Network-based commerce facility offer management methods and systems

Abstract

Various embodiments include systems, methods, and software to manage offers in a network-based commerce system. One embodiment includes providing sellers an option when listing an item for sale to receive best offers for the item from buyers. This embodiment further includes receiving best offers submitted by offerees via the network-based commerce system and notifying sellers of received best offers. Some embodiments further include providing sellers an option to accept, reject, or ignore the individual best offers received. In some such embodiments, ignored best offers expire after a period, such as 48 hours. Yet further embodiments include notifying offerees of acceptance or rejection of their submitted best offers.

1 . A method comprising:
 retrieving, from a database, a record related to an item to be transacted via a computer system, the record including:
 a published item price at which the seller is willing to sell the item under a buyout transaction format, 
 an offer indication that a seller of the item is willing to accept an offer from a seller under an offer transaction format; and 
 a communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item; 
   generating a user interface, using the record, to include the communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item and a first user-selectable interface component which is user-selectable by a user to initiate submission of an offer for the item to the buyer under the offer transaction format, the initiation of the submission of the offer including sending an email message from the computer system to the buyer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a user interface, using the record, to include the communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item and a second user-selectable interface component which is user-selectable by a user to transmit a communication message from the computer system to the buyer.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first user-selectable interface component is a hyperlink. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the initiation of the submission of the offer includes generating a further user interface component that includes an offer price input field. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , including generating the user interface to include an offer price input field. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , including, responsive to user-selection of the second user-selectable interface component, submitting an offer for the item at a price different from the published item price to the computer system for transmission to the seller. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the submitted offer includes an offer price entered into the offer price input field. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the offer price input field automatically includes a generated price offer suggestion. 
     
     
         9 . A server system comprising:
 a retrieval module, executing on one or more computer processors, to retrieve, from a database, a record related to an item to be transacted via a computer system, the record including:
 a published item price at which the seller is willing to sell the item under a buyout transaction format, 
 an offer indication that a seller of the item is willing to accept an offer from a seller under an offer transaction format; and 
 a communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item; 
   a first generation module, executing on one or more computer processors, to generate a user interface, using the record, to include the communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item and a first user-selectable interface component which is user-selectable by a user to initiate submission of an offer for the item to the buyer under the offer transaction format, the initiation of the submission of the offer including sending an email message from the computer system to the buyer.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a second generation module, executing on one or more computer processors, to generate a user interface, using the record, to include the communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item and a second user-selectable interface component which is user-selectable by a user to transmit a communication message from the computer system to the buyer.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first user-selectable interface component is a hyperlink. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the initiation of the submission of the offer includes generating a further user interface component that includes an offer price input field. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , including, a submission module, executing on one or more computer processors, to, responsive to user-selection of the second user-selectable interface component, submit an offer for the item at a price different from the published item price to the computer system for transmission to the seller. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the submitted offer includes an offer price entered into the offer price input field. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the offer price input field automatically includes a generated price offer suggestion. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when read by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
 retrieving, from a database, a record related to an item to be transacted via a computer system, the record including:
 a published item price at which the seller is willing to sell the item under a buyout transaction format, 
 an offer indication that a seller of the item is willing to accept an offer from a seller under an offer transaction format; and 
 a communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item; 
   generating a user interface, using the record, to include the communication message from a buyer indicating potential user interest in purchasing the item and a first user-selectable interface component which is user-selectable by a user to initiate submission of an offer for the item to the buyer under the offer transaction format, the initiation of the submission of the offer including sending an email message from the computer system to the buyer.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first user-selectable interface component is a hyperlink. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the initiation of the submission of the offer includes generating a further user interface component that includes an offer price input field. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , including, a submission module, executing on one or more computer processors, to, responsive to user-selection of the second user-selectable interface component, submit an offer for the item at a price different from the published item price to the computer system for transmission to the seller. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the submitted offer includes an offer price entered into the offer price input field.