Abstract:
Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating expedited registration of sellers in an electronic marketplace. For example, whether a user is eligible for an expedited seller registration procedure in an electronic marketplace is determined by analyzing one or more credibility factors relating to a historical profile of the user. The expedited seller registration procedure omits one or more identity verification tasks as compared to a normal seller registration procedure. If the user is eligible, the user is invited to register as a seller in the electronic marketplace using the expedited seller registration procedure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, co-pending U.S. patent application entitled “EXPEDITED SELLER REGISTRATION,” filed on Nov. 30, 2010 and assigned application Ser. No. 12/956,669, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    An electronic marketplace may allow a multitude of merchants to sell items through a common network site. Integrated search tools of the electronic marketplace may permit customers to search and browse inventory of all of the merchants at the same time. The electronic marketplace may be dynamic, such that new merchants may join and contribute and/or update their inventory at any time. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]    Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0004]      FIG. 1  is a drawing of a networked environment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0005]      FIGS. 2-4  are drawings of examples of user interfaces depicting network pages rendered in a browser executed in a client in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionality implemented as portions of a seller preapproval application executed in a computing device in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0007]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionality implemented as portions of an electronic commerce application executed in a computing device in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionality implemented as portions of a seller registration application executed in a computing device in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0009]      FIG. 8  is a schematic block diagram that provides one example illustration of a computing device employed in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0010]    The present disclosure relates to facilitating an expedited registration procedure for sellers in an electronic marketplace. As part of registering as a seller in an electronic marketplace, a user may have to supply a variety of information, such as, for example, contact information, a billing address, a payment instrument, and other information. In order to reduce fraud, a seller registration process may include one or more verification tasks to verify the identity of the potential seller. Such verification tasks may be time consuming and cumbersome. Various embodiments of the present disclosure seek to simplify the registration process for credible buyers in the electronic marketplace. Information previously collected regarding the credible buyers may be leveraged in expediting the seller registration procedure. By simplifying the registration process, more sellers may choose to participate in the electronic marketplace, which may lead to more competitive pricing that will attract more buyers. In the following discussion, a general description of the system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same. 
         [0011]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , shown is a networked environment  100  according to various embodiments. The networked environment  100  includes one or more computing devices  103  in data communication with one or more clients  106  by way of a network  109 . The network  109  includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two or more such networks. 
         [0012]    The computing device  103  may comprise, for example, a server computer or any other system providing computing capability. Alternatively, a plurality of computing devices  103  may be employed that are arranged, for example, in one or more server banks or computer banks or other arrangements. For example, a plurality of computing devices  103  together may comprise a cloud computing resource, a grid computing resource, and/or any other distributed computing arrangement. Such computing devices  103  may be located in a single installation or may be distributed among many different geographical locations. For purposes of convenience, the computing device  103  is referred to herein in the singular. Even though the computing device  103  is referred to in the singular, it is understood that a plurality of computing devices  103  may be employed in the various arrangements as described above. 
         [0013]    Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in the computing device  103  according to various embodiments. Also, various data is stored in a data store  112  that is accessible to the computing device  103 . The data store  112  may be representative of a plurality of data stores  112  as can be appreciated. The data stored in the data store  112 , for example, is associated with the operation of the various applications and/or functional entities described below. 
         [0014]    The components executed on the computing device  103 , for example, include a seller preapproval application  115 , a seller registration application  118 , an electronic commerce application  121 , and other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein. Although the seller preapproval application  115 , the seller registration application  118 , and the electronic commerce application  121  are described as discrete programs, it is understood that the functionality involved may be structured in a variety of ways involving any number of programs or applications. 
         [0015]    The seller preapproval application  115  is executed to examine data regarding customers of the electronic marketplace and to preapprove certain trusted customers to become sellers by way of an expedited registration procedure. The seller preapproval application  115  may also be executed to generate preapproval notifications  124  to inform the preapproved customers of their preapproved status and to invite them to sell items previously purchased through the electronic marketplace. 
