Patent ID: 7827056

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving an indication of at least one item in a shopping cart that a customer is ready to purchase from a first merchant via a web site; allowing a second merchant to intervene in the purchase of the at least one item by the customer from the first merchant by providing, in response to the received indication, an offer for a benefit from the second merchant, the step of providing the offer being performed before the at least one item is purchased, in which providing the offer comprises transmitting to the customer a web page including an indication of the at least one item in the shopping cart, an indication of an associated total price for the at least one item, a first selectable web page element associated with a first option for the customer to pay the associated total price for the at least one item, and a second selectable web page element associated with a second option for the customer to receive an offer for a reduction of the associated total price, in which the offer comprises an offer from the second merchant to have the at least one item provided to the customer for an amount less than the associated total price in exchange for the customer agreeing to sign up for a service with the second merchant and in which the service is not one of the at least one item to be purchased from the first merchant, and in which the offer is not provided unless and until the indication of the at least one item that the customer is to purchase from the first merchant is received; receiving from the customer via the web page a signal indicating selection by the customer of the second selectable web page element; and applying the benefit to the at least one item in response to the received signal, in which applying the benefit comprises selling the at least one item to the customer for a second price, the second price being less than the first price.