Trading brokerage device, trading brokerage method, trading brokerage program, and trading brokerage system

Abstract

The objective is to provide technology that improves the security of transactions between buyers and sellers. [Solution] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a sales intermediary device having a processing unit that performs the following: confirming the payment of the sales price for a vehicle to be transferred from a first user of a first user terminal to a second user of a second user terminal; transmitting a payment notification from the second user indicating the payment of the sales price to the first user terminal; receiving a receipt notification from the second user terminal indicating the receipt of the vehicle from the first user; and performing settlement processing for the sale.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sales brokerage device, a sales brokerage method, a sales brokerage program, and a sales brokerage system.

Background Art

[0002] With the spread of information and communication technology in recent years, digital transformation (DX) has been progressing in various business fields. DX has also been introduced in the used car trading market for intermediary processing of used car purchase and trading between buyers and sellers.

[0003] For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-149320 describes a used car trading system that improves the reliability of vehicle information provided by sellers. In this used car trading system, it is described that vehicle information including information on defects of a vehicle to be listed is acquired, information on an evaluation result obtained by evaluating the vehicle information by a third party capable of providing vehicle maintenance services is acquired, and predetermined information including an evaluation result regarding defects of the vehicle among the evaluation result information is transmitted to a purchase applicant.

Prior Art Literature

Patent Literature

[0004]

Patent Literature 1

Summary of the Invention

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In existing used car trading systems, while matching between sellers and buyers and exchange of information are facilitated, the problem still exists that sellers have anxiety about the transfer of trading price, and buyers also have concerns over the risk of delivery of vehicles and documents.

[0006] An object of one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a technique for improving the safety of trading between sellers and buyers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of this disclosure relates to a sales intermediary device having a processing unit that performs the following actions: confirming the payment of the sales price for a vehicle to be transferred from a first user of a first user terminal to a second user of a second user terminal; transmitting a payment notification from the second user indicating the payment of the sales price to the first user terminal; receiving a receipt notification from the second user terminal indicating receipt of the vehicle from the first user; and executing a settlement process for the sale. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This disclosure provides technology to improve the security of transactions between buyers and sellers. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a trading brokerage system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a trading brokerage device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a trading intermediary device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a sales brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows vehicle sales information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] Figures 6A, 6B, and 6C show user records, contract records, and loan balance records according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0011] In the following embodiment, a sales intermediary device for mediating the buying and selling of vehicles such as used cars between a seller and a buyer is disclosed.

[0012] [Summary of this disclosure] In the embodiment described later, when the sales intermediary device 100 confirms that the purchase price for the sale between the seller and buyer of a vehicle has been deposited into a designated bank account (for example, the bank account of the operator of the sales intermediary device 100, the bank account of another trusted entity, or a bank account opened specifically for the sale) or by card payment, it sends a deposit notification to the seller's user terminal indicating that the purchase price has been received from the buyer. When the sales intermediary device 100 receives a vehicle receipt notification from the buyer's user terminal indicating that the vehicle and related documents have been received from the seller, it determines that the receipt of the purchase price and the delivery of the vehicle have been completed and executes the settlement process for the sale.

[0013] Specifically, the sales intermediary device 100 performs a deposit process to transfer the purchase price or the purchase price minus prescribed fees, etc., to the bank account designated by the seller as the recipient of the transfer as part of the settlement process. Alternatively, if the seller purchased the vehicle on loan and there is an outstanding loan balance at the time of the sale, the sales intermediary device 100 may perform a balance repayment process as part of the settlement process, that is, a deposit process to transfer the outstanding balance amount to the bank account designated by the loan company, and may also perform a deposit process to transfer the purchase price minus the outstanding balance amount or the amount minus prescribed fees, etc.

[0014] In this way, by using the intermediary device 100, the seller of a vehicle can hand over the vehicle to the buyer after confirming receipt of the purchase price from the buyer, and the buyer of a vehicle can send the purchase price to the seller after receiving the vehicle, allowing both the buyer and seller to conduct the sale of a vehicle with peace of mind.

[0015] [Sales Brokerage System] First, a sales brokerage system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the sales brokerage system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the sales brokerage system 10 includes a seller's user terminal 20, a buyer's user terminal 30, and a sales brokerage device 100. The user terminals 20, 30 and the sales brokerage device 100 are communicatively connected via a network 40 such as the Internet.