         [0016]    The seller registration application  118  is executed to facilitate the registration of sellers in the electronic marketplace. To this end, the seller registration application  118  may employ different procedures for registering, for example, customers who are preapproved, customers who are not preapproved, and/or non-customers. In one embodiment, the seller registration application  118  may generate one or more network pages  127 , such as web pages, with forms that facilitate data collection. 
         [0017]    The electronic commerce application  121  is executed in order to facilitate the online purchase of items from the electronic marketplace over the network  109 . The electronic commerce application  121  also performs various backend functions associated with the online presence of an electronic marketplace in order to facilitate the online purchase of items as will be described. For example, the electronic commerce application  121  generates network pages  127  such as, for example, web pages and/or other types of network content that are provided to clients  106  for the purposes of promoting and selecting items for purchase, rental, download, lease, or any other forms of consumption. 
         [0018]    The data stored in the data store  112  includes, for example, catalog data  130 , seller data  133 , network page data  136 , customer data  139 , and potentially other data. The catalog data  130  includes a plurality of items  142  offered by a multitude of sellers through an electronic marketplace. An item  142  may refer to a product, good, service, software download, multimedia download, social networking profile, or any combination, bundle, or package thereof, that may be offered for sale, purchase, rental, lease, download, and/or any other form of consumption as may be appreciated. The various data stored in catalog data  130  may include, for example, titles, descriptions, quantities, conditions, images, options, weights, customer reviews, customer ratings, keywords, shipping restrictions, prices, tax classifications, unique identifiers, and any other data related to items  142 . Each of the items  142  may be organized into one or more categories  145  as desired. 
         [0019]    The seller data  133  includes various data associated with sellers in the electronic marketplace. Such data may include, but is not limited to, business name, tax identification, place of establishment, billing addresses, payment instruments, telephone numbers, and other data. The network page data  136  includes various data related to the generation of network pages  127 . The network page data  136  may include, for example, text, templates, code, graphics, images, audio, animations, multimedia, and/or other data used in generating network pages  127 . 
         [0020]    The customer data  139  includes various data associated with customers or buyers in the electronic marketplace. To this end, the customer data  139  may include, for example, payment instruments  148 , order history  151 , account longevity  154 , item return history  157 , contact information  160 , addresses  163 , and/or other data. The payment instruments  148  may correspond to credit cards, debit cards, checking accounts, savings accounts, gift cards, and/or other funding sources previously presented and verified in the electronic marketplace. The order history  151  may include data relating to previous orders placed by the customer, dates on which the orders were placed, items  142  purchased, prices paid, shipping methods, shipping addresses, and so on. The account longevity  154  provides a length of time that the customer has been registered in the electronic marketplace. In embodiments where customer registration is not mandatory, the account longevity  154  provides a length of time since the customer placed a first order, the customer began visiting the electronic marketplace, and/or some other event. 
         [0021]    The item return history  157  describes a frequency of returned items  142  associated with the customer. Other negative outcomes may be tracked in the customer data  139  such as, for example, items  142  reported by customers to be lost or stolen, customer interactions with support, negative reviews of sellers, and so on. The contact information  160  may include a variety of information regarding the customer including, for example, name, telephone number, fax number, email address, and so on. The addresses  163  may include addresses that are provided as shipping addresses, billing addresses, and/or other addresses that may be associated with customers. 
         [0022]    The client  106  is representative of a plurality of client devices that may be coupled to the network  109 . The client  106  may comprise, for example, a processor-based system such as a computer system. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smart phones, set-top boxes, music players, web pads, tablet computer systems, game consoles, electronic book readers, or other devices with like capability. The client  106  may include a display  166 . The display  166  may comprise, for example, one or more devices such as cathode ray tubes (CRTs), liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, gas plasma-based flat panel displays, LCD projectors, or other types of display devices, etc. 
