Patent ID: 7617128

Claim:
An apparatus for coordinating data exchanged in a product sale transaction, the apparatus comprising: a network for carrying data; a server, corresponding to a host and operably connected to the network to host data corresponding to online transactions, a plurality of buyer computers connecting to the network and each corresponding to a buyer having a buyer identifier; a plurality of seller computers connecting to the network and each corresponding to a seller having a seller identifier; each buyer computer of the plurality of buyer computers further programmed to communicate to the server purchase requests, each comprising a product identifier, a price, funding information, shipping information, and a buyer identifier; each seller computer of the plurality of seller computers further programmed to communicate to the server product records, each comprising a product identifier, a price, shipping information, and a seller identifier; the server further programmed to receive, from a buyer computer of the plurality of buyer computers, data linking a first purchase request of the purchase requests to a second purchase request of the purchase requests; and the server, further programmed to receive the first and second purchase request, both the first and second purchase requests corresponding to products identifiable as being of a type, but the product having distinct differences selected from manufacturer, brand name, and model; the server, further programmed to access a plurality of product records, wherein at least two products records correspond to a product the type, but each respective one of the at least two product records corresponds to a product of a different designation, selected from brand, manufacturer, and model, the different designations reflecting distinctive products, not objectively equal, but subjectively comparable by the first buyer with respect to a cost-to-value relationship perceived buy the buyer; the server, further programmed to remove for the first buyer the risk of making multiple matches for the first and second purchase requests by removing automatically one of the first and second purchase requests immediately upon matching the other thereof.