84 results about "Price quote" patented technology

In accordance with the present invention, a consumer communicates a request for purchase of goods and services to a merchant, the goods and / or services being selected from these listed together with their price quotes on the merchant's computer or website connected to a network, such as the Internet. The merchant then communicates a request for a token and an update key to the clearing server, the token being previously purchased by the consumer and residing on a clearing server device. The update key is used as an authorization to modify the value of the token, i.e., to decrement and to increment. The merchant forwards the purchased merchandise to the consumer. When consumer discontinues making purchases at the selected merchant, the merchant returns the updated token to the clearing server. A new key is necessary to make the next purchase. This is the case even where the requesting merchant is the same as that from whom the last purchase was made. When the token is requested, if the token was used after its initial purchase, the present value of the token is made certain by receipt on the clearing server of informational downloads from the merchants.

A system and method for providing online insurance quotes to a client on a social network web site includes an insurance server adapted to execute a coverage calculator application and an insurance database in communication with the insurance server for storing a plurality of personas, a plurality of insurance coverage options associated with each persona, and a price quote associated with each insurance coverage option. The system is in communication with a platform application on the social network web site. The platform application is in communication with a social network database for storing user content of the social network client. In one embodiment, the platform application uses an inference engine to query the user content of the social network client and return a set of inferred characteristics. The coverage calculator application selects a persona in response to the set of inferred characteristics and selects one of the insurance coverage options in response to the selected persona.

In accordance with the present invention, consumers and merchants use computing devices connected to a network, such as the Internet, through wired and wireless means, wherein the consumer connects to a clearing server device to purchase or retrieve previously purchased token, the consumer then connects to the merchant's computer or website to attain price quotes of goods and services, selects the goods and / or services to be purchased, and then communicates a request for purchase to the merchant. The merchant then communicates a request for an update key to the clearing server. The update key is used as an authorization to modify the value of the token. To debit the customer the decrement key is requested and to credit the customer an increment key is asked for. An overwrite key is another type of update key. Together with the overwrite key a replacement token is provided to the merchant who in turn forwards the new token to the customer. As an aspect of the invention, if the token was not previously used, the clearing server simply issues the update key. If, however, it is determined that the token was used, the amount paid by the consumer to a previous merchant is determined the token adjusted and the overwrite key together with the new token is returned to the merchant. The merchant then forwards the purchased merchandise, the update key, and possibly a new token to the consumer.

An electronic system for aggregated pricing of linked multi-leg (e.g., equity / option and option / option) asset packages with an additional link to an automated broker system for trading the linked asset packages are disclosed. The invention provides methodology and apparatus to electronically produce aggregated price quotes for packages of instruments designed to represent traditional trading strategies involving cash and their derivatives (e.g., stock and equity options). The system develops packages according to specified strategies, and prices the packages based on the national best bid and offer (NBBO) or direct input from participating market makers and investors. The packages are designed for easy understanding by traditional investors and designed for trading through a single order. These packages are desirable over separately trading the asset and its derivative (e.g., equity and option) instruments because they transfer market volatility risk from the investor to the institution by requiring market makers to agree to the aggregated price of the package prior to executing any trades. Certain linked packages, such as most stocks and options, cannot be traded together on a single floor of an exchange due to restrictions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding side-by-side trading and integrated market making of most stocks and options. This invention provides an electronic process for synthetic side-by-side trading across separate trading locations (e.g., equity and option exchanges and within the existing rules of the SEC). The electronic process follows traditional rules regarding the manual handling of combination orders involving multiple asset types. The process significantly improves efficiency over manual handling resulting in a system that is scalable to high trade volumes.

The invention includes a method of lubricants supply chain management including: storing in a web-accessible database a catalog of lubricants and prices-per-unit for same which prices-per-unit optionally decrease based on certain pre-determined cumulative volume purchases; upon receiving at a web server a request from a web-browser client, querying the database and serving the results of the query to the requesting web-browser client for display; serving an order form to the web-browser client which is configured to contain fields for order quantity and type for lubricants, delivery type preferences and delivery address entered in the web-browser client, and determining and displaying on the web-browser client a delivery price quote; receiving an order from the web-browser client for a specific type and quantity of lubricants and having a specific delivery type selected; electronically transmitting over a network the order to an order fulfillment agent; where the order fulfillment agent electronically transmits over a network the order to at least one lubricant blender; electronically transmitting over a network the order and the delivery information to a freight-handling agent; where the freight-handling agent inputs the information into a delivery optimization system which outputs a delivery schedule which includes the order, and electronically transmits over a network the order and the delivery information to at least one trucking company; and maintaining the status and all actions and communications for the order in a second web-accessible database.