         [0023]    The client  106  may be configured to execute various applications such as a browser  169  and/or other applications. The browser  169  may be executed in a client  106 , for example, to access and render network pages, such as web pages, or other network content served up by the computing device  103  and/or other servers, thereby generating a rendered network page  172  on the display  166 . The client  106  may be configured to execute applications beyond the browser  169  such as, for example, email applications, instant message applications, and/or other applications. 
         [0024]    Next, a general description of the operation of the various components of the networked environment  100  is provided. To begin, the seller preapproval application  115  may execute to determine which of the customers of the electronic marketplace are preapproved for registration as sellers in the electronic marketplace by way of an expedited registration procedure. In various embodiments, the seller preapproval application  115  may be executed periodically or in response to an event. One such event may be a customer browsing the electronic marketplace. In such a case, the seller preapproval application  115  may determine whether one customer is preapproved. In other embodiments, the seller preapproval application  115  may examine all buyers who are not yet sellers for possible preapproval. 
         [0025]    Customers are preapproved to become sellers based on a measure of trust or credibility obtained by analysis of the customer data  139  that provides a history for the customer in the electronic marketplace. Various factors relating to the history of the customer in the electronic marketplace may be used in determining whether a customer is preapproved. For example, a customer who has a relatively high account longevity  154  may be more likely to be preapproved than a customer who first registered with the electronic marketplace during the same day. Similarly, a customer who has configured a valid payment instrument  148  may be more likely to be preapproved. Factors such as, for example, a high item return history  157 , frequent customer service complaints, chargebacks, bounced checks, and so on may negatively affect whether a customer is preapproved. 
         [0026]    A customer who has purchased relatively few items  142  may be less likely to be preapproved than a customer with a lengthy order history  151 . Customers who have frequently changed addresses  163  may be less likely to be preapproved than customers who seldom change addresses  163 . Customers who purchase high value items may be more likely to be preapproved than customers who purchase low value items exclusively. As can be seen from the non-limiting examples provided above, there are many factors that may be used in determining whether a customer is preapproved as a seller. 
         [0027]    The seller preapproval application  115  may be configured to generate preapproval notifications  124  to encourage customers to become sellers in the electronic marketplace. In some cases, the preapproval notification  124  will merely comprise an invitation to the customer to sell one or more items  142  in the electronic marketplace. In other cases, the preapproval notification  124  may inform the customer of the preapproval status and the availability of an expedited seller registration option. The preapproval notification  124  may be transmitted to the customer at a client  106  by way of an electronic message, such as, for example, an email message, an instant message, a text message, a message embedded within a network page  127 , etc. In other embodiments, the preapproval notification  124  may be included within a telephone call, printed material, and/or other forms of communication. 
         [0028]    In various embodiments, the seller preapproval application  115  may send preapproval notifications  124  to customers who are preapproved and have purchased selected items  142 . The preapproval notifications  124  may exhort the customers to sell the items  142  in the electronic marketplace. The items  142  may be selected, for example, based on a relatively high sales price, a relatively high turnover, a relatively low inventory, or other factors computed relative to other items  142  that indicate a demand for the selected items  142  in the electronic marketplace. The items  142  may also be selected based on categories  145 . 
         [0029]    When customers are browsing various network pages  127  of the electronic marketplace that are served up by the electronic commerce application  121 , the network pages  127  may include invitations to become a seller in the electronic marketplace. The invitations may be generalized or associated with specific items  142 . The invitations may be included for items  142  associated with any of categories  145  or only specific ones of the categories  145 . The invitations may be presented differently based on the item  142 . As a non-limiting example, the invitation may be emphasized on a detail network page  127  regarding an item  142  that has been identified as previously purchased by the customer based on the order history  151 . As another non-limiting example, the invitation may be emphasized on a detail network page  127  regarding an item  142  that is in high demand in the electronic marketplace. The invitations may also appear differently in the network pages  127  based, for example, on whether the customer is preapproved, not preapproved but registered as a customer, or not preapproved and not registered as a customer. 
