WHOLESALE/TRADE-IN PRICING SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT THEREFOR
Systems, methods and computer program products that determine wholesale prices for durable goods such as used vehicles. In one embodiment, a system includes a computer processor, a network interface, a data storage device, and an output device. The system collects and stores, via the network interface, historical sales information from external data sources. A retail price for a target vehicle is determined based on the collected information. Condition information for the vehicle is collected and used to adjust the retail price to arrive at a wholesale price, which is output to a user. The system may also adjust the price based on repair costs associated with identified vehicle conditions. The system may collect cost information associated with a wholesale sale transaction and deduct these costs and a profit margin from the wholesale price to produce a trade-in price.
1 . A system for determining pricing information, the system comprising:
a computer processor;
a network interface coupled to the processor;
a data storage device coupled to the processor;
an output device coupled to the processor;
wherein the processor is configured to:
collect, via the network interface, historical sales information from one or more data sources external to the system and store the collected historical sales information on the data storage device,
determine a retail price for a target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information,
collect condition information from a user input device, wherein the condition information indicates conditions associated with the target vehicle,
determine one or more price modifications based on the conditions associated with the target vehicle,
determine a wholesale price of the target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information and condition information;
wherein the processor is configured to output the wholesale price to a user via the output device.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
examine the collected condition information;
extract condition terms associated with individual conditions associated with the target vehicle;
associate numeric values with corresponding ones of the extracted terms; and
store the numeric values in the data storage device.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
group together one or more of the condition terms; and
associate numeric values with corresponding groups of the condition terms.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
collect wholesale sale transaction cost information from one or more data sources;
determine a trade-in value of the target vehicle based on the wholesale price and the wholesale sale transaction cost information; and
output the trade-in value to the user via the output device.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to:
collect wholesale sale transaction cost information from a plurality of data sources that are associated with different auction locations;
determine wholesale sale transaction costs associated with the different auction locations;
determine separate trade-in values for each of the different auction locations; and
output the trade-in values for each of the different auction locations to the user via the output device.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
retrieve the historical sales information from one or more wholesale auction databases.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to provide to the user input device a set of graphical user interface screens that enable a user to input the condition information, and wherein condition information input by the user is received by the processor and stored in the data storage device.
8 . A method for determining pricing information, the method comprising:
collecting, by a server computer having a processor and a memory, historical sales information from one or more data sources communicatively connected to the server computer;
storing, by the server computer, the collected historical sales information on a data storage device;
determining, by the server computer, a retail price for a target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information;
collecting, by the server computer, condition information from a user input device communicatively connected to the server computer, wherein the condition information indicates conditions associated with the target vehicle;
determining, by the server computer, one or more price modifications based on the conditions associated with the target vehicle;
determining, by the server computer, a wholesale price of the target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information and condition information;
outputting, by the server computer, the wholesale price to a user via an output device.
9 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:
examining the collected condition information;
extracting condition terms associated with individual conditions associated with the target vehicle;
associating numeric values with corresponding ones of the extracted terms; and
storing the numeric values in the data storage device.
10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:
grouping together one or more of the condition terms; and
associating numeric values with corresponding groups of the condition terms.
11 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:
collecting wholesale sale transaction cost information from one or more data sources'
determining a trade-in value of the target vehicle based on the wholesale price and the wholesale sale transaction cost information; and
outputting the trade-in value to the user via the output device.
12 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
collecting wholesale sale transaction cost information from a plurality of data sources that are associated with different auction locations;
determining wholesale sale transaction costs associated with the different auction locations;
determining separate trade-in values for each of the different auction locations; and
outputting the trade-in values for each of the different auction locations to the user via the output device.
13 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:
retrieving the historical sales information from one or more wholesale auction databases.
14 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:
providing to the user input device a set of graphical user interface screens that enable a user to input the condition information, wherein condition information input by the user is stored in the data storage device.
15 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that are translatable by a server computer to perform:
collecting historical sales information from one or more data sources communicatively connected to the server computer;
storing the collected historical sales information on a data storage device;
determining a retail price for a target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information;
collecting condition information from a user input device, wherein the condition information indicates conditions associated with the target vehicle;
determining one or more price modifications based on the conditions associated with the target vehicle;
determining a wholesale price of the target vehicle based on the collected historical sales information and condition information; and
outputting the wholesale price to a user via an output device.
16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:
examining the collected condition information;
extracting condition terms associated with individual conditions associated with the target vehicle;
associating numeric values with corresponding ones of the extracted terms; and
storing the numeric values in the data storage device.
17 . The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the computer instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:
grouping together one or more of the condition terms and associating numeric values with corresponding groups of the condition terms.
18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:
collecting wholesale sale transaction cost information from one or more data sources;
determining a trade-in value of the target vehicle based on the wholesale price and the wholesale sale transaction cost information; and
outputting the trade-in value to the user via the output device.
19 . The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the computer instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:
collecting wholesale sale transaction cost information from a plurality of data sources that are associated with different auction locations;
determining wholesale sale transaction costs associated with the different auction locations;
determining separate trade-in values for each of the different auction locations; and
outputting the trade-in values for each of the different auction locations to the user via the output device.
20 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:
providing to the user input device a set of graphical user interface screens that enable a user to input the condition information, wherein condition information input by the user is stored in the data storage device.