System and method for the analysis of pricing data including pricing flexibility for vehicles and other commodities

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein can provide consumers with an effective tool for evaluating the negotiability of prices for vehicles in the marketplace. The tool may include a negotiability index which determines flexibility in vehicle pricing. Specifically, a method may obtain data from multiple sets of vehicle models, construct a price flexibility model to estimate an average price range for each set of models, determine a negotiability index using the average price range, and generate an interface to present the negotiability index. In one embodiment, the price flexibility model incorporates a plurality of factors.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 performing, by a vehicle data system running on one or more server machines:   obtaining data associated with a plurality of vehicles of a set of vehicle models;   constructing a price flexibility model using the data associated with the plurality of vehicles of the set of vehicle models previously obtained over a period of time;   running the price flexibility model to produce a predicted price range value for a vehicle model of the set of vehicle models; and   determining a price negotiability of the vehicle model utilizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating an interface to present the price negotiability of the vehicle model to a user.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 normalizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model using a manufacturer's suggested retail price for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the normalizing the predicted price range value produces a price flexibility score for the vehicle model and wherein the price flexibility score measures an elasticity of a price of the vehicle model relative to other vehicle models in the set of vehicle models. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 running the price flexibility model to produce price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models; and   creating an index using the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the creating the index further comprises:
 ranking the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models; and   assigning values in the index uniformly across the ranked price flexibility scores.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the creating the index further comprises:
 normalizing the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models to a scale.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by at least one processor to perform:
 obtaining data associated with a plurality of vehicles of a set of vehicle models;   constructing a price flexibility model using the data associated with the plurality of vehicles of the set of vehicle models previously obtained over a period of time;   running the price flexibility model to produce a predicted price range value for a vehicle model of the set of vehicle models; and   determining a price negotiability of the vehicle model utilizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 generating an interface to present the price negotiability of the vehicle model to a user.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 normalizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model using a manufacturer's suggested retail price for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 running the price flexibility model to produce price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models; and   creating an index using the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the index is created by ranking the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models and assigning values in the index uniformly across the ranked price flexibility scores. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the index is created by normalizing the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models to a scale. 
     
     
         14 . A system, comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:   obtaining data associated with a plurality of vehicles of a set of vehicle models;   constructing a price flexibility model using the data associated with the plurality of vehicles of the set of vehicle models previously obtained over a period of time;   running the price flexibility model to produce a predicted price range value for a vehicle model of the set of vehicle models; and   determining a price negotiability of the vehicle model utilizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 generating an interface to present the price negotiability of the vehicle model to a user.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 normalizing the predicted price range value for the vehicle model using a manufacturer's suggested retail price for the vehicle model.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the normalizing the predicted price range value produces a price flexibility score for the vehicle model and wherein the price flexibility score measures an elasticity of a price of the vehicle model relative to other vehicle models in the set of vehicle models. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium stores further instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
 running the price flexibility model to produce price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models; and   creating an index using the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the index is created by ranking the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models and assigning values in the index uniformly across the ranked price flexibility scores. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the index is created by normalizing the price flexibility scores for the set of vehicle models to a scale.