         [0030]    The seller registration application  118  is configured to generate one or more network pages  127  or components of network pages  127  to facilitate seller registration. Various form elements and/or other elements may be used. When a customer is preapproved to register as a seller, an expedited registration procedure may be employed. The expedited registration procedure may omit one or more data collection tasks by leveraging previously collected data that is associated with a customer. As a non-limiting example, if the contact information  160  associated with the customer includes the name and email address of the customer, form fields for name and email address may be prepopulated with the stored name and email address of the customer from the contact information  160 . Alternatively, form fields for name and email address may be omitted from the network page  127  when the data is available from the contact information  160 . In some embodiments, however, it may be preferable to present the form fields as prepopulated in order to allow the customer to make changes if needed. 
         [0031]    In some embodiments, the expedited registration procedure may omit one or more data collection tasks that relate to seller verification tasks. As a non-limiting example, a non-expedited registration procedure for customers who are not preapproved may include a telephone number verification procedure. In such a procedure, a customer is requested to provide a telephone number through a form on a network page  127 . The seller registration application  118  will initiate a call to the provided telephone number. During the call, the customer provides a verification credential such as, for example, an identification number that was included in the network page  127 . Through this procedure, the seller registration application  118  is able to confirm that the telephone number is valid and that the same customer who is performing the registration can be reached by way of the telephone number. 
         [0032]    A variation on the telephone number verification procedure may have the seller registration application  118  provide a verification credential to the customer over a call to the provided telephone number. Thereafter, the customer may enter the verification credential into a form on a network page  127  to confirm receipt of the verification credential by way of the telephone call. Although a telephone number may be chosen for verification as a seller verification task, it is understood that other seller verification tasks may be performed in other embodiments. For example, addresses, email addresses, bank accounts, credit cards, and/or other data may be validated through various seller verification tasks. It is noted that when a seller is preapproved, such seller verification tasks may be skipped to expedite the seller registration procedure. 
         [0033]    In one embodiment, the expedited registration procedure may employ a single selection of one user interface component in a network page  127  to facilitate ease of registration. For example, a detail network page  127  regarding an item  142  may include a form to register as a seller and to sell the item  142 . The form may elicit, for example, condition of the item  142 , comments regarding the condition, quantity of the item  142 , price of the item  142 , and/or other data regarding the item(s)  142  to be sold. In one embodiment, all fields of the form may be prepopulated with default values. A button or other user interface component may be provided to register the seller with the default parameters in the seller data  133  and to list the item(s)  142 . The button may be displayed in conjunction with an agreement to accept terms and conditions associated with being a seller in the electronic marketplace. Accordingly, selection of the button may indicate an acceptance of the terms and conditions. 
         [0034]    Referring next to  FIG. 2 , shown is a user interface  200  depicting a rendered network page  172   a  rendered in a browser  169  ( FIG. 1 ) executed in a client  106  ( FIG. 1 ) in the networked environment  100  ( FIG. 1 ). In particular, the rendered network page  172   a  corresponds to a detail network page regarding an item  142  ( FIG. 1 ). The rendered network page  172   a  includes an item summary  203 , a quantity selection tool  206 , a list addition tool  209 , a list viewing tool  212 , a seller registration tool  215 , and/or other user interface components. 
         [0035]    The item summary  203  includes various information about the item  142 , including, for example, title, image, price, inventory status, shipping estimate, feature lists, and/or other information. The quantity selection tool  206  facilitates selection of a quantity of the item  142  for addition to a list of items  142 . To this end, the quantity selection tool  206  may correspond to a drop-down box, slider, text input field, radio buttons, and/or any other user interface component capable of indicating a quantity of the item  142 . 
         [0036]    Though the list addition tool  209 , the list viewing tool  212 , and the seller registration tool  215  are depicted as buttons, it is understood that they may comprise links and/or other user interface components in other embodiments. The list addition tool  209  facilitates the addition of the item  142  in the selected quantity to a shopping cart, wish list, or other list of items  142 . The list viewing tool  212  launches a network page  127  ( FIG. 1 ) or region within the rendered network page  172   a  that shows a listing of the items  142  in a shopping cart, wish list, or other list of items  142 . 