[0016] Note that, although only one seller's user terminal 20 and one buyer's user terminal 30 are shown in the illustrated sales brokerage system 10, in the sales brokerage system 10 according to the present disclosure, the sales brokerage device 100 is communicatively connected to a plurality of seller user terminals and a plurality of buyer user terminals via the network 40, and can mediate each sales transaction between a plurality of sellers and a plurality of buyers.

[0017] The user terminals 20 and 30 are implemented by any information processing device such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet. The user terminals 20 and 30 are communicatively connected to the sales brokerage device 100 or another information processing device such as a server via the network 40, and for example, use a vehicle matching service for used cars or the like provided by the sales brokerage device 100 or another information processing device such as a server, and use the sales brokerage processing according to the present disclosure after matching is achieved and a vehicle sales contract is concluded.

[0018] Typically, a seller uses a vehicle matching site to post vehicle images, vehicle information, and the like of a vehicle desired to be sold on the Internet. When a buyer finds a vehicle that the buyer wants to purchase among the vehicles desired to be sold posted on the vehicle matching site, for example, the buyer may submit a request for negotiation with the seller to the vehicle matching site, or post a desired purchase price or a purchase offer price. When matching between the seller and the buyer is achieved and a vehicle sales contract between the seller and the buyer is concluded, the seller and the buyer use the sales brokerage service provided by the sales brokerage device 100 as described later.

[0019] Note that the matching between a seller and a buyer and the conclusion of a vehicle sales contract are not necessarily limited to the above-described example, and may be performed by any other method. For example, the seller and the buyer may meet and conclude a vehicle sales contract by any other method such as introduction by a third party such as an intermediary, and the sales intermediation service described later may be used after the conclusion of the vehicle sales contract.

[0020] The sales intermediation device 100 is implemented by any information processing device such as a server or a personal computer. The sales intermediation device 100 is communicatively connected to user terminals 20, 30 and / or other servers or the like via a network 40, and provides the sales intermediation service described later.

[0021] Further, in order to execute deposit and withdrawal processing of the purchase price pertaining to a vehicle sales contract, the sales intermediation device 100 exchanges information with an information processing device such as a financial institution server 50 that operates a financial settlement service provided by any financial institution.

[0022] The financial institution server 50 may be any server that implements a financial settlement service. The sales intermediation device 100 is communicatively connected to the financial institution server 50 via the network 40, and uses various financial settlement services such as transaction history inquiry and transfer. For example, when a deposit is made to the bank account of the sales intermediation company, the sales intermediation device 100 receives a deposit notification indicating the deposit amount and the name of the deposit source from the financial institution server 50, or transmits a remittance instruction to another bank account to the financial institution server 50.

[0023] Here, the sales intermediation device 100 is implemented by a computing device such as a server or a personal computer, and may have a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is, the sales intermediation device 100 includes 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.

[0024] The programs or instructions that implement the various functions and processes described later in the trading intermediary device 100 are stored on a removable storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) or flash memory, and are stored in the memory 101 and / or storage 102 via the peripheral device interface 106. However, the programs or instructions do not necessarily have to be installed from the storage medium; they may also be downloaded from any external device via the network 40 or the like.

[0025] Memory 101 is implemented using random access memory, static memory, etc., and when a program or instruction is activated, it reads the program or instruction, data, etc. from storage 102 and stores it.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] 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 40.

[0029] The user interface (UI) 105 may consist of input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, camera, and microphone, output devices such as a 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 display or touch panel with a keyboard, mouse, etc.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] [Trading intermediary device] Next, a trading intermediary device 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Figure 3 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 3, 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a sales brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the sales brokerage process according to this embodiment is realized by three entities: a seller's user terminal 20, a buyer's user terminal 30, and a sales brokerage device 100 operated by a sales brokerage company.

[0036] In step S101, a buyer who has viewed the vehicle information of a vehicle that a seller wishes to sell, registered on a vehicle matching site or the like, operates, for example, the buyer's user terminal 30 to send a request for a vehicle appraisal to the seller's contact email address or phone number. The seller who accepts the request for a vehicle appraisal uses their own user terminal 20 or the like to send a message to the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating that they accept the request for a vehicle appraisal, and thus agrees to the buyer's request for a vehicle appraisal.

[0037] Once the buyer appraises the vehicle they wish to sell and the seller agrees to the appraised price, a vehicle sales contract is concluded between the seller and the buyer. After the vehicle sales contract is concluded, the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30 transmit vehicle sales information, such as the contract details and payment method, to the sales intermediary device 100.

