Method and apparatus for post-transaction pricing system

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US 20030055743A1

(19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2003/0055743 A1 (43) Pub. Date:

Murcko, JR. (54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR POST-TRANSACTION PRICING SYSTEM

(76) Inventor: Thomas Murcko J R., Arlington, VA

(Us)

Mar. 20, 2003

information, goods and services to offer those items globally to potential buyers, for buyers to make item requests of sellers, for sellers and buyers conveniently to search for relevant buyer and seller information, for sellers to provide items to buyers Without any guarantee of a speci?c payment amount, and for buyers to decide hoW much to pay for those items after having received them. The method and apparatus

Correspondence Address: THOMAS MURCKO 643 NORTH ABINGDON ST.

of the present invention have applications on the internet as Well as conventional communications systems such as voice

ARLINGTON, VA 22203 (US)

telephony. In a preferred embodiment, the method and apparatus of the present invention include mechanisms

(21) Appl. No.:

10/274,474

(22) Filed:

Oct. 21, 2002

transactions is revealed in such a Way as to encourage buyers to pay a fair amount for the items provided, and to encourage

Related US. Application Data

sellers to provide items that are of high value to the buyers

(63)

through Which information about participants and previous

Continuation of application No. 09/548,151, ?led on

Apr. 13, 2000.

makes this information available to participants, so that they are able to intelligently decide Which participants are Worth

Publication Classi?cation (51)

Int. Cl? ................................................... .. G06F 17/60

(52)

Us. 01. .............................................................. .. 705/26

(57)

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a method and apparatus for effec

tuating post-transaction-priced transactions of information, goods, and services in exchange for money or its equivalent

(such as credits). The invention alloWs prospective sellers of

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transacting With. For example, a buyer Who routinely pays nothing for items Will soon have dif?culty ?nding sellers interested in selling him/her items, While a buyer Who consistently pays a fair price for items Will be able to expect a steady stream of items. Similarly, a seller Who consistently

provides items Which buyers are Willing to pay large amounts for Will have greater ability to provide items to buyers in the future, While a seller Who provides items Which

buyers generally ?nd Worthless Will have great dif?culty ?nding any buyers to provide items to.

BUYER'S

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to Whom they provide those items. Speci?cally, the system stores information regarding previous transactions and

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OPERATING SYSTEM

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 3 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 5 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 6 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 7 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 8 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 9 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 10 0f 25

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 11 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 12 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

BUYER PAYMENT ID 1002

DATEFTIME

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 13 0f 25

BUYER JOINS

US 2003/0055743 A1

SELLER JOINS 1204

1202

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I "SELLER ENTERS PROFILE

BUYER ENTERS PROFILE INFORMATION 1206

INFORMATION

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TRANSACTION STARTS BUYER REQUESTS ITEM FROM SELLER

SELLER CHOOSES NOT To SELL To THAT BUYER 1215

SELLER PROVIDES k

1212

ITEM OR DESCRIPTION

OF ITEM

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+

SELLER PROVIDES MORE INFORMATION 1224

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NOT A TRANSACTION. SELLER IS NOTIFIED

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DOES BUYER SET PAYMENT AMOUNT ON TIME?

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TO SYSTEM OPERATOR, PAYMENT AMOUNT Is SPECIFIED

/ TRANSACTION PROCESS 1210

SYSTEM OPERATOR MAKES PAYMENT TO SELLER

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sET TO AMOUNT BUYER 1230

Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 14 0f 25

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SELLER LOGIN

INFORMATION 2600

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TERMS OF USE

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COMPANY NAME: SITE NAME:

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DATE/TIME: [automatically set]

NAME:

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PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD: 1413

PASSWORD:

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ADDITIONAL PAYMENT INFORMATION: 1415

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1414

SELLER MINIMUM TRANSACTIONS:

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OTHER SELLER CRITERIA:

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EXCEPTIONS -

SUB-COMMUNITIES

INCLUDE: EXCLUDE:

1420

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\SELLER REQUIREMENTS 1430 BUYER REGISTRATION FORM 1400 / FIG. 14

Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 15 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

BUYER LOGIN

USERNAME;

PASSWORD:

1 02

IF LOGIN IS SUCCESSFUL: BUYER SEARCHES FOR SELLERS



BUYER ACCOUNT

1504

BUYER ITEM REQUEST

BUYER vIEwS ITEMS

INFORMATION

1506

BUYER SPECIFIES ACCEPTABLE

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SELLERS

1512

TOP LISTINGS

1514

UPDATE REGISTRATION INFORMATION

BUYER LOGIN FORM 1500;

1510

1516

FIG‘ 15

BUYER SEARCHES FOR SELLERS -

-

SEARCH ALL SELLERS

1602

SEARCH ALL ITEMS SELLERS HAvE AVAILABLE -

INFORMATION GOODS

-

SERVICES

-

ALL TYPES

1604

SEARCH BY AREA OF EXPERTISE:

SEARCH BY OCCUPATION:

[LIST]

1606

[LIST]

SEARCH TEXT:

1608 1

0

SEARCH/SCREEN BY AVERAGE PAYMENT:

1612

SEARCH/SCREEN BY NUMBER OF COMPLETED TRANSACTIONS:

1

SEARCH BY PARTICIPANT COMMENTS:

1615

RESULTS:

A BUYER SEARCHES FOR SELLERS FORM 1600

FIG. 16

4

1616

Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 16 of 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

BUYER ITEM REQUEST ITEM DESIRED‘:

v

1702

ITEM TYPE DESIRED:

1704

FROM: SPECIFIC SELLER(S) 1

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TYPES OF SELLER(S) :

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OTHER REQUIRED SELLER CRITERIA:_1

0

CUTOFF PERCENTILE: 1720

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FORM 1700

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SELLER'S REPLY TO BUYER'S REQUEST (where

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PAYMENT AMOUNT:

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1816

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PAYMENT DATE: (set automatlcally)

/ BUYER VIEWS ITEMS PAGE 1800



~1814

FIG. 18

1812

1818

Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 17 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

BUYER ACCOUNT INFORMATION

NAME: I: DATE: :1 BALANCH II: METRICS'. AVERAGE PAYMENT: NUMBER OF ITEMS BOUGHT: AVERAGE TIME TO PAY: % OF PAYMENTS MADE ON TIME: MAKE PAYMENT 1910

/ BUYER ACCOUNT INFORMATION PAGE 1900

FIG. 19

SELLER REGISTRATION COMPANY NAME: SITE NAME: URL:

PHONE: EMAIL: POSTAL ADDRESS:

DATE/TIME: (set automatically)

OCCUPATION: EDUCATION LEVEL: AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

NAME:

2010

PASSWORD:

N

M



PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD:

ADDITIONAL PAYMENT INFORMATION'.___ 2015

PROVIDE ITEMS 2023

SELLER REGISTRATION FORM 2000

2013

FIG. 20

Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 18 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

SELLER LOGIN

‘USER NAME: PASSWORD:

21 2

IF LOGIN IS SUCCESSFUL: SELLER SEARCHES FOR BUYERS

SELLER ACCOUNT

~

2104

INFORMATION

2110

SELLER PROVIDES ITEM

2106

Top |_|ST|NGS

2112

SELLER VIEWS ITEMS

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UPDATE REGISTRATION INFORMATION

SELLER LOGIN FORM 2100/

114

FIG. 21

SELLER SEARCHES FOR BUYERS I

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SEARCH ALL BUYERS

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SEARCH BY CATEGORY OF

BUYER: 0

SEARCH BY BUYER ITEM REQUESTS ' INFORMATION 0

[LIST]

2206

SEARCH TEXT:

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GOODS

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SERVICES

0

ALL TYPES

2204

SEARCH/SCREEN BY AVERAGE PAYMENT:

2210

SEARCH/SCREEN BY NUMBER OF COMPLETED TRANSACTIONS:

2212

SEARCH BY ON-TIME PAYMENTS:

2214

'

SEARCH BY PARTICIPANT COMMENTS:

2215

RESULTS:

2

SELLER SEARCHES FOR BUYERS FORM 2200

FIG- 22

6

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Patent Application Publication Mar. 20, 2003 Sheet 19 0f 25

US 2003/0055743 A1

SELLER PROVIDES ITEM ITEM:

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DESCRIPTION:

POTENTIAL BUYERISI: TYPES: NAMESI :

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SUGGESTED AMOUNT:

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7 SELLER PROVIDES ITEM FORM 2300 FIG. 23



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PAYMENT DATE: (if paid)

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7 SELLER VIEWS ITEMS PAGE 2400 7

FIG. 24

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