Trading intermediary device, trading intermediary method, and trading intermediary program

Abstract

The objective is to provide intermediary technology for buying and selling that supports appropriate price formation in auctions. [Solution] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a sales brokerage device having a processing unit that performs the following: receiving a first bid request for listing information of a target vehicle from a first bidder terminal; displaying bid price information indicating the bid price range of the first bid request on a second bidder terminal; and receiving a second bid request for the target vehicle transmitted from the second bidder terminal by referring to the bid price information.

Description

Technical Field

[0005]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a trading intermediation device, a trading intermediation method, and a trading intermediation program.

Background Art

[0002] With the recent spread of information and communication technologies, digital transformation (DX) has advanced in various business fields. Even in the used car trading market, DX has been introduced into the intermediation process of purchasing and selling used cars between buyers and sellers.

[0003] In used car trading using a typical used car trading auction site or the like, the seller of the used car registers vehicle information such as the vehicle model, model year, mileage, vehicle image, etc. of the vehicle to be sold on the used car trading auction site and makes it viewable to site participants. When a site participant who has viewed the vehicle information on the used car trading auction site wants to consider purchasing the vehicle, for example, a bid request is sent via the used car trading auction site together with the bid price. The used car trading auction site typically selects the bidder who has presented the highest bid price as the winning bidder and matches the seller and the winning bidder.

[0004] For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-222338 describes a used car trading system that enables an individual to list a used car in an auction while keeping the trading commission low without going through an agency. In this used car trading system, after a predetermined bidding period has elapsed, a user who has entered the winning bid price, which is the highest bid price, is认定 as the winning bidder, and the seller and the winning bidder are matched.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In traditional auctions, information about the vehicles being offered, such as the manufacturer, model, year, mileage, optional equipment, and vehicle images, is posted on the vehicle brokerage system. Bidders view the information about the vehicles provided by the vehicle brokerage system. Once they find a vehicle they want, they specify their bid price and send a bid request for that vehicle to the vehicle brokerage system.

[0007] In conventional vehicle auction systems, bidders determined their bid price and submitted their bid request without checking the bidding status of the target vehicle. As a result, some bidders may submit excessively high bids compared to other bidders, winning the vehicle at a high price, while others may submit excessively low bids, missing out on the opportunity to win the auction.

[0008] In light of the problems described above, one objective of this disclosure is to provide a sales brokerage technology that supports appropriate price formation in auctions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] One aspect of this disclosure relates to a sales brokerage device having a processing unit that performs the following actions: receiving a first bid request for listing information of a target vehicle from a first bidder terminal; displaying bid price information indicating the bid price range of the first bid request on a second bidder terminal; and receiving a second bid request for the target vehicle transmitted from the second bidder terminal by referring to the bid price information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide a trading intermediary technology that supports appropriate price formation in auctions. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1]Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a sales brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a trading brokerage system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a trading brokerage device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a trading brokerage device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows a listing request screen according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows bid acceptance information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows a screen displaying the bid results according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sales brokerage process using an escrow method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0013] In the following embodiment, a sales brokerage device for mediating the buying and selling of vehicles such as used cars is disclosed.

[0014] [Summary of this disclosure] The sales intermediary device 100, according to the embodiment described later, operates a vehicle brokerage site that mediates the buying and selling of vehicles between site participants using an auction system. As shown in Figure 1, when the sales intermediary device 100 receives a listing request from a seller's user terminal (hereinafter referred to as the seller terminal) 20, which includes vehicle information such as the manufacturer name, model, year, mileage, optional equipment, and vehicle images of the vehicle to be listed, it displays the listing information with the said vehicle information on the vehicle brokerage site and accepts bid requests for each listed vehicle from site participants.

[0015] In the following embodiments, the trading intermediation device 100 discloses a listing request screen showing the listing information of the target vehicle to the bidder terminal 30 via the vehicle intermediation site, and displays bid price information showing the distribution of the bid price ranges of the bid requests for the target vehicle received from each bidder terminal 30 on the listing request screen. For example, the bid price information may be displayed in any display format such as a graph or numerical data showing the distribution of the bid prices of the received bid requests. Such bid price information may be updated at any update timing such as every reception of a predetermined number of bid requests or at predetermined time intervals.

