Patent ID: 7647243

Claim:
An electronic marketplace system comprising: a computer network comprising at least one communication channel, said at least one communication channel configured to: (a) communicatively couple a plurality of consignment nodes with a plurality of remote computers; (b) transfer to the plurality of consignment nodes item information including text and photographs of an item to be posted for presentation for sale transmitted from one or more of the plurality of remote computers; (c) electronically present an item for sale to at least one participant; and (d) receive a payment from the at least one participant to purchase the item for sale; at least one posting terminal configured to: (a) create a data record including the item information of the item to be posted for presentation for sale at the electronic marketplace; (b) create a two tier pricing scheme where a first tier price is offered to a first entity under a first pricing scheme and a second tier price is offered to a second entity under a second pricing scheme, wherein the second price offered under the second pricing scheme is different from the first price offered under the first pricing scheme; a database system configured to store the data record including the item information of the item presented for sale; and an integrated transaction processor configured to: (a) process the payment received from the at least one participant; and (b) lock the data record of the item presented for sale after processing the payment.