Consumer driven price marketplace

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further includes: a second subset of one or more buy offers having a buy-price equal to or less than a maximum buy-price of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the first product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first subset, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second subset having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein the successful-offers further include: a second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the second set each have: a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers but less than a lowest buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, when a next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is not submitted for purchasing the first product, and when the next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is submitted for purchasing the first product, a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the second sell-offer but less than a next-higher sale-price of the next-higher sell-offer, the next-higher sale-price being the next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the second sell-offer, wherein the quantity of the first product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 , wherein when the next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is submitted for purchasing the first product, the second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further include: a buy-price less than a minimum buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the first product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein the first product in the online marketplace has a unique identifier.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 , wherein the unique identifier is a first universal product code (UPC).

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 , further comprising resubmitting, at the online marketplace, a previously submitted sell-offer that was not successful in a prior transaction, the submission of the previously unsuccessful sell-offer being performed automatically by the online marketplace after the prior transaction.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 , wherein each buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers further includes: a duration of the offer for purchasing the first product, and an option of payment to pay the buy-price for the first product.

Claim 10

The method of claim 8 , wherein the duration and the buy-price of each buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers are each configured to be independently increased by a respective one of the plurality of buyers, before the step of determining a successful-offer of the plurality of successful-offers.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of buy-offers and the first sell-offer are accepted by the online marketplace to form a plurality of contracts.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 , wherein the online marketplace provides statistical feedback to at least one of: the plurality of buyers, or the seller, based on the terms of the first sell-offer and the terms of the plurality of buy-offers submitted to the online marketplace, the statistical feedback encouraging a modification of the terms to increase the probability of obtaining at least one of the successful-offers.

Claim 13

The method of claim 11 , wherein the statistical feedback is a graphical representation of the probability of obtaining at least one of the successful-offers.

Claim 14

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, at the online marketplace, a plurality of sell-now-requests to sell a second product, wherein the second product is not available on the marketplace catalogue, and wherein each sell-now-request of the plurality of sell-now-requests has a sell-now-price, displaying, at a client of the online marketplace, a lowest sell-now-price of the plurality of sell-now requests, determining, at the online marketplace, a first successful-transaction by receiving a first buy-now-request having a buy-now-price equal to the lowest sell-now-price of the plurality of sell-now requests, and displaying, at the client of the online marketplace, each next-lowest sell-now-price of the plurality of sell-now requests and determining, at the online marketplace, a next successful-transaction by receiving a next buy-now-request having a buy-now-price equal to the next-lowest sell-now-price of the plurality of sell-now requests, after determining the first successful-transaction.

Claim 15

The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, at the online marketplace, a plurality of buy-now requests from the plurality of buyers for a third product, wherein the third product is not available on the marketplace catalogue, and wherein each buy-now request of the plurality of buy-now requests has a buy-now-price, displaying, at a client of a seller, a statistical representation of a demand for the third product, based on the plurality of buy-now requests for the third product, and sending an alert to a client of a buyer of the plurality of buyers upon an availability of the third product at the online marketplace, based on at least one of: receiving, at the online marketplace, a sell-now request for selling the third product, or availability of the third product in the marketplace catalogue.

Claim 16

The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the plurality of successful-offers occurs based on at least one of: a duration of each buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers for purchasing the first product, or the quantity of the first product available for sale in the first sell-offer.

Claim 17

The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the plurality of successful-offers occurs based on: a duration of each buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers for purchasing the first product, and the quantity of the first product available for sale in the first sell-offer.

Claim 18

The method of claim 1 , wherein the online marketplace is an online, consumer electronics marketplace.

Claim 19

An online marketplace server comprising: a communication interface coupled to a communication network, the communication interface configured to receive: a plurality of buy-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of buyers, wherein each of the plurality of buy-offers is submitted to purchase a product in the online marketplace and include a buy-price for the product, and a plurality of sell-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of sellers to sell the product based on terms of each of the sell-offers of the plurality of sell-offers, the terms of each sell-offer comprising: a sale-price at which to sell the product, and a quantity of the product available to sell at the sale-price; a processor programmed to determine successful-offers between the plurality of buyers and the seller, the successful-offers comprising: a first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the first set of buy-offers includes a first subset of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a first sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers to sell the first product, wherein a quantity of the first product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first set, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the first sell-offer but less than a second sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the second sale-price being a next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the first sell-offer, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the first subset of buy-offers having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 20

An online marketplace server comprising: a communication interface coupled to a communication network, the communication interface configured to receive: a plurality of buy-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of buyers, wherein each of the plurality of buy-offers is submitted to purchase a product in the online marketplace and include a buy-price for the product, and a plurality of sell-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of sellers to sell the product based on terms of each of the sell-offers of the plurality of sell-offers, the terms of each sell-offer comprising: a sale-price at which to sell the product, and a quantity of the product available to sell at the sale-price; a processor programmed to determine successful-offers between the plurality of buyers and the seller, the successful-offers comprising: a first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the first set of buy-offers includes a first subset of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a first sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers to sell the first product, wherein a quantity of the first product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first set, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the first sell-offer but less than a second sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the second sale-price being a next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the first sell-offer, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the first subset of buy-offers having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 21

The online marketplace server of claim 18 , wherein the first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further includes: a second subset of one or more buy offers having a buy-price equal to or less than a maximum buy-price of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first subset, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second subset having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 22

The online marketplace server of claim 18 , wherein the successful-offers further include: a second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the second set each have: a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers but less than a lowest buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, when a next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is not submitted for purchasing the product, and when the next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is submitted for purchasing the product, a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the second sell-offer but less than a next-higher sale-price of the next-higher sell-offer, the next-higher sale-price being the next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the second sell-offer, wherein the quantity of the product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 23

The online marketplace of claim 20 , wherein when the next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is submitted for purchasing the product, the second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further include: a buy-price less than a minimum buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 24

The online marketplace server of claim 18 , further comprising a storage unit to record the plurality of buy-offers and the first sell-offer.

