U.S. patent application number 13/913038 was filed with the patent office on 2013-11-07 for system and method for listing items online.
The applicant listed for this patent is Just Parts Online Inc.. Invention is credited to Michael RACCO.
Application Number | 20130297453 13/913038 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41397665 |
Filed Date | 2013-11-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130297453 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
RACCO; Michael |
November 7, 2013 |
System and Method for Listing Items Online
Abstract
A system and method are provided for listing an item online. The
system provides a user interface comprising a first pane for
entering information pertaining to the item and a second pane for
viewing said information while it is being entered. The user is
provided, in the second pane, an upload tool for uploading one or
more photos of the item to assist in describing the item during the
listing process. Upon entering one or more characters in a field in
the first pane for identifying the item, the system searches a
database of items being either parts or components and displays
possible choices for said item such that the user can simply type
in what their item is and the system provides possible category
choices to facilitate and speed up the listing process.
Inventors: |
RACCO; Michael; (Thunder
Bay, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Just Parts Online Inc. |
Thunder Bay |
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CA |
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|
Family ID: |
41397665 |
Appl. No.: |
13/913038 |
Filed: |
June 7, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12957851 |
Dec 1, 2010 |
8463658 |
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13913038 |
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PCT/CA2009/000740 |
Jun 2, 2009 |
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12957851 |
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61101029 |
Sep 29, 2008 |
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61058475 |
Jun 3, 2008 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.44 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0277 20130101;
G06Q 30/0619 20130101; G06Q 30/06 20130101; G06Q 30/0601
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/26.44 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20120101
G06Q030/06 |
Claims
1. A method for listing items online, said method comprising:
providing an intermediary comprising communication interfaces for
sellers posting said items, for buyers viewing said items, and for
suppliers providing said items through said sellers; enabling a
catalogue of items from one or more suppliers to be provided to
said intermediary; associating said catalogue with at least one of
said sellers; maintaining an inventory list for said catalogue of
items; enabling said buyers to view said catalogue and communicate
with said sellers to purchase one or more selected items; and
enabling a corresponding seller to communicate with a corresponding
supplier for completing said purchase.
2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising uploading
said catalogue of items to a categorization database and
synchronizing said catalogue and said database for consistency.
3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising amalgamating
said catalogue of items with other catalogues provided by other
entities to generate a master catalogue of items.
4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising obtaining a
request to subscribe with said intermediary to provide said
catalogue of items and obtaining an approval prior to including
said catalogue of items at said intermediary.
5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising enabling said
sellers to request to sell said items for said suppliers and
enabling said suppliers to approve or deny said sellers.
6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising providing a
tool for enabling said suppliers to communicate with said
sellers.
7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising enabling said
catalogue of items searchable to said sellers and providing a
management tool to allow said suppliers to modify said catalogue of
items.
8. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable
instructions for listing items online, said computer readable
medium comprising instructions for: providing an intermediary
comprising communication interfaces for sellers posting said items,
for buyers viewing said items, and for suppliers providing said
items through said sellers; enabling a catalogue of items from one
or more suppliers to be provided to said intermediary; associating
said catalogue with at least one of said sellers; maintaining an
inventory list for said catalogue of items; enabling said buyers to
view said catalogue and communicate with said sellers to purchase
one or more selected items; and enabling a corresponding seller to
communicate with a corresponding supplier for completing said
purchase.
9. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising uploading said catalogue of items to a categorization
database and synchronizing said catalogue and said database for
consistency.
10. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising amalgamating said catalogue of items with other
catalogues provided by other entities to generate a master
catalogue of items.
11. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising obtaining a request to subscribe with said intermediary
to provide said catalogue of items and obtaining an approval prior
to including said catalogue of items at said intermediary.
12. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising enabling said sellers to request to sell said items for
said suppliers and enabling said suppliers to approve or deny said
sellers.
13. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising providing a tool for enabling said suppliers to
communicate with said sellers.
14. The computer readable medium according to claim 8 further
comprising enabling said catalogue of items searchable to said
sellers and providing a management tool to allow said suppliers to
modify said catalogue of items.
15. A system for listing items online, the system comprising: an
intermediary comprising communication interfaces for sellers
posting said items, for buyers viewing said items, and for
suppliers providing said items through said sellers, a processor,
and memory, the memory comprising computer executable instructions
for: enabling a catalogue of items from one or more suppliers to be
provided to said intermediary; associating said catalogue with at
least one of said sellers; maintaining an inventory list for said
catalogue of items; enabling said buyers to view said catalogue and
communicate with said sellers to purchase one or more selected
items; and enabling a corresponding seller to communicate with a
corresponding supplier for completing said purchase.
16. The system according to claim 15 further comprising
instructions for uploading said catalogue of items to a
categorization database and synchronizing said catalogue and said
database for consistency.
17. The system according to claim 15 further comprising
instructions for amalgamating said catalogue of items with other
catalogues provided by other entities to generate a master
catalogue of items.
18. The system according to claim 15 further comprising
instructions for obtaining a request to subscribe with said
intermediary to provide said catalogue of items and obtaining an
approval prior to including said catalogue of items at said
intermediary.
19. The system according to claim 15 further comprising
instructions for enabling said sellers to request to sell said
items for said suppliers and enabling said suppliers to approve or
deny said sellers.
20. The system according to claim 15 further comprising
instructions for enabling said catalogue of items searchable to
said sellers and providing a management tool to allow said
suppliers to modify said catalogue of items.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/957,851 filed Dec. 1, 2010, which is a
continuation of PCT Application No. PCT/CA2009/000740 filed Jun. 2,
2009, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No.
61/058,475 filed Jun. 3, 2008 and U.S. Provisional Application No.
61/101,029 filed Sep. 29, 2008, all of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to listing items online.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Various websites and other programs or applications allow
users to "post" or "list" items. Such items may be listed or posted
for sale or simply to provide information and/or details of the
items depending on the application or the website. Many existing
tools provided by posting or listing items utilize multiple steps
in multiple pages while information and data is being gathered,
which can be a time consuming process. Users are typically also
required to categorize the items being posted based on a category
that best matches what it is they are posting. This may or may not
be an accurate description of the actual item. For example, when
selling a specific auto part such as a starter brush, a suitable
category may not appear. Instead, a list of suggested categories
may appear, which requires further effort and time from the
user.
[0004] It is therefore an object of the following to obviate or
mitigate the above-mentioned disadvantages.
SUMMARY
[0005] In one aspect, there is provided a method for listing an
item online, the method comprising providing a user interface
comprising a first pane for entering information pertaining to the
item; providing in the user interface, an upload tool for enabling
one or more multimedia objects related to the item to be uploaded
to facilitate the entering information pertaining to the item; and
upon entering one or more characters in a field in the first pane
identifying the item, searching a database of item identifiers
being either parts or components and displaying organized lists of
possible choices for the item in the first pane to enable selection
of the information.
[0006] In another aspect, there is provided a method for listing a
multi-item online, the multi-item comprising a plurality of
constituent items, the method comprising providing a first user
interface for entering information identifying the multi-item;
providing a second user interface for selecting the plurality of
constituent items from respective lists for one or more categories
displayed in the second user interface; associating the constituent
items with the multi-item and storing an indication of the
association in a database; and enabling a request for one or more
of the constituent items to be received from a third user interface
to enable the constituent items to be sold independent of the
multi-item as a whole.
[0007] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
listing items online, the method comprising providing an
intermediary comprising communication interfaces for sellers
posting the items, for buyers viewing the items, and for suppliers
providing the items through the sellers; enabling a catalogue of
items from one or more suppliers to be provided to the
intermediary; associating the catalogue with at least one of the
sellers; maintaining an inventory list for the catalogue of items;
enabling the buyers to view the catalogue and communicate with the
sellers to purchase one or more selected items; and enabling a
corresponding seller to communicate with a corresponding supplier
for completing the purchase.
[0008] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
categorizing items listed online, the method comprising obtaining a
first categorization database for the items, the first
categorization database comprising an industry standard set of
terminology; obtaining a second categorization database generated
by an intermediary responsible for listing the items; amalgamating
the first and second databases and applying predefined descriptors
to the amalgamation to provide a consistent naming convention;
organizing the descriptors in a tiered structure comprising a main
category in a first tier and at least one additional tier further
describing the main category; storing the amalgamation in a main
categorization database; and making the main categorization
database available to the intermediary for enabling searching of
the items and posting of new items.
[0009] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
listing a plurality of items online, the method comprising
providing a first user interface for generating a storefront for
listing the plurality of items; providing a second user interface
for entering information pertaining to each the plurality of items;
associating the plurality of items with the storefront; and
providing a third user interface to enable the plurality of items
to be viewed through the storefront by categorizing and displaying
the plurality of items in the third user interface.
[0010] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
organizing items to be listed online, the method comprising
providing a first user interface for generating a bin representing
a plurality of items; enabling entry of information pertaining to
the bin for identifying the plurality of items; providing a second
user interface for adding or removing the plurality of items to the
bin; associating the plurality of items with the bin; providing a
third user interface displaying the bin and the information
pertaining to the bin; and enabling the plurality of items to be
associated with the bin upon searching for the plurality of items
or through selection of the bin from the third user interface.
[0011] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
listing an item online, the method comprising providing a first
user interface for entering information pertaining to the item, the
item being associated with a first product comprising a plurality
of items; in the first user interface, enabling the item to be
associated with one or more other products with which the item is
compatible; associating the one or more other products with the
item; and storing the association to enable additional ones of the
item to be listed identifying the association for facilitating a
search for the item.
[0012] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
listing an item online, the method comprising storing a database of
queried information associated with the item; providing a first
user interface for listing the item and entering information
pertaining to the item; upon initiating the listing, providing one
or more of the queried information and enabling selection of a
reply to further describe the item; and enabling the one or more
queried information to be used in searching for the item to filter
results of a search.
[0013] In yet another aspect, there is provided a method for
enabling searching of items listed online, the method comprising
providing a database of a plurality of items, each item comprising
information associated therewith which has been entered upon
listing the item; providing a first user interface for entering one
or more identifiers to search for a desired item; upon detecting
entry of the one or more identifiers, searching a database of item
identifiers being either parts or components and displaying
organized lists of possible choices for the item to enable
identification of the item; and upon detecting selection of at
least one of the choices, searching a database of items listed and
displaying matched items for the choices.
[0014] In yet another aspect, there is provided one or more
computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions
for performing any one or more of the above-described methods.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Embodiments will now be described by way of example only
with reference to the appended drawings wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a
configuration for a system used to post items to be viewed through
a network.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further detail of the
categorization database shown in FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a tree diagram conceptually
illustrating an example structure used for the main category
database shown in FIG. 2.
[0019] FIG. 3B is an example of an auto parts categorization using
the structure shown in FIG. 3A.
[0020] FIG. 4 is an example showing the use of the click boxes to
select a category and sub-category and showing the hidden
descriptors list used in the main category database.
[0021] FIG. 5A shows an example set of results generated by the
auto-fill tool shown in FIG. 2.
[0022] FIG. 5B shows another example set of results generated by
the auto-fill tool shown in FIG. 2 illustrating the auto-complete
feature.
[0023] FIG. 5C shows another example set of results generated by
the auto-fill tool shown in FIG. 2.
[0024] FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a main page for a user interface
provided by the intermediary in FIG. 1 for posting and searching
for items that have been posted.
[0025] FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a sign-in page accessed through
the main page of FIG. 7.
[0026] FIG. 8 is a screen shot of a main buy page accessed by
selecting the Buy option in shown in FIG. 6.
[0027] FIG. 9 is a screen shot of the advanced search page accessed
by clicking the Advanced Search link shown in FIG. 8.
[0028] FIG. 10 is a user account page accessed by registering or
logging in through the page shown in FIG. 7.
[0029] FIG. 11A is a screen shot of a selling preferences entry
page for Canadian and US sellers.
[0030] FIG. 11B is a screen shot of a selling preferences entry
page for Non-Canadian and Non-US sellers.
[0031] FIG. 12 is a screen shot of a seller's main sell menu page
accessed by selecting the Sell option in the menu shown in FIG.
6.
[0032] FIG. 13 is a screen shot of a single item listing page
accessed by selecting the List an Item option in FIG. 12.
[0033] FIGS. 14 and 15 are screen shots of the single item listing
pages during the selection of a descriptor, category and
sub-category using the auto-fill tool and click boxes.
[0034] FIGS. 16A through 17 are screen shots of the Vehicle Details
tab in the single item listing pages during the creation of an
exemplary posting.
[0035] FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the main results page.
[0036] FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the results page illustrating a
user using advanced search filters to filter the results list.
[0037] FIG. 20 is a screen shot of the Shipping & Payment tab
in the single item listing pages during the creation of an
exemplary posting.
[0038] FIG. 21 is a screen shot of a detailed listing for an item
with no shipping cost specified accessible by searching for and
finding a single item.
[0039] FIG. 22 is a screen shot of the Photos tab in the single
item listing pages during the creation of an exemplary posting.
[0040] FIG. 23 is a screen shot of the Preview & Finish page
for a single item listing showing a preview of the completed
posting before uploading the item to the system.
[0041] FIGS. 24 through 30 are screen shots of the multi-item
listing pages, accessed by selecting the List a Multi-Item option
in FIG. 12, for the Profile tab during the creation of an exemplary
posting.
[0042] FIGS. 31 through 34 are screen shots of the multi-item
listing pages for the Vehicle Details tab during the creation of an
exemplary posting.
[0043] FIG. 35 is a screen shot of the detailed listing for a
multi-item accessible by searching for and finding a
multi-item.
[0044] FIGS. 36 to 40 are screen shots of the multi-item listing
page during the selection of parts for a vehicle in the exemplary
posting shown in FIGS. 24 to 34.
[0045] FIG. 41 is a screen shot of the multi-item listing page
during entry of custom parts for the exemplary posting of FIGS. 24
to 34.
[0046] FIG. 42 is a screen shot of the multi-item listing page for
the Shipping & Payment tab during the creation of an exemplary
posting.
[0047] FIG. 43 is a screen shot of the multi-item listing page for
the Photos tab during the creation of an exemplary posting.
[0048] FIG. 44 is a screen shot of a results page comprising a
listing of multi-items and single items that have been posted.
[0049] FIG. 45 is a screen shot of a multi-item listing as seen by
a buyer.
[0050] FIG. 46 is a screen shot of a buyer's request form initiated
by selecting the Request a Part button in the multi-item listing
shown in FIG. 45.
[0051] FIG. 47 is a screen shot of a seller's response form
generated upon submission of a buyer's request form to the seller
for the multi-item listing.
[0052] FIG. 48 is a screen shot of a seller's reply form as seen by
the buyer generated upon submission of a seller's response
form.
[0053] FIG. 49 is a screen shot of the multi-item listing showing
the contents of the history tab for the multi-item listing upon
selection thereof.
[0054] FIG. 50 is a screen shot of the multi-item listing showing
the contents of the photos tab upon selection thereof.
[0055] FIG. 51 is a screen shot of a users mailbox that contains
the requests and responses described in FIGS. 47 to 48.
[0056] FIG. 52 is a screen shot of an example seller's store front
layout.
[0057] FIG. 53 is a screen shot of the example store front layout
in FIG. 52 upon selection of the browse tab.
[0058] FIG. 54 is a screen shot of an example bin listing page
accessed by selecting the Create a Bin option in FIG. 12.
[0059] FIG. 55 is a screen shot showing a bin browsing page.
[0060] FIG. 56 is a screen shot of an item entry page for adding
inventory to a bin.
[0061] FIG. 57 is a screen shot of a detailed listing of an item
from a bin selected by the seller while adding inventory to a
bin.
[0062] FIG. 58 is a screen shot of an items results page showing
inclusion of a bins tab for viewing bins having items associated
with a search.
[0063] FIG. 59 is a screen shot of a detailed item listing wherein
the item is part of a bin.
[0064] FIG. 60 is a screen shot of another detailed item listing
wherein the item is part of a bin and comprises a default
photo.
[0065] FIG. 61 is a screen shot showing a series of bins the buyer
is able to browse through displayed under the bins tab.
[0066] FIG. 62 is a screen shot showing a standard view of an
example bin's contents.
[0067] FIG. 63 is a screen shot showing a list view of an example
bin's contents.
[0068] FIG. 64 is a screen shot showing a shelf view comprising a
photo of a physical shelf.
[0069] FIG. 65a is a block diagram showing one arrangement of the
features of the Part-a-Log tool.
[0070] FIG. 65b is an example showing the vehicle nomenclature
differences between a supplier and seller database entry.
[0071] FIG. 66 is a screen shown showing the main Part-a-Log
control panel accessible to users before they become a seller or a
supplier.
[0072] FIG. 67 is a screen shot showing a `become a supplier`
page.
[0073] FIG. 68 is a screen shot showing a supplier application
form.
[0074] FIG. 69 is a screen shot showing a status page of becoming a
supplier.
[0075] FIG. 70 is a screen shot showing a main supplier page and
supplier windows.
[0076] FIG. 71 is a screen shot showing a sales and orders summary
page for a supplier.
[0077] FIG. 72 is a screen shot showing a sales and orders page for
suppliers to view new order listings.
[0078] FIG. 73 is a screen shot showing a sales and orders page for
suppliers to view an order detail.
[0079] FIG. 74 is a screen shot showing a sales and orders page for
suppliers to view a list of open orders.
[0080] FIG. 75 is a screen shot showing a distributor request page
listing the supplier's new seller requests.
[0081] FIG. 76 is a screen shot showing a distributor request page
for suppliers to view the details of a seller's request.
[0082] FIG. 77 is a screen shot showing a message centre inbox
listing a user's messages.
[0083] FIG. 78 is a screen shot showing a summary page listing a
supplier's approved distributors.
[0084] FIG. 79 is a screen shot showing a detail page describing an
active distributor.
[0085] FIG. 80 is a screen shot showing a distributor page listing
a supplier's set of suspended distributors.
[0086] FIG. 81 is a screen shot showing a summary page for a
supplier's inventory catalogue.
[0087] FIGS. 82 to 85 are a screen shots showing an inventory
catalogue listing all of a supplier's inventory items illustrating
how a supplier can edit the details of their item's inventory
listing.
[0088] FIG. 86 is a screen shot showing the Part-a-Log main control
panel, as illustrated in FIG. 66.
[0089] FIG. 87 is a screen shot showing a search page for a seller
to find a supplier.
[0090] FIG. 88 is a screen shot showing a details page displaying
information about a single supplier.
[0091] FIG. 89 is a screen shot showing a distributor application
page.
[0092] FIG. 90 is a screen shot showing a main seller's page and
seller windows.
[0093] FIGS. 91 through 94 are screen shots showing a single item
listing page during the creation of an exemplary posting using the
AlsoFits tool.
[0094] FIG. 95 and FIG. 96 are screen shots showing example
questions that may be shown to a seller during the creation of
exemplary postings.
[0095] FIG. 97 is a screen shot showing a further embodiment to a
main buy page shown in FIG. 9, displaying an arrangement of the
advanced search tool features.
[0096] FIG. 98 is a diagram showing a legend for ARA Damage
Description Codes describing types of damages that could occur to
vehicle parts.
[0097] FIG. 99 is a screen shot showing a further embodiment of the
Photos tab in a single item listing page utilizing the Damage
Designer tool to mark up areas of damage.
[0098] FIG. 100 is a screen shot showing another embodiment of a
single item detailed listing page with an image displaying damage
areas on an item.
