Patent ID: 7792699

Claim:
A retailing method executable by a computer system, said method comprising: sending a page from said computer system to a prospective purchaser in response to a request, said page being associated with a specific product; said computer system receiving a purchase proposal from said prospective purchaser for direct joint purchase of said product at a fixed price, the purchase proposal including identifier information of plural other persons nominated by the prospective purchaser and purchase term information selected at least in part by the prospective purchaser, said nominated plural other persons being nominated to contribute to said direct purchase of said product at said fixed price such that the direct joint purchase of said product can only be made by one or more of said nominated persons, and said purchase proposal being formulated in part by the prospective purchaser nominating a contribution scheme selected from a plurality of contribution schemes provided by said computer system, each scheme being a different way to divide the exact purchase price among the participants; sending terms of the purchase proposal using said computer system to the nominated persons, the terms sent to each nominated person including the identity and/or contribution of each of the other nominated persons and a request for payment; said computer system receiving, in response to said request for payment, respective payment information from two or more of the nominated persons; said computer system processing said payment information using the mechanism of direct debit pre-authorized payments to secure a hold in respect of at least one contribution; said computer system initiating payment requests to enable the direct joint purchase to be completed in accordance with the said purchase term information; and said computer system ensuring that the sum of all received payments equals said fixed price.