The invention includes systems and methods for price improvement in an electronic trading environment. The systems of the invention may include such components as auction clients for market participants to provide best prices and an auction module to coordinate auctions. The methods of the invention may include receiving best price quotes from market participants, the determination of best prices, and order execution based on single matches, multiple matches, and multiple matches on both sides of an order.

An apparatus and method or selecting a lowest bidding vendor from a plurality of vendors of a customized good or service, including receiving a set of vendor's attributes from each of the plurality of vendors representing their respective capabilities, and receiving an invitation-for-bid data from the buyer defining a custom job for which the buyer desires price quotes or bids. The vendor attributes or the invitation-for-bid, or both, are received through a web browser. The invitation-for-bid is compared to each of the vendor's attributes according to certain standard or optional selection criteria to generate a vendor selection pool of vendors qualified to bid on the job. Each vendor in the vendor selection pool receives a vendor's invitation-for-bid. A bid is received from at least one vendor in the vendor selection pool, the lowest price bid is identified, the buyer is informed of the identity of the selected vendor, and solicited for approval of the selected vendor. Upon receipt of approval from the buyer, an order is issued to the selected vendor. The non-selected vendors in the selection pool are informed of the bid prices and of the selection results.

In electronic commerce, a user profile may be used to determine one or more product recommendations. The user profile may be selectable so that a first user may receive product or service recommendations for a second user associated with the user profile. Additionally or alternatively, price quotes may be solicited from a plurality of providers in an attempt to obtain the best price for a consumer. Profiles may be generated in a variety of ways including tracking user actions. Interests may be inferred from such user actions and may further be weighted based on various methodologies.

An online trading system for providers, customers and online trading servers, as well as methods of conducting online trading transactions, that incorporate processing components and steps that measure, monitor, report and utilize up-to-date network latency data to process offers to deal so that an unnecessarily large number of deals will not be refused. The systems and methods may also be used to make adjustments to the frequency and content of price quotes, based on current latency data, to improve customers' opportunity to submit offers that will arrive timely. The invention provides banks (and other liquidity providers), as well as online trading server operators, with sufficient information concerning network latencies so that price quotes issued by the banks can be “tuned” and customized so that they will not expire before the bank's customers have a reasonable opportunity to review the price quotes and submit offers to deal.

A method and system used to obtain and process orders for full color printing. A job configuration and price calculator is supplied to a customer. The calculator calculates automatically a price quote as the customer selects configuration options of a print job. The price quote is then displayed automatically. The customer may select configuration options repeatedly until the job configuration is final. A digital graphic layout or image file is then obtained from the customer. The digital graphic layout or image file is then prepared and a proof thereof is created. When the proof is satisfactory, the print job is printed and delivered to the customer.

Systems and methods for providing price quotes for 3D objects are described herein. In one embodiment, costs related to generating a 3D object molded from a 3D printer mold may be based on various parameters. The process for generating a price quote may include uploading an initial file to a server and converting that file into a 3D CAD file. The method may also include selecting units, materials, a finish, and / or a quantity of objects to be made. Based on the selections, the server may generate a price quote to produce the one or more objects, and a checkout option may be provided allowing the user to purchase the one or more objects.

A blind-supply open commerce business system provides a database where suppliers may upload product, product price and product delivery information. Products are offered for sale through a various systems where a potential buyer may view product information and price quotes for the same product from a plurality of suppliers wherein the identity of suppliers is not revealed. Price quotes reflect supplier cost plus margin. The system of the invention channels invoice and tracking information from a supplier to a purchaser without revealing the identity of the supplier. Suppliers ship products directly to purchasers. Purchasers may access order, shipping, and tracking information from a database of the invention.

An apparatus and method for preparing a price quote for a product. The product is selected from among a plurality of products. A determination is made as to whether the product is a member of a particular product collection. This determination includes evaluating a dynamic selection rule set associated with the particular product collection. When the product is determined to be a member of the particular product collection, the method includes the additional steps of (i) identifying one or more price rules associated with the particular product collection and (ii) applying these price rules to the product in order to determine the price quote for the product.

A system for generating market pricing information for a non-fungible target item includes one or more databases containing historical pricing information for at least one reference item, historical pricing information for at least the target item, and market pricing information for at least the reference item. A pricing engine determines a pricing differential between the target item and the reference item that reflects historical pricing information for the target and reference items. The pricing engine applies the pricing differential to the market pricing information for the reference item to generate market pricing information for the target item. The market pricing information for the reference item may include a substantially real-time current market price for the reference item, and the market pricing information for the target item may be generated in the form of a substantially real-time current market price quote for the target item for communication to a market participant.

