Patent ID: 7996273

Claim:
A method associated with a print merchant for matching a plurality of orders of a first type for print products, with a plurality of print service providers capable of fulfilling said orders, said method comprising: receiving, by a print merchant computer, a request for an order identification; issuing, by the print merchant computer, an order identification in response to said request; receiving, by the print merchant computer, an order of said first type for supply of print products; acknowledging, by the print merchant computer, said received first type order; in response to said received first type order, selecting, by the print merchant computer, a print service provider from said plurality of print service providers, wherein the selecting from said plurality of print service providers is based on price quotes from corresponding ones of said plurality of print service providers, based on contractual provisions of contracts between the print merchant and corresponding ones of said plurality of print service providers, and based on corresponding delivery times supported by said print service providers of said print products specified by said received first type order; placing, by the print merchant computer, an order of a second type with at least said selected print service provider, for ordering supply of said print products specified by said received first type order.