[0099] FIG. 101 is a screen shot showing a single item sell page
with the photo gallery tab selected to display an image and
comments pertaining to a damaged item for sale.
[0100] FIG. 102 is a screen shot showing a further embodiment to
the choose part page in FIG. 38 listing items that a user is
selling during the creation of an exemplary multi-item listing.
[0101] FIG. 103 is a screen shot showing a summary page listing all
items a user is selling and providing sales and item totals during
the creation of an exemplary multi-item listing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0102] Turning now to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, a
system for posting or listing an item and for searching and viewing
already posted or listed items is generally denoted by numeral 10
and with hereinafter be referred to as the system 10. The system 10
is configured to enable one or more buyers 12 to search, view and
purchase listed items that have been posted or listed by one or
more sellers 14 through an intermediary 16. The intermediary 16 may
comprise a server machine or any other hardware or software
required to host a listing service, in this example a website
provided through the Internet. The buyers 12 and sellers 14 can
access the intermediary 16 through an appropriate network 18, which
in the following examples will be the Internet. However, it will be
appreciated that the network 18 may be any other suitable network
such as a local network or other closed system.
[0103] The intermediary 16 has access to or comprises a
categorization database 20, which includes data pertaining to the
way in which an item is categorized, classified, named, organized
etc. as will be explained in greater detail below. The intermediary
16 also has access to or comprises a data storage device or memory
hereinafter referred to as the items database 22, which stores the
items that are listed. In this example, the items database 22
stores single items 24 and multi-items 26, wherein multi-items 26
are items which may themselves comprise multiple parts or
components that could be individually posted as single items 24 but
are more conveniently posted as a multi-item 26. For example, when
selling auto parts, an entire car may be posted as a multi-item 26
with all its parts so that sellers 14 can simply browse through the
parts associated with the particular vehicle and list them all at
once without having to manually list them one by one. Buyers 12 can
also make requests for parts through the system 10 using the
request form 310, shown in FIG. 46, and the request/response page
325, shown in FIG. 47, as later described herein. The items
database 22 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only and
may also store other items such as but not limited to bin and
catalogue items.
[0104] Single item listings 24 allow sellers 14 to create both
single item listings and multiple quantity listings (for identical
or similar items). With a single item listing, when a buyer 12 opts
to buy that "item", they are effectively purchasing every item
included in that listing. For example, if selling auto parts, a
seller 14 may list 4 rims with a price of $50. When the buyer 12
opts to buy this "item" they are in fact buying 4 rims for $50. In
contrast, a multiple quantity listing (described later) allows the
seller to list 4 rims at $50 each separately, so the buyer 12 would
need to select how many of the 4 rims they are buying and if buying
all 4, the total price would be $200 ($50.times.4).
[0105] The intermediary 16 also comprises a list items tool set 28,
which is a set of computer readable instructions that are used by a
website or other program hosted by the intermediary 16 to enable a
seller 14 to list items; an item search tool 30, which is a set of
computer readable instructions that are used by the website or
other program hosted by the intermediary to enable a buyer 12 (or
potential buyer 12) to search for, browse or otherwise find a
single item 24 or multi-item 26 stored in the items database 22 and
purchase it; and an account manager 32, which is any software tool,
module or program or group or suite of software programs or tools
that can be accessed by an administrator 34 for updating the
databases 20, 22 and for general maintenance and administration of
the system 10. For example, the account manager 32 may be used to
manage accounts for buyers 12 and sellers 14 and also advertisers
(not shown) and other partners or entities. Other features 17
accessible to and/or used by the intermediary 16 are shown in FIG.
1, details of which are explained in the sections below.
[0106] The intermediary 16 also has access to or comprises a data
storage device or memory hereinafter referred to as the
questions/help database 23, which stores details to facilitate a
user posting an item, as described later herein. The database 23
includes various question/help tools 13, details of which are
explained later. The intermediary 16 also has access to or
comprises a data storage device or memory hereinafter referred to
as the AlsoFits database 19, which stores information and data
pertaining to the fitment and compatibility of items listed on the
system 10. For example, a seller 14 lists a "fender" and specifies
that it will fit a "1994-1997 Ford F-150, F-250 and F-350 truck".
The AlsoFits database 19 stores this information so that the next
time a seller 14 lists a fender that fits that description, the
system 10 can suggest this compatibility information and allow that
seller 14 to include it in their listing to make it easier for
buyers 12 to find their item. This is described in more detail
later herein. The intermediary 16 also has access to or comprises a
data storage device or memory hereinafter referred to as the store
front website database 21, which stores information and data
pertaining to individual web domains and item catalogues for
various sellers 14. In the examples provided below, the web domains
are used to provide a "store front" within the intermediary 16 for
the seller 14 to allow them to make their existing store or new
store accessible to buyers 12 and to enable the seller 14 to link
an existing web site to the system 10, e.g. through the network 18.
For example, a seller 14 with an existing website could essentially
take their website and "plug it into" the intermediary 16 creating
a virtual extension of their existing website and inventory.
[0107] Turning now to FIG. 2, further detail of the categorization
database 20 is shown. It may be noted that the categorization
database 20 and the structure therein is shown conceptually and it
will be appreciated that the database 20 may be configured in any
format to suit the particular application of the system 10.
Moreover, the tools shown therein are also conceptual modules that
represent computer executable instructions for utilizing the
contents of the categorization database 20 and may or may not run
on and/or be stored within the database 20. The categorization
database 20 comprises a main category database 44, which, in this
example (directed to auto parts) is a comprehensive category and
vehicle database created through the amalgamation of the industry
standard ACES Part Categories Database (PCdb) 40 and Vehicle
Configuration database (VCdb) 40 with an intermediary category
database 42 and intermediary vehicle database 42, which
incorporates any custom, specific parts, components, question
database 23, part compatibility database 19 and categorization
rules for the specific application. Moreover, the main category
database 44 may include more ACES database components or other
third party databases (not shown). It will be appreciated that for
other types of items, e.g. electronics or consumer items, an
industry standard may not exist, in which case, a single database,
namely the main category database 44 can be created specifically
for the intermediary 16.
[0108] The main category database 44 is designed to enable the
system 10 to provide for speed, ease of use and functionality while
at the same time building a comprehensive database of parts and
components or other related categorization group names such as
accessories as well as a database of parts and part compatibility
information related to vehicle makes, models, years or related to
other types of information deemed important by the administrator
34. For example, the main category database 44 may be able to
distinguish that an air bag was not available in vehicles in the
1940s or that a part for a particular vehicle can fit other
vehicles. The main category database 44 and the system 10 is also
designed to evolve and grow into a more detailed database by
allowing the administrator 34, buyers 12, sellers 14 and other
users to populate the categorization database 20 with data. For
example, as more sellers 14 list items for sale and include part
compatibility information, which is stored in the AlsoFits database
19, more user generated content is stored in the system's 10
databases 19, 20, 21, 23 improving the buying, searching and
selling processes as will be described later herein.
[0109] In an effort to build the detailed main category database
44, mass quantities of data needed to be efficiently combined and
reorganized. Typical designs for category systems often include
only the main category and sub-category headings to keep the lists
small. For example, traditionally, users would have chosen a
category and sub-category that best matched what they were looking
for or selling from a general list. The intent of the main category
database 44 is to include as much detail as possible to make it
easy for users by pre-setting the categories and sub-categories 60a
based on the items specified by the user making the system 10
faster and more user friendly. Continuing with the auto parts
example, it is known that there are thousands and thousands of
"items" that make up a vehicle so creating categories and
sub-categories 60a for all of these would result in a gigantic list
which would make it very difficult and very time consuming for
users to navigate through. This can be particularly true for
sellers 14 who may find it difficult to find the appropriate
category in which to sell their items. To buyers 12, it can appear
to them that the intermediary 16 does not have many items to sell,
since there may only be a relatively few categories that have many
items listed therein when including so many categories and
sub-categories 60a.
[0110] This observation identified the need to re-evaluate the
architecture of the main category database 44 to achieve the
following: 1) Build a comprehensive database with more item details
than any other database and fit it into a small, concise category
and sub-category architecture design; 2) Allow sellers 14 to
specify "what" they are selling instead of wasting time finding a
"category and sub-category" in which to sell their item; 3) Be
robust enough to allow large volume sellers 14 and suppliers 520
with massive catalogue inventory data to import their items
seamlessly into the intermediary 16 (e.g. many sellers 14 and most
suppliers 520 have large inventory catalogues or databases of items
that they would need to import into the items database 22. The main
category database 44 would allow them to quickly import all of
their items and automatically assign the appropriate categories and
sub-categories 60a based on the items being listed. Considering
that some sellers 14 and suppliers 520 have more than 4 million
items in their item catalogue database, the main category database
44 must be robust and scalable to handle this); 4) Make the system
10 easy for buyers 12 to find the "needle in the haystack" items
(i.e. be able to find items that are often extremely difficult to
find by simple searches on the Internet, e.g. auto parts such as
plugs, trim, mouldings, clips and fittings); 5) Make it easier for
sellers 14 and suppliers 520 of smaller and/or less common items
(e.g. starter brushes, body clips) to post their items on the
intermediary 16; 6) Be able to import item listings from other
systems and/or databases on the network 18 and promote them on the
intermediary 16 (e.g. item listings from other websites or online
stores may be imported and listed on the intermediary 16 to provide
better product exposure making the system 10 essentially a portal
for all items of its kind. Considering the auto parts example,
other auto parts websites may export their item listings via RSS,
XML or other system into the categorization and items databases 20,
22 to be used on the system 10; 7) Find an easier way to keep the
categories and sub-categories 60a updated when new vehicles and
parts are built from vehicles from around the world (e.g. ACES only
provides data for vehicles marketed in North America and may not
include data from vehicles in Europe or Asia etc. The main category
database 44 is able to store data from any vehicle.); 8) Find an
easier and faster way to build up a database of keywords,
descriptors and part compatibility; and 9) Be able to integrate
with databases other than ACES to further build up the main
category and AlsoFits databases 44,19.
[0111] As noted above, the categorization database 20 incorporates
the ACES Part Categories Database (PCdb) 40 and the ACES Vehicle
Configuration Database (VCdb) 40 with a custom intermediary
category database 42 and vehicle database 42 which is either
currently being used or comprises application specific or custom
categories etc., and blends the databases 40, 42 together to form a
scalable category model. In order to achieve what was noted above,
the ACES 40 and intermediary 42 databases are amalgamated and
revised to form the main category design used by the intermediary
16. This involves renaming, hiding and moving ACES assigned
categories and sub-categories (assigned by ACES database
administrators) into the different categories and sub-categories
60a of the intermediary database 42 deemed by the administrator 34.
For example, ACES may contain 24 main categories and 177
sub-categories, in this example, that are seen by the user but when
amalgamated with the intermediary database 42, they may be reduced
to 18 and 129 respectively or any other number that is deemed to be
reasonable for the particular application.
[0112] Turning now to FIG. 3A, the categories and sub-categories
60a are organized into a tree structure 60, for the sake of
illustrating the category design, with a Tier 1 62, a Tier 2 64, a
Tier 3 66, a Tier 4 68, Tier 5 70 and each tier thereafter denoted
by the numeral 71, although more or fewer tiers may be used. Each
tier is a node in the tree 60 and there may be one or more nodes
per tier. Tier 1 62 represents the main category that allows users
to choose from different data sets (i.e. Auto Parts, Motorcycles,
Heavy Equipment, Construction Equipment etc.). Tier 2 64 represents
the category and Tier 3 66 represents the sub-category. Only the
first three tiers, made up of the most popular and frequently used
categories and sub-categories 60a, are made visible to users in the
click boxes 58 or other selection mechanisms used by users to
prevent excessive scrolling and browsing. However, the
administrator 34 can add a sub-category to a sub-category (not
shown) if needed. For example, if it is deemed necessary by the
administrator 34 to further refine the category path, "Auto
Parts>Charging, Starting & Ignition>Starters" to "Auto
Parts>Charging, Starting & Ignition>Starters>Starters
1" and "Auto Parts>Charging, Starting &
Ignition>Starters>Starter 2", the administrator 34 could do
so. FIG. 3B shows another depiction of the categorization
system.
[0113] Furthermore, the main category database 44 combines the
"Part Terminology" data used by the ACES database 40 with "Item"
names in the intermediary database 42 to form "Descriptors" which
are pre-set "items" that buyers 12 and sellers 14 may look for or
want to sell. These can be revealed using the auto-fill tool 52 or
any other tool employed by the system 10. For example, FIG. 3A
shows the Tier 3 66 sub-category name as `Bumpers` while the
descriptor (Tier 4 68 in this example) is a "Bumper Bracket". The
administrator 34 can assign any descriptors to any number of
categories and sub-categories 60a as they deem necessary. For
example, "Bumper Assemblies", "Bumpers Brackets", "Bumper
Absorbers" and "Bumper Rebars" are all auto parts that `relate` to
the sub-category "Bumpers" (Tier 3 66), which relates to the
category "Body Parts" (Tier 2 64), which relates to the "Auto Parts
& Accessories" (Tier 1 62) main category. Instead of displaying
every bumper descriptor under the Tier 3 (66) bumper sub-category
and cluttering it up with too much data making it difficult to use,
they are only displayed in the auto-fill tool 52. FIG. 4
illustrates that using the click boxes in this example, users only
see up to the "Bumpers" sub-category (Tier 3 66) keeping the list
concise. However, using the auto-fill tool 52, the users would be
able to see and select one of the descriptors attached to this
sub-category (shown only for illustrative purposes in this Figure).
This is explained in subsequent sections. This is particularly
helpful for sellers 14 who can type in a descriptor during the
selling process and have the system 10 automatically assign the
category and sub-category 60a for the seller 14 so they do not have
to manually choose them like other systems require. (If the seller
14 wishes to change the category and sub-category 60a after they
are automatically assigned, they can do so in case they wish to
choose another). This increases both speed and usability by making
it very convenient for the seller 14 since the system 10 knows
which category or sub-category 60a the descriptor is associated
with. In this way, there can be millions of items (descriptors)
with pre-set category paths (preset by the administrator 34) while
maintaining a concise category and sub-category 60a list that is
easy to use for buyers 12 and sellers 14 minimizing excessive
clicking, scrolling and reading category line items.
[0114] To make the system 10 even easier and more user friendly,
the administrator 34 can be tasked with classifying each of the
7,044 descriptors, in this example, from the main category database
44 with a "Parts", "Components" or "Accessories" identifier (or any
other categorization group name deemed important by the
administrator 34). Components are defined as smaller, more granular
parts that are combined with other parts to make up one other part
assembly, referred to as a "Part". For example, when dealing with
auto parts, it is realized that starter "brushes" are components
that are found in a starter so the "starter" would be the `Part`
and the "starter brushes" would be a `Component` of the starter.
One main purpose of classifying each descriptor as a part,
component or accessory is to make it easier for the user to choose
a descriptor from the auto-fill results 100. Turning to FIG. 5A, an
example of an auto-fill result 100 generated by the auto-fill tool
52 is shown to illustrate that separating the descriptors into a
more readable format is easier for the user. FIG. 5A for example,
shows that typing "Car" into the auto-fill tool 52 would result in
a large list of matching `carburetor` descriptors. If the
descriptors were not organized into part, component and accessory
groups, it would be difficult for the user to make their selection
from such a large list without excessive reading and scrolling.
(FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are shown as examples only and more or fewer
descriptor results may be displayed). With the descriptors
organized by the administrator 34, the user could simply filter out
descriptors by deciding whether they are looking for a part,
component or accessory thereby eliminating results that do not
apply to their needs, thus choosing from a smaller more refined
list. For example, most auto parts users in this example will be
looking for a "Carburetor" (displayed in the Parts list 102) of the
auto-fill list result 100 rather than an uncommon item such as a
"Carburetor Choke Tube Gasket" (displayed in the Components list
103).
[0115] As mentioned above, the auto-fill tool 52 allows users 14 to
enter into a user interface (UI), exactly what they are looking
for. For sellers 14, that means they can specify exactly what they
are "selling" rather than have them find a category and
sub-category 60a to sell their item in. It also allows them to find
and list very specific, granular items easily and make it easier
for buyers 12 to find their items. It has been observed that in
many instances, sellers 14 spend a great deal of time searching for
the right category and sub-category when trying to post an item to
sell. The categorization database 20 may host millions of
"descriptors" with pre-set categories and sub-categories 60a so
that sellers 14 can quickly choose an item from the auto-fill
results 100 and let the system 10 do the work to find the category
and sub-category 60a to list the item in. The auto-fill tool 52
works by matching what users are looking for to all of the
descriptors in the categorization database 20 and conveniently
organizes them into a parts list 102, a components list 103 and an
accessories list 104. In this way, it is easier for both the buyer
12 and seller 14 to find what they are looking for, quickly and
efficiently. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, by typing "Car" into
an appropriate interface that is linked to the auto-fill tool 52,
the system extracts the parts, components and accessories from the
main categorization database 44 that begins with "car". The system
10 can be configured to auto-fill what the user is typing with most
commonly searched parts, components or accessories that match what
is typed into the auto-fill tool. For example, FIG. 5B shows
"Carburetor" by auto-completing "car" with "buretor" (highlighted
portion) to allow the user to quickly choose "carburetor" instead
of having them select it from the parts list 102, components list
103 and accessories list 104. In this example, the system 10
recognized `carburetor` to be the most commonly used match for
"car" therefore it auto-filled "carburetor". The user can continue
typing, or press the enter key or other input mechanism to accept
the selection. As the user types, the results displayed change
based on what descriptors the system 10 matches. The parts,
components and accessories list may be organized in any suitable
fashion and the single column of lists shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B are
only for illustrative purposes. Another example result 100' is
shown in FIG. 5C, which utilizes a side-by-side arrangement and
like elements are given like numerals with the suffix "'" for
clarity. In other embodiments, the auto-fill tool 52 may classify
the auto-fill results 100 into other lists such as a Performance
list 105.
[0116] The system would be able to preset the categories and
sub-categories 60a because the parent IDs 76 shown in FIG. 3A
provide the relationship between the categories and sub-categories
60a. Each tier has a unique identification number (ID) which can be
used to link categories in the tree 60, i.e. in a
child-parent-grandparent etc. relationship. By linking the
categories and sub-categories 60a in this way, as also shown in
FIG. 3A, each descriptor can be stored in the database 20, in any
location with a tier ID 72, a tier name 74, and a parent ID 76. A
relationship between a descriptor and a category can also be
created manually without having to reverse the path using the
parent ID 76.
[0117] Turning back to FIG. 3A, the first three tiers represent the
categories and sub-categories 60a and tier 4 68 on represents data
pertaining to descriptors. For example, Tier 5 (70) contains
position details that pertain to the Tier 4 (68) descriptors. For
example, there can be a right inner, right outer, left inner and
left outer bumper bracket; details that further describe the tier 4
(68) item. Tier 5 (70) can therefore add valuable information
allowing the seller 14 to provide more details about the item they
are selling while providing buyers 12 with more search filter
options. Tier "n" represents infinite tiers of additional
information that can be attached to a descriptor.
