Patent ID: 8392273

Claim:
A system comprising: a market maker computer to facilitate an internet-accessible virtual market for goods via which seller-participants, using a client computer, can post goods to be offered for sale, and buyer-participants can, using a client computer, search or browse the goods having been posted to the virtual market hosted at the market maker computer; the market maker computer including a transaction processor for processing a transaction involving the sale of a good from a seller-participant to a buyer-participant, the transaction processor to interface with one or more external payment systems to facilitate payments between buyer-participants and seller-participants by transferring funds between accounts and by debiting and crediting accounts; and the market maker computer including an accounts database to store information concerning cash balances for participant accounts and to facilitate investments in highly liquid, safe assets for funds of any positive cash balance in a participant account, thereby providing an interest bearing account for use in transactions entered into via the virtual market.