Integrating third party shopping cart applications with an online payment service

Abstract

A method may include receiving at an online payment service hosted on a first system, detailed information from an auction management (AM) system, the AM system hosted on a second system remote from the first system. The information may concern an item purchased by a user from a network-based commerce facility and placed in a virtual shopping cart on the AM system. The detailed information may be sent by the AM system in response to receiving an intent to proceed with payment for the item. A user interface may be communicated to the user that facilitates processing of the payment for the item. The processing may include marking the payment as being an AM payment. The interface may allow the user to view the detailed information and the detailed information describing contents of the virtual shopping cart on the AM system.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving via a communications network, at an online payment service hosted on a first system, detailed information from an auction management (AM) system, the AM system hosted on a second system remote from the first system, concerning one or more items placed in a virtual shopping cart on the AM system, the one more items purchased by a user from one or more network-based commerce facilities, the detailed information being sent by the AM system in response to receiving an indication of a user intent to proceed with a payment for the one or more items; and   upon receiving the detailed information from the AM system, communicating to the user via the communications network one or more user interfaces that facilitate processing of the payment for the one or more items, the processing including marking the payment as being an AM payment, the one or more user interfaces allowing the user to view the detailed information, and the detailed information describing contents of the virtual shopping cart on the AM system.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more network-based commerce facilities comprise at least one online auction facility. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the detailed information is selected, for each of the one or more items purchased by the user from the at least one online auction, from the group consisting of an auction facility specifier, an auction buyer identifier, an auction item number, an item name, an item price, and an item quantity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 upon processing the payment for the one or more items, transferring information pertaining to the payment to the at least one online auction facility.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one online auction facility displays paid status for the one or more items. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication of the user intent to proceed with the payment is received when the user clicks an add-to-cart button on an AM web site. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more user interfaces comprise a login user interface to facilitate user input of personal information and a payment confirmation user interface to facilitate user input confirming the payment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the payment confirmation user interface displays the contents of the virtual shopping cart; and the login user interface includes a link to the contents of the virtual shopping cart. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon processing the payment for the one or more items, presenting to the user a transaction details user interface displaying information concerning the payment and the contents of the virtual shopping cart.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual shopping cart is a third party shopping cart. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the online payment service, a request from an administrator to view transaction details for payment transactions initiated using one or more virtual shopping carts; and   presenting to the administrator transaction details that list all payment transactions initiated using the one or more virtual shopping carts.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing the detailed information in a database for the online payment service.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 updating usage information for the virtual shopping cart responsive to marking the payment as being an AM payment, the usage information stored in the database.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the usage information includes a dollar volume and a number of times a payment is marked as being an AM payment. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus comprising:
 an AM interface to receive via a communications network, from an auction management (AM) system hosted on a first system, detailed information concerning one or more items placed in a virtual shopping cart on the AM system, the one or more items purchased by a user from one or more network-based commerce facilities, the detailed information being sent by the AM system in response to receiving an indication of a user intent to proceed with a payment for the one or more items; and   a payment processor, hosted on a second system remote from the first system, to communicate, upon receiving the detailed information from the AM system, to the user via the communications network one or more user interfaces that facilitate processing of the payment for the one or more items, the processing including marking the payment as being an AM payment, and the one or more user interfaces allowing the user to view the detailed information.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more network-based commerce facilities comprise at least one online auction facility. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the detailed information is selected, for each of the one or more items purchased by the user from the at least one online auction, from the group consisting of an auction facility specifier, an auction buyer identifier, an auction item number, an item name, an item price, and an item quantity. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the payment processor is further to transfer information pertaining to the payment to the at least one online auction facility. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one online auction facility displays paid status for the one or more items. 
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 one or more network-based commerce facilities, each of the one or more network-based commerce facilities to implement a transaction system that facilitates business transactions pertaining to one or more items of a first user;   an auction management (AM) system hosted on a first system, coupled to the one or more network-based commerce facilities via a communications network, to assist the first user with activities on the one or more network-based commerce facilities and the AM system to provide a virtual shopping cart in which a second user places one or more items of the first user;   a client, coupled to the one or more network-based commerce facilities and the AM system via the communications network, to present user interface information that facilitates processing of a payment of the second user for the one or more items of the first user placed in the virtual shopping cart; and   a payment processing system, hosted on a second system remote from the first system, coupled to the one or more network-based commerce facilities, the AM system, and the client via the communications network, to receive detailed information concerning the one or more items of the first user placed in the virtual shopping cart from the AM system, and to communicate to the second user via the communications network one or more user interfaces that facilitate processing of the payment of the second user for the one or more items of the first user, the one or more user interfaces allowing the second user to view the detailed information.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more network-based commerce facilities comprise at least one online auction facility. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the detailed information is selected, for each of the one or more items purchased by the second user from the at least one online auction, from the group consisting of an auction facility specifier, an auction buyer identifier, an auction item number, an item name, an item price, and an item quantity. 
     
     
         23 . A computer readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
 receiving via a communications network, at an online payment service hosted on a first system, detailed information from an auction management (AM) system, the AM system hosted on a second system remote from the first system, concerning one or more items placed in a virtual shopping cart on the AM system, the one or more items purchased by a user from one or more network-based commerce facilities, the detailed information being sent by the AM system in response to receiving an indication of a user intent to proceed with a payment for the one or more items; and   upon receiving the detailed information from the AM system, communicating to the user via the communications network one or more user interfaces that facilitate processing of the payment for the one or more items, the processing including marking the payment as being an AM payment, and the one or more user interfaces allowing the user to view the detailed information.