Patent ID: 8326697
Filing Date: 2012-12-04
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for pricing goods offered for sale by independent sellers, the method being computer implemented by a marketeer controller capable of communicating via a communications network, the marketeer controller being configured for electronic communication via the communications network and including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to the CPU, the method comprising the marketeer controller: receiving data from an independent seller, via the communications network, the data identifying a good offered for sale by the independent seller and representing the independent seller's agreement to sell the good at an unspecified fixed price to be determined by the marketeer controller as a function of another party's price for a comparable good, in accordance with a predetermined method; querying a vendor to determine the vendor's price for a comparable good, said querying comprising the marketeer controller transmitting a query, via the communications network, to a vendor's controller that is configured for electronic communication via the communication network and that includes a respective CPU and a respective memory operatively connected to the respective CPU, said query identifying said good and requesting transmission to the marketeer controller of the vendor's price for the comparable good; receiving, via the communications network, the vendor's price for the comparable good; and establishing with a pricing agent stored in the memory of the marketeer controller a sale price at which the good may be purchased by a buyer from the independent seller, the sale price derived by the predetermined method using as input the received vendor's price for the comparable good.