[0016] The bidder refers to the listing information and bid price information of each vehicle posted on the vehicle intermediation site, specifies a bid price on the user terminal (hereinafter referred to as the bidder terminal) 30, and transmits a bid request for the target vehicle to the trading intermediation device 100. Thereby, the bidder can determine his / her own bid price by referring to the bid price range of the bid price information generated from the received bid requests, and can avoid specifying a bid price with a low possibility of winning the bid or a bid price that is too high. In this way, the trading intermediation device 100 can possibly assist in forming an appropriate price for the target vehicle.

[0017] [Trading Intermediation System] First, a trading intermediation system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a trading intermediation system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the trading intermediation system 10 includes a seller terminal 20, user terminals (hereinafter referred to as bidder terminals, winning bidder terminals, etc.) 30 of site participants such as bidders, bidder candidates, and winning bidders, and a trading intermediation device 100. Each user terminal 20, 30 and the trading intermediation device 100 are communicatively connected via a network 50 such as the Internet. Further, the trading intermediation device 100 is communicatively connected to a financial institution server 40 for depositing and withdrawing the purchase price of the vehicle, etc.

[0018] Each of the user terminals 20 and 30 is realized by any information processing device such as a personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The user terminals 20 and 30 are communicatively connected to an information processing device such as the transaction mediation device 100 or another server via the network 50, and use, for example, a vehicle mediation service provided by an information processing device such as the transaction mediation device 100 or another server.

[0019] The transaction mediation device 100 is realized by any information processing device such as a server or a personal computer. The transaction mediation device 100 is communicatively connected to the user terminals 20 and 30 and / or the financial institution server 40 etc. via the network 50, operates a vehicle mediation site for mediating vehicle sales, and realizes transaction mediation processing as described in detail below.

[0020] Here, the transaction mediation device 100 is realized by a computing device such as a server or a personal computer, and may have, for example, a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 3. That is, the transaction mediation device 100 has a memory 101, a storage 102, a processor 103, a communication device 104, a user interface (UI) device 105, and a peripheral device interface 106 that are interconnected via a bus B.

[0021] A program or instruction for realizing various functions and processes described later in the transaction mediation device 100 is stored in a removable storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk - Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and is stored in the memory 101 and / or the storage 102 via the peripheral device interface 106. However, the program or instruction does not necessarily have to be installed from the storage medium, and may be downloaded from any external device via the network 50 or the like.

[0022] The memory 101 is realized by a random access memory, a static memory, etc., and when a program or instruction is started, reads and stores the program or instruction, data, etc. from the storage 102.

[0023] The storage 102 is implemented by a hard disk drive or the like and stores files, data, etc., used to execute the installed program or instructions, along with the program or instructions themselves. The memory 101, storage 102, and removable storage medium may be collectively referred to as non-transitory storage medium.

[0024] The processor 103 may be implemented by one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units), GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), processing circuits, etc., which may consist of one or more processor cores, and executes various functions and processes of the trading intermediary device 100, as described later, according to data such as programs, instructions, and parameters necessary to execute said programs or instructions stored in the memory 101.

[0025] The communication device 104 is realized by various communication circuits that perform communication processing with external devices, the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), WLAN (Wireless LAN), WiFi, and other networks 50.

[0026] The user interface (UI) 105 may consist of input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, camera, and microphone; output devices such as a (head-mounted) display, speaker, headset, and printer; and input / output devices such as a touch panel, and realizes an interface between the user and the trading intermediary device 100. For example, the user operates the trading intermediary device 100 by operating a GUI (Graphical User Interface) displayed on a (head-mounted) display or touch panel using a keyboard, mouse, etc.

[0027] The peripheral device interface 106 provides various interfaces for connecting to peripheral devices such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports and HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) ports.

[0028] However, the hardware configuration described above is merely an example, and the trading intermediary device 100 according to this disclosure may be implemented by any other suitable hardware configuration.

[0029] [Trading intermediary device] Next, a trading intermediary device 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the trading intermediary device 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the trading intermediary device 100 has a storage unit 110 and a processing unit 120. For example, one or more functional units of the storage unit 110 and the processing unit 120 may be realized by one or more processors 103 executing one or more programs or instructions stored in the memory 101.

[0030] The storage unit 110 stores various information and data used in the trading brokerage process executed by the trading brokerage device 100, and in response to access requests for various information and data from the processing unit 120, it passes the requested information and data to the processing unit 120. The storage unit 110 also stores intermediate data and output results generated by the processing unit 120 during and after the execution of the trading brokerage process.

[0031] The processing unit 120 acquires various information and data stored in the storage unit 110, executes the trading brokerage process, and stores the intermediate data and output results generated during and after execution in the storage unit 110. Each process in the trading brokerage process executed by the processing unit 120 is realized by the processing unit 120 executing the trading brokerage program.