[0038] For example, vehicle sales information includes vehicle type, seller information (e.g., seller's name, company name, address, contact information, bank account information, etc.), buyer information (e.g., buyer's name, company name, address, contact information, bank account information, etc.), and sales contract information (e.g., contract date, sales price, etc.). Furthermore, if the seller purchased the vehicle with a loan and there is still an outstanding loan balance, the vehicle sales information may also include loan balance information (e.g., loan company name, outstanding loan amount, repayment deadline, etc.).

[0039] For example, such vehicle sales information may be structured according to the data structure shown in Figure 5. Specifically, each vehicle sales record consists of a vehicle sales contract ID that identifies each vehicle sales contract, a vehicle type indicating the type of vehicle being sold (e.g., car manufacturer, vehicle type, year of manufacture, vehicle number, etc.), seller information, buyer information, sales contract information (e.g., contract date of the vehicle sales contract, agreed sales price of the vehicle, account for deposit of sales payment, etc.), and, if there is an outstanding loan balance, loan balance information (e.g., loan company, outstanding balance amount, deadline for lump-sum repayment of the outstanding balance, etc.). If there is no outstanding loan balance, NULL is entered in the loan balance information.

[0040] The storage unit 110 stores vehicle sales information. When a vehicle brokerage request is received from a seller and / or buyer, the processing unit 120 updates the vehicle sales information based on the received request and stores the latest vehicle sales information in the storage unit 110. When the vehicle brokerage is completed, the processing unit 120 may delete the corresponding vehicle sales record from the vehicle sales information or set a deletion flag, updating the vehicle sales information in the storage unit 110 to reflect the latest state.

[0041] In the vehicle sales information shown in Figure 5, the vehicle sales record with ID "001" consists of vehicle type "CT53", seller information "USR301", buyer information "USR683", sales contract information "X01", and loan balance information "NULL".

[0042] The vehicle type indicates that the vehicle is a "CT53" model. For example, the vehicle type may also indicate information items such as the vehicle's manufacturer, model, year, and grade.

[0043] Seller information "USR301" and buyer information "USR683" are user records identified by a user ID consisting of information items such as the seller's or buyer's name or company name, address, contact information, and account information. For example, each user record may consist of a data structure as shown in Figure 6A.

[0044] The sales contract information "X01" is a sales contract record identified by a contract ID consisting of information items such as the contract date of the vehicle sales contract, the agreed sales price of the vehicle, and the account to which the sales price will be deposited. For example, each sales contract record may consist of a data structure as shown in Figure 6B. Note that since the outstanding loan balance information is "NULL", it is registered that there is no outstanding loan balance.

[0045] On the other hand, the vehicle sales record for ID "002" consists of vehicle type "CM90", seller information "USR764", buyer information "USR441", sales contract information "X02", and outstanding loan balance information "F560".

[0046] Loan balance information "F560" indicates that there is an outstanding loan balance and is identified by a loan balance ID consisting of information items such as the loan company, the outstanding balance amount, and the deadline for lump-sum repayment of the outstanding balance. For example, each loan balance record may consist of a data structure as shown in Figure 6C.

[0047] In step S102, the buyer deposits the purchase price into a bank account designated by the intermediary company. For example, this bank account may be opened specifically for each vehicle sales contract. When the processing unit 120 receives a deposit notification from the financial institution indicating that the buyer has made a deposit into the bank account, it determines whether the deposit amount matches the sales amount in the sales contract information in the vehicle sales information stored in the storage unit 110. If the deposit amount matches the agreed-upon sales amount, it confirms that the buyer has made a deposit of the purchase price. The intermediary company then temporarily pools the purchase price in the bank account or another bank account of the intermediary company, and the processing unit 120 proceeds to step S103. On the other hand, if the deposit amount does not match the sales amount, the processing unit 120 notifies the relevant parties of the erroneous deposit that the deposit amount does not match the sales amount.

[0048] In step S103, the processing unit 120 sends a payment notification to the seller's user terminal 20 indicating that the buyer has paid the purchase price. The payment notification may also include instructions to the seller to hand over the vehicle to the buyer. Upon receiving the payment notification, the seller can confirm that the purchase price for the vehicle has been paid by the buyer and prepare to hand over the vehicle to the buyer. This payment notification may also be sent to the buyer's user terminal 30.

