Patent ID: 7072857

Claim:
A method for establishing and brokering a transaction between purchasers and vendors over a wide area computer network, the method comprising the steps of: providing a database of vendor information to at least one potential purchaser for review by said potential purchaser, said vendor information comprising descriptions of the goods and services offered by a plurality of vendors; providing a request for proposal (RFP) template to said at least one potential purchaser over said wide area computer network; receiving RFP information from said at least one potential purchaser into said RFP template, over said wide area computer network, said RFP information comprising a description of the goods and services required by said at least one potential purchaser; comparing said description of the goods and services required by said at least one potential purchaser in said RFP information with said descriptions of the goods and services offered by said plurality of vendors in said vendor database, said comparing step carried out automatically by computer; identifying vendors in said vendor database offering goods and services similar to said goods and services required by said at least one potential purchaser, said identifying step carried out automatically by computer; generating a sub-list of potential vendors identified in said identifying step for review by said at least one potential purchaser; selecting at least one of said potential vendors from said generated sub-list to receive said RFP information, said selecting step carried out by said at least one potential purchaser; communicating said RFP information to said selected potential vendors; communicating a response from at least one of said selected potential vendors to said at least one potential purchaser, said response comprising a proposal to provide goods and services to said at least one potential purchaser at a specified price and according to specified terms; and communicating an acceptance or a rejection from said at least one potential purchaser to said at lease one of said selected potential vendors.