A method for computing a price quote for a product using a contract. The method includes identifying the set of price rules for a plurality of products associated with the contract. Each price rule in the set of price rules is either a hard price rule or a soft price rule. Each hard price rule includes a price rule expression and a price rule type and each soft price rule comprises a price rule type. A collection of price rules is generated including, for each soft rule in the set of price rules, hard price rules that are associated with the product and that have the same price rule type as the soft price rule. Hard price rules that are associated with the contract are also added to the collection of price rules. A pricing scheme that is to be used in order to determine the price quote for the product is selected and used to resolve the hard price rules in the collection of price rules in order to determine the price quote.

A method for assisting buyers in selecting a supplier of a good or service begins by receiving a price quote for the good or service from the supplier. A request is then submitted to an insurance company requesting the company to issue a policy for reimbursing the buyer for economic damage the buyer may realize as a result of purchasing the good or service from the supplier. The insurance company assesses the risk of insuring the buyer based on information about the buyer and supplier stored in a database. Preferably, the information about the buyer is conveyed electronically to the insurance company over the internet. Also, the risk assessment is preferably all performed in software. A decision on whether to offer the insurance policy to the buyer is then made if a favorable risk assessment is returned. The buyer then decides whether to accept the policy by performing a comparative analysis which involves determining whether the sum of the supplier's costs plus the cost of the insurance policy is greater than or less than the price which the buyer's existing supplier is charging him for the goods or services.

A jewelry configurator is disclosed which permits a consumer or end user to begin with a catalog of jewelry pieces that he is able to then customize and alter in various ways to tailor the piece to his taste, view a rendering of said piece, get a price quote for the piece, and send same directly to manufacture for production.

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code are provided for real time pricing of items by a customer located in a store. A customer sends a request to price an item using a mobile device to a Web service server. The Web service server identifies the customer's location and queries a set of information sources for prices from several vendors within a selected distance of the customer's location. The Web service server may include price information for items comparable to the item requested by the customer. The Web service server applies competitive rules defined by a vendor to determine pricing for the item from that vendor. The Web service server may also create special price quotes based on the verified location and identity of the customer. The Web service server sends the result to the customer and enables a real time purchase from the result displayed on the mobile device.

A method and system for facilitating trading of equity and index options is provided. The system incentivizes market makers to voluntarily agree to restrict the bid / offer spread on price quotes for options by enabling the market makers to submit batches of bids and offers simultaneously. The system also provides protection to the market makers by enabling withdrawal of certain bids and offers if a cumulative delta on traded options has been exceeded. The system also provides limits on the rates at which individual traders and the overall market submit bids and offers. The system provides summarization of market data to enable market makers to have relevant and timely data at all stages. In this manner, the system achieves increased liquidity of the equity and index options markets.

Methods and systems for automated alternative selection for compound price quotes are provided. A requesting party submits a request that includes information regarding at least one specification. A database is searched based on the information provided by the request. The search results are evaluated to determine whether they meet a predefined target. When the search results do not meet a predefined target, an alternative specification is identified. At least a second set of search results is retrieved from the database that may be used to meet the target. Vehicles are selected for inclusion in a compound price quote. A compound price quote including multiple price quotes for each selected vehicles is generated.

Methods and systems for automated price quote generation are provided. A requesting party submits a request that includes information regarding a geographic location and at least one specification. A database is searched based on the information provided by the request. A price quote is automatically generated based on at least the results of the search and provided to the requesting party. The requesting party may be a potential customer, a dealer, or a third party acting on behalf of the potential customer or dealer.

The invention relates to a method for assisting a consumer in selecting and purchasing tires through a computer based communication system. The system has data on a number of tires and requests from the consumer preferences for various attributes of tires, for example, comfort, handling, traction, tread wear, all-season use, etc. Using the set of preferred attributes, the system identifies a set of tires that most closely match the user's preferences, and presents information on the set of tires to the consumer. The consumer can send automatically a request to area retail dealers for price quotes on the tires or a selected tire from the set, and receive the quote directly from the dealer.

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code are provided for real time pricing of items by a customer located in a store. A customer sends a request to price an item using a mobile device to a Web service server. The Web service server identifies the customer's location and queries a set of information sources for prices from several vendors within a selected distance of the customer's location. The Web service server may include price information for items comparable to the item requested by the customer. The Web service server applies competitive rules defined by a vendor to determine pricing for the item from that vendor. The Web service server may also create special price quotes based on the verified location and identity of the customer. The Web service server sends the result to the customer and enables a real time purchase from the result displayed on the mobile device.