         [0037]    The seller registration tool  215  is used to initiate registration of the customer as a seller in the electronic marketplace. The customer may be a previous buyer of items  142  from the electronic marketplace and/or may be registered as a buyer as an electronic marketplace. The identity of the customer may be ascertained in those cases by way of cookies, session identifiers, and/or other mechanisms of login tracking. It is understood that the appearance of the seller registration tool  215  may vary based upon the customer. In one embodiment, when the customer is preapproved, the seller registration tool  215  may comprise a single button. In another embodiment, when the customer is not preapproved, the seller registration tool  215  may comprise a lengthy form that may span multiple network pages  127 . In some embodiments, the seller registration tool  215  may comprise various form elements to gather information about the item  142  to be sold in conjunction with the seller registration. 
         [0038]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , shown is a user interface  300  depicting a rendered network page  172   b  rendered in a browser  169  ( FIG. 1 ) executed in a client  106  ( FIG. 1 ) in the networked environment  100  ( FIG. 1 ). In particular, the rendered network page  172   b  depicts one non-limiting example of a seller registration form implementing an expedited registration procedure for preapproved customers. The rendered network page  172   b  may include, for example, an item summary  303 , a payment instrument description  306 , an address description  309 , an item condition selection tool  312 , a condition description specification tool  315 , a price specification tool  318 , a quantity specification tool  321 , a business name specification tool  324 , a registration submission tool  327 , and/or other components. 
         [0039]    The item summary  303  includes various information related to the item  142  that is to be offered by the prospective seller in the electronic marketplace. Such information may include title, image, unique identifier, manufacturer name, manufacturer part number, categories, brand names, etc. The item summary  303  provides reassurance to the customer regarding which specific item  142  is to be offered. In embodiments where a seller registration may be performed without adding an item  142 , the item summary  303  may be absent. The information contained in the item summary  303  may vary in other embodiments. 
         [0040]    The payment instrument description  306  describes a payment instrument  148  ( FIG. 1 ) that has been previously configured for the customer. The information displayed may vary based, for example, on the type of payment instrument  148 . A payment instrument change tool  330  may be provided to edit or change the payment instrument  148 . The address description  309  describes an address  163  ( FIG. 1 ) configured for the customer, such as, for example, a billing address  163 , a business address  163 , etc. An address change tool  333  may be provided to edit or change the selected address  163 . 
         [0041]    The item condition selection tool  312  may be used to assign a condition to the item  142  to be added. Non-limiting examples of conditions may include “new,” “used—like new,” “used—good,” “used—acceptable,” “collectible,” and so on. The item condition selection tool  312  may comprise a drop-down box, radio buttons, and/or other user interface elements. The item condition selection tool  312  may be prepopulated with a condition, e.g., “new” as shown in  FIG. 3  or some other condition. The condition description specification tool  315  may allow the seller to further describe the condition of the item  142 . For example, for an item  142  that is a book, a seller may enter “dust cover missing,” “some scratches on the front,” and or other condition descriptions. The condition description specification tool  315  may be prepopulated with a value, e.g., “(none)” as shown in  FIG. 3  or some other description. 
         [0042]    The price specification tool  318  allows the seller to enter a specified price for the item  142 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the price specification tool  318  may be prepopulated with a price. The default price, if provided, may correspond to a price recommendation for the particular item  142 . Such a price recommendation may be determined based, for example, on a sales history of the item  142 , competing prices for the item  142 , and/or other factors. In  FIG. 3 , the default price of $299.95 corresponds to the price shown for the item  142  in  FIG. 2 . The quantity specification tool  321  allows the seller to enter a specified quantity of the item  142  that is available for ordering. In one embodiment, the quantity specification tool  321  may be prepopulated with a default value, e.g., one or some other value. 