[0118] The system administrator 34 can monitor what sellers 14 are
listing and what buyers 12 are searching for and, if these items
are not found within the main category database 44, the
administrator 34 can add them to keep the main category database
updated and constantly evolving. For example, when sellers 14 are
creating a listing for an item that is not found within the
auto-fill results 100, as will be described in further detail in
subsequent sections, they can continue typing their item in the
`What are you selling` 194 field. Since the item did not match a
descriptor in the main category database 44, the system 10 could
not automatically associate the category and sub-category to the
descriptor. In this case, the seller 14 would be forced to manually
select a category and sub-category to sell their item in. Once they
finish listing their item, the administrator 34 could review the
custom item and decide whether or not to add it to the main
category database 44. If it is added, the administrator 34 would
review the category and sub-category 60a assigned to it by the
seller 14 and either keep them assigned or modify them. Finally,
the new descriptor would need be classified with a Part, Component
or Accessory identifier. Once it is added, the next time a buyer 12
or seller 14 typed that item name in the auto-fill tool 52, the
main category database 44 would recognize the descriptor and
display it in the auto-fill results 100. For example, a seller 14
lists a `B Switch` and since it is not found in the main category
database 44, they choose the following category and sub-category:
`Auto Parts>Modules, Sensors & Electrical>Switches`. The
administrator 34 then decides to add `B Switch` to the main
category database 44, reviews the category and sub-category
associated with it and does not change them, and finally classifies
it with a component identifier. The next time a seller 14 types `B
Switch` in the auto-fill 52, it would appear in the auto-fill
results 100 under `Components` allowing the user to select it and
have the system automatically choose the category path: `Auto
Parts>Modules, Sensors & Electrical>Switches`.
[0119] Each tier contains a group of tables that store other data
not found in the ACES databases such as, but not limited to, a list
of keywords, alternate names, spelling variations of the tier name
and other information deemed important by the administrator 34 to
improve the overall functionality of the system 10. For example,
the administrator 34 may change the name of an ACES category,
sub-category or descriptor to better fit the main category database
44 but will store the original ACES name in the keyword table. For
example, a descriptor from the ACES database called "Air Mass Flow
Sensor Meter" is the correct name of this auto part but the
administrator 34 knows that the part is commonly referred to as a
"Mass Air Flow". In order to improve the searching, buying and
selling processes, the descriptor name is changed to `Mass Air
Flow` and the keyword phrase, "Air Mass Flow Sensor Meter" is added
to the keyword table. The next time users type "Air Mass Flow
Sensor Meter", the system 10 can understand it and display "Mass
Air Flow" in the auto-fill results 100. Furthermore, the
administrator 34 can be tasked with adding spelling variations to
categories, sub-categories, descriptors, vehicles etc and storing
them in the questions/help database 23. For example, adding
"Senser" as a spelling variation to the descriptor "Sensor" will
allow the system 10 to understand that when users type in `senser`
they mean `sensor`. Another example would be to add alternate names
and spelling combinations for vehicles to greatly increase the
usability of the system 10. For example, if a user types, "Plimoth"
(incorrect spelling), the system 10 could understand it as
"Plymouth" (the correct spelling) if the administrator 34 added
Plimoth as an alternate name for Plymouth.
[0120] The administrator 34 is able to rename anything in the ACES
database 40 because no IDs are changed when doing this to preserve
the integrity of the ACES database data. This makes updating the
ACES databases 40 simple because the IDs are used in update
process. For example, assume the ACES descriptor "Engine Harmonic
Balancer" with the ID 5, was renamed in the main category database
44 as "Harmonic Balancer". The ID remains 5. Even if the ACES
database if updated, the revised descriptor name does not change
and if sellers 14 or suppliers 520 wanted to import their data
using the ACES standards, even though names would be different, the
data would be successfully imported into the system 10 by using the
IDs.
[0121] Since the ACES database 40 is continually updated, and the
intermediary category database 42 may also need to be updated, the
categorization database 20 is, in this example, capable of
receiving and processing updates 46 for the individual databases
(46a for ACES and 46b for the website/intermediary). In this way,
the original sources of the categories can be updated per the usual
while the main category database 44 can be updated by simply
creating a new amalgamation of the updated databases 40, 42. For
example, the databases 40, 42 can be kept separate and the ACES
database 40 updated by downloading the latest update from a central
ACES website and refreshing the data. The intermediary category
database 42 can be customized and updated at any time by the
administrator 34, or using batch updates or any other schedule. A
script can then be used to merge the changes to both databases 40,
42 and the administrator 34 can review the final update to validate
the integrity of the main category database 44. Various tests can
be employed if desired and then the main category database 44 can
be released to the website. In order to update the databases 40,
42, 44, an admin tool 48 can be provided that can be used by the
administrator 34 as needed. As can also be seen in FIG. 2, a search
tool 50 and an auto-fill tool 52 are provided with access to the
main category database 44. Currently, ACES is updated monthly for
those who subscribe and, as such, a script or a custom tool that
runs automatically such as the admin tool 48 can be used so the
ACES and intermediary categories can be updated easily and
seamlessly.
[0122] When updating and amalgamating the ACES and intermediary
databases 40, 42, there may be some duplication with category,
sub-category, descriptor and vehicle names or other duplicate
content. For example, if the administrator added the descriptor
"Cylinder Head" to the intermediary database 42 and two months
later when the ACES database 40 was updated, they too added
Cylinder Head, the administrator 34 can be tasked with merging the
data together.
[0123] Furthermore, relationships between different tables in the
ACES database 40 that previously did not exist may be formed by the
administrator 34 thereby making the ACES database 40 within the
main category database 44 more detailed than it originally was. For
example, the ACES Vehicle Configuration database (VCdb) 40 tracks
some of the year, make and model information for vehicles marketed
in North America and contains some common information about the
engine size, body structure (2 door, 4 door etc.), transmission
type (manual, automatic etc.), etc. However, the ACES database 40
does not form relationships between auto parts and vehicles so
their database, for example, cannot distinguish that an airbag was
not available in vehicles built in the 1940s. The administrator 34
can setup these relationships to create a more comprehensive and
detailed database within the categorization database 20 than ACES
40 originally provided. These relationships can be used to assist
in filtering searches by eliminating parts from models for years
when they did not exist etc. For other types of items, any industry
available equivalent to the ACES PCdb and VCdb 40 can be used to
provide a similar function.
[0124] The ACES category database 40 is one most commonly used
Industry Standard for the management and exchange of automotive
catalogue and vehicle data in the United States. With ACES, sellers
14 and suppliers 520 who are ACES compliant (following the ACES
industry standards) can publish automotive data with standard coded
designations for vehicle attributes, parts classifications and
qualifier statements. ACES provides a machine-readable format (XML)
for trading partners to use in exchanging vast amounts of
information. The Electronic Commerce Committee of the Automotive
Aftermarket Industry Association develops standards and best
practices to lower costs throughout the aftermarket and increase
the efficiency of supply chain technology. The committee recognized
that part availability inquiries and associated special order
transactions occurred many thousands of times each day at all
levels of the aftermarket. These transactions were conducted by
phone, fax and a growing number of negotiated electronic
transaction formats. In the interest of providing an open industry
guideline for this business process the AAIA committee identified
the ACES standards and a workgroup was formed from interested
parties. The Internet parts ordering standards in the document
produced were developed with broad industry participation. It can
therefore be seen that by leveraging off of one of the industry
standards for categorization, the main category database 44 can be
designed to be simpler to use but still utilize the vast amounts of
data developed for ACES. Furthermore, the administrator 34 may
integrate other database standards such as the Internet Parts
Ordering standards developed from the AAIA, the Hollander
Interchange platform from Solera etc. and amalgamate them into the
main category database 44 using the same techniques as described in
previous sections.
[0125] The intermediary 16 enables buyers 12 and sellers 14 to
transact with each other over the network 18 by hosting a program,
application or website. FIG. 6 illustrates a main screen for a
website UI 110. In this example, the website UI 110 is accessed by
entering a URL through a browser connected to the Internet, the URL
being associated with the intermediary 16. The website UI 110
comprises various main navigation options, in this example, a home
link 112, which allows the user to return to the main screen shown
in FIG. 6 at any time; a Buy link 114, which, when selected,
initiates a buying process for a buyer 12; a Sell link 116, which,
when selected, initiates a selling process for a seller 14, i.e. to
post or list one or more items; a My Account link 118, which, when
selected, accesses account information and enables a user to log-in
to their account or set up a new account etc.; a Search entry box
120, which enables a user to enter text for conducting a quick
search at any time, which is initiated by selecting a Search button
122.; Make 83 Model 82 and Year 81 drop downs which enables users
to search based on the make, model and year of their vehicle
initiated by clicking the search button (not shown).; a Stores Link
113, which, when selected, allows the user to browse and search
through sellers' 14 items and item catalogues from sellers' 14
stores; a Wanted Link 115, which, when selected, allows the user to
view items requested by other users and allows sellers 14 to post
requested items to the items database 22; a Videos Link 117, which,
when selected, brings the user to pages that display
To-It-Yourself', `How To`, instructional, educational and other
videos related to the system 10; an AlsoFits Link 119, which, when
selected, allows the user to access part compatibility information
pertaining to items; a Tool link 523 which provides access to other
tools and applications; a Help Link 107, that when selected, allows
the user to access help files pertaining to the use of the system
10; a Register Link 123 which, when selected, initiates a
registration module, and a Sign In Link 106 which, when selected,
provides access to the registration/sign-in page shown in FIG. 7.
In other embodiments the navigation options may expand to include
additional tabs, not depicted here and may have different names
than shown in these Figures. Other Figures may only display some
tabs for illustrative purposes only. The main screen shown in FIG.
6 can be used to provide banners 126a, 126b for advertisements and
messages, and may comprise different portions or panes that provide
links 124, 130 and featured items 132. Also, the main screen may
allocate a portion for assisting the user in getting started, e.g.
with preliminary instructions or helpful tips. Moreover, FIG. 6
illustrates extra links and features that are available throughout
the system although they may not be depicted in other Figures.
[0126] Turning now to FIG. 7, a registration/sign-in screen is
shown, which may be initiated upon selecting the account link 118,
or sell link 116 or using any other feature that requires users to
be signed into their account. For users that have already
registered, standard username and password entry boxes and a sign
in button, collectively referred to as a sign-in tool by numeral
138, can be filled in by typing the appropriate username and
password and selecting the sign in button. If a user has not yet
registered, they can select the register button 140, which then
initiates a registration module (not shown), e.g. run by the admin
tool 48 to gather the appropriate user information. Messages 134,
136 may also be displayed to provide an advertisement or system
message encouraging users to register if they haven't done so or to
upgrade to premium services etc.
[0127] FIG. 8 shows the main Buy page accessible by clicking the
buy tab 114 from the top menu and provides many ways for buyers 12
to search for items including but not limited to; 1) a text search
120, explained earlier; 2) make 83, model 82 and year 81 drop down
searches (in which users can search using a combination of; a) make
only: to search for all models and years of the selected make; b)
make and model only: to search for all available items for the
selected model years; and c) by make, model and year: to search for
all items for their specific search criteria, in this example a
vehicle. The search is initiated by clicking a search button (not
shown). 3) Buyers 12 can use the tabs 91 to load different pages
that display different search criteria. For example, the first tab
"View All Parts & Accessories" 84 displays all categories and
sub-categories 80 that when anyone is selected, a search returns a
list of all items posted on the intermediary 16 for that
sub-category. For example, if a user clicked the Blower Motors
sub-category, all of the blower motors posted would be displayed in
the appropriate results page (not shown here).
[0128] Other tabs, in this example, such as "Replacement Parts
& Accessories" 85, "Performance Parts & Accessories" 86,
"Vintage Parts" (not shown), "Racing Parts" (not shown) etc. can
perform the same type of search as the "View All Parts &
Accessories" 84 tab however, the results return only items that
match the specific "attributes" the tab is assigned. An attribute
is a particular characteristic of the item assigned by the seller
14 during the selling process. When a seller 14 tags their item
with an attribute, the system 10 then adds that item to a special
group of items (based on the attribute) to give buyers 12 more
searching options. For example, clicking the Blower Motors
sub-category link on the Performance Parts & Accessories 86 tab
would display all "Performance" blower motors posted in the items
database 22 that are available; that is, all blower motors with the
performance attribute. It may be noted that an attribute in this
example is not a new category but simply a flag given to an item
that can be searched and filtered. This will be explained in more
detail when describing the single item 24 selling tools. Other tabs
may perform similar functions but search different items. For
example, the "Parts Vehicles" 88 tab is an example of a search page
dedicated to searching multi-items 26. Buyers 12 can also post
items they are looking for on the "Wanted Board" 89 to allow
sellers 14 to view items requested by other users and use the
"Parts Alert" tool (not shown) to post a requested item to the
items database 22 and notify the buyer that a matching part is
available. The Browse by Vehicle Make & Model 87 tab offers
users an alternative way to search for items by vehicle make and
model. Buyers 12 can use the advanced search tools by clicking the
Use the Advanced Search Tools link 90a which loads the advanced
search page shown in FIG. 9.
[0129] The advanced search page shown in FIG. 9 presents more
search filters and auto-fill search tools so that users can further
refine their search. For example, a user may want to search for
items only in a particular country and/or search for items priced
under $50. The buyers 12 can also use the click boxes 146 with the
first click box containing the first tier of categories and when a
user selects that category, the next pane displays a more detailed
breakdown of it. Users can simply click on the contents in the left
pane to get a more detailed list in the right pane. The further to
the right you go, the more detailed your search will be. Stay to
the left and the more general your search will be. These click
boxes 146 display only up to three tiers, in this example. The top
row in the click boxes 146 contain the categories and
sub-categories while the bottom boxes contain, in this example,
vehicles or other related information. The users can mix and match
their search criteria to perform broad or very detailed searches.
For example, one user may want to search for a fender for their
1987 Honda Civic by selecting the sub-category "fender" from the
top third click box 146 and choosing a 1987 Honda Civic from the
bottom click boxes 146. Another user may want to search all Body
& Exterior items listed for their Civic by only choosing the
Body & Exterior category from the above boxes 146 and selecting
Honda, Civic from the first two bottom boxes 146. Notice that no
year was selected so the search will pull up all Body &
Exterior results for all years of Honda Civics. The search is
activated by clicking the search button (not shown). The user can
also click the Use the Quick Finder 216a link to load the vehicle
quick finder tool 216a as will be explained later.
[0130] The user may want to use the "What are you looking for" 121
search box to use the auto-fill tool 52 and access a detail
descriptor list explained earlier. After the user selects a
descriptor from the auto-fill result 100, they can add more search
criteria or execute the search by clicking the search button (not
shown). For example, if a user typed in "Starter" and selected
"Starter Brushes" from the auto-fill result 100 and clicked the
search button, the system searches for all starter brushes. If
additional search criteria such as, the item price must be less
than $50, was added, clicking the search button would search for
all "Starter Brushes" with a price less than $50. Users can also
use the links on the side menu (not shown) to quickly search for
items. The Match Exact Vehicle Only 92 and Include Compatible
Vehicles in Search 93 options allow the user to search for items
that fit their exact vehicle or search for items that are from
different vehicles but still compatible with the vehicle the user
selected. In other words, the second search filter will search for
items from other vehicles that "Also Fit" their vehicle. Users can
still use the search bar 120 and the vehicle drop downs 83, 82, 81
at the top of the page to find items as explained earlier. Other
search filters 111 include, description in search 94, keywords 95,
year range 96, condition 97, price range 98, currency 101, location
99, payment method 108 and shipping options 109, are available to
the user at the bottom of the page to refine their search. Other
search filters 142 will offer similar functionality. The user can
return to the simple search page by clicking the "Use the Simple
Search Tools" link 90b.
[0131] If the user is registered, the screen shown in FIG. 10 may
be displayed by clicking the Account Link 118. The user's account
page can be divided into an information pane 148 and a message pane
150. The information pane 148 is broken up into different sections.
The Dashboard 148a displays summary information from various
account pages; The Mailbox 148b is where they can send and receive
messages from other users; My Account 148c allows the users to
manage their account information and add the vehicles they drive,
in this example, to their profile so that the system 10 can
automatically search for and present the user with all items
related to their vehicle without the user having to manually search
for them; Sales and Orders 148d allows sellers 14 to manage their
sales and orders, similar to the features shown in FIGS. 71 to 74;
Manage Inventory 148e allows sellers to manage their inventory as
shown in FIGS. 81 to 85; Buying 148f allows buyers 12 to review
their purchases, view their saved searches and review items they
posted to the Wanted Board; and the My Seller Account 148g allows
sellers to manage their seller account, setup their selling
preferences, setup their PayPal, Google Checkout and other payment
processors accounts, and make payments to the system 10 for charges
related to their account. The message pane 150 provides a UI for
the user to view messages from buyers and create their own
messages, which provides a convenient communication tool within the
system 10. The message pane 150 displays the appropriate details
from the information pane 148. For example, if the user chooses to
edit their account information by selecting the link in the My
Account information pane 148c, they would make the change in the
message pane 150 on the right. If users are not registered, they
can access a similar account page (not shown) dedicated to Guest
users with certain options restricted. For example, an unregistered
user, or a user not signed in, may be able to add vehicles to their
Guest account, view messages sent from sellers 14, save their
custom searches, add items to their Watch List etc. The system 10
uses a combination of programming and cookies to allow this
functionality.
[0132] Once users activate their seller account, a list of options
may then be provided, such as to allow the seller 14 to setup their
selling preferences/defaults as shown in FIG. 11A. Referring also
to FIG. 10, the selling preferences can be listed under My Seller
Account 148g or can be presented to the user automatically during
the registration setup or the seller account setup. As can be seen
in FIG. 11A, the selling preferences can comprise any suitable
details that the user may use more than once, thus a default. In
this example, the following default types are shown: a) condition
152 such as used--very good, used--excellent etc.; b) payment
details 153, which may be selected from a standard list and may
allow the user to "select all", along with payment instructions,
which enables the user to add a textual set of instructions to
assist the buyer 12; c) currency 154, to enable the user to select
a default currency in which to transact; d) shipping details 155
including handling time, shipping notes and insurance, which allows
the user to preset the type of insurance they wish to add such as
required, optional etc.; e) a warranty and return policy 160 which
allows the user to specify if and how to return items and if a
warranty or particular period applies and other details pertaining
to the returns.
[0133] The shipping details 155 include drop down boxes, in this
example, in which the seller can preset how they will ship items to
buyers in the United States 156, Canada 157 and Internationally
158. The seller has various options to choose from as will be
explained later in the selling process. FIG. 11B shows a similar
selling preferences page only accessible to Non-Canadian and Non-US
sellers. An extra shipping location, Seller's Country 159, is
available that matches the country the seller is located in. For
example, if the seller 14 is from Australia, the drop down will
display Australia to allow the Australian seller 14 to specify how
they will ship the item to buyers 12 in their country. Seller's
Country appears in FIG. 11B as an illustration only and will be
replaced by the actual name of the country the Non-US/Non-Canadian
seller 14 is located in.
[0134] A Back button 143 allows the user to return to their account
page and a Save button 144 enables the user to save the selected
preferences, in whatever the current state of the defaults page
happens to be. By setting defaults, the user's choices can be
automatically populated during the selling process when creating a
new listing, allowing the user to save additional time.
[0135] At any later time, the user should be able to click on "My
Selling Preferences" in their My Seller Account 148g to be taken to
the selling preferences setup page shown in FIG. 11A and/or 11B to
allow the user to modify and/or update their default preferences.
The selling preferences screen can use radio buttons, drop down
boxes and text boxes and any other input mechanism 78 to allow the
user to select or specify a default preference. Users should be
able to setup all of the default options if they wish, setup some
of the default options or not setup anything if they do not wish to
utilize any defaults. If they do not wish to add any selling
preferences, they would choose the Back button 143. Once they enter
a selling preference, they would choose the Save button 144 to save
their changes and return to their account page, e.g. that shown in
FIG. 10. Similarly, the seller 14 can save their preferences when
selling an item as discussed below.