[0049] In step S104, the seller hands over the vehicle to the buyer. This handover may include not only the vehicle itself but also accompanying documents such as the vehicle registration certificate. The buyer may re-examine the vehicle's condition upon handover and determine if there has been any deterioration since the vehicle was appraised. If there has been deterioration, the buyer may offer the seller a reduction in the purchase price commensurate with the deterioration. If the seller agrees to the proposed reduction, the buyer sets the reduced amount as the new purchase price and accepts the vehicle. On the other hand, if there has been no deterioration since the vehicle was appraised, the buyer accepts the vehicle as is without offering a reduction.

[0050] In step S105, the buyer uses the user terminal 30 to send a vehicle receipt notification to the sales intermediary device 100 indicating that they have received the vehicle subject to sale. Upon receiving the vehicle receipt notification, the processing unit 120 can determine that the transfer of the vehicle from the seller to the buyer has been completed.

[0051] In step S106, the processing unit 120 executes the settlement for the sale of the vehicle. Specifically, the processing unit 120 refers to the vehicle sale record in the vehicle sale information stored in the storage unit 110 and determines whether the outstanding loan balance information for the vehicle sale record is registered, that is, whether the seller has an outstanding loan balance.

[0052] If there is no outstanding loan balance, the processing unit 120 executes a settlement process to deposit the purchase price received from the buyer, or the purchase price minus a prescribed fee, into the seller's account. On the other hand, if there is an outstanding loan balance, the processing unit 120 checks the outstanding loan balance information, deposits the outstanding balance into the loan company's bank account, and executes a settlement process to deposit the purchase price received from the buyer minus the outstanding balance, or the amount minus a prescribed fee, into the seller's bank account.

[0053] The processing unit 120 also determines whether the loan repayment deadline for the outstanding loan balance information has passed, and if it has, it sends a delay notice to the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating that the loan repayment deadline has passed. Upon receiving the delay notice, the seller may contact the loan company to inform them that the loan repayment deadline has passed and reset the outstanding balance amount and loan repayment deadline.

[0054] The seller then uses the user terminal 20 to send a loan repayment reset notice to the sales intermediary device 100, indicating the reset balance and loan repayment deadline. Upon receiving the loan repayment reset notice, the processing unit 120 may notify the seller's user terminal 20 to deposit an additional amount equal to the difference between the reset balance and the original balance. The processing unit 120 deposits the reset balance into the loan company's bank account and performs settlement processing to deposit into the seller's bank account the amount obtained by subtracting the original balance from the sales price received from the buyer, or the amount obtained by deducting a prescribed fee from that amount.

[0055] Furthermore, if the processing unit 120 receives a reduction notice from the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating an agreement to reduce the purchase price, the processing unit 120 will refund the reduced amount indicated in the reduction notice to the buyer and execute a settlement process to deposit the amount obtained by subtracting the reduced amount from the purchase price, or the amount obtained by subtracting a prescribed fee from that amount, to the seller. In addition, if the seller has an outstanding loan balance, the processing unit 120 will refund the reduced amount indicated in the reduction notice to the buyer and further deposit the outstanding balance amount from the amount obtained by subtracting the reduced amount from the purchase price to the loan company, and execute a settlement process to deposit the amount obtained by subtracting the reduced amount and the outstanding balance amount from the purchase price deposited by the buyer, or the amount obtained by subtracting a prescribed fee from that amount, to the seller.

[0056] Furthermore, the seller and / or buyer may cancel the vehicle sales contract for the vehicle being sold for any reason during the sales brokerage process. When the processing unit 120 receives a cancellation notice from the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating the cancellation of the vehicle sales contract, it may perform a settlement process to refund the purchase price received from the buyer to the buyer's bank account.

[0057] Furthermore, if the amount received from the buyer exceeds the purchase price, the processing unit 120 may receive the payment and send a notification to the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating that the payment has exceeded the purchase price. The excess amount may be temporarily held as a deposit from the buyer and used for future vehicle purchases, etc., or it may be refunded to the buyer's bank account.

[0058] According to the above-described embodiment of the sales intermediary device 100, the buyer and seller can reliably fulfill the vehicle sales contract.

[0059] [Buying and selling brokerage processing] Next, with reference to Figure 7, a trading brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Figure 7 is a flowchart of a trading brokerage process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The trading brokerage process is performed by the trading brokerage device 100 described above, and more specifically, it may be realized by one or more processors 103 of the trading brokerage device 100 executing one or more programs or instructions stored in one or more memories 101.