Claim 25

The online marketplace server of claim 18 , wherein the product in the online marketplace is referenced by a universal product code (UPC).

Claim 26

The online marketplace server of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to send, via the communication network, to a client: statistical feedback based on at least one of: the first sell-offer, or the plurality of buy-offers submitted to the online marketplace, the statistical feedback encouraging a modification of the terms to increase the probability of obtaining at least one of the successful-offers, and a status of the product, the status indicating the availability of the product to receive a buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers.

Claim 27

The online marketplace server of claim 24 , wherein the statistical feedback has an average price of the product, the average price based on the plurality of buy-offers submitted to purchase the product in the online marketplace.

Claim 28

The online marketplace server of claim 24 , wherein the client is configured to display, at a screen of the client, the statistical feedback to at least one of: a buyer of the plurality of buyers, or the seller.

Claim 29

The online marketplace server of claim 24 , wherein the statistical feedback is sent for delivery to the client in a format to display on a screen of the client.

Claim 30

The online marketplace server of claim 27 , wherein the format of the statistical feedback displayed to the screen is an interactive graphical calculation-bar.

Claim 31

An application service provider system producing an online marketplace, the system comprising: a server, the server further comprising: a communication interface coupled to a communication network, the communication interface configured to receive: a plurality of buy-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of buyers, wherein each of the plurality of buy-offers is submitted to purchase a product in the online marketplace and include a buy-price for the product, and a plurality of sell-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of sellers to sell the product based on terms of each sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the terms of each sell-offer comprising: a sale-price at which to sell the product, and a quantity of the product available to sell at the sale-price; a processor, at the server, programmed to determine successful-offers between the plurality of buyers and one or more of the plurality of sellers, the successful-offers comprising: a first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the first set of buy-offers includes a first subset of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a first sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers to sell the first product, wherein a quantity of the first product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first set, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the first sell-offer but less than a second sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the second sale-price being a next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the first sell-offer, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the first subset of buy-offers having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first; and a client, the client configured to send for delivery to the server at least one of: a buy-offer of the plurality of buy offers, or the first sell-offer.

Claim 32

An application service provider system producing an online marketplace, the system comprising: a server, the server further comprising: a communication interface coupled to a communication network, the communication interface configured to receive: a plurality of buy-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of buyers, wherein each of the plurality of buy-offers is submitted to purchase a product in the online marketplace and include a buy-price for the product, and a plurality of sell-offers each from a respective one of a plurality of sellers to sell the product based on terms of each sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the terms of each sell-offer comprising: a sale-price at which to sell the product, and a quantity of the product available to sell at the sale-price; a processor, at the server, programmed to determine successful-offers between the plurality of buyers and one or more of the plurality of sellers, the successful-offers comprising: a first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the first set of buy-offers includes a first subset of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a first sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers to sell the first product, wherein a quantity of the first product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first set, wherein the buy-offers of the first subset each have a buy-price equal to or greater than the sale-price of the first sell-offer but less than a second sale-price of a second sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers, the second sale-price being a next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the first sell-offer, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the first subset of buy-offers having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first; and a client, the client configured to send for delivery to the server at least one of: a buy-offer of the plurality of buy offers, or the first sell-offer.

Claim 33

The system of claim 29 , wherein the first set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further include: a second subset of one or more buy offers having a buy-price equal to or less than a maximum buy-price of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the product available in the first sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the first subset, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second subset having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 34

The system of claim 29 , wherein the successful-offers further include: a second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers, wherein the buy-offers of the second set each have: a buy-price equal to or greater than a sale-price of a second sell-offer but less than a lowest buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, when a next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is not submitted for purchasing the product, and when the next-higher sell-offer of the plurality of sell-offers is submitted for purchasing the product, a buy-price less than the next-higher sale-price of the next-higher sell-offer, the next-higher sale-price being the next highest sale-price relative to the sale-price of the second sell-offer, wherein the quantity of the product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a lowest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 35

The system of claim 31 , wherein when the next-higher sell-offer is submitted for purchasing the product, the second set of buy-offers of the plurality of buy-offers further include: a buy-price less than a minimum buy-price of the first set of buy-offers, wherein the quantity of the product available in the second sell-offer is sufficient to satisfy the buy-offers of the second set, and wherein each unsatisfied buy-offer of the second set having a highest buy-price is satisfied first.

Claim 36

The system of claim 29 , wherein the client is further configured to receive: statistical feedback based on at least one of: the first sell-offer, or the plurality of buy-offers submitted to the online marketplace, the statistical feedback encouraging a modification of the terms to increase the probability of obtaining at least one of the successful-offers, and a status of the product, the status indicating the availability of the product to receive a buy-offer of the plurality of buy-offers.

Claim 37

The system of claim 33 , wherein the statistical feedback is displayed on a screen of the client, the displayed statistical feedback providing a representation of the probability of obtaining at least one of the successful-offers.

Claim 38

The system of claim 33 , wherein the status of the product is displayed on a screen of the client.

Claim 39

The system of claim 33 , wherein the statistical feedback has an average price of the product, the average price based on the plurality of buy-offers submitted to purchase the product in the online marketplace.