Apparatus to provide liquid funds in the online auction and marketplace environment
A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to implement a lending system for use with electronic commerce web sites such as auction sites. A seller may receive a cash loan for items placed for sale but not yet purchased by a buyer. The seller can be required to pay back the loan after a predetermined amount of time or as soon as the item for sale is sold and payment is received from the buyer. The lender would charge interest or commission for the loan. In this manner, sellers can receive cash for items listed on auction sites before those items are actually sold, generating additional cash flow for the seller.
1. A system to transfer a loan amount of a loan to a seller who lists an item for sale on an e-commerce web site, the system comprising:
a lending server to communicate with an e-commerce server hosting the e-commerce web site, the e-commerce web site comprising web pages that allows sellers to list goods for sale and allows buyers to bid on or purchase the goods for sale;
the lending server being in communication with a lending database that stores credit profiles of parties comprising respective credit information; and
the lending server being in communication with a financial processing application to initiate transfer of funds using a computer communications network,
wherein the lending server is configured to retrieve a credit profile associated with the seller from the lending database and make a determination, based on at least both the credit profile and on characteristics of the seller's sales history on the e-commerce web site, whether to approve the loan to the seller, and upon approval, notify the seller the loan is available and terms of the loan, and upon acceptance by the seller, use the financial processing application to transfer the loan amount to the seller,
wherein the seller is permitted to use the loan amount to improve the seller's cash flow or other purpose.
2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether to approve the loan also takes into consideration characteristics of the item for sale by the seller on the e-commerce web site with which the loan would be associated.
3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the loan is secured by the item.
4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein when the seller sells the item via the e-commerce web site, payment for the item is paid directly to an account associated with the lending server.
5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein if the lending server determines to approve the loan, the lending server triggers an alert that appears on the seller's computer indicating availability of the loan and prompting the seller for acceptance or refusal.
6. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein the alert is a pop-up window.
7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether to approve the loan is based in part on the seller's sales volume on the e-commerce web site.
8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether to approve the loan is based in part on the seller's feedback rating on the e-commerce web site.
9. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein a lending pool of money is maintained to fund loans which comprises the loan, wherein the lending pool is funded in part by investing sellers using the e-commerce web site who transfer at least some of their funds to the lending pool.