[0060] As shown in Figure 7, in step S201, the sales brokerage device 100 acquires vehicle sales information. The vehicle sales information consists of any information items used for buying and selling vehicles. For example, each vehicle sales record representing each vehicle sales contract may consist of an identifier (ID) for each vehicle sales record, a vehicle type indicating the type of vehicle being bought and sold, seller information regarding the seller, buyer information regarding the buyer, sales contract information, outstanding loan balance information, etc.

[0061] Seller information may consist of, for example, the seller's name or company name, address or residence, telephone number, email address and other contact information, and the bank account to which the purchase price will be deposited. Similarly, buyer information may consist of, for example, the buyer's name or company name, address or residence, telephone number, email address and other contact information, and the bank account to which the purchase price will be refunded.

[0062] Sales contract information consists of any of the information items used in a vehicle sales contract, for example, the sales contract date, sales price, vehicle delivery deadline, bank account to receive the sales price, and the deadline for payment of the sales price. In addition, if the seller has an outstanding loan balance, the loan balance information may consist of information items related to the outstanding loan balance, for example, the loan company, the outstanding balance amount, the repayment deadline for the outstanding balance, and the bank account to receive the outstanding loan balance. If the seller does not have an outstanding loan balance, "NULL" may be entered in the loan balance information field in the vehicle sales information.

[0063] In step S202, the trading intermediary device 100 confirms the receipt of the purchase price from the buyer. Specifically, when the buyer deposits the purchase price into the bank account indicated in the sales contract information, the trading intermediary device 100 receives a deposit notification from the financial institution managing the bank account indicating that a deposit has been made into the bank account. Upon receiving the deposit notification, the trading intermediary device 100 determines whether the purchase price in the sales contract information matches the deposit amount. If the deposit amount does not match the purchase price, it sends a notification of incorrect deposit to the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating that the deposit amount does not match the purchase price. On the other hand, if the deposit amount matches the purchase price, the trading intermediary device 100 sends a notification of receipt of purchase price to the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating that the purchase price has been received.

[0064] In step S203, the sales intermediary device 100 sends a payment notification to the seller's user terminal 20 indicating that the buyer has paid the purchase price. This payment notification may include instructions for the seller to hand over the vehicle and related documents to the buyer, and the seller is required to hand over the vehicle by the vehicle handover deadline.

[0065] In step S204, the sales intermediary device 100 receives a vehicle receipt notification from the buyer. Specifically, when the buyer receives the vehicle from the seller, the buyer uses the user terminal 30 to send a vehicle receipt notification to the sales intermediary device 100 indicating that they have received the vehicle from the seller.

[0066] If the received vehicle shows significant deterioration from the time of appraisal (for example, scratches on the vehicle, or mileage exceeding a specified distance), the buyer may offer the seller a reduction in the purchase price. If the seller agrees to the reduction, the buyer may send a price reduction notice along with the vehicle receipt notice to the sales intermediary device 100. In this case, the sales intermediary device 100 receives the price reduction notice along with the vehicle receipt notice from the user terminal 30.

[0067] In step S205, the sales brokerage device 100 performs settlement processing for the sale of the vehicle. Specifically, the sales brokerage device 100 determines whether loan balance information is registered in the vehicle sales information, and if loan balance information is not registered, it deposits the sale price received from the buyer, or the sale price minus a predetermined commission, into the seller's bank account.

[0068] On the other hand, if loan balance information is registered, the sales brokerage device 100 deposits the outstanding balance amount registered in the loan balance information into the loan company's bank account, and also deposits the amount obtained by subtracting the outstanding balance amount from the sales price, or the amount obtained by subtracting a prescribed fee from that amount, into the seller's bank account. At this time, the sales brokerage device 100 may send a notification of the deposit of the sales price, etc., to the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30.

[0069] Furthermore, if, at the time of delivery of the vehicle from the seller to the buyer, an agreement is reached to reduce the price due to significant deterioration in the vehicle's condition since the time of appraisal, the sales intermediary device 100 may apply the reduced amount as the new sale price instead of the initially agreed-upon sale price. In this case, the sales intermediary device 100 may refund the amount already received from the buyer, after deducting the reduced amount, to the buyer's bank account.

[0070] Alternatively, if the sales intermediary device 100 receives a cancellation notice from the seller's user terminal 20 and / or the buyer's user terminal 30 indicating their intention to cancel the vehicle sales contract, it may send a cancellation acknowledgment notice to the user terminals 20 and 30 indicating that it has received the cancellation notice, and may refund the sales price already received from the buyer to the buyer's bank account.

