Patent ID: 8352357

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a server computer, first data from a remote seller computer over a network, wherein the first data comprises: location information for the remote seller; and one or more shipping preferences of the remote seller, wherein the shipping preferences comprise any one of, or some combination of: (i) a flat fee, (ii) a fee set by the seller, (iii) one or more rates charged by one or more common carriers, (iv) a distance between the seller location and the buyer location, (v) size of the item, (vi) weight of the item, (vii) free shipping, and (viii) one or more dimensions of the item; storing the first data in a database; receiving, at the server computer, second data from a remote buyer computer over a network, wherein the second data corresponds to location information for the remote buyer; storing the second data in a database; receiving, at the server computer, third data from the remote seller computer over a network, wherein the third data corresponds to a price of an item that is offered for sale on an online auction website; storing the third data in a database; determining, for the remote buyer, a shipping rate for the item, wherein the step of determining the shipping rate comprises: retrieving, from the database, the first data corresponding to the one or more shipping preferences of the remote seller; retrieving, from the database, the second data corresponding to the location information for the remote buyer; determining an applicable tax factor for the item that is offered for sale on the online auction website based, at least in part, on the location information for the remote buyer, by: identifying, from the second data corresponding to location information of the remote buyer, a state associated with the buyer; and determining a tax rate corresponding to the state associated with the remote buyer for the purchase of the item; calculating the shipping rate of the item based at least in part on the one or more shipping preferences of the remote seller; and providing to the remote buyer computer over the network the shipping rate of the item that is offered for sale on the online auction website.