         [0043]    The business name specification tool  324  may permit the customer to enter a different name to be used as a business name for identification of the customer as a seller in the electronic marketplace. In one embodiment, the business name specification tool  324  may be prepopulated with a personal name of the customer, e.g., “John Smith.” In various embodiments, the customer may be able to specify other business-related information, such as place of establishment, tax number, etc. The registration submission tool  327  is used to submit the registration form and complete the registration process for the customer as a seller in the electronic marketplace. Further information about terms and conditions agreed to when registering as a seller may be displayed adjacent to the registration submission tool  327  in some embodiments. In addition, a checkbox and/or other user interface components may be provided for the customer to indicate an agreement with the terms and conditions. 
         [0044]    Moving on to  FIG. 4 , shown is a user interface  400  depicting a rendered network page  172   c  rendered in a browser  169  ( FIG. 1 ) executed in a client  106  ( FIG. 1 ) in the networked environment  100  ( FIG. 1 ). In particular, the rendered network page  172   c  depicts one non-limiting example of a seller registration form implementing a non-expedited registration procedure for non-preapproved customers. Like the rendered network page  172   b,  the rendered network page  172   c  may include, for example, an item summary  303 , a payment instrument description  306 , an address description  309 , an item condition selection tool  312 , a condition description specification tool  315 , a price specification tool  318 , a quantity specification tool  321 , a business name specification tool  324 , and a registration submission tool  327 . 
         [0045]    Unlike the rendered network page  172   b,  the payment instrument description  306 , the address description  309 , and the other various tools are not prepopulated based on customer data  139  ( FIG. 1 ) such as addresses  163  ( FIG. 1 ) or payment instruments  148  ( FIG. 1 ). Furthermore, additional data entry fields are provided to obtain information that may already have been associated with a customer in the example of  FIG. 3 . To this end, a name specification tool  403 , an email address specification tool  406 , a password specification tool  409 , and/or other data collection components may be provided. 
         [0046]    A line  410  is shown in  FIG. 4  to indicate that further data collection components may be included as part of the non-expedited registration process but are omitted merely to simplify the illustration of  FIG. 4 . Such data collection components may also collect addresses, cities, states, zip codes, fax numbers, and other information. Such data collection components may be provided within one rendered network page  172   c  or may span multiple rendered network pages  172   c.    
         [0047]    In addition, several components are provided to implement a seller verification task of verifying a telephone number. A telephone number specification tool  412  is provided for the customer to enter a telephone number. A call time selection tool  415  may be provided to allow the customer to select a time at which the telephone number will be called. The call time selection tool  415  may comprise a drop-down box, radio buttons, and/or other user interface components. A verification credential component  418  may be provided for the customer to enter a verification credential provided during the telephone call, for showing a verification credential to the customer for the customer to provide during the call, and/or to facilitate other forms of usage of a verification credential. 
         [0048]    Referring next to  FIG. 5 , shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the seller preapproval application  115  according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart of  FIG. 5  provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the seller preapproval application  115  as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of  FIG. 5  may be viewed as depicting an example method implemented in the computing device  103  ( FIG. 1 ) according to one or more embodiments. 
         [0049]    Beginning with box  503 , the seller preapproval application  115  determines customers of the electronic marketplace who are preapproved to become sellers according to customer data  139  ( FIG. 1 ) indicating a customer history. As non-limiting examples, the seller preapproval application  115  may consider whether a customer has a valid payment instrument  148  ( FIG. 1 ) configured, the number of orders placed by the customer in the order history  151  ( FIG. 1 ), the account longevity  154  ( FIG. 1 ), the item return history  157  ( FIG. 1 ), the variability of shipping addresses  163  ( FIG. 1 ), the value of items  142  ( FIG. 1 ) ordered, and other factors. In one embodiment, whether the customer is preapproved may depend on a category  145  ( FIG. 1 ) of an item  142  to be added, as the proprietor of the electronic marketplace may wish to restrict entry of sellers to certain categories  145 . In box  506 , the seller preapproval application  115  determines whether preapproved customers are to be notified. If the seller preapproval application  115  determines that preapproved customers are not to be notified, the seller preapproval application  115  ends. 