The invention relates to a system for providing and pricing travel product inventory contained in external databases not under the control of the operator and additionally comprises ghost databases which are a mirror of the external databases. The system further comprises an information manager adapted to receive search criteria from a user and to apply pricing rules to the search results which determine the final display price quoted to the user. The information manager thereafter filters the priced search results by a productmaster UID to group the same actual travel product inventory as supplied by different suppliers, into a single search result, and then provides the grouped results to the user connected to the system via the communications module.

Methods, software, and hardware are disclosed for providing verified real time price quotes in an over-the-counter financial market. Systems are described that can comprise methods, software, and / or hardware to provide verified real time price information for securities traded over-the-counter. Verification methods of the invention include identifying suspect source data, wherein the suspect source data includes information about the price of a security, verifying the suspect source data, and displaying to a user a verified price quote of a security traded in an over-the-counter market to a user. The verification methods of the invention include using hash functions and hash tables to process suspect source data, wherein the hashing allows for confidential processing while at the same time maintaining the ability to match a price quote to the source of the price quote.

An online system and method for allowing a prospective buyer to complete an electronic RFP document and to have the RFP document transmitted to one or more appropriate prospective sellers of goods and services. The system and method provide the prospective buyer with the option of automatically identifying potentially appropriate sellers by means of key word searches in a compiled database of vendor information and product and services descriptions. The prospective buyer may also elect to review the database contents “manually” by means of selecting specific subject matter areas or incrementally reviewing a list of database vendors one at a time. The system directs the buyer's RFP to the selected vendors for review and consideration. This transmission is made electronically, typically by email protocols, for review by appropriate personnel at the selected vendor's business. Such review is carried out by an individual or automatically by the vendor's own system which identifies the appropriateness of the match with its range of offered goods and services. A proposal or price quote is then transmitted electronically back through the system to the prospective buyer for consideration, again typically by email protocols. The buyer may then review the various proposals and price quotes it receives back for consideration and may select an appropriate vendor with which to carry out the commercial transaction.

A method and system for facilitating trading of equity and index options is provided. The system incentivizes market makers to voluntarily agree to restrict the bid / offer spread on price quotes for options by enabling the market makers to submit batches of bids and offers simultaneously. The system also provides protection to the market makers by enabling withdrawal of certain bids and offers if a cumulative delta on traded options has been exceeded. The system also provides limits on the rates at which individual traders and the overall market submit bids and offers. The system provides summarization of market data to enable market makers to have relevant and timely data at all stages. In this manner, the system achieves increased liquidity of the equity and index options markets.

Disclosed are computer systems for facilitating market transactions between sellers, buyers, and carriers of perishable commodities. One system includes computer hardware that: features computer readable memory containing program code; and is organized according to client-server architecture. In the same embodiment, the hardware plus associated program code and architecture are configured for: sellers to list the prices and quantities of perishable commodities; buyers to search or bid for listed commodities by price; buyers to order listed commodities for delivery; a seller's approval of orders; buyers or sellers to list haul orders based on approved orders, wherein the haul orders identify a pickup and delivery location plus the ordered quantities of commodities; carriers to search for and provide a price quote for serviceable haul orders; buyers or sellers to approve quoted prices for a haul orders; and, buyers, sellers, or carriers to negotiate payments for approved commodities or haul orders.

An online system and method for a computer or web-based system enabling users to estimate, schedule, and purchase a variety of home-related services from a trusted group of professional contractors. The system manages a list of prescreened, reputable, and local contractors. Through the present invention, consumers may find local contractors, obtain real time competitively priced quotes from contractors for their services, schedule work to be preformed, and pay or finance the cost of the service. Contractors may also purchase subscriptions tied to U.S. postal codes or zip codes from which they will receive all leads of consumers needing services originating from that postal code for the services they offer.

A prescription delivery computing system determines whether one or more prescriptions are respectively eligible to be delivered to the patient, the one or more prescriptions resultant from a telemedicine session conducted between a patient and a health care provider via a first patient computing device and a health care provider computing system; for the one or more prescriptions that are eligible to be delivered to the patient, obtains a price quote for delivery services to deliver the one or more prescriptions from a pharmacy to the patient, the price quote obtained from a delivery service computing system; provides the price quote for the delivery services to the patient for approval; responsive to receiving patient input data indicative of patient approval of the price quote for the delivery services, arranges for the delivery services to be performed; and transmits data that describes the one or more prescriptions to the pharmacy.