[0136] As noted above, the selling preferences can be used during
the listing process to allow the user to save time by utilizing
common options and preferences. When sellers 14 are listing an
item, whatever preferences have been previously setup will
automatically appear in a users listing. For example, User A has
setup his Payment Details 153 to accept Payment Method A, B and E.
A few days later, User A begins to list an item and the Payment
Method A, B and E are automatically pre-selected for
convenience.
[0137] The sellers 14 should be able to view and modify their
selling details during the sell process at any time by clicking on
an option to view and modify the selling details. If the user
selects such an option, they would then see the UI 110 display
their selling details to view and/or modify similar to what is
shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. When a user is listing an item and the
system 10 populates the fields with the user's default settings,
the user should still be able to change any of the options. For
example, if User A had previously set his preferred shipping method
to Canada 157 as Contact Seller and has listed a new item that
should be configured to offer Free Shipping, User A can simply
change the shipping method for Canada 157 to Free Shipping. This
will not change his selling preferences unless the user decides to
update their preferences during the listing process. For example,
presetting the shipping method to the United States 156 with Free
Shipping was an error so User A changes that to Calculated
Shipping. To change it for all future listings, that is, to change
their preference, an option should be available to update the
selling preferences within the sell page using the currently
selected selling details rather than having User A return to their
account page and select the selling preferences link.
[0138] It may be noted that other options and restrictions can be
incorporated, e.g. where multiple sellers are introduced. In such a
case, a restriction can be set such that only the account
administrator (i.e. a selected one of the sellers) can set selling
preferences. This can be done to minimize concurrency issues, e.g.
when there are multiple users acting for the same entity. When
having multiple users, the account should allow multiple items to
be listed at the same time, using the same preferences.
[0139] When a user selects the Sell link 116 through the main
navigation portion of the UI 110, a main sell menu page may be
initiated as shown in FIG. 12. The main sell menu page allows the
user to select from various selling formats. In this example, a
single item 24 may be listed by selecting the List an Item option
161 and a multi-item 26 may be listed by selecting the List a
Multi-Item option 162. As can also be seen in FIG. 12, and which
will be described later, the user may also select the Create a Bin
option 163 to start the bin selling process. The Bulk Upload Items
164 option allows sellers 14 to post a large volume of items at one
time from a spreadsheet or other resource. A Parts Catalogue option
165 can also be selected, which allows a seller 14 to create a
digital catalogue for their items 24 and multi-items 26 etc.,
import their entire product inventory into the items database 22
and allow sellers 14 and suppliers 520 to utilize the Part-a-Log
features as will be described later. The system 10 can also be
configured to connect to the seller's 14 product catalogue through
an API (application programming interface) provided by the system
10 and/or the seller 14 to keep the seller's 14 product inventory
updated in real time. The Build Your Store option 166 allows the
seller 14 to create and configure their virtual store within the
intermediary 16 and set up parameters and promotional materials,
e.g. for users who wish to utilize the system 10 for posting,
selling and buying items on behalf of an organization such as a
store or other business.
[0140] A Product Advertising option 167 can be selected to allow
sellers 14 or administrators of other websites or systems to
integrate and/or promote their item listings from their website
into the items database 22 and the system 10. For example, ABC
Company may have their own website but may want to use the
intermediary 16 to promote their items and generate more sales by
listing all of their items in the intermediary's 16 items database
22. The system 10 can be configured to generate revenue from
sending referrals from the intermediary 16 to the seller's own
website or store and/or charge a commission fee for sales generated
from buyers 12 who found the seller's 14 item on the items database
22 but purchased the item from the seller 14 on the seller's 14 own
website. Various help pages and instructions 169a, 169b can assist
the seller 14 with choosing an option. A test drive link 170 allows
a user to try out the selling tools without posting anything to the
items database 22. A Continue Selling Your Saved Listing link 171
allows the seller 14 to continue a saved listing. The system 10 can
be configured to include more or less options than illustrated in
FIG. 12.
[0141] The main sell menu page can be configured to show all
options available to a particular seller 14. For example, if a
seller does not have a particular account type or membership
required to use one of the features, that feature can be omitted or
"greyed out" with a message telling them they must upgrade their
account to use the feature. This provides an avenue to create
awareness for the different products and always encourage users to
upgrade their accounts.
[0142] An example of the single items 24 selling process is now
described, which enables the user to quickly and efficiently list
or post items in much less time than previous listing processes.
The process comprises specifying the item being sold (which the
system can automatically preselect the best category and
sub-category the item should be sold in) as explained earlier,
adding records details, uploading pictures and/or video and sending
the item to the system 10. The selling page is organized into
different sections to ensure the user enters all important
information about their item in one area minimizing time, effort
and scrolling operations. In this way, the user is given a certain
amount of control over the selling process, while keeping the
process consistent and in a logical work flow.
List a Single Item
[0143] In the following example, once the user selects the "List an
Item" selling option 161, they are directed to the sell page shown
in FIG. 13. Everything the seller 14 needs has been arranged onto
one page to minimize scrolling and clicking and organized into
different sections for convenience. The page is broken up into two
main areas: The required details pane 176 and the optional details
pane 175. The required details pane 176 contains details the seller
14 must complete in order to post the item to the items database
22. The optional details pane 175 is where the user can add extra,
optional details to better describe the item for sale. It is also
where the system 10 can add different applications and utilize
third party applications. For example, the Vehicle Details tab 182
will utilize the AlsoFits application (explained later) to provide
part compatibility data (data about other vehicles the item is
compatible with). The user can save the listing by selecting the
Save button 172 so they can complete it at another time. Saved
listings appear in the main sell menu page under the Continue
Selling Your Saved Listing link 171 shown in FIG. 12. During the
selling process, the seller 14 may at any time preview their
listing by selecting the Preview & Finish button 186 and can
proceed to list or post the item or can abort the current listing
by selecting the Cancel button 174.
[0144] The administrator 34 can modify the details in the required
and optional detail panes 176, 175 by making global changes, that
it for all types of items, or can modify the requirements for
different descriptors. For example, some electronics such as relays
or switches may require the seller to add a part number to their
listing, whereas a fender would not require this.
[0145] The optional details pane 175 comprises one or more tabs 188
that can be configured, e.g. using AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript
and XML), to prevent page refreshes when the appropriate tab 188 is
selected in the optional details pane 175. Examples of suitable
tabs 188 for auto parts includes without limitation: Item Details
181, Vehicle Details 182, Shipping & Payment 183 and Photos
184. The required details pane 176 may also comprise a tabbed
configuration (not shown).
[0146] When the user first arrives at the sell page, as shown in
FIG. 13, they may be given the opportunity to upload one or more
pictures immediately by clicking either the "Click here to upload"
link 182 in the photo preview box 180, or by clicking the Photos
tab 184 to direct the user to the upload photos tools. If any
photos have been uploaded, the first photo will be contained in the
photo preview box 180, with the ability to edit the photos at any
time. Allowing the seller 14 to upload their photos at any time in
the selling process adds to the uniqueness of the selling tool. It
has been found that by having a photo available to the user for
referencing during the selling process makes it easier for the user
to describe what it is they are selling. In this way, the seller 14
can upload the photos of the item before beginning to create the
listing. This also allows the user to continually refer back to the
photos as they are attempting to describe it for the listing. If
the seller has uploaded more than one photo, the system may be
configured to display Next and Previous buttons (not shown) to
allow the seller 14 to browse through the different photos without
leaving the required details pane.
[0147] It has been recognized that the categorization of parts,
components and accessories described above can be used to assist
the user in finding and selecting categories and sub-categories
60a, in particular when selling an item. As described earlier,
traditional selling processes often require that sellers have to
manually choose a category and sub-category that best matches the
item they are selling which can take time and may require many page
refreshes. These traditional listing processes have been found to
not be particularly intuitive and may be considerably slow,
especially when a seller does not know what category their item
falls under. The auto-fill tool 52 allows the seller 14 to type in
the exact "item" they are selling and, if that item matches a
descriptor in the main category database 44, the system 10 can
automatically choose the category and sub-category 60a that best
fits their item in one simple step. When the sell page loads, the
user can immediately begin typing what they are selling in the
"What are you selling" auto-fill box 194. FIG. 14 shows one use of
the auto fill result 100 in the inline orientation. As explained
earlier, the system 10 will automatically provide a list of
descriptor items that best match what they are typing and organizes
them into a "Parts" 102, "Components" 103, "Accessories" 104 and
"Performance" 105 list. The user may continue typing what it is
they are selling (e.g. carburetor, engine assembly etc.) and the
auto fill result 100 will automatically update displaying the
closest matching descriptor results as the typing continues.
[0148] Using the cursor keys or any other appropriate input or
selection mechanism, the user would be able to select an item. For
example, FIG. 14 shows a seller typing "Car" and the auto-fill tool
52 automatically highlights "Carburetor" in the "What are you
selling" field 194. The user can hit the Enter key to accept
carburetor. If they wanted to choose "Carburetor Float", they could
continue typing the phrase until it matches the descriptor, or use
the arrow down key to select it from the drop down list. The
descriptor lists 102, 103, 104 and 105 can shrink or expand
depending on what the user types and how many matches are found. It
may be noted that various parameters may be used, such as requiring
the user to type at least a certain number of characters before
creating the auto-fill result 100.
[0149] For scenarios where the user types an item into the What are
you selling field 194 that is not found in the categorization
database 20, no auto-fill results are shown and the user can
continue typing. When an auto-generated category and sub-category
60a cannot be pre-selected, the seller 14 must manually choose them
using any suitable search tools such as a series of click boxes 58
as shown in FIG. 15. The click boxes 58 automatically appear so the
user can choose where to list their item. Once the user has chosen
their category and sub-category 60a, they can either click the Hide
Categories link 69 or navigate to one of the other fields such as
condition 196 to automatically hide the click boxes 58. If the user
wants to view the click boxes 58 again, they could click the Browse
Categories link 195 shown in FIG. 13 to load the click boxes 58.
Once the user chooses their category and sub-category 60a, the
category path is displayed above the Browse Categories link 195
(not shown) to show the user which category their item will be
placed in. This information can then be tracked and stored so that
the administrator 34 can determine whether to update the main
category database 44 by adding a new category, sub-category,
descriptor or other maintenance task. For example, if the user
typed in "Zender plug", nothing would appear in the auto-fill
results list 100 because, in this example, "Zender plug" is not
found in the main category database 44 and therefore, the category
and sub-category 60a cannot be pre-selected by the system 10. The
user would need to choose them, e.g. "Auto Parts &
Accessories>Module, Switches & Wiring>Other" (or another
suitable category). If the administrator 34 adds this information
to the main category database 44, the next time a user types in
"Zen", `Zender plug` would appear in the auto-fill results 100 and
the system 10 would be able to pre-select the category and
sub-category for the user.
[0150] Additional embodiments may present the seller with pictures
of parts and/or vehicles, either from the system's 10 custom
database 23 or by a third party data provider (not shown). For
example, the user may view a picture of a vehicle and click the
headlight (in the picture) to automatically fill in the `What are
you selling` 194 field with `headlight` and its associated category
and sub-category 60a. The auto-fill tool 52 also utilizes the
incorrect spelling database 23. This can be particularly helpful to
a user that has misspelt their item name. For example, if the
seller 14 typed in "O2 Sensir", the system 10 can still display "O2
Sensor" in the auto-fill result 100 by utilizing the incorrect
spelling database 23. Although they spelt it incorrectly, they can
choose the correct spelling from auto-fill result 100. The system
10 can also be configured to automatically correct the misspelled
word/phrase after the seller 14 types it.
[0151] Once the user specifies what they are selling and chooses a
category (if the system 10 did not do it automatically for them),
they are brought to the condition 196 field. The condition drop
down list 196 would display the condition the user preset in their
selling preferences if the seller previously set it up. In this
case, the user does not have to select anything further. If they
did not save their condition 196 in their selling preferences, the
user would use a mouse, arrow keys or other input mechanism 78 to
make their selection from the drop down list. Some examples of
conditions that can be selected may include without limitation:
Used--Excellent, Used--Very Good, Used--Good, Used--Fair,
Used--Poor, New--OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer),
New--Aftermarket, etc.
[0152] Referring back to FIG. 13, the user may be required to add a
headline 197 for their listing. The headline 197 is one of the
first details 294 users see when the item appears in the results
page (shown in FIGS. 18 and 19). Other required details in the
required details pane 176 include but are not limited to, the item
price 198, the quantity of items for sale 199, the quantity type
200, in which the seller can specify if they are selling a case, a
lot, a palette of items etc., and a description 201 of the item.
The user must also specify how they wish to be paid from buyers 12.
If the user preset the methods of payment 153 during their selling
preferences, then the methods of payment 202 shown in the sell page
would be preselected. If not, the user would be required to choose
one or more methods of payment from the click boxes 202. Finally,
in this example, the user is required to specify shipping
information. If the seller preset their shipping preferences then
they could disregard this requirement unless they wanted to modify
their shipping options. If they did not preset their shipping
preferences, the system 10 would automatically configure the
listing with `Contact Seller` as the shipping method for all
locations 156, 157, 158 and 159. The Contact Seller method, as will
be explained in more detail later, requires buyers to contact the
seller for shipping quotes to their location. This is done to make
the listing process very quick and easy. If the seller 14 wants to
add shipping details for this listing, they would click the `Add
Shipping Details` link 203 to bring them to the Shipping &
Payment tab 183. This is explained below.
[0153] Referring to the quantity field 199, if the user wants to
sell more than one identical item in the same listing, they could
enter a quantity greater than one. Depending on how many items the
user enters into the quantity field 199 and what price they entered
in the price field 198, a message may be displayed to ensure their
listing is correct. For example, assuming that User A entered a
quantity of 4 with a price of $65, the message may be: I am selling
4 items for $65 each (that would total $260 if all items are
purchased). This prevents the scenario of a user that enters a
quantity of 4 with a price of $65 who wants to sell all 4 rims for
$65, not $260.
[0154] The item details tab 181 contains extra details in the item
details pane 181a the user may want to add to their listing. Item
Details A 204, B 205, C 206, Private Notes 208 and Other Details,
Options and Information 209 illustrate examples of fields where the
seller 14 may enter more details. The optional details pane 181a
may include the following details, but is not limited to, brand,
part numbers, sku numbers and private notes. They can be added,
selected etc. using various tools or entry mechanisms 78 known in
the art as exemplified above, e.g. auto fill lists, entry boxes,
click boxes, drop down lists etc.
[0155] One particular unique option allows the user to `tag` the
item's "Attributes" 207. As explained earlier, an attribute is a
particular characteristic of the item and is not a new category but
a flag given to items for searching purposes. When a seller 14 tags
their item with an attribute identifier, the item is automatically
added to a tab in the Buy page 91 once the item is posted. For
example, User A chooses the "Performance Parts" attribute. Once
their item is posted, the item becomes searchable on the
Performance Parts tab 86 in the Buy page. The administrator 34 can
dynamically add, edit or remove attributes from the item details
pane 181a which in turn, automatically changes the Buy pages tabs
91. For example, if the administrator adds a "Vintage Parts"
attribute (not shown in FIGS. 8 and 9), a Vintage Parts tab would
appear on the Buy page and all items flagged with that identifier
would be listed therein. The seller can add more than one attribute
to their item. For example, User A may choose to add Performance,
Racing and Custom Built attributes 207 to their listing so their
item would appear in three different tabs 91 in the Buy page. This
makes it easy for buyers to find parts. If they are looking for
racing items, they could look under Racing Parts etc. Some examples
of attributes appropriate for auto parts may include without
limitation: performance parts, vintage parts, racing parts, classic
parts, custom built etc.
[0156] If the user wants to navigate to the next tab in the
optional details pane 175, in this example Vehicle Details 182,
they could either click the tab 182 or click the Next button 210.
FIG. 16A shows Vehicle Details tab 182 which allows the user to add
vehicle part compatibility data to their listing and associate the
item they are posting to a particular vehicle or group of vehicles
so that when a buyer 12 searches for their item, the system will
search through the item's part compatibility data that the seller
14 has provided to find a match. If there is a match, the listing
would appear in the search results. One of the main benefits of
adding this information is to make it easier for buyers 12 to find
sellers' 14 items. For example, if User A specified that their
fender will fit a 1990-1994 Ford Tempo and 1990-1994 Ford Topaz,
buyers 12 would have eight ways, in this example, to find the
fender because there are four model years for two vehicles that the
buyer can choose from. If the seller specified that their fender
only fit a 1992 Ford Tempo, for the buyer 12 to find the fender,
they would have to search specifically for a 1992 Ford Tempo.
Searching for a 1991, 1993 or 1994 Tempo, or a 1990-1994 Topaz
would not match the seller's 14 item and therefore not appear in
the search results. It can be seen that the more part compatibility
data that sellers 14 add to their listing, the greater the
probability of their listings appearing in buyers' 12 search
results.
[0157] This tool allows the user to quickly and efficiently add
vehicle fitment data by simply copying it from another source (e.g.
their catalogue, website etc.) and pasting it into the AlsoFits box
213 located in the Vehicle Details pane 182a. This also allows the
user to add large amounts of data into their listing quickly
without them having to add it individually one at a one time. The
compatibility data is stored in the AlsoFits database 19. FIG. 16A
illustrates that the seller has added 12 different compatibility
data rows 212 for their item. For example, the first two rows
indicate that their item will fit a 1994-1995 Oldsmobile Achieva
with a 3.1 L engine as well as a 1990-1991 Chevrolet Cavalier. The
AlsoFits database 19 allows the seller 14 to add their data in
different formats (i.e. make, model, year range, notes; model,
year, notes etc.) and then parses the data and stores it in the
AlsoFits database 19 and in the seller's 14 listing so that it is
searchable to all buyers 12 using all the search tools available to
them (i.e. click boxes 146, text searches 120, make 83, model 82
and year 81 drop downs etc.). Data that is not readable, either
because the vehicle is not found in the main category database 44
or because it is not in a format accepted by the system 10, is
added to the item description 201 so that it can remain searchable
using text searches 120. The system administrator 34 can review all
the non-readable data and analyze it to determine if another format
should be acceptable. The administrator 34 can then add the
different format logic to the AlsoFits 19 database so the next time
a seller 14 adds data in that format, it will be understandable by
the system 10.
[0158] The advanced vehicle details page shown in FIG. 16B is
accessible by clicking the Advanced link 214 (shown in FIG. 16A).
This allows the seller 14 to add vehicle part compatibility data
one by one into the individual make 219, model 220, year range 221,
222, sub-model 223 and note 224 fields. Each field except for the
notes 224 utilizes the auto-fill tool 52 that, in this scenario, is
directly connected to the vehicle portion of the main category
database 44; that is, the auto-fill 52 searches vehicle related
data, not descriptors. This page also utilizes the auto-fill 52 in
the Quick Finder tool 216 which provides advanced searching
capabilities for both simple matching and advanced queries. In
particular, the Quick Finder 216 can search and cross-reference
years, makes, models, sub-models and types (car, truck, van etc.)
from the main category database 44 with one another and display the
matching results 217 quickly. For example, the seller 14 may type
`08 Honda` in the Quick Finder 216 and it would display all models
and sub-models available for 2008 Honda's. Another example would be
typing in "d'elegance", would display Cadillac Brougham D'Elegance
where Cadillac is the make, Brougham is the model, and D'Elegance
is the sub-model. This is very useful when sellers 14 may not know
the actual model name of their vehicle but know the sub-model as
exemplified in the D'Elegance example. Each time the seller 14
arrives to the Advanced Vehicle Details page, the cursor flashes in
the Quick Finder 216 allowing the seller 14 to immediately begin
adding their data. In the example in FIG. 16B, the seller 14 typed
"Acc" and the auto-fill result 100 displayed a matching list of
results 217 for "Acc". The seller 14 selected Honda Accord using
the arrow and enter keys or other input mechanism. FIG. 16C, shows
that after the seller 14 chooses a result from the quick finder
results list 217, the available data pre-fills in the appropriate
fields in the data rows 225. In this example, the make 219 and
model 220 are pre-filled. If the seller 14 added the year to their
search criteria, the year would have been pre-filled as well. For
example, if the seller 14 typed "98 Acc", the quick finder 216
would have displayed 1998 Honda Accord in the results list 217 and,
if the seller 14 selected this, the year field 221 would have
pre-filled with 1998. If the seller searches for and selects
another vehicle from Quick Finder results list 217, the results
would pre-fill in the next empty data row in the data fields 225.