         [0050]    Otherwise, if the seller preapproval application  115  determines that the preapproved customers are to be notified, the seller preapproval application  115  proceeds to box  509 . In box  509 , the seller preapproval application  115  sends notifications to customers who are preapproved to become sellers. The notifications may take the form of an email, an announcement within a network page  127  ( FIG. 1 ), a telephone call, a text message, a direct mailing of printed matter, and/or other forms of communication. Thereafter, the portion of the seller preapproval application  115  ends. 
         [0051]    Moving on to  FIG. 6 , shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the electronic commerce application  121  according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart of  FIG. 6  provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the electronic commerce application  121  as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of  FIG. 6  may be viewed as depicting an example method implemented in the computing device  103  ( FIG. 1 ) according to one or more embodiments. 
         [0052]    Beginning with box  603 , the electronic commerce application  121  determines whether the customer is already a seller in the electronic marketplace. If the customer is already a seller, the electronic commerce application  121  moves to box  606  and generates a network page  127  ( FIG. 1 ) that includes an invitation for the seller to sell an item  142  ( FIG. 1 ). Thereafter, the portion of the electronic commerce application  121  ends. 
         [0053]    If the customer is not already a seller, the electronic commerce application  121  instead moves to box  609  and determines whether the customer is preapproved to register as a seller. If the customer is preapproved to register as a seller, the electronic commerce application  121  proceeds to box  612  and generates a network page  127  including an invitation for the customer to become a seller through an expedited process and to sell an item  142 . Thereafter, the portion of the electronic commerce application  121  ends. 
         [0054]    If the customer is not preapproved, the electronic commerce application  121  moves to box  615  and generates a network page  127  including an invitation for the customer to become a seller through a non-expedited process and to the sell an item  142 . Thereafter, the portion of the electronic commerce application  121  ends. 
         [0055]    Turning now to  FIG. 7 , shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the seller registration application  118  according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart of  FIG. 7  provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the seller registration application  118  as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of  FIG. 7  may be viewed as depicting an example method implemented in the computing device  103  ( FIG. 1 ) according to one or more embodiments. 
         [0056]    Beginning with box  703 , the seller registration application  118  obtains information relating to an item  142  ( FIG. 1 ) to be sold in an electronic marketplace. Such information may relate to the condition, description, price, quantity, and other data associated with an item  142  offered in the electronic marketplace. In box  706 , the seller registration application  118  determines whether the customer is preapproved to register as a seller. The seller registration application  118  may, for example, employ the seller preapproval application  115  ( FIG. 1 ) to make this determination. 
         [0057]    If the customer is not preapproved to register as a seller, the seller registration application  118  begins a non-expedited seller registration process and transitions to box  709 . In box  709 , the seller registration application  118  sends a seller registration form to the customer.  FIG. 4  illustrates one example of such a form. Next, in box  712 , the seller registration application  118  obtains the completed form from the customer. In box  715 , the seller registration application  118  validates customer information. The validation may include verifying a telephone number, email address, bank account, credit card, etc. In box  718 , the seller registration application  118  registers the seller and adds the item  142  to the catalog of the electronic marketplace. Thereafter, the portion of the seller registration application  118  ends. 
         [0058]    If the seller registration application  118  instead determines in box  706  that the customer is preapproved to register as a seller, the seller registration application  118  moves to box  721  and begins an expedited registration procedure. Such a procedure may employ a single selection of one user interface component such as, for example, the seller registration tool  215  in  FIG. 2 , or may involve a more complex form such as, for example, that depicted in  FIG. 3 . In box  721 , the seller registration application  118  determines whether the registration information is to be confirmed by the customer. If the registration information is not to be confirmed by the customer, the seller registration application  118  moves to box  718  and registers the customer as a seller using stored customer data  139  ( FIG. 1 ) and adds the item  142  to the catalog of the electronic marketplace. Thereafter, the portion of the seller registration application  118  ends. 
