System and method for tiered pricing for scarce commodities

Abstract

A system and method for tiered pricing for any scarce commodity, such as petroleum products or food stuffs, may be used to ration the scarce commodity. The system and method may use a dual currency transaction system to manage the rationing. In the use case for gas or oil as the scarce commodity, the dual currency system and method and the tiered pricing may also reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere by charging both a monetary price and a carbon price for a product or service wherein the carbon price for each purchasable item (good or service) may correspond to a number of Kg of Co2 emitted by the manufacture/sale/use of the purchasable item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a computer system having a processor and a plurality of instructions executed by the processor that is configured to display a scarce commodity to a purchaser, the scarce commodity being sold by a plurality of vendors and has a baseline tier having a quantity of the scarce commodity purchasable at a baseline price from any of the plurality of vendors;   a regulator computer system, connected to the computer system, that sets the baseline tier quantity of the scarce commodity purchasable by each purchaser;   the processor of the computer system being further configured to:
 receive a transaction in which the purchaser chooses to purchase a particular quantity of the scarce commodity sold by a particular vendor of the plurality of vendors; and 
 charge, when the particular quantity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity, the baseline price for the particular quantity of the scarce commodity. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the scarce commodity has a higher tier that has a higher price for the scarce commodity and wherein the processor of the computer system being further configured to charge the higher price for the scarce commodity when the purchased particular quantity of the scarce commodity exceeds the baseline tier quantity. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to display a purchasable item to the purchaser, the purchasable item having at least one component that is a scarce commodity wherein the purchasable items is sold by each of the plurality of vendors. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve a predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser and charge, when a sum of the particular quantity of the scarce commodity and the predetermined previously purchased quantity of the scarce commodity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity, the baseline price for the particular quantity of the scarce commodity. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the scarce commodity is one of a food stuff, a food, a quantity of water, a service, a fuel, a product that generates green house gases and a service that generates green house gases. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the regulator computer system sets an allocation of the scarce commodity for each purchaser based on one or more characteristics of each purchaser including an age of the purchaser, a gender of the purchaser and a health status of the purchaser. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein a price of the scarce commodity displayed to the purchaser is the higher tier price and wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to rebate the difference between the higher tier price and the baseline tier price when the particular quantity of the scarce commodity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser by retrieving, from a payment processor, the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser by retrieving, from a checkout system of each of the vendors of the plurality of vendors, the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser. 
     
     
         10 . A system, comprising:
 a computer system having a processor and a plurality of instructions executed by the processor that is configured to display a scarce commodity to a purchaser, the scarce commodity being sold by a plurality of vendors and has a baseline tier having a quantity of the scarce commodity purchasable at a baseline price from any of the plurality of vendors;   a regulator computer system, connected to the computer system, that allocates a number of coupons to each purchaser, the number of coupons allows each purchaser to purchase the baseline tier quantity of the scarce commodity;   the processor of the computer system being further configured to:
 receive a transaction in which the purchaser chooses to purchase a particular quantity of the scarce commodity sold by a particular vendor of the plurality of vendors; 
 allow the purchaser to purchase the particular quantity of the scarce commodity when the particular quantity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity indicated by the number of coupons of the purchaser; and 
 reduce the number of coupons of the purchaser based on the particular quantity of the scarce commodity purchased by the purchaser. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to display a purchasable item to the purchaser, the purchasable item having at least one component that is a scarce commodity that is sold by each of the plurality of vendors. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the scarce commodity is one of a food stuff, a food, a quantity of water, a service, a fuel, a product that generates green house gases and a service that generates green house gases. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the regulator computer system sets the number of coupons for each purchaser based on one or more characteristics of each purchaser including an age of the purchaser, a gender of the purchaser and a health status of the purchaser. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein a price of the scarce commodity displayed to the purchaser is the higher tier price and wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to rebate the difference between the higher tier price and the baseline tier price when the particular quantity of the scarce commodity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity. 
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 a computer system having a processor and a plurality of instructions executed by the processor that is configured to display a scarce commodity to a purchaser, the scarce commodity being sold by each of a plurality of vendors in an industry for the scarce commodity and has a baseline tier having a quantity of the scarce commodity purchasable at a baseline price from any of the plurality of vendors;   a regulator computer system, connected to the computer system, that sets the baseline tier quantity of the scarce commodity purchasable by each purchaser;   the processor of the computer system being further configured to:
 receive a transaction in which the purchaser chooses to purchase a particular quantity of the scarce commodity sold by a particular vendor of the plurality of vendors in an industry for the scarce commodity; and 
 charge, when the particular quantity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity, the baseline price for the particular quantity of the scarce commodity. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the scarce commodity has a higher tier that has a higher price for the scarce commodity and wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to charge the higher price when the purchased particular quantity of the scarce commodity exceeds the baseline tier quantity. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to display a purchasable item to the purchaser, the purchasable item having at least one component that is a scarce commodity that is sold by each of the plurality of vendors. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve a predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser and charge, when a sum of the particular quantity of the scarce commodity and the predetermined previously purchased quantity of the scarce commodity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity, the baseline price for the particular quantity of the scarce commodity. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the scarce commodity is one of a food stuff, a food, a quantity of water, a service, a fuel, a product that generates green house gases and a service that generates green house gases. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the regulator computer system sets an allocation of the scarce commodity for each purchaser based on one or more characteristics of each purchaser including an age of the purchaser, a gender of the purchaser and a health status of the purchaser. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein a price of the scarce commodity displayed to the purchaser is the higher tier price and wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to rebate the difference between the higher tier price and the baseline tier price when the particular quantity of the scarce commodity does not exceed the baseline tier quantity. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser by retrieving, from a payment processor, the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor of the computer system is further configured to retrieve the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser by retrieving, from a checkout system of each of the vendors of the plurality of vendors, the predetermined quantity of the scarce commodity previously purchased by the purchaser.