The quick finder results 100, 217 can be configured to add more or
less details than illustrated in these examples.
[0159] The seller 14 does not have to use the quick finder 216 to
enter their data; they can enter it individually field by field.
For example, to enter a make, the seller would type into the make
field 219; to enter a model they would type it into the model field
220 etc. FIG. 16D shows the sequential work flow of the seller 14
adding the data field by field. In this example, the seller begins
to type a year in the `from year` field 221 and since the make and
model are found within the main category database 44, the auto-fill
52 displays a list of years 221a that match the make and model. The
user could arrow down and use the enter key to make their selection
as explained in earlier sections. If the seller 14 wants to add a
year range, they can enter a second year in the `to year` field 222
and display another results list 222a. This allows the seller to
add a year range such as 2007-2009, to their listing. The AlsoFits
database 19 will therefore understand that the item in this example
will fit a 2007, 2008 and 2009 Honda Accord. If the seller 14 wants
to add a sub-model, they could begin typing in the sub-model field
223, or, as shown in the Figure, not type anything and use the
arrow down key to see all the corresponding sub-models available
for that make 221, model 220 and year range 221, 222. The system 10
is intuitive to know not display sub-models that were not available
for the specified criteria (make, model and year range).
[0160] If the seller wants to add data not found in the auto-fill
results 100, they may type it in and disregard the auto-fill
results 100. This is illustrated in the model 220 field. Notice
that the seller 14 chose Chevrolet from the make results list 219a
in the second data row but no auto-fill results appeared for the
model name "Cruisinmobile" 220b. This is because the model name
"Cruisinmobile" did not match a Chevrolet model name in the main
category database 44 however, the seller 14 was still able to enter
their custom name. This is very useful in the event that a make,
model, year etc. is not found within the main category database 44.
The seller 14 can navigate between fields by using the tab key or
other method.
[0161] Similar to the process for determining what the user is
selling, the system 10 may record the compatibility data so that
the administrator 34 could decide whether to add the vehicle data
to the main category database 44 so that the next time a user types
in, for example, "Cruisin" in the model field 220 associated with
Chevrolet, "Cruisinmobile" would be displayed in the auto-fill
result list 220a (not shown). The user could continuously use the
Quick Finder tool 216 to add vehicle data to the fields in the next
empty row. For example, in FIG. 16D, if the user searched for and
selected a vehicle from the Quick Finder 216, the vehicle data
would be added to the third data row because it is empty. If the
user wants to add more vehicle rows, they could click the "Add more
vehicles" link 226 to add more rows. The system 10 may be
configured to include a delete button (not shown) to remove data
rows.
[0162] Referring now to FIG. 17, the user could also click the
Browse Vehicles link 218 (shown in FIGS. 16B and 16C) to display
the click boxes 59 allowing the seller 14 to browse through the
list of vehicles stored in the main category database 44 as
explained in the Buy page. To hide the click boxes 59, the seller
14 would click the Hide Vehicles 218a link. In this example, the
seller 14 has selected Honda from the make click box 59a, Accord
from the model click box 59b, 2009 from the year click box 59c and
LX from the sub-model click box 59d. Once the seller 14 has made
their choices, they may be required to click the Add link 227 to
add the data from the click boxes 59 into their appropriate places
in the data fields 225. It can be seen that sellers 14 have a wide
variety of unique tools at their disposal.
[0163] Other AlsoFits tools, discussed later herein, can also be
used to allow the seller 14 to specify compatibility data suggested
by other users. For example, a compatibility list accumulated from
multiple sellers' data may be presented to the seller 14 in the
vehicle details 182 tab so they could quickly attach the other
sellers' suggested compatibility data without them having to
re-enter it. For example, once a seller 14 specifies that a fender
fits a 1987-1991 Ford F-150, F-250 and F-350 pick-up truck, when
another seller 14 creates a listing to sell a fender that matches
this criteria, the compatibility data the first seller 14 added
appears allowing the second seller 14 to add this data to their
listing quickly without them having to re-enter the same data the
first seller 14 did.
[0164] The use of the auto-fill tools 52 and the Quick Finder 216
can be particularly advantageous. For example, assume User A types
"Ford" in the make field 219 or selects it from the Make click box
59a when browsing vehicles then tries to find "Topaz" in the model
field 220 or model click box 59b. They would not find Topaz because
Topaz is manufactured by Mercury (part of the parent company of
Ford which may cause the confusion). This may cause frustration and
reduce the user's experience. Using the quick finder 216, the user
could type in "Topaz" and find Mercury Topaz from the auto-fill
results list 217. The main category database 44 knows this
information from the ACES and intermediary databases 40, 42. This
method reduces the discrepancies with different manufactures that
are part of the same corporation. For example, Ford and Mercury or
GMC and Chevrolet are different divisions of the same
corporation.
[0165] The auto-fill tool 52 and the Quick Finder 216 can be
configured to recognize years in various ways. For example, it can
be configured such that the user can either type in the first two
digits of the year, e.g. "19", or simply the last two digits of the
year to show the year results e.g. "90". For example, by typing
"90", the system 10 will recognize it as either 1990 and/or 1890.
Other considerations may be made, such as the reoccurrence of
short-hands like '02 when a century changes. For auto parts, the
digits of the years 2000 and forward may appear as '00, '01, '02
etc. There should not be issues with confusing "02" between `1902`
and `2002` since the make and model names available in 2002 would
be different than those in 1902.
[0166] When implementing the system 10 for auto parts, a few
considerations may be noted. For instance, if the user skips the
make 219 and model 220 fields and enters a year in the year field
221, then returns to the make 219 and model 220 fields, the system
10 should be configured to only list makes and models that were
available in that year. For example, if a user typed 1987 in the
year field 221 and types "Ford" in the make field 219 and "C" in
the model field 220, the results list 220a will show Crown
Victoria. If the year was entered as 1995, the model results list
220a adds Ford Contour since the Ford Contour was first
manufactured in that year. This feature is particularly
advantageous as it prevents users from searching for parts for a
vehicle that did not exist in the chosen year. Parameters can be
set to control how results are displayed. For example, users may be
required to type at least "one" character before the auto-fill
result 100 will display. It may also be noted that the placement of
the fields can be made to guide the user through the listing
process and avoid common pitfalls. In the auto parts example, the
make and model fields 219, 220 appear before the "Year" field 221.
This is because it has been recognized that users often make more
mistakes with the year than with the make or model. For example, if
a user chooses 1995 as the year of their vehicle, Tempo (the model)
will not appear in the results since it stopped being made in 1994.
Information of this kind can be determined from the categorization
database 20.
[0167] Referring to the headline field 197, the system 10 may be
configured to automatically generate a sub-headline 293 to improve
searching as shown in FIG. 18. For example, if User A entered the
following data: What are you selling 194: `Fan Blade`; Make 219:
`Mazda`; Model 220: 132000'; Year 221: `1986`; Condition 196:
`Used--Good`, the auto-generated sub-headline 293 could be: "1986
Mazda B2000 Fan Blade--Used (Good)" as shown in the second result
in FIG. 18. The sub-headline 293 can therefore be used as a
secondary title allowing the user to give more information about
the item and thus improving searching. If the seller specified that
their vehicle can fit more than one year, the auto-generated
sub-headline 293 can be configured to show the year range as shown
in the first result in FIG. 18 (1980-85 Chevrolet Malibu . . . ).
Furthermore, the auto-generated sub-headline 293 can improve
searching especially when a seller 14 makes spelling mistakes in
their headline 197 or leaves out important information. For
example, the first listing in FIG. 18 shows the seller 14 spelt
"Malibu" incorrectly. If a buyer 12 searched for "Malibu", this
result may not have appeared because the seller 14 typed "Malebu".
As well, the seller 14 in this example, typed "Chv" as a short form
for "Chevrolet". Most buyers 12 will not search for the term `Chv`;
they would search `Chevrolet`. However, because the auto-generated
sub-headline 293 included the full spelling for Chevrolet and spelt
Malibu correctly, the listing would appear in the search results.
Another example can be seen at the last listing shown in FIG. 18.
The seller 14 in this example did not include any vehicle details
so a buyer's 12 search would likely not find this listing. The
auto-generated sub-headline 293 automatically included the vehicle
data so the listing would be searchable. It can therefore be seen
that as more detail is entered into the listing, the system 10 can
intelligently assist the user by creating automatically generated
details.
[0168] If the seller 14 added part compatibility data to the
listing as explained above, an AlsoFits button 259a would appear in
the listing results 294 allowing users to either mouse over or
click the button 259a to display the also fits information box 259b
showing the part compatibility details. This makes it easy for the
buyer 12 to determine if that item would fit their application.
[0169] Continuing with the auto parts example, once vehicle data is
added in the vehicle details tab 182, the system 10 may present the
seller 14 with additional vehicle and/or item questions derived
from the questions database 23 giving the seller 14 the option to
add more details to describe their item. Questions regarding
"Engine size, Body Style, the type of Transmission" are some
general examples. It should be noted that the terms "questions" and
"questions database" are general terms used to encapsulate
questions, features, options etc. and does not necessarily mean
that the seller 14 will be asked a "question". They may be
presented with a list of options and asked to choose any of the
options that pertain to their item. For example, if the seller 14
is creating a listing for a door, the seller 14 may be asked to
specify if the door is from a two door or four door vehicle, or
they may be presented with a list of options such as, power
windows, manual windows, front door, rear door etc. The seller 14
could then choose which of those options pertain to their item.
Further detail can be displayed that combine the vehicle data
(provided by the seller 14) and the descriptor to form specific
targeted questions for that exact item and vehicle. For example, if
a seller 14 is selling an engine from a 1990 Ford F-150, the system
10 may ask the seller if their engine size is 4.9 L, 5.0 L or 5.8
L. Some questions and answers may be extracted from the ACES
database 40 while others can be extracted from the intermediary's
custom questions database 23. The system 10 can utilize drop downs,
click boxes, text boxes and other entry tools for the seller 14 to
add their data. These questions appear in the vehicle details tab
182 below the compatibility data (not shown in the figures). The
user can answer the additional questions or skip them as they are
optional.
[0170] The system 10 can also be configured 10 to integrate other
third party databases to pull in their questions. For example, the
system 10 may integrate with the Hollander Interchange System
provided by the Solera Company. Their interchange system can be
integrated so that when a user lists an item from a vehicle that
matches their database, their questions can be asked allowing the
seller to create very detailed, compatibility rich listings. For
example, the Hollander System may ask the seller 14 to choose which
line applies to their 1990 Ford F-150 engine:
[0171] 1. 6-300 (4.9 L, VIN Y), AIR in head, w/E40D
[0172] 2. w/o E40D
[0173] 3. AIR in manifold, w/E40D
[0174] 4. w/o E40D
[0175] 5. 8-302 (5.0 L, VIN N)
[0176] 6. 8-351W (5.8 L, VIN H)
[0177] As mentioned earlier, the questions and answers presented to
sellers 14 can assist users in searching particularly by allowing
buyers 12 to filter their searches with the answers sellers 14
provided during their listing creation. For example, assume Seller
A was creating a listing for his door mirror and was presented with
three questions: 1) Which side are you selling? The right? The
left? Both sides?; 2) Which options, if any, does this mirror
have?; and 3) What colour is the mirror? FIG. 19 shows how the
answers to these questions can appear in the search filters 290. In
this example, a buyer 12 has chosen to filter his search by
displaying all Right-Passenger Side, Light Green Power Mirrors. The
brackets beside each filter 290 display the number of items
available with that criteria. In FIG. 19, there are 75 mirrors that
are power, two that are light green in colour and 1 from the
right-passenger side. When buyers 12 filter their search using the
search filters 111, 290, the listing results change to display the
items that match the filter criteria. FIG. 19 is an illustration
only and the advanced filters may be presented in an alternate
way.
[0178] Turning now to FIG. 20, the Shipping & Payment tab 183
displays information similar to that shown in the selling
preferences. It should be noted that in this figure, for
illustrative purposed only, the required details pane is not shown.
In this tab, sellers 14 can specify how they will ship their item
to buyers 12. As mentioned earlier, Canadian and US sellers 14 may
choose different shipping methods to buyers 12 in Canada, the
United States and international buyers 12. If the seller 14 is not
from Canada or the US, they would have a fourth option allowing
them to specify their shipping method to buyers in their own
country. For example, if the user is from Australia, they can
specify a shipping method for shipping within Australia, shipping
to Canada, the United States and shipping internationally. This
unique tool allows the seller 14 to be flexible and "mix and match"
their shipping options to different geographic regions. For
example, the seller 14 in Australia may want to offer free shipping
to buyers 12 within Australia, offer a flat shipping rate to buyers
12 in the United States, use calculated shipping (using UPS,
Fed-Ex, the United States Postal Service etc. to automatically
calculate the shipping price based on the buyer's location and
weight and dimensions of the packaged items), and finally require
that international buyers 12 make individual shipping requests to
the seller 14 so that they could determine shipping on a per user
basis.
[0179] The different shipping methods can include but are not
limited to: free shipping, no shipping, calculated shipping, flat
shipping and contact seller. The seller 14 can choose the
appropriate shipping method for each region using the drop down box
for that region. For example, FIG. 20 shows the seller is selecting
Shipping Method 3 from the Canada drop down list 157 and has chosen
shipping method 2 from the United States drop down list 156. Once
the seller 14 chooses their shipping method, the page displays the
corresponding required data fields to allow the seller 14 to
complete their shipping requirements. For example, if the seller 14
chooses "Free Shipping", they will be able to add up to three
shipping services (i.e. UPS Ground, UPS Next Day Air, FedEx
Overnight etc.) so that the buyer 12 knows how the item will be
shipped. If more than one service is added, buyers 12 will be able
to choose their shipping method when purchasing the item. If the
shipping method is "Flat Fee" as illustrated in FIG. 20 for the
United States 157, the seller can specify the shipping services
156a and the cost for each service 156b. The seller 14 can also add
a different price for situations in which the buyer 12 purchases
more than one item. For example, FIG. 20 shows that the seller 14
specified that shipping the item by UPS 3 Day Select will cost
$15.50 for the first item, and for each additional item, it will
cost, $12.00. So if the buyer purchases three items, shipping will
cost $39.50 ($15.50+$12.00+$12.00). Or, the buyer 12 could choose
UPS Next Day Air and pay $25.50 for the first item and $20.00 for
each additional item. If the seller 14 chose calculated shipping
(not shown) they could enter the dimensions of the packaged item,
choose whether the dimensions use the metric or imperial (cm/kgs or
in/lbs) measurements and other related information. They could also
choose up to three shipping services from a list of participating
service providers provided by the administrator 34. For example,
UPS and the United States Postal Service may be configured so that
the seller 14 could use these services to automatically calculate
the shipping price based on the packaged item dimensions and the
buyers location.
[0180] The last shipping option, in this example, is Contact
Seller. This is a unique shipping option available to sellers 14
that allows them to leave out the shipping price so that they could
quickly complete their listing. Buyers 12 interested in their item
would use the system's 10 unique messaging tools to request the
shipping price for the item. This is especially attractive to
sellers 14 who are listing a wide variety of items and do not have
a flat shipping price for each item or, do not know the dimensions
of the packaged item needed for calculated shipping. For example,
assume User A is selling an engine. Because the engine is so large
and requires special shipping and handling, it would be very
difficult to determine the shipping price to buyers 12 when User A
doesn't know where the buyers 12 are located. With the Contact
Seller shipping method, when buyers view the detailed listing 236
shown in FIG. 21, in the Shipping price field, buyers 12 would see
a "Request Shipping Price From Seller" link 238. Clicking this
would bring the buyer 12 to a shipping request page where they
could request the shipping price from the seller 14. When a seller
14 receives a shipping request, they are shown the buyer's shipping
location (e.g. city, state, zip etc.) so they can calculate the
correct shipping price for that particular buyer 12. The seller 14
may add up to three shipping services and prices similar to that of
flat fee shipping shown in FIG. 20 in the United States region 156.
Once the seller 14 responds to the buyer 12, the buyer 12 will have
a Buy It button in their message (not shown) allowing them to
purchase the item directly from the message and choose which
shipping service they prefer. For example, Seller A may respond to
a quote and give the buyer 12 two options: UPS Overnight Service
for $40.00 or, UPS Ground for $18.00. The buyer 12 chooses UPS
Ground and is then directed to the purchase confirmation page where
the shipping price ($18) is added to the item price and insurance
cost to give the buyer 12 a final total price for the item. The
buyer 12 could then complete the transaction or send another
shipping request to the seller 14 and ask for a different
quote.
[0181] It should be noted that the detailed item listing 236 shown
in FIG. 21 is one example of the listing layout.
[0182] If the seller 14 had previously setup their selling
preferences, all fields that had default values set would be
pre-filled and the seller 14 would have the opportunity to review
them and make any necessary changes they wish to reflect their
listing. If the seller 14 does not make any changes to their
details, the seller 14 could click the Next 210 or Previous 211
buttons to navigate to another tab or click any of the tab names
188 to continue adding optional details to their listing. If the
seller 14 makes changes to their existing selling preferences, they
can click on the "Save" button (not shown) to save the preferences
for future listings. In this way, the user can update their
preferences if they notice something that should be updated during
a listing and would not have to remember to go back to the main
preferences page to do so.
[0183] Turning now to FIG. 22, which, in this example shows the
Photos tab. The seller 14 can upload one or more photos at a time
using the simple uploader 131a or use the advanced uploader (not
shown) by clicking the Advanced Uploader link 131b. This allows the
seller 14 to browse their computer for pictures and video and
choose multiple files to upload at the same time. The seller 14 may
also use the Damage Designer to mark-up the images, as will be
discussed later, by clicking the Use Damage Designer link 831a.
When the upload button 133 has been selected, the pictures are
uploaded to their listing and displayed in the picture review area
135. Once the files are uploaded, the seller 14 can add more
pictures, remove pictures, add a description 137 to a picture and
other options. When adding a description 137 to a picture, it
appears under the picture when being viewed in the photo preview
area 180 in detailing listing 236. To change or remove a
description, the seller 14 can use the Edit 137a and Remove 137b
links under the description. The first picture in the picture
review area 135 will be the picture displayed in the photo area 180
of the seller's 14 item listing and displayed in the photo area of
the detailed listing 237 shown to buyers 12, illustrated in FIG.
