Patent ID: 8041453

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing, in a memory of a vending machine, an indication of a first price and an indication of a second price associated with a single receptacle of the vending machine, the receptacle being operable to store a plurality of units of products, wherein the indication of the first price comprises an indication that a unit of product next available for vending from the receptacle is available for inclusion in a package of products, wherein the indication of the second price comprises an indication that a unit of product next available for vending from the receptacle is not available for inclusion in a package of products, and wherein only one of the indication of the first price and the indication of the second price is active at a time; and storing, in the memory of the vending machine, a rule for determining which one of the indication of first price and the indication of the second price is to be active, the rule being a rule based at least on inventory data of the vending machine.