Patent ID: 7392227

Claim:
An initial value-setting system for setting the initial available numbers of times of unitary use of prepaid available number-of-times-of-unitary-use storage media for a plurality of users who make use of a certain toll or pay service, the initial value-setting system comprising: a means for receiving purchase-application data on each medium including its purchase date and time through a communication network, a storage area storing the opening date and time of advance sale of the media, a storage area storing the closing date and time of the advance sale, a storage area storing the closing date and time of ordinary sale, as distinct from the advance sale, of the media, and a storage area storing a target annual sales of the media, a storage area storing a selling price of the media, a storage area storing a toll expressed in a number of times of unitary use of the service, a storage area storing a most preferential initial number of times of unitary use applicable to media purchased during the advance sale, and a storage area storing sales to date from the opening date and time of the advance sale to the purchase date and time of each medium, an initial value-setting means for setting the initial numbers of media with purchase dates and times between the opening and closing dates and times of the advance sale higher than those of media with purchase dates and times between the closing dates and times of the advance and ordinary sales the initial value-setting means having: a function f 1 to calculate the number of days from the closing date and time of the advance sale to the purchase date and time of each media, a function f 2 to calculate a preferential initial number of times of unitary use at the purchase date and time of said medium based on the number of days, the most preferential initial number of times of unitary use, and the toll, a function f 4 to a function f 3 to calculate the ratio of the preferential initial number of times of unitary use of said medium to the target annual sales of the media, and calculate the final initial number of times of unitary use for said medium based on the ratio and the sales at the purchase date and time of said medium, wherein the sales to date comprise total sales to the plurality of users, and wherein the larger the total sales to date is, the larger the initial number of times of unitary use is set, and the more the total sales to date increases, the more the initial number of times of unitary use increases.