21, and displayed as a thumbnail image in the results page 292. By
clicking the Display in Results Page link (not shown), the seller
14 can make any picture the one to be displayed first. Another
option that can be included is an option to allow sellers 14 to
upload multiple pictures at the same time and store them under
their "My Account" 118. For example, another tab can be included
called "Tool Box" 523 from which the user is able to do a bulk
upload of pictures to access the pictures at a later date. When
creating a listing, rather than browsing for files in their
computer, they could move them from their Account 118 to their
listing, i.e. where no uploading is required. For users that will
be listing many items, this feature would further speed up the
listing process.
[0184] It has been found that the incorporation of photos into an
item listing can be an important part of the actual listing. It may
be noted that the first picture uploaded by the seller 14 can, at
any time, be displayed in a full view in the photo review area 180
when creating a listing to help the user to create that listing.
This can be useful since the actual person making the listing is
not always the person who took the picture of the item. They may
not know the condition of the item or may not remember the brand.
The user may also be able to scroll through their pictures from
photo review area 180 by using the "Next" and "Previous" button
(not shown).
[0185] Once the seller 14 is satisfied with their listing, they
would click the Preview & Finish button 186 to bring the user
to the page illustrated in FIG. 23. The system 10 would, in this
example, display a preview 228 that includes all the details and
photos for the user to peruse. The seller 14 would then have the
opportunity to add special enhancements 139 to their listing for a
fee. For example, Listing Option A may offer front page exposure
while Listing Option B will allow their listing to appear at the
top of each results page. The listing options are optional and if
the user does not want to add any listing enhancements, they could
click the No Thanks 177 or Finish button 178 to post the item. If
they wish to make any changes to their listing, they could click
the Go Back 179 button to return to the listing creation page. If
the seller 14 wants to add the enhancements, they could review the
enhancement, review the cost 139a and click the check box 139b
beside the enhancement of their choice and the listing price 141a
would update accordingly. The seller 14 may also be shown a
confirmation indicating what the fee will be when the seller 14
sells the item 141b. When the seller is ready to post the item,
they would click the Finish button 178 to post the item with the
enhancements. The charges will be added to their invoice in their
account 118.
List a Multi-Item
[0186] Referring again to FIG. 12, as noted above, a seller 14 can
select the List a Multi-Item option 162 from the main sell menu.
The Multi-Item option 162 allows sellers 14 to list their entire
item, e.g. an entire vehicle, through the intermediary 16 in one
easy listing without having to enter each and every constituent
item 24 that makes up the multi-item 26. The system 10 can also be
configured to automatically create individual item listings that
resemble single items 24 and that are searchable and appear in the
results page for the seller 14 based on the details from their
Multi-Item 26. Referring again to the auto parts example, it has
been recognized that sellers 14 are interested in selling multiple
items from a vehicle but do not necessarily have the time or the
patience to enter the parts one at a time. Being able to post an
entire vehicle in one listing as a multi-item 26 is particularly
attractive for both simplicity and time savings. In this way, the
Multi-Item option 162 allows the seller 14 to receive part requests
from prospective buyers 12 through a request and purchase
interface, which will be described below.
[0187] To illustrate the effectiveness of the Multi-Item option
162, an example will now be provided. A seller 14 wants to sell the
parts from a 1987 Chrysler New Yorker but does not know if and when
they will sell the parts, so spending too much time listing parts
is unattractive to such a seller 14. Instead, the seller 14 can
create one listing for the vehicle using the Multi-Item option 162
by accessing the main sell page as shown in FIG. 12 and selecting
List a Multi-Item option 162, which then initiates and displays the
interface shown in FIG. 24. The seller 14 in this example can
create a vehicle profile and specify the engine size, the colour,
body style (2 Door, 4 Door, Station Wagon etc), power options
(power/manual windows, power/manual locks), and other vehicle
details to give potential buyers 12 a good understanding of the
seller's 14 vehicle. If the seller 14 wants, he can also choose
which parts to sell from the vehicle to prevent potential buyers 12
from contacting him about parts that are not available. This will
be explained later.
[0188] A buyer 12 then, upon searching for a hood for a 1987 New
Yorker, finds that no hood "listings" are returned through a
regular single item 24 search. However, since the seller 14 has
posted an entire vehicle as a multi-item 26, a 1987 Chrysler New
Yorker multi-item listing is available. The buyer 12 can view the
listing and see the detailed profile of the vehicle complete with
pictures, video, a list of the available parts (if the seller 14
provided it), and other information posted by the seller 14. A
special request form allows the buyer 12 to make part requests to
the seller 14 of the New Yorker. The request can be sent to the
seller 14 along with the city, province/state, postal/zip code of
the buyer 12 so the seller 14 can determine the shipping costs for
the requested item. The seller 14 then responds to the buyer 12
through a response form. When the buyer 12 receives the response,
they can purchase the items directly from the response form if they
choose. The seller 14 has then sold parts from the multi-item 26
without having to individually list any of the parts.
[0189] It may be noted that the List a Multi-Item option 162 can be
a particularly attractive option for entities such as automotive
recyclers, construction and heavy equipment used parts dealers and
the like, who have hundreds and many times, thousands of vehicles
(e.g. cars, machines, tractors, transport trucks etc.) in their
inventory but do not have the time or the desire to list the parts
available on these vehicles individually. The Multi-Item 26 also
does not deviate from the current business processes of the
industry.
[0190] In the following example, there are two stages performed in
creating a Multi-Item listing 26, namely creating a vehicle profile
and choosing the parts that are available for sale. FIG. 24 shows
the interface for creating a vehicle profile page, which is similar
to the interface for sell an item 24 shown in FIG. 13 with
different fields and options provided that are suited to posting a
multi-item 26. In the following illustrations, features that are
similar to those used in the single item 24 listings are given the
same reference numeral with the suffix "a" for clarity.
[0191] A required details pane 176a lists details required to
complete the multi-item listing 26 and an optional details pane
175a allows sellers 14 to add optional details to further describe
their listing. The optional details pane 175a is also organized
into tabs 188a: a Profile tab 189, a Vehicle Details tab 190, a
Choose Parts tab 191, a Shipping & Payment tab 192 and a
Photos/Video tab 193.
[0192] The required details pane 176a can be used to begin
specifying features and characteristics of the multi-item 26 being
listed, in this example an entire vehicle. Users can immediately
begin typing the year and model of their vehicle into the Quick
Finder tool 216, explained earlier. The seller 14 can use a number
of different query combinations to find their vehicle including but
not limited to: year and make, year and model, make and model, year
and sub-model etc. It has been found that users may not know the
exact name of a vehicle and therefore the Quick Finder tool 216 is
very useful and it searches the categorization database 20 for all
vehicles that match the search criteria. For example, a seller 14
may want to post their 1987 Suburban but the exact name of the
vehicle is actually, Chevrolet R10 Suburban. The Quick Finder 216
will find all the 1987 Suburban results and display them to the
user. The system 10 can be configured to extract as much or as
little detail as deemed necessary by the administrator 34. For
example, the quick finder results 100 may display the year, make,
model and sub-model that matches the seller's 14 query. In the
above Suburban example, the sub-models for a 1987 Suburban can be
Custom Deluxe, Scottsdale and Silverado which represent different
vehicle options and packages thereby making them different. Another
query may include the engine size etc. FIG. 25 illustrates the
seller typing "Acc" in the quick finder 216 and choosing Honda
Accord from the results list 217.
[0193] Turning now to FIG. 26, once the seller 14 selects the
vehicle they are creating the listing for from the quick finder
216, either by using the arrow keys or by other input method, the
chosen vehicle is shown to the seller 14 by displaying their choice
in the vehicle click boxes 59. This helps the user identify what
they have chosen. Note that because the make and model of the
vehicle were displayed in the results list 217, the make click box
59a and model click box 59b are pre-filled to match the selected
make and model from the results list 217. Since the year and model
was not entered into the quick finder 216, the system 10 does not
know what they are. The seller 14 could therefore choose the year
and sub-model from the year 59c and sub-model 59d click boxes.
[0194] Similar to the single listing process described above, if
the Quick Finder 216 cannot match the seller's 14 entry to the main
category database 44, the seller 14 can click the Browse Vehicles
link 218, shown in FIG. 24, to display the click boxes 59 and
allows the users to browse through all the vehicles listed in the
categorization database 20. The user can also click the Can't find
your vehicle link 229, also shown in FIG. 24, which loads the
custom vehicle entry tool explained earlier in the single listing
process and shown in FIGS. 27, 28 and 29. In these examples, the
Make 219, Model 220, Year 230 and Sub-Model 223 fields are
displayed individually. The user can begin to type the first
detail, e.g. Make 219, and a results list 219a appears to enable
the selection of the appropriate details using drop down lists and
auto-fill 52 features similar to those described above. According
to the characters entered in the Make field 219, a make filtered
list 219a is generated. Once the user chooses a make from the list
219a, the cursor focus changes to the model field 220 with the same
auto-fill 52 functionality as the make field but displays the
models associated with the selected make. FIG. 28 shows the
sequential work flow of a seller 14 entering data into the fields.
The List an Item process described earlier explains this in greater
detail. The system 10 can be configured to add more or fewer
auto-fill boxes. In the event that the auto-fill 52 does not match
anything in the categorization database 20, as shown in the model
field 220 in FIG. 29, the user can continue typing their custom
vehicle. Notice that no auto-fill result 100 was available. The
system administrator 34 can then store this data and choose to add
it to the categorization database 20 as described earlier.
[0195] Next, the seller 14 may be prompted to create a headline for
their listing by completing a headline field 254 as shown in FIG.
24. An example of a headline is, "1998 Ford F150 Pick-Up--Runs
Great--Box Damaged". The seller 14 can then indicate the general or
overall condition of the vehicle by choosing a condition from the
condition drop down box 246. The system 10 may be configured to
create the headline for the seller 14. If the seller wants the
system 10 to generate the headline, they may click the Generate
Auto-Headline 254a link. The system 10 can then generate a headline
based on the vehicle, condition and other details added by the
seller 14. This is convenient if the seller 14 is not sure what to
include in their headline.
[0196] The seller 14 can specify if they are willing to sell their
multi-item 26, in this example a vehicle, as a complete unit to a
buyer 12 by specifying purchase conditions 248 in the required
items pane 176a. It has been recognized that often buyers 12 that
have the intention of buying one or two parts from a vehicle may
end up purchasing the complete unit to have access to other parts
at a later time. For example, the seller 14 may specify a price of
$500 to sell the complete unit as shown in FIG. 30. The purchase
conditions 248 in this example are controlled by two radio buttons
252 and 249. By selecting the second radio button 249, buyers 12
can purchase the complete vehicle and the seller 14 may then enter
a price in the price field 250 indicating the cost of purchasing
the entire vehicle. By selecting the first radio button 252, which
is also by default selected, buyers 12 cannot purchase complete
vehicle.
[0197] Using the radio buttons 252, 249 the seller 14 makes their
choice. Indexed with the second radio button 249 is the price field
250 as shown in FIG. 30. The price field 250 can be controlled such
that it remains hidden until the seller 14 chooses the second radio
button 249. Once the second radio button 249 is chosen, the seller
14 is then prompted to enter a price for their vehicle in the price
field 250. If the seller 14 later changes their decision by
selecting the first radio button 252, the price field 250 clears
and becomes hidden and thus unavailable as shown in FIG. 24.
[0198] When the second radio button 249 is selected, the seller 14
is also able to enter their cost of the vehicle being listed by
entering a value in a cost field 251 as shown in FIG. 30. The cost
field 251 has been found to be particularly useful for a seller's
reporting purposes. For example, the system 10 can be configured
such that if a seller 14 specifies the cost of the vehicle, the
profit is automatically calculated according to the difference
between the cost of the vehicle and the sales resulting from it
(e.g. the net selling price not including the shipping price). Each
time the seller 14 makes a sale from the multi-item, a
profitability report may then be recalculated. In various
embodiments, to protect privacy, only the seller 14 should be able
to access the profit and cost data when viewing the listing and
response forms or when viewing the multi-item 26 through their
account, as will be discussed later.
[0199] Similar to a single listing, the seller 14 is then prompted
to complete a description field 260 as shown in FIG. 24. This
enables a seller 14 to enter a detailed description of the vehicle
being listed, e.g. the seller 14 can specify details such as: "The
vehicle is in good shape except for the box. It's damaged and
rusted over the wheel wells. The engine has 200,000 km but still
runs great." This provides more information to the buyer 12. The
user can then select the method of payment they accept from buyers
from the payment method click boxes 202a. If the user has preset
their selling preferences, in particular their preferred methods of
payment, the appropriate click boxes would automatically be
selected. If not, the user would be required to choose at least one
accepted method of payment.
[0200] The Save 172a, Preview & Finish 186a and Cancel 174a
buttons work the same as the single item 24 listing process
described earlier. As well, the photo picture area 180a can display
pictures that have been uploaded to that listing to assist the
seller 14 in completing the multi-item 26 profile.
[0201] Turning now to the Profile tab 189 in the optional details
pane 175a shown in FIG. 24. In this illustration, the user can add
the vehicle's VIN full or partial VIN number by completing a VIN
field 256, which may be useful to buyers 12 since the VIN number
provides detailed information about the vehicle. For security
purposes, the system 10 can be configured to warn sellers 14 not to
enter the last 6 digits of the VIN as this may comprise the
vehicle's unique identifier. This may be done to inhibit malicious
activity such as recreating a VIN number on a stolen vehicle. The
seller 14 can also enter SKU or inventory numbers in the inventory
fields 258 to keep track of vehicles and/or items being sold, in
particular when sold by a business. When a part is requested, the
SKU number can be included on the request form so that the seller
14 can quickly identify which vehicle the request is for. Other
details can be added into Item Detail C fields 261 and private
notes, as described earlier, can be added into the private notes
field 263.
[0202] The seller 14 can also specify the damage condition of the
multi-item 26 by choosing from a variety of conditions from the
list of indicators 259 to give a quick general overview of the
damage condition of the vehicle. For example, the seller 14 can
specify, "Collision Damage", "Roll Over", "Fire Damage", "Water
Damage", "Rusted", "Vandalized", "Front End Damage", "Driver Side
Damage", "Rear Damage", "No Damage" etc, from the damage condition
click boxes 259. This makes it easy for buyers 12 to limit their
searches to these conditions when searching for a multi-item 26.
For example, one buyer 12 may not be interested in a multi-item 26,
in this example a vehicle, that has front end damage. Such a buyer
12 would therefore filter out "Front End Damage" from their search.
The photo preview area 180a in the required items pane 176a pane is
particularly useful for reminding the seller 14 of what the
condition may be, at least visually, which can be helpful when
listing many multi-items 26.
[0203] Turning now to the Vehicle Details tab 190 shown in FIG. 31
which, similar to the single item 24 listing, allows the seller 14
to enter other specific details to more completely describe their
multi-item 26. As well, the details here will be made visible to
buyers 12 as will be described later. The vehicle details tab 190
displays information in two panes: The Vehicle Information Pane 234
and the Features & Options pane 239. The vehicle information
pane 234 allows the seller 14 to enter specific details about the
vehicle specified in the Profile tab 189 utilizing, in this
example, drop down and text boxes. It also uses the ACES,
intermediary and questions databases 40, 42, 23 to gather the
details. For example, if Seller A chose a 2008 Honda Accord in the
Profile tab 189, the body style drop down box in the vehicle
information pane 234 may display `2 Door Coupe` and `4 Door Sedan`
as the choices (derived from the ACES database 40). The seller 14
can choose which body style detail pertains to their 2008 Accord.
If the ACES database 40 does not have the details, answers can be
derived from the intermediary database 42. For example, if a seller
14 from the United Kingdom was creating a listing for their
vehicle, the ACES database 40 would likely not have the details
since it is a European vehicle. In this case, the intermediary
database 42 can provide the details in the drop down box. The
questions database 23 can also be used for more general details,
for example the colour. The questions database 23 can produce a
list of colours in the drop down boxes to allow the seller 14 to
quickly choose a colour from the list. In cases where neither the
ACES, the Intermediary nor the questions databases 40, 42, 23 can
provide details, the system 10 will change the drop down boxes into
text boxes to allow the seller 14 to manually enter their
information. As this is optional information, the seller 14 can
choose not to enter any details.
[0204] Details that may be listed in the vehicle information pane
234 include but are not limited to, Trim Package, Body Style,
Engine Size, Transmission, Drive Train, Fuel Type, Mileage,
Exterior Color, Exterior Paint Code, Interior Color, Interior Trim
Code and Production Date. It should be noted that the
vehicle-specific details described above are for illustrative
purposes only and various other features, details and information
can be requested depending on the configuration of the system 10.
Use of the interfaces described herein may also minimize the number
of repeat questions and requests from buyers 12 for parts not
specific to the vehicle that is actually listed. For example, if
the seller 14 does not specify they have a 2 Door car, they may
receive continuous requests for parts specific to 4 Door cars such
as the rear door.
[0205] If the seller 14 has not chosen a vehicle from the Profile
tab 189, the Vehicle Information pane 234 can be configured to be
disabled with a notification instructing the user that they must
first choose a vehicle before adding specific details about it.
[0206] The Features & Options pane 239 is further organized
into tabs 235: Exterior, Interior and Engine & Other. Each tab
235 displays features and options related to each other. For
example, the Exterior tab 231 displays vehicle features and options
that pertain to the exterior of the vehicle. The seller 14 would
not be required to choose any of these options or answer any of the
questions presented to the seller, however, the seller 14 can be
encouraged to take the time to do so to refine their listing and
make it more attractive to buyers 12. FIGS. 32, 33 and 34 display
examples of the type of details presented to the seller 14 for each
of the tabs 235. It should be noted that these are illustrations
only and more or less details may included. The system may also
provide a text box to allow the seller 14 to add their own custom
details in the event that the seller 14 wants to include more
details.
[0207] When sellers 14 choose these options, they are displayed to
buyers 12 in the multi-item 26 detailed listing 241 shown in FIG.
35. The details from the Vehicle Information pane 234 are displayed
in the Vehicle Summary 243 of the multi-item 26 detailed listing
241. The details from the Features & Options tabs 235, are
displayed in the Vehicle Features & Options section 245 of the
multi-item 26 detailed listing 241. This allows the buyers to
quickly view what features and options the multi-item 26 has.
[0208] All details listed by the seller 14 should be searchable and
filterable. For example, if a buyer 12 wants to find a multi-item
26 with specific options such as, red (exterior colour), leather
seats, power windows, automatic transmission, front wheel drive, 4
door etc. they could use the advanced search filters 111 to find
them. The system 10 then searches through the details provided by
the seller 14 to find a match.
[0209] Question mark hints can be provided to assist sellers 14 in
the event that they do not understand a question and/or feature or
option. For example, a seller 14 could click on the question mark
beside the "Windshield Options" to show a picture of the difference
between privacy glass and tinted glass. The use and function of the
Question is described later herein.
[0210] It should be noted that the vehicle-specific details
described above are for illustrative purposes only and various
other features, details and information can be requested depending
on the nature of the multi-item 26 being sold.
[0211] Once the seller 14 is satisfied with their level of detail,
they could use the next button 210a or click on the Choose Parts
tab 191 to proceed to the choose parts stage shown in FIG. 36. If
they decide to finish the listing later, their partial listing can
be saved by clicking the save button 172a so they can continue at a
later date. It may be noted that a partial listing would not be
available for other users to see as it is not yet listed. The
choose parts tab 191 can be configured by the system 10 to be
disabled if the seller 14 has not chosen a vehicle from the Profile
189 tab.