[0071] According to the sales brokerage process described in the above embodiment, the buyer and seller can be reliably made to fulfill the vehicle sales contract.

[0072] In the above-described embodiment of the sales brokerage process, the subject of the sale was a vehicle such as a used car. However, the sales brokerage process described in this disclosure is not necessarily limited to the sale of vehicles. For example, the subject of the sale may be real estate such as land, buildings, or condominiums, or other items that are sold at high transaction prices. Similar to the vehicle registration system, real estate also has a registration system, and rights related to the subject of the sale, such as ownership, are publicly recorded. Furthermore, such subject of sale are often purchased with loans, and there may be outstanding loan balances at the time of the sale. For this reason, the above-described sales brokerage process may be suitably applicable.

[0073] 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]

[0074] 20. Seller's user terminal 30 Buyer's user terminal 40 Networks 50 Financial Institution Servers 100 Trading intermediary device 110 Storage section 120 Processing Unit

Claims

1. Confirmation that the payment for the sale of a vehicle, which is to be transferred from the seller's user terminal to the buyer's user terminal, has been deposited into the designated bank account of the operator of the sales brokerage device, Sending a payment notification to the seller's user terminal indicating that the buyer has received the purchase price and prompting the buyer to hand over the vehicle and related documents, The buyer user terminal receives a receipt notification from the seller indicating receipt of the vehicle, After receiving the aforementioned receipt notification, the operating entity will execute the settlement process for the transaction using the transaction price pooled by the operating entity. A trading intermediary device having a processing unit that performs the following.

2. The sales brokerage device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit executes the settlement process to deposit the sales price with the seller.

3. The sales brokerage device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit deposits the amount obtained by subtracting the outstanding loan balance for the purchase of the vehicle from the sales price to the seller, and executes the settlement process to deposit the outstanding loan balance to the loan company.

4. The sales brokerage device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit receives loan balance information related to the purchase of the vehicle from the buyer user terminal or the seller user terminal, and executes the settlement process based on the loan balance information.

5. The sales intermediary device according to claim 1, wherein when the processing unit receives a price reduction notification from the buyer user terminal, it applies the reduced amount indicated in the price reduction notification as the new purchase price and executes the settlement process to refund the amount to the buyer.

6. The sales intermediary device according to claim 1, wherein when the processing unit receives a cancellation notification from the buyer user terminal, it executes the settlement process to refund the purchase price to the buyer.

7. Confirmation that the payment for the sale of a vehicle, which is to be transferred from the seller's user terminal to the buyer's user terminal, has been deposited into the designated bank account of the operator of the sales brokerage device, Sending a payment notification to the seller's user terminal indicating that the buyer has received the purchase price and prompting the buyer to hand over the vehicle and related documents, The buyer user terminal receives a receipt notification from the seller indicating receipt of the vehicle, After receiving the aforementioned receipt notification, the operating entity will execute the settlement process for the transaction using the transaction price pooled by the operating entity. A method of brokering buying and selling transactions, where the process is performed by a computer.

8. Confirmation that the payment for the sale of a vehicle, which is to be transferred from the seller's user terminal to the buyer's user terminal, has been deposited into the designated bank account of the operator of the sales brokerage device, Sending a payment notification to the seller's user terminal indicating that the buyer has received the purchase price and prompting the buyer to hand over the vehicle and related documents, The buyer user terminal receives a receipt notification from the seller indicating receipt of the vehicle, After receiving the aforementioned receipt notification, the operating entity will execute the settlement process for the transaction using the transaction price pooled by the operating entity. A trading brokerage program that causes a computer to execute commands.

9. The seller's user terminal, The buyer's user terminal, A sales brokerage device that mediates the sale of the vehicle to be transferred from the seller to the buyer, It has, The aforementioned buying and selling intermediary device is Confirmation that the transaction price related to the aforementioned transaction has been deposited into the designated bank account of the operator of the aforementioned trading intermediary device, Sending a payment notification to the seller's user terminal indicating that the buyer has received the purchase price and prompting the buyer to hand over the vehicle and related documents, The buyer user terminal receives a receipt notification from the seller indicating receipt of the vehicle, After receiving the aforementioned receipt notification, the operating entity will execute the settlement process for the transaction using the transaction price pooled by the operating entity. A trading brokerage system that performs this task.

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