[0032] [Buying and selling brokerage processing] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a buy / sell brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The buy / sell brokerage process is performed by the buy / sell brokerage device 100 described above, and more specifically, it may be realized by one or more processors 103 of the buy / sell brokerage device 100 executing one or more programs or instructions stored in one or more memories 101.

[0033] In step S101, the processing unit 120 receives a listing request from the seller terminal 20. Specifically, the seller uses the seller terminal 20 to access the vehicle brokerage site and requests to list the vehicle for auction on the listing request screen of the vehicle brokerage site. When sending the listing request, the processing unit 120 requests the seller to enter the vehicle information of the vehicle for auction. The seller enters vehicle information related to the vehicle for auction, such as the manufacturer, model, year, mileage, vehicle inspection expiration date, and vehicle images, on the listing request screen and sends the listing request to the sales brokerage device 100. Note that these are merely examples of vehicle information, and the vehicle information disclosed herein may include any other data items related to the vehicle.

[0034] In step S102, the processing unit 120 displays listing information corresponding to the received listing request. Specifically, the processing unit 120 displays listing information for each target vehicle in response to the received listing request on the bidder terminal 30 and solicits bids for the listed vehicles from bidders. The listing information displayed on the vehicle brokerage site may include vehicle information for the target vehicle, as well as bid price information indicating the bid price range specified in the bid request received for that target vehicle.

[0035] For example, the processing unit 120 may display a listing request screen, as shown in Figure 6, on the bidder terminal 30. The listing request screen shown in Figure 6 displays vehicle information received from the seller terminal 20 of the vehicle in question, bid price information P, bid deadline, bid price input space, and a bid application button.

[0036] As illustrated, the bid price information P may be displayed as a graph showing the distribution of bid prices and visually indicating the number of bids in each bid price range. However, the bid price information provided herein is not necessarily limited to this, and any other display format of bid price information may be applied. For example, a table format of bid price information showing the number of bids in each bid price range may be applied. Alternatively, bid price information in graph or table format showing the bid ratio in each bid price range, i.e., the percentage of the number of bids relative to the total number of bids, may be displayed in the listing information.

[0037] By referring to this kind of bid price information, bidders can determine an appropriate bid price.

[0038] In step S103, the processing unit 120 receives a bid request from the bidder terminal 30. Specifically, the bidder views the listing information for each vehicle posted on the vehicle brokerage site on the bidder terminal 30, and when they find a desired vehicle, they enter their desired bid price in the bid price input space on the listing request screen for that vehicle on the vehicle brokerage site and press the bid request button. Upon detecting that the bid request button has been pressed, the processing unit 120 stores the bid price and bid request entered on the bidder terminal 30 in association with the listing information for the vehicle.

[0039] For example, the processing unit 120 stores and manages each bid request received from the bidder terminal 30 in bid acceptance information. The bid acceptance information may be stored in the storage unit 110 in a data structure such as that shown in Figure 7. As shown in the figure, the bid acceptance information may include data items such as "bid acceptance ID", "acceptance date and time", "user ID", "listing acceptance ID", and "bid price".

[0040] Here, “Bid Acceptance ID” indicates the identification information that identifies each bid request. “Acceptance Date and Time” indicates the date and time when each bid request was received from the bidder terminal 30. “User ID” indicates the identification information that identifies the bidder. “Listing Acceptance ID” indicates the identification information that identifies each listing request. “Bid Price” indicates the bid price specified in each bid request.

[0041] In step S104, the processing unit 120 determines whether the bidding deadline for the target vehicle has expired. If the bidding deadline has expired (S104: YES), the processing unit 120 proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if the bidding deadline has not expired (S104: NO), the processing unit 120 proceeds to step S105. Step S104 may be executed at any update timing, such as each time a bid request is received in step S103, each time a predetermined number of bid requests are received, or at predetermined time intervals. This update timing may typically be set by the operator of the vehicle brokerage site.

[0042] In step S105, the processing unit 120 updates the bid price information based on the received bid requests. Specifically, the processing unit 120 refers to the bid reception information stored in the storage unit 110 to identify the bid requests received up to the present for the target vehicle and aggregates the bid price range for each bid request. The processing unit 120 then calculates the number of bids and the percentage of bids belonging to each bid price range and updates the bid price information showing the number of bids and the percentage of bids for each bid price range.