[0212] The choosing parts tab 191 allows the seller 14 to choose
which parts they do and do not want to sell for whatever reason. As
shown in FIG. 36, the different areas of the vehicle can be broken
down into tabs 266 along the top of a parts selection portion 267,
allowing the seller 14 to address different sections of the vehicle
at different times for convenience to the seller 14. This also
enables the seller 14 to target specific sections, in particular if
only certain sections of the vehicle are saleable. For example, if
the vehicle has no useable parts except for the interior and
driveline, the seller 14 may simply click on the "Interior" and
"Engine & Driveline" 266 tabs to display the parts associated
with the respective area of the vehicle and disregard the rest. The
different sections of the vehicle will hereinafter be referred to
as "Groups". The groups shown by way of example in FIG. 36
comprise, without limitation: Exterior Body, Engine &
Driveline, Suspension/Steering, Brakes & ABS, Interior and
Custom (user defined).
[0213] When the Choose Parts tab 191 is loaded, the first group
(Exterior Body in this example) is shown by default and the
corresponding tab 266 highlighted as shown in FIG. 36. Each group
contains smaller sections called sub-groups to make it easy for the
seller 14 to select the parts. In this example, each sub-group
contains a list of common parts with click boxes beside each, which
can be conveniently displayed in a tree structure 270 as shown in
FIG. 36. The seller 14 can quickly skim through the different parts
and select which ones they want to sell from the vehicle being
listed.
[0214] As can also be seen in FIG. 36, photo previews 180b can be
provided to again assist the seller 14 in remembering which parts
are available, which vehicle is being listed etc. Also, a "Select
All" box 271 can be provided to allow the seller 14 to select all
of the parts within the sub-group, and to deselect this option. If
the seller 14 wishes to select every part on their vehicle without
navigating through the different sub-groups, they could choose the
"Select All Parts on Vehicle" box 272 located in the top right
corner of the choose parts portion 267. It can be appreciated that
various mechanisms can be used to allow the seller 14 to select and
deselect parts, groups or even every available part to provide a
representation of what is available for sale. To view the
sub-groups, the seller 14 can select the `+` link in the tree
structure 270 which reveals a list of parts (e.g. descriptors)
linked directly to the main category database 44. For example, the
seller 14 may expand the "Front End" sub-group to reveal a sub-tree
of parts 275, which in this example includes parts (descriptors)
such as: door, fender, grille, header panel and hood; all of which
are parts from the front end of their vehicle. An example of this
is shown in FIG. 37.
[0215] It may be noted that some parts (descriptors) will have
different positions or details 276 attached to them such as front,
rear, left or right. For example, the descriptor "Fender" may have
a "position" attached to it. In this way, when a seller 14 chooses
"Fender" from the sub-tree 275, they can specify which side of the
vehicle the item is from; the left or the right. Vehicles have (or
should have) a left and right fender and a left and right
headlight, however, one may be good while the other may be damaged.
As such, the positions can be pulled from the ACES, intermediary
and/or questions databases 40, 42, 23 linked to a particular
descriptor. By default, if the part type/descriptor such as
"fender" is selected, all positions 276 can be pre-selected for
simplicity allowing the seller 14 to deselect which ever item they
are not selling, i.e. "opt-out" for that item. Examples of the use
of the positions are shown in FIGS. 37 and 38.
[0216] The system 10 can also be configured such that the positions
276 also take into account details entered in the vehicle details
tab 190. For example, if the seller 14 specifies their vehicle is a
2 Door, then when they are provided with the opportunity to select
the door positions 276, only the options left and right would
appear; whereas if they specified their vehicle to be a 4-Door, the
available positions 276 would reflect this difference by displaying
four options, namely left front, right front, left rear and right
rear.
[0217] Some descriptors that have multiple positions 276 have the
position 276 inherent in the sub-group they belong to. For example,
the category "Bumper" is listed in the both sub-groups `Front End`
and `Rear Body`. Under "Front End" there is only one front bumper
so the need for the seller 14 to specify that it is a `front`
bumper is redundant. As such, in these cases, the position is
selected by default automatically without requiring input from the
seller 14. In the above example, when the seller 14 views the
sub-group "Rear Body", the bumper position would only show "Rear"
since there is only one possible position 276 for a bumper in the
rear and this would be automatically selected.
[0218] It may also be noted that another benefit of using the main
category database 44 is that the system 10 may refine the
descriptor tree list 270 based on the vehicle year, make and model
chosen. For example, if a seller 14 was creating a multi-item 26
listing for a 1957 Chevrolet car, the main category database 42 can
ascertain that some parts (descriptors) were not available for that
vehicle in that year e.g. air bags were not available.
[0219] Once the seller 14 has finished selecting their parts, the
total number of parts they are listing can be tallied and may
appear in brackets beside the group names (not shown). For example:
Front End (45), Rear Body (1), Engine & Mechanical (All-75),
Steering & Suspension (All-80), Interior (3) conveniently
indicates how many parts are available in each group. In the
example above, there are 45 front end parts for sale and only 1
rear body part for sale. For sections where the seller 14 has
selected all of the parts, an "All" indicator can be provided with
the number assigned to the group to indicate that the seller 14 has
selected all the parts for sale. This makes it easy for the seller
14 to conveniently recall when they have included every part from
their parts vehicle. If "All" is not in the brackets, this would
imply that the seller 14 is not selling some parts from their
vehicle, at least in that particular group.
[0220] FIG. 39 illustrates another example of an interface for the
choose parts stage. In this example, the "Interior" tab 266 is
displayed. It may be noted from FIG. 39 that the seller 14 is only
viewing all the parts for the sub-group "Wiring Harnesses". The
seller 14 in this example can further refine their parts list by
sorting the interior parts by other interior sub-groups, e.g. dash,
seat and seat belts, trim, switches, etc.
[0221] Turning now to FIG. 40, the seller 14 can be provided with
additional information by incorporating additional information into
the database 44. In this example, by selecting, highlighting or
clicking on the part name, a dialogue box 277 is launched alongside
the particular part name, and provides a description of the item
278 and a picture 279 of the part if available. In this way, if the
seller 14 does not know the name of an item or does not know what
an item is, the dialogue box 277 can be a quick and convenient way
to familiarize the seller 14 with what the part looks and what it
is for. For example, if Seller A does not know what a Fuse Box is,
Seller A can select the word "Fuse Box" from the parts list whereby
a picture 279 of a generic Fuse Box is displayed in a dialogue box
277 with a short description 278 of what it does.
[0222] The common list of parts displayed in each group should
depend on the vehicle the seller 14 is listing. For example, trucks
have parts that cars do not have and vice-versa. For instance,
trucks have a pick up box and a cab; whereas cars typically do not.
Cars have a trunk or a hatch, whereas trucks usually do not. The
admin tool 48 can be used to allow the selection of which parts are
considered "common" and for what type of vehicle. For example,
vehicles can be categorized into the following types: cars, trucks,
vans, SUV and station wagons. Of course, the admin tool 48 should
be capable of handling anomalies. For example, an El Camino is a
two door car with a truck-like box in the rear. If a seller 14 were
to create a multi-item 26 listing for their El Camino they would
typically not see "Car Box" in the parts list. However, in this
scenario, the seller 14 may enter additional parts in the "Other
Parts" field 280.
[0223] Turning now to FIG. 41, use of the custom tab 266 is
exemplified. In this example, the custom tab 266 is used to display
parts that a seller 14 has added themselves. A separate entry box
281 can also be provided to allow sellers 14 to add parts to their
custom tab 266 through the "Parts Car Preferences" (not shown) in
My Account 118. This can be particularly useful in the event that
the system 10 is missing a particular part or category.
[0224] The seller 14 can then add their shipping and payment
options similar to those in the single item 24 listing process
described above. One main difference is that the seller 14 cannot
use the calculated shipping or flat fee shipping option since they
do not know what they are selling until a buyer 12 requests an
item. They could choose, `No Shipping` and `Contact Seller` since
they cannot provide details as to the cost of the parts.
Furthermore, the seller can add pictures and/or video to their
multi-item 26 listing as described in the single item 24 listing
process. FIGS. 42 and 43 illustrate the Shipping & Payment 192
and Photos/Video 193 tabs respectively. The number of photos a
seller 14 can upload free of charge can be controlled by enforcing
limits according to a "seller type".
[0225] Once the seller 14 is satisfied with their multi-item
listing, they can click the Preview & Finish button 186a to
bring the seller to the preview page as described in the single
item listing process. The multi-item 26 listing may offer the same
listing enhancements or enhancements specifically for multi-item 26
listings. The page will resemble FIG. 23.
[0226] For buyers 12, finding an individual item 24 (e.g. part)
from a multi-item 26 (e.g. vehicle) can be performed in a manner
similar to finding individual items 24. When a buyer 12 searches
for an item 24, the system 10 can be configured to display all
individual listings along with a list of multi-items 26 that may
have the parts the buyer 12 is looking for. Turning now to FIG. 44,
a search results page 285 is shown, which in this example is
separated into three tabs or portions, namely an all items list
283, an items list 286 and a multi-items list 288 (referred to as
"Parts Vehicles" in FIG. 44). As can be seen in FIG. 44, separate
panes can be provided for advanced search filters 289 for
performing advanced searching options as is known in the art.
[0227] It has been found that displaying a certain number of items
24 followed by the multi-items 26 that have that item 24 in the
items list 286 enables the system 10 to generate a comprehensive
list for the buyer 12. For example, the page 285 can be configured
to display 15 items 24 with the any multi-items 26 listed below up
to a maximum of 6 multi-items 26 to minimize scrolling. If there
are more items 24 and multi-items 26 found in the search, a "See
More" link (not shown) can be displayed indicating to the buyer 12
that more choices are available. Selecting such a link would then
refresh the page 285 to only display the multi-items 26 or can
simply provide further scrolling capabilities. The multi-items list
288 can be provided in a separate tab to allow users to focus a
search for just multi-items 26. For example, if the buyer 12 only
wishes to view the multi-items 26, they may select the tab for the
multi-items list 288 to change views in the page 285. If at a later
time the buyer 12 wishes to display individual items 24, they can
select the items tab 286, named "Parts & Accessories" in FIG.
44. It should be noted that the page can be expanded to include
additional tabs.
[0228] In the example shown in FIG. 44, each item 24 or multi-item
26 listed in the search page 285 shows a thumbnail picture 292 (or
other multi-media link such as video) typically the first picture
of the item 24 or multi-item 26 that was uploaded by the seller 14
with other details 294 such as the year, make and model specified
in the listing created by the seller 14. For multi-items 26, the
groups in the multi-item 26 that contain individual items 24 can
also be shown with the number of items available in each group
shown with an identifier for the group in parentheses (not shown),
e.g. Exterior (6), Engine (48) etc. This can provide the buyer 12
with a quick glimpse of the number and type of items 24 available
for that multi-item 26, which facilitates quick browsing and more
user-friendly searching for the buyer 12.
[0229] It has also been found that for some multi-items 26, similar
models or other multi-items 26 that share common items 24 can also
be provided to the buyer 12. Returning to the vehicle parts
example, if a buyer 12 searches for a Chrysler New Yorker, a
Chrysler Dynasty may also appear with/following a list of all
available New Yorkers since the Dynasty is a similar model that
uses many of the same parts as the New Yorker. The main category
database 44 can thus be further configured to indicate
relationships between multi-items 26 and the admin tool 48 can be
configured to modify and update such relationships. Also, the
advanced search pane 289 can provide the buyer 12 with tools to
modify their search, e.g. whether or not to show similar
models.
[0230] The system 10 can also be configured such that a search
uncovers similar vehicles (multi-items 26) within a window of time
(e.g. 5 year span on each side of the specified year). For example,
if a buyer 12 searches for a 2005 Ford Focus, vehicles from
2000-2010 can be displayed. However, this window can be modified
through the advanced search pane 289.
[0231] As discussed above, in the choosing parts tab 191 of the
listing process, the seller 14 chooses which parts are available
and which are not. This makes it very convenient for a buyer 12
when searching for parts using the category/descriptor auto-fill
tools 59 (also described above) which uses the auto-fill tool 52.
In this way, the system 10 can match the multi-item 26 and then
perform a check to see if the seller 14 indicated that they have
the specific items 24 available. If so, the multi-item 26 can be
selected to appear in the results page 285.
[0232] In the vehicle parts example, consider a case where Seller A
lists a 2000 Dodge Neon as a multi-item 26 and in doing so lists
the left (driver side) fender as being available and omitted the
right side since it was damaged. After some time elapses a buyer 12
enters the keyword string: "right fender neon"; into the main
search entry box 120. Seller A's multi-item listing may appear in
the results page 285 since keyword matches for "fender" and "neon"
were successful. However, if the buyer 12 instead uses the advanced
search pane 289 and selects the right fender from descriptor
auto-fill tool 59 or otherwise specified such a part, the search
tool 50 can use the database 44 to perform a filtered query and
determine that Seller A is not selling the right fender on the Neon
being listed and, as such, the vehicle would not be included in the
results.
[0233] The system 10 can be configured such that parts that are not
selected by the seller 14 in the Choose Parts 269 tab, representing
those parts that the seller 14 chooses "not" to sell, when listing
the multi-item 26 are "not" searchable within the system 10. For
example, if Seller A does not select "hood" and "fender" from the
Choose Parts 269 tab for a listing of a 1995 Ford Probe, a buyer 12
searching for a hood or fender for a 1995 Probe would not find
Seller A's listing since Seller A has indicated that his hood and
fender is not for sale.
[0234] Turning now to FIG. 45, a multi-item listing page 296 is
shown, which is initiated and displayed upon sensing the selection
of a multi-item 26 from the search results page 285. The listing
page 296 provides the details of the selected multi-item 26 that
were specified by the seller 14, e.g. as described and exemplified
above. The layout of the listing page 296 for a multi-item 26 is,
in this example, similar to the layout of a listing for an item 24,
e.g. as shown in FIG. 21. The buyer 12 can browse through the
vehicle details 300, view the seller's 14 shipping details 302,
view the payment/return policy 303, view the vehicle's multi-media
304 such as pictures and video, view the history 305 etc.; using
listing navigation tabs 306. Specifically, the history tab 305
contains all questions and part requests that the seller 14 chooses
to make public, testimonials from other users, as well as listings
of the parts the seller 14 indicated as available from the choose
parts tab 191, allowing buyers 12 to avoid sending requests for
items that the seller 14 isn't selling or that have already been
sold. For example, a buyer 12 is going to make a part request for a
headlight, but upon looking at the history tab 305 the buyer 12
sees that the item is marked sold. Buyers 12 could browse the parts
with an interface similar to the choose parts tree view 275 in the
choose parts tab 191.
[0235] From the detailed listing page 296 shown in FIG. 45, the
buyer 12 is able to send the seller 14 an item (part) request by
selecting a Request a Part button 298. The purpose of the request
is to ask the seller 14 if their vehicle (multi-item 26) has the
parts (items 24) the buyer 12 is looking for, how much it costs and
how much shipping would be etc. If the seller 14 has chosen to sell
the complete vehicle at once, a Purchase Vehicle button 308 can be
provided to the buyer 12. When a buyer 12 clicks the Buy Vehicle
button 308, a purchase process would then continue similar to that
for purchasing a single part. If the buyer 12 has any questions or
concerns regarding the listing, the buyer 12 can select an Ask the
Seller a Question button 309a or click the Contact Seller tab 309b
and post a question to the seller 14 (not shown).
[0236] Upon selecting the Request a Part button 298 a Buyer Request
page 310 such as that shown in FIG. 46 is displayed. The Request
page 310 comprises a request list auto-fill fill form 312, which
enables the user to begin typing the name of the part/item 24 that
they are interested in a first field 313, which may utilize the
auto-fill tool 52 to display an auto-fill result list 314 to assist
in selecting the desired part or item 24. The form 312 also
comprises a second field 315 for entering comments pertaining to
the part or item 24 being requested. A third field 318 is also
provided to enable the buyer 12 to upload a photo or video related
to the request. An Other Comments field 316 is provided for other
general comments, requests etc. and a Send Request button 320 is
used to submit the request to the seller 14. The Request page 310
also provides a shipping address portion 321, which can be
configured to load the buyer's 12 shipping address as saved in
their profile or alternatively allow them to specify a different
address by selecting a Change My Shipping Address link 323. A
shipping preferences box 322 can also be provided to allow the
buyer 12 to specify their preferred shipping method(s). If the
buyer wants to add more items than the form 312 provides, they may
click the `request more items` link (not shown) to provide the
buyer 12 with more rows in the form.
[0237] It has been found that immediately placing focus of the
cursor or input mechanism to the first field 313 upon loading the
Request page 310 is particularly advantageous as it allows the
buyer 12 to immediately begin typing what they are looking for,
which then loads the auto-fill results 314 as discussed above. In
this way, where many requests are filled out by a buyer 12 time
savings can be realized. If the item 24 the buyer 12 is looking for
is not in the auto-fill list 314, the buyer 12 may continue typing
characters identifying the desired item 24. They buyer 12 may
choose a category and sub-category 60a to give the seller 14 at
least some identifying information about the desired item 24. For
example, if a buyer 12 requests a "buster", the seller 14 may not
know what the buyer 12 is looking for if there is no such part
called a buster. However, if the buyer 12 instead specifies the
item to be listed under the "Brakes & ABS>Brake Boosters",
the seller 14 may be more likely to interpret the "buster" as a
"brake booster". This helps both the buyer 12 and seller 14. In
another embodiment, if the item 24 the buyer 12 is looking for is
not in the auto-fill list 314, the buyer 12 may type the characters
identifying the desired item 24 and their input is accepted by the
system 10. This entry is also sent to the administrator 34 for
review. If the entry is approved by the administrator 34, then the
item 24 is added to the main database 44 and appears when the
auto-fill tool 52 is used. For example, if a buyer 12 enters a
request for an "ebm box", although this entry is not a descriptor
in the main database 44, the system 10 accepts the entry and the
request is sent to the seller 14. If the seller 14 does not know
what the buyer 12 is asking for, they can contact the buyer 12
directly. The buyer's 12 entry is also sent to the administrator 34
to determine whether the new entry should be added to the main
database 44.
[0238] It may be noted that depending on which part/item 24 the
buyer 12 has specified, the system 10 can be configured to provide
one or more suggested questions for the buyer 12 to answer as shown
in FIGS. 95 and 96 as will be explained in greater detail below.
Such questions can be similar to the questions asked when listing a
new item and are intended to help the buyer 12 give important
details they may have forgotten. For example, in the example in
FIG. 46, the buyer 12 can be prompted to specify if the headlights
are "Sealed Beam" or "Composite" as they are two completely
different lights. If the buyer 12 does not know what the questions
means, they may then be provided with the option of selecting a
question to load a help window 277 similar to that explained above,
which provides helpful information 278 along with a sample image or
video 279 if available. It will be appreciated that providing and
answering such additional questions should not be required but can
be encouraged to provide the seller 14 with as much information
about the buyer's desired item 24 as possible and to minimize the
risk of the seller 14 quoting on the wrong parts in their response.
As also explained earlier, the questions database 23 can integrate
with third party databases to offer more questions.
[0239] The second field 315 can then be used to fill in comments
associated with the item 24 in the correspondent first field 313 to
give more details about the request. In the example in FIG. 46
above, it can be seen that the buyer 12 indicates that they require
both the left and right fenders and headlights and specifies that
the engine must be a 5.4 L. The other comments field 316 at the
bottom of the page 310 allows the buyer 12 to give additional
non-part specific details such as "The parts must be in near
perfect condition" or "Do you ship to Hawaii?", etc.
