Patent ID: 8001058

Claim:
A method, utilizing a computing device, for evaluating the performance of a seller, comprising: storing information relating to one or more sales transactions by a seller obtained by facilitating the transactions for the seller, wherein the information relating to one or more sales transactions by the seller includes information from a source other than buyers of items from the seller; retrieving, using the computing device, stored information relating to a plurality of factors including at least one factor other than a buyer rating, wherein the stored information includes the information from the source other than buyers of items from the seller, to be incorporated in a score assessing the performance of the seller; identifying, using the computing device, a portion of the retrieved information relating to a distinguished factor of the plurality of factors that is unresolved, the unresolved portion relating to completion, with respect to a cancellation or a timing of a delivery, by the seller of the sale of a distinguished item to a distinguished buyer; transmitting over a network to the distinguished buyer of the distinguished item a request for additional information relating to completion by the seller of the sale of the distinguished item that resolves the unresolved distinguished factor; receiving over the network additional information from the distinguished buyer, the additional information relating to completion by the seller of the sale of the distinguished item that resolves the unresolved distinguished factor; and generating, using the computing device, a score assessing the performance of the seller using both the retrieved information and the received additional information, wherein the score is calculated based at least in part on the at least one factor other than the buyer rating and the received additional information from the buyer relating to completion by the seller of the sale of the distinguished item and corresponding weighting factors, wherein the score is used, at least in part, in determining how the seller is promoted in an online marketplace.