         [0059]    If the seller registration application  118  instead determines in box  721  that the registration information is to be confirmed by the customer, the seller registration application  118  transitions to box  724  and sends a seller registration form to the customer that has been prepopulated with data from the customer data  139 . The customer may make changes to the prepopulated data or simply accept it as is. In box  727 , the seller registration application  118  obtains a completed form from the customer. Next, in box  718 , the seller registration application  118  registers the customer as a seller using the data from the seller registration form and adds the item  142  to the catalog of the electronic marketplace. Thereafter, the portion of the seller registration application  118  ends. 
         [0060]    With reference to  FIG. 8 , shown is a schematic block diagram of the computing device  103  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing device  103  includes at least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor  803  and a memory  806 , both of which are coupled to a local interface  809 . To this end, the computing device  103  may comprise, for example, at least one server computer or like device. The local interface  809  may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated. 
         [0061]    Stored in the memory  806  are both data and several components that are executable by the processor  803 . In particular, stored in the memory  806  and executable by the processor  803  are the seller preapproval application  115 , the seller registration application  118 , the electronic commerce application  121 , and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory  806  may be a data store  112  and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory  806  and executable by the processor  803 . 
         [0062]    It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored in the memory  806  and are executable by the processors  803  as can be appreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in the form of software, any one of a number of programming languages may be employed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, or other programming languages. 
         [0063]    A number of software components are stored in the memory  806  and are executable by the processor  803 . In this respect, the term “executable” means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor  803 . Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code in a format that can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory  806  and run by the processor  803 , source code that may be expressed in proper format such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a random access portion of the memory  806  and executed by the processor  803 , or source code that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory  806  to be executed by the processor  803 , etc. An executable program may be stored in any portion or component of the memory  806  including, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such as compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other memory components. 
         [0064]    The memory  806  is defined herein as including both volatile and nonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components are those that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatile components are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, the memory  806  may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disks accessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed via an optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tape drive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two or more of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other like memory device. 
         [0065]    Also, the processor  803  may represent multiple processors  803  and the memory  806  may represent multiple memories  806  that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface  809  may be an appropriate network  109  ( FIG. 1 ) that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors  803 , between any processor  803  and any of the memories  806 , or between any two of the memories  806 , etc. The local interface  809  may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor  803  may be of electrical or of some other available construction. 
         [0066]    Although the seller preapproval application  115 , the seller registration application  118 , the electronic commerce application  121 , and other various systems described herein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. These technologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functions upon an application of one or more data signals, application specific integrated circuits having appropriate logic gates, or other components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known by those skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in detail herein. 
         [0067]    The flowcharts of  FIGS. 5-7  show the functionality and operation of an implementation of portions of the seller preapproval application  115 , the seller registration application  118 , and the electronic commerce application  121 . If embodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that comprises program instructions to implement the specified logical function(s). The program instructions may be embodied in the form of source code that comprises human-readable statements written in a programming language or machine code that comprises numerical instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system such as a processor  803  in a computer system or other system. The machine code may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied in hardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s). 
         [0068]    Although the flowcharts of  FIGS. 5-7  show a specific order of execution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ from that which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks may be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shown in succession in  FIGS. 5-7  may be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the blocks shown in  FIGS. 5-7  may be skipped or omitted. In addition, any number of counters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flow described herein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting, performance measurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0069]    Also, any logic or application described herein, including the seller preapproval application  115 , the seller registration application  118 , and the electronic commerce application  121 , that comprises software or code can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor  803  in a computer system or other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by the instruction execution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain the logic or application described herein for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device. 
         [0070]    It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims. 
         [0071]    For the Examiner&#39;s convenience, Applicant notes that this application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/956,669. The claims of the present application are different and possibly, at least in some aspects, broader in scope than the claims pursued in the parent application. To the extent any prior amendments or characterizations of the scope of any claim or cited document made during prosecution of the parent could be construed as a disclaimer of any subject matter supported by the present disclosure, Applicant hereby rescinds and retracts such disclaimer. Accordingly, the references previously presented in the parent applications may need to be revisited.