Systems and methods to facilitate transactions

Abstract

Systems and methods to facilitate programmatic access to a network-based commerce facility via a network are described. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a request from a third party application via the network at the network based commerce facility. The request performs an action pertaining to electronic commerce and being one of a plurality of requests recognized by the network-based commerce facility. In responsive to the request, the method performs the action pertaining to the electronic commerce and communicates from a result of the action from the network-based commerce facility to the third party application in a programmatically accessible format.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, at a server, a request from a third-party application, the third-party application operating at a host computer, the request being based on communication between at least one of a first plurality of client devices and the third-party application, the request identifying an action that performs, at least in part, an indirect transaction between the server and the at least one of the first plurality of client devices via the respective third-party application, the request further comprising access token that uniquely identifies the associated third-party application;   determining the associated third party application is authorized based on the access token;   performing, by the server, one or more actions corresponding to the request; and   communicating, via a programmatic access application, one or more results of the one or more actions to the respective third-party application.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action is any one of registering as a user, selling, trading, buying, obtaining information, submitting information, updating submitted information, facilitating payment, and accessing a user profile on the server. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action includes at least one auction transaction occurring on the server. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one client device is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the indirect transaction interacts with a database of the server. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more results include information to be interpreted by an interpreter and to be arranged into a customized user interface that provides specialized operations designed for specific business needs. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the access token indicates that the associated third-party application is authorized to use the call function. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein an extensible Markup Language (XML) parser parses the one or more results, at least one of the results being an XML document. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more results are transmitted from the server to the respective third-party application in a first data format, wherein the first data format comprises an XML format, the method further comprising:
 communicating, using a second data format, via the programmatic access application, with at least one of a second plurality of client devices, the second data format causing a direct transaction between the server and the at least one of the second plurality of client devices, wherein the second data format comprises an HTML format.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first data format is an XML specification having customized tags. 
     
     
         12 . A computer readable non-transitory medium comprising instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause the processor to facilitate programmatic access to a server via a network, the instructions performing a method comprising:
 receiving, at a server, a request from a third-party application, the third-party application operating at a host computer, the request being based on communication between at least one of a first plurality of client devices and the third-party application, the request identifying an action that performs, at least in part, an indirect transaction between the server and the at least one of the first plurality of client devices via the respective third-party application, the request further comprising access token that uniquely identifies the associated third-party application;   determining the associated third party application is authorized based on the access token;   performing, by the server, one or more actions corresponding to the request; and   communicating, via a programmatic access application, one or more results of the one or more actions to the respective third-party application.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the action is any one of registering as a user, selling, trading, buying, obtaining information, submitting information, updating submitted information, facilitating payment, and accessing a user profile on the server. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the action includes at least one auction transaction occurring on the server. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein at least one client device is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the indirect transaction interacts with a database of the server. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more results include information to be interpreted by an interpreter and to be arranged into a customized user interface that provides specialized operations designed for specific business needs. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the access token indicates that the associated third-party application is authorized to use the call function. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein an extensible Markup Language (XML) parser parses the one or more results, at least one of the results being an XML document. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable memory of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more results are transmitted from the server to the respective third-party application in a first data format, wherein the first data format comprises an XML format, the method further comprising:
 communicating, using a second data format, via the programmatic access application, with at least one of a second plurality of client devices, the second data format causing a direct transaction between the server and the at least one of the second plurality of client devices, wherein the second data format comprises an HTML format.   
     
     
         21 . The computer readable memory of  claim 20 , wherein the first data format is an XML specification having customized tags.