Patent ID: 7966240

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for calculating comparison values for evaluating a commercial transaction, the method comprising: receiving, at a computer, at least one request for quote from a buyer agent, wherein the request for quote includes a product specification data set that identifies a number of items that differ in accordance with at least one parameter; transmitting, by a computer, the product specification data set to one or more seller agents; receiving, at a computer, a plurality of price data sets from the one or more seller agents, wherein each price data set identifies items and prices for the items in response to the product specification data set, and wherein at least one of the price data sets identifies an item having a different parameter value as compared to the item in another price data set; generating, by a computer, a comparison value for each price data set by: determining a price total from the price data set; for each of the items in the price data set: obtaining metric data from at least one source, wherein the metric data includes price data indicative of a market price for the item and comprises a comparable price for the item; and based on the comparable price for the item, calculating a market price total for the item in the price data set; calculating a summed market price total for the price data set by summing the market price totals for each of the items in the price data set; and generating the comparison value by comparing the summed market price total to the price total that is determined from the price data set; and communicating, by a computer, the comparison value to at least one output.