[0043] Subsequently, the processing unit 120 proceeds to step S102 and updates the listing information so that the updated bid price information is displayed again on the bidder terminal 30 of the bidder. Here, the updated bid price information may be made viewable not only by prospective bidders who have not yet submitted a bid, but also by bidders who have already submitted a bid. After proceeding to step S102, the processing unit 120 may further accept changes to the bid price of bid requests from bidder terminals 30 that have referred to the updated bid price information, up to a predetermined acceptance deadline such as the bidding deadline.

[0044] In other words, if a bidder, after referring to the updated bid price information, determines that their initial bid price is lower than that of other bidders and that their chances of winning the bid are low, they may wish to change their bid price to a higher one based on the updated bid price information. The processing unit 120 may also accept changes to the bid price from the bidder terminal 30 until a predetermined acceptance deadline, such as the bidding deadline.

[0045] Alternatively, if a bidder, after reviewing the updated bid price information, determines that their initial bid was too high compared to other bidders, they may wish to change their bid to a lower price based on the updated information. The processing unit 120 may accept changes to bid prices from the bidder terminal 30 until a predetermined acceptance deadline, such as the bidding deadline. In this way, it becomes possible to converge to a reasonable winning bid price that takes into account the bid prices of multiple bidders.

[0046] In step S106, the processing unit 120 selects a successful bidder from the received bid requests. Specifically, the processing unit 120 may refer to the bid acceptance information, which stores the bid requests received by the bid deadline, to identify a predetermined number of bid requests that offer the highest bid prices, and select the bidders of the identified predetermined number of bid requests as the successful bidders for the vehicle in question.

[0047] The predetermined number of bidders to be selected as the successful bidder may be specified by the operator of the vehicle brokerage system, the seller, etc. For example, if the predetermined number is set to "1", the bidder who submits the highest bid price may be selected as the successful bidder. Alternatively, if the predetermined number is set to "3", the bidders who submit the top three bid prices may be selected as the successful bidder.

[0048] The processing unit 120 may transmit bidder information about the successful bidder to the seller terminal 20 and seller information about the seller to the successful bidder terminal 30. For example, the successful bidder information provided to the seller terminal 20 may be displayed on the auction results screen, as shown in Figure 8, by each successful bidder's "User ID", "Username", "Address / Contact Information", and "Winning Bid Price". In the illustrated example, three successful bidders have been selected, and the predetermined number is set to "3". The seller information provided to the successful bidder terminal 30 may also be displayed on the auction results screen, as shown in Figure 8, by the seller's "User ID", "Username", and "Address / Contact Information".

[0049] Subsequently, the sales brokerage process is terminated. The processing unit 120 may further perform sales brokerage processing for the vehicle between the seller and the successful bidder. For example, the processing unit 120 may perform processing to realize the transfer of the vehicle and the purchase price between the seller and the successful bidder using an escrow system.

[0050] For example, as shown in Figure 9, in step S201, the seller and the successful bidder conclude a sales contract for the vehicle in question. At this time, the processing unit 120 may, for example, provide an electronic contract service to the seller terminal 20 and the successful bidder terminal 30. Specifically, the processing unit 120 may create a sales contract for the vehicle in question based on the contract details agreed upon between the seller and the successful bidder, send it to the seller terminal 20 and the successful bidder terminal 30, and request electronic signatures on the sales contract. Once the processing unit 120 has obtained electronically signed sales contracts from both the seller and the successful bidder, it may store and manage the electronically signed sales contracts in the storage unit 110.

[0051] In this way, a neutral operator provides both the seller and the successful bidder with a fair and reliable sales contract, enabling secure transactions between them. Furthermore, the sales intermediary device 100 can know the contents of the sales contract for the vehicle in question, set and manage the schedule for each step, such as the payment of the purchase price and the handover of the vehicle, and notify the seller and the successful bidder of the progress and schedule of each step in a timely manner. After the sales contract is concluded, the successful bidder first deposits the purchase price into the bank account of the operator of the vehicle intermediary site.

[0052] In step S202, the processing unit 120 receives a payment notification from the financial institution server 40 and / or the successful bidder terminal 30 indicating that the payment for the vehicle has been received.

[0053] In step S203, the processing unit 120 sends a payment receipt notification to the seller terminal 20 indicating that it has received the payment from the successful bidder. This payment receipt notification may include information requesting that the vehicle and accompanying documents (such as the vehicle registration certificate) be handed over to the successful bidder by a specified deadline.

[0054] In Step S204, the seller hands over the vehicle to the successful bidder.

