified potential matches results in a transaction that has an associated transaction fee, the transaction involving the sale of the indicated item from the one potential seller for the identified potential match to the one potential buyer for the identified potential match, and wherein the storage device further has information stored therein for configuring the processing unit to collect the associated transaction fee.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the transaction fee is charged by at least one of a business entity that is the identified exchange location for the identified potential match at which the transaction occurs and a business entity that serves as an escrow service for the indicated item in connection with the transaction.

43. The system of claim 32 wherein, for each of at least one of the potential sellers, the indicated item that the potential seller desires to sell is a second-hand item, and wherein the identified exchange locations of the identified potential matches are each at least one of a health club, a school, a coffee shop, and a book store.