Conditional purchase offer management system
View Patent ↗A conditional purchase offer (CPO) management system is disclosed for receiving CPOs from one or more customers, such as airline passengers, and for evaluating the received CPOs against a number of CPO rules defined by a plurality of sellers, such as airlines, to determine whether any seller is willing to accept a given CPO. A CPO is a binding offer containing one or more conditions submitted by a customer for purchase of an item, such as airline travel, at a customer-defined price. A CPO rule is a set of restrictions defined by a given seller, such as an airline, to define a combination of restrictions for which the seller is willing to accept a predefined price. The CPO rules may be securely stored by one or more servers. The CPO management system permits a seller to correct for forecasting errors, if necessary, or other competitive forces which have produced excess capacity, by providing inventory for sale to CPO customers.
1. A method for using a computer to process the sale of goods or services, comprising:
receiving a conditional purchase offer including an offer price from a customer for purchasing goods or services;
receiving a payment identifier specifying a financial account for use in providing guaranteed payment for said goods or services if said conditional purchase offer is accepted;
accessing seller defined rules that define conditional purchase offer acceptance/rejection parameters;
applying the accessed seller defined rules to compare said conditional purchase offer with seller inventory and pricing information to determine if said conditional purchase offer is acceptable; and
if said conditional purchase offer is unacceptable,
(a) transmitting a rejection of said conditional purchase offer to said customer;
(b) processing the conditional purchase offer to determine whether to apply a repeated conditional purchase offer deterrence action; and
(c) if it is determined that a deterrence action is necessary, taking an action to deter the customer from submitting multiple conditional purchase offers for said goods or services.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditional purchase offer includes an expiration date.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said seller-defined rules include seller inventory and pricing information.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the seller-defined rules are stored in at least one of a computer reservation system and an airline reservation system.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said financial account is a debit account.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said financial account is a credit account.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising pre-authorizing said offer price of said conditional purchase offer with a financial clearinghouse.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising authenticating said conditional purchase offer prior to consideration thereof.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said authenticating of said conditional purchase offer includes acceptance of a customer credit card number.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said taking an action to deter includes limiting additional conditional purchase offers containing a progressively increasing price.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said taking an action to deter includes limiting additional conditional purchase offers that a customer can submit within a predefined period of time.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said goods or services includes at least one of an airline ticket, an automobile, insurance, computer equipment and a hotel accommodation.
13. A method for using a computer to process the sale of goods or services, comprising:
receiving a first conditional purchase offer including an offer price from a customer for purchasing goods or services;
receiving a payment identifier specifying a financial account for use in providing guaranteed payment for said goods or services if said first conditional purchase offer is accepted;
accessing seller defined rules that define conditional purchase offer acceptance/rejection parameters;
applying the accessed seller defined rules to compare said first conditional purchase offer with seller inventory and pricing information to determine if said first conditional purchase offer is acceptable; and
if said first conditional purchase offer is unacceptable,
(a) transmitting a rejection of said first conditional purchase offer to said customers
(b) processing the first conditional purchase offer to determine whether to apply a repeated conditional purchase offer deterrence action; and
(c) if it is determined that a deterrence action is necessary, taking an action to deter the customer from submitting a second conditional purchase offer with an increased offer price for said goods or services within a predetermined period of time after transmitting a rejection of said first conditional purchase offer.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said seller-defined rules include seller inventory and pricing information.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said seller-defined rules are stored in at least one of a computer reservation system and an airline reservation system.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein said financial account is a debit account.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein said financial account is a credit account.
18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising authenticating said first conditional purchase offer prior to consideration thereof.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said authenticating of said first conditional purchase offer includes acceptance of a customer credit card number.
20. The method of claim 13 , wherein said goods or services includes at least one of an airline ticket, an automobile, insurance, computer equipment and a hotel accommodation.