[0055] In step S205, the successful bidder sends a vehicle receipt notification to the sales intermediary device 100 indicating that they have received the vehicle, and the processing unit 120 receives the vehicle receipt notification from the successful bidder terminal 30. Upon receiving the vehicle receipt notification, the processing unit 120 begins preparing to transfer the purchase price received in step S202 to the seller.

[0056] In step S206, the processing unit 120 transfers the purchase price to the seller's bank account. Specifically, the processing unit 120 instructs the financial institution server 40 to transfer the purchase price or the amount after deducting a predetermined fee to the seller's bank account, and sends a purchase price transfer notification to the seller's terminal 20 indicating that the purchase price has been transferred to the seller's bank account.

[0057] In this way, the processing unit 120 can implement the sales brokerage process using the escrow method, enabling the safe transfer of the vehicle and the purchase price between the seller and the successful bidder. It should be noted that the sales brokerage process by the sales brokerage device 100 is not necessarily limited to the escrow method described above, and may follow other methods.

[0058] According to the aforementioned sales intermediary device 100 and sales intermediary processing, bidders can determine their own bid price by referring to the bid price range of the bid price information generated from the received bid requests, thereby avoiding specifying a bid price that has a low probability of success or a bid price that is too high. In this way, it is possible to support the formation of an appropriate price for the target vehicle.

[0059] Although embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above, this disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of this disclosure as described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 10. Buying and Selling Brokerage System 20,30 User terminals 40 Financial Institution Servers 100 Trading intermediary device 110 Storage section 120 Processing Unit

Claims

1. The first bidder terminal receives the first bid request for the auction information of the target vehicle, The bid price information indicating the bid price range of the first bid request is displayed on the second bidder terminal, The system accepts a second bid request for the target vehicle transmitted from the second bidder terminal with reference to the aforementioned bid price information, The successful bidder will be selected from a predetermined number of bidders who submitted the highest bid prices from among the submitted bid requests. To prepare a sales contract based on the terms of the agreement reached between the successful bidders who have agreed to the sale of the subject vehicle from among the predetermined number of successful bidders and the seller, and to provide the sales contract to the successful bidders and the seller, To obtain the aforementioned sales contract electronically signed by the successful bidder and the aforementioned seller, A trading intermediary device having a processing unit that performs the following actions.

2. The sales brokerage device according to claim 1, wherein the bid price information shows the distribution of bid prices for the first bid request.

3. The sales brokerage device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit further updates the bid price information to show the bid price range between the first bid request and the second bid request.

4. The aforementioned processing unit further, After the conclusion of the sales contract between the seller and the successful bidder, the seller receives a notification of payment of the purchase price from the successful bidder for the vehicle in question, The seller's terminal will receive a notification indicating that the purchase price has been received from the successful bidder, and will request that the vehicle be handed over to the successful bidder. The successful bidder receives a vehicle receipt notification from their terminal indicating that they have received the aforementioned vehicle, The aforementioned purchase price will be transferred to the aforementioned seller, A sales brokerage device according to claim 1, which performs the following actions.

5. The first bidder terminal receives the first bid request for the auction information of the target vehicle, The bid price information indicating the bid price range of the first bid request is displayed on the second bidder terminal, The system accepts a second bid request for the target vehicle transmitted from the second bidder terminal with reference to the aforementioned bid price information, The successful bidder will be selected from a predetermined number of bidders who submitted the highest bid prices from among the submitted bid requests. To prepare a sales contract based on the terms of the agreement reached between the successful bidders who have agreed to the sale of the subject vehicle from among the predetermined number of successful bidders and the seller, and to provide the sales contract to the successful bidders and the seller, To obtain the aforementioned sales contract electronically signed by the successful bidder and the aforementioned seller, A method of brokering buying and selling transactions, where the process is performed by a computer.

6. The first bidder terminal receives the first bid request for the auction information of the target vehicle, The bid price information indicating the bid price range of the first bid request is displayed on the second bidder terminal, The system accepts a second bid request for the target vehicle transmitted from the second bidder terminal with reference to the aforementioned bid price information, The successful bidder will be selected from a predetermined number of bidders who submitted the highest bid prices from among the submitted bid requests. To prepare a sales contract based on the terms of the agreement reached between the successful bidders who have agreed to the sale of the subject vehicle from among the predetermined number of successful bidders and the seller, and to provide the sales contract to the successful bidders and the seller, To obtain the aforementioned sales contract electronically signed by the successful bidder and the aforementioned seller, A trading brokerage program that causes a computer to execute commands.

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