[0240] The admin tool 48 can be configured to monitor the buyer's
12 requests to inhibit the use of the system 10 to set up an
offline sale. For example, the admin tool 48 can determine if phone
numbers, email addresses or other information is being provided in
the request that could enable the sale to be made outside of the
system 10. In this way, the system 10 can maintain control over the
transactions to properly reward loyal account holders that support
the system 10. Similarly, the system 10 can be configured such that
the buyer 12 can browse the webpage 110 prior to registering but
then require registration before sending a parts request or before
sending a request to a seller's 14 user account. The third field
318 allows the buyer 12 to upload video or photos for the seller 14
and link such multimedia to each individual parts request. For
example, in FIG. 46, the buyer 12 could upload a picture of the
fender they have to show the seller 14 the type of trim desired.
This can be particularly useful for the "hard to explain" parts or
the parts the buyer 12 finds difficult in naming or explaining. A
multimedia file can be uploaded by selecting the corresponding
third field 318 which loads the upload tool 131a and 131b described
above.
[0241] The shipping address portion 321 displays the buyer's 12
shipping address and shows the buyer 12 what the seller 14 will see
regarding a requested shipping location. The seller 14 can use this
address to calculate shipping costs. The buyer 12 can also specify
their shipping preferences 322 so that the seller 14 knows which
freight company to quote with, if more than one can be used.
[0242] Once the buyer 12 has finished filling in their request page
310 and wishes to send the request, they may select the Send
Request button 320. Before the buyer 12 can send their request,
they can be prompted with a terms and conditions agreement of using
the service (not shown) to be read and accepted.
[0243] Once the request is successfully processed, the seller 12
can be emailed a message (not shown) notifying them that they have
received a parts request. It will be appreciated that the message
can instead be posted to the seller's 14 account, both emailed and
posted or any other form of communication such that the seller 14
is notified. The message can be structured to indicate various data
regarding the request such as the year, make and model of the
multi-item 26, the seller's private fields, SKU/Stock number, the
buyer's user ID etc. When the message is sent outside of the system
10, a link can also be provided to direct the seller 14 to their
account 118 where they can access the actual request.
[0244] The request can be provided to the seller 14 along with the
ability to respond to the request directly to further the
transaction. Turning now to FIG. 47, a request/response page 325 is
shown. A first portion 324 of the page 325 can be used to show
important information, including that information private to the
seller 14, which was entered during the listing process. This
information may include without limitation: SKU/Stock number, year,
make and model. The buyer's shipping location (city,
province/state, country and postal/zip code) is also shown in a
shipping portion 327, along with the buyer's user ID, shipping
preferences and general comments 328 below. It may be noted that to
avoid bypassing the system 10 as discussed above, the system 10 can
obfuscate the street address while still providing the city, postal
or zip code province/state and country to allow the seller 14 to at
least estimate shipping costs. The system 10, can then provide the
buyer's 12 full contact information to the seller 14 once the
transaction is complete. The shipping details or procedure is
determined solely by the seller 14.
[0245] The response portion 325 comprises a reply list 330
providing the individual items 24 that have been requested and the
ability to respond to each individual request. It can be seen that
copies of the information provided by the buyer 12 may be included,
such as those referenced by similar numerals with a prime (') for
clarity. An availability selector portion 332 is also provided,
which allows the seller 14 to quickly specify whether the item is
available or not by using radio buttons, click boxes or similar
selection mechanisms. It may be noted that completion of the
availability portion 332 may be made mandatory to ensure that the
response at least notifies the buyer 12 of the availability.
[0246] A price field 334 is also provided to enable the seller 14
to specify the desired selling price of the item 24 (excluding
shipping costs in this example). This may also be considered a
mandatory field since the buyer 12 is almost certainly interested
in the price of the item 24. A shipping cost field 336 is also
provided, which may be optional, in particular where it is
difficult to estimate the cost due to weight, duties and other
auxiliary costs. The seller 14 can be prompted with reminders such
as to remind them that the price field 334 is only related to the
particular line item and not the entire request. The seller 14 can,
if desired, specify the shipping price of the item 24 by using the
stripped down version of the address and, if the seller does not
add a shipping price in the field 336, then the buyer 12 would see
an indicator such as "Not Specified" in the shipping field when
viewing the response. A response comments field 338 can also be
provided to allow the seller 14 to add comments or other details
about the item 24. To provide further information and for the
benefit of the buyer 12, the seller 14 may also choose to select an
upload field 340 to upload photos or video of the item, which loads
the upload tool 131a or 131b as explained earlier. This allows the
buyer 12 to see the item 24 before they agree to purchase the item
24.
[0247] The response portion 325 can also include a selection
mechanism 342 to allow the seller 14 to indicate whether or not to
include the response in the history tab 305 in the listing page
296. Including the history of the responses can be useful not only
for the seller 14 to minimize the number duplicate questions and
requests but also to provide the buyer 12 with more time saving
information. For example, the seller 14 in FIG. 47 has selected
"Yes" in the history selection mechanism 342 to make their response
public. If at a later time, another buyer 12 looking for the
headlights views the multi-item listing 296 and views the history
tab 305, they would determine that a previous buyer 12 has already
requested the headlights and the seller 14 indicated they were
damaged. The buyer 12 may then decide not to include the headlights
with their request.
[0248] The seller 14 may also enter other details, information,
comments etc. in a general comments box 344 provided in the
response portion 325. Once the seller 14 has completed the response
portion 325, the response can be submitted by selecting a Send
Response button 346. Once the seller 14 sends their response, the
buyer 12 receives an email or other notification (e.g. text
message) indicating they have received a response from the seller
14. The message can include information pertaining to the request
to identify the response as such, for example, the year, make and
model of the vehicle, the seller's user ID etc. A link can be
included in the email that, when selected, takes the buyer 12
directly to the response in their user account 118.
[0249] A response page 350, as seen by the buyer 12, is shown in
FIG. 48. It can be seen that the response page 350 includes the
listing details 228' with the response details below. The seller's
comments 351 are provided to alert the buyer 12 to any particular
information that could be pertinent or general comments that may
affect their decision to go ahead with the transaction. Similar to
the original request, the buyer 12 can edit their shipping
information, however, this may affect the pricing given below. The
items that are available are listed in an available parts section
330' and the items that are not available are listed in the
unavailable parts section 330'', which is a portion of the list
generated by the buyer 12 in the request. The price 334 and
shipping costs 336 (if specified by the seller 14) are shown along
with the seller's comments 338. The system 10 can provide a
mechanism to instantly proceed with a purchase by providing next to
each individual item that is available, a Buy It button 352 that
allows the buyer 12 to purchase the item directly from the response
page 350. To enable the buyer 12 to quickly accept all items, a
total price can be listed below the items, which represents the
cost to buy all of the available parts. A Buy All button 354 may
then be selected to accept the price for all items 24. In another
embodiment, the buyer 12 can select check boxes (not shown) to
select only the items they want to purchase and the total price
displayed represents the cost for only the selected items. When the
buyer 12 then selects the Buy All button 354, they can purchase the
items they selected from the list 330'.
[0250] Selecting the Buy All button 354 can cause the system 10 to
take the buyer 12 through the normal purchase process, except that
the buyer 12 would confirm the purchases of all the items 24 listed
in the available parts section 330' at the same time on one page.
For example, in FIG. 48, the fenders cost $170 ($120+$50) and the
engine costs $775 ($650+$125). When the buyer 12 selects the Buy
All button 354, a purchase confirmation page (not shown) would list
all of the items 24 and display for the buyer 12, the total price.
The buyer 12 may then be prompted to confirm that they agree to pay
$945 for the fenders and engine including shipping.
[0251] As can be seen in FIG. 48, below the available parts section
330' is a collection 356 of the pictures or videos the seller 14
uploaded in thumbnail size when completing the request. To assist
the user in identifying the multimedia in the collection 356, a
short description can be provided with each multimedia thumbnail to
describe the picture or video. To view the full size picture or to
start the video, the buyer 12 can select the desired image or
video. If the seller 14 uploaded video, the word "Video" can be
displayed under the thumbnail image to distinguish video from
pictures.
[0252] The items 24 that are not available are shown in an
unavailable items section 330'', in this example below the
collection 356 of multimedia thumbnails. An Ask Another Question
entry box 360 can also be provided in the response page 350 to
allow the buyer 12 to respond to the response by asking a further
question or questions. If the buyer 12 does ask additional
questions and sends the message to the seller 14, the seller 14 can
be given the opportunity to modify all of the previous entries, as
their previous entries have been saved in the system 10. For
example, if the buyer 12 responds by saying, "The price is too
high. I will purchase it for $20 less"; the price the seller 14
originally sent is displayed so the seller 14 can easily see what
they previously sent. This is very useful since the seller 14 may
receive many messages from different buyers 12 making it difficult
for the seller 14 to remember what they quoted to each buyer 12.
The seller 14 can then change their price 334 directly in the
response page 350 and send it back to the buyer 12. The buyer 12
can continue negotiating or make the purchase.
[0253] When a buyer 12 purchases an item 24, such purchased item 24
is no longer available and thus should be removed from the
available parts list 330'. For example, if the seller 14 specified
that the engine is available and a buyer 12 purchases it from a
parts response page 350, the engine thereafter appears as "sold" an
would no longer be searchable. If an item 24 is sold, the history
tab's contents can be updated to reflect the sale. For example, if
the seller 14 in FIG. 48 sold the fenders (i.e. in this example,
the buyer has selected the Buy It button 352 from the response page
350 and confirmed the purchase), upon selecting the history tab
305, this information would be reflected.
[0254] It can be appreciated from the above-described process
pertaining to listing, searching and buying multi-items 26 that the
multi-item process is a quick and convenient way to list an entire
multi-item 26 such as a vehicle without having to list each item 24
individually or decide upon a price. The seller 12 is not prompted
to specify a price or enter a description for each item 24 they
choose in the choosing the parts stage, they simply choose which
items 24 they want to be searched or not searched.
[0255] By selecting the history tab 305 when viewing a listing, all
of the questions and parts requests the seller 14 has chosen to
include in the history tab 305 is provided to potential buyers 12,
as exemplified in FIG. 49. The history tab 305 can be selected to
enable buyers 12 to keep track of requests and purchases 366 and
questions 364 pertaining to the vehicle. Buyers 12 can browse
through the questions and corresponding answers 364 as well as
browse through the list of available parts 368 using the same tree
structure 270' interface as sellers 14 use when choosing their
parts etc. From the tree structure 270' shown in FIG. 49, the buyer
12 can quickly and conveniently select parts that are currently
available and select a Request Parts button 370 to set up a new
request.
[0256] An example of the contents displayed when selecting the
Photos/Video tab 304 is shown in FIG. 50. In this example, a
collection 372 of the pictures and videos that the seller 14 has
uploaded can be viewed. Also, in this way, the system 10 can keep
track of pictures/videos for that particular multi-item 26 so that
the seller 14 does not have to upload these multiple times. Below
each picture or video in the collection 372 is a brief description
which may be added by the seller 14 to describe the respective
photo or video.
[0257] Requests and responses for all items 24 (both from single
item listings and multi-item listings) can be organized and tracked
in both the buyer's and seller's account 118 as shown in FIG. 51.
FIG. 51 shows one illustration of the mailbox that handles all of
the messaging. The user could filter their messages to display all
part requests (for sellers 14) or all part responses (for buyers
12). Selecting anything listed in the mailbox 374 would take the
user into the detailed request or response (not shown).
Stores/Store Front
[0258] As discussed above, the intermediary 16 may comprise or have
access to the store website database 21 to provide a web domain or
"store front" for a seller 14. The store front can be created for a
user when they become a seller 14. The store front enables all of
the seller's 14 items that have been listed in the items database
22 to be housed in one centrally accessible and organized place
that may be considered a virtual store for that seller 14. By
providing an individualized web domain or store front for the
seller 14, the seller 14 has their own space within the system 10
to enable them to connect with other sellers 14, buyers 12 and to
promote their store or business if applicable. Once a user becomes
a seller 14, the system 10 can be configured to provide a website
address that is associated with the seller's user id. In this way,
the seller 14 can provide a link between their identity (personal
or corporate) with the system 10. For example, Company X having a
user id compX may be given a store address of:
"http://compX.intermediary.com". Any number of addressing schemes
can be used and the choice of which to use may be dependent on an
existing addressing structure for the system 10 or any other
application specific parameter. For example, the address may be
"compX.intermediary.com" as exemplified above; or
"stores.intermediary.com/compX". This can be considerably
convenient for buyers 12 to search through the seller's 14
inventory and can be provided as a free value-add feature for
sellers 14. By providing a web address for each store, entering a
store's web address then directs the user to the seller's store, an
example of which is shown in FIG. 52.
[0259] When a user registers as a seller 14, the system 10 can
provide an option for the newly registered seller 14 to "open" a
store through their account and allows the seller 14 to "build and
promote" their store by selecting the Build Your Store option 166
from the main selling menu page shown in FIG. 12 to initiate a
process to build their store (not shown), advertise their products
in optimal places, build a brand image etc. The process can be
implemented using a separate page with entry boxes etc., a set-up
wizard, or any other suitable mechanism for obtaining information,
graphics, video etc. The system 10 can be configured to provide
promotional capabilities at an extra cost to the seller 14 or
through a premium or upgrade membership to obtain further revenue.
Promoting their business allows the seller 14 to associate a
corporate logo, a business profile, include video of their physical
store or warehouse, integrate parts catalogues and more.
Essentially what the seller 14 can do is "plug in" their existing
website or business into the intermediary 16 to create a virtual
extension of their business and website. For example, Company X has
an existing website in which they sell auto parts. Company X wants
to reach new markets and grow their business so they "setup" their
store on the intermediary 16. (This can be compared to Company X
opening another "bricks and mortar" store in a shopping mall. The
intermediary 16 in this example would be the shopping mall that
houses sellers' 14 stores through the network 18.) Company X's
store, on the system 10, may be connected to its website and/or
business using an API, XML or other technology. The intermediary 16
stores sellers' 14 data on the system 10 and may organize it based
on the categorization database 20 (e.g. descriptors, categories,
sub-categories etc.). Users can then access all of the search tools
available on the system 10 to find items in seller's 14 stores.
[0260] When setting up their store, the seller 14 can setup
detailed store profiles indicating details such as, but not limited
to: what they specialize in, makes of vehicles they deal with,
years in business, location, postal/zip code, awards, company
profile etc. Once sellers 14 open and setup their store, their
store becomes listed in the store tab 113 for buyers 12 to see.
Advanced search tools allow buyers 12 to perform detailed queries.
For example, Buyer A may want to find a store that specializes in
selling body parts for their old 1957 car while another buyer 12
may want to find a store that specializes in transmission parts for
their late model BMW. Once buyers 12 find the store, they can
browse through the store's item catalogues, contact the store,
purchase items etc. Buyers 12 may also be redirected to the
seller's 14 own store (not through the intermediary 16) if the
seller 14 subscribed to the Product Advertising 167 feature
discussed later.
[0261] The intermediary 16 also "localizes" the data, matching
buyers 12 and sellers 14 in the same town, city etc. For example,
the seller 14, Company X is based in Thunder Bay. Buyer's 12 in
Thunder Bay may be presented with Company X's store to search for
items, check their inventory stock etc. because they are within
close proximity to each other. The buyers 12 can then purchase
Company X's items through the intermediary 16 or go to Company X's
"bricks and mortar" physical store to make their purchase.
[0262] The store feature is also used with service sellers 14, that
is, sellers 14 that can provide services related to the
categorization database 20. For example, Seller A specializes in
manufacturing custom vehicle seats and custom vehicle rims. Buyer A
browses stores on the system 10 to find sellers 14 that can
manufacturer the rims they are looking for. The buyer 12 finds
Seller A on the system 10 and arranges their services to create the
custom rims to fit their car. The entire process from contacting
the seller 14, ordering the service, paying for the service etc.
can be completed through the system 10 (not shown).
[0263] It can be seen that the store front can be arranged similar
to the other features exemplified above, i.e. with the main
navigation pane 110 along the top and the store front page 400
underneath. For the store front page 400, only the seller's items
are displayed. The system 10 can be configured to automatically
pull in all of the seller's existing listings from the items
database 22 and indicate the existing of these listings in the
seller's store front page 400. The system 10 can also organize the
listings based on the categories and sub-categories 60a described
above and may utilize menus and separate panes for convenience.
[0264] The store front page 400 can be arranged in any suitable
manner to provide an organized interface for displaying the
seller's 14 listings to potential buyers 12. In the example shown
in FIG. 52, a promotional area 402 is provided, which can be
dedicated to the seller's 14 business, brand, image etc. The
seller's 14 user id can also be associated with or included in the
promotional area 402. A side menu of features can also be provided.
For example, a search tool 404 can be provided, which is configured
to search only within the seller's 14 store (group of listings)
and/or seller's 14 item catalogues rather than the entire items
database 22. A category tree 406 can also be provided which can be
configured by the system 10 to automatically pull in and organize
the listings into categories and sub-categories 60a (e.g. driveline
& axles, 4WD actuator, shown in FIG. 52). Adjacent to each
category name can be a number in parentheses representing the
number of items in that category that the seller 14 has listed or
available in their catalogue. The system 10 can be configured to
recognize "empty" categories and remove category names that do not
have any current listings. The system 10 can also be configured to
display the seller's 14 items catalogue in the store page 400 to
make it seem as if the buyer 12 went directly to the seller's 14
website, not through the intermediary 16 (not shown). For example,
the store page 400 may look identical to the seller's 14 website,
however, the buyer 12 would be viewing the seller's 14 store
through the intermediary 16.
[0265] Similar to the tree structures described above, upon
selection of the category name, a sub-category can be displayed
with the number of parts available within that sub-category. The
tree structure can be configured to limit the granularity to
accommodate display constraints if desired. Upon selection of a
category, listing or by performing a search, a results list can be
generated and displayed for the buyer 12 in a results pane 408. A
banner 410 may be displayed showing featured items as determined by
the seller 14.
[0266] As can be seen in FIG. 52, a sub menu comprising elements
412-422 can also be provided, which uses a tabular organization.
The tabular organization can provide a convenient way for buyers 12
to navigate through the seller's store. In one embodiment, by
default, the items tab 412 is shown which includes the seller's
featured listings in the banner 410 and the seller's 14 other
listings in the results pane 408, e.g. sorted by newest to oldest.
As noted above, when a buyer 12 searches the seller's 14 items from
the search tool 404 or selects a category name from the category
tree 406, the listings returned from the search or those listings
falling under the selected category are displayed in the results
pane 408. The tabs can be configured to allow convenient navigation
between them. For example, if the buyer 12 is viewing the seller's
14 profile in the seller profile tab 416 and decides to search for
a listing, they can enter a search string into the search tool 404
and select the search button which will automatically bring focus
to the Items tab 412 to display the results.
[0267] The browse tab 414 is configured to load a browse page 430,
e.g. by selecting the browse tab 414 or by selecting a browse link
428 in the category tree's space. An example of the browse page 430
is shown in FIG. 53. As seen in FIG. 53, the browse page 430 can be
divided into a search section 432 containing click boxes 146' to
allow the buyer 12 to use advanced search options, similar to the
boxes 146 on the main Buy page illustrated in FIG. 9; and an
expanded tree portion 434, which shows the third tier 66 categories
applicable the seller's 14 inventory of listings. In another
embodiment, a browse page may be displayed to blend both the
intermediary's 16 search tool layout and the layout of that
seller's 14 item catalogue in their own website. For example, if
the seller's 14 catalogue requires that buyers 12 specify the make,
model, year and engine size of their vehicle, the system 10 may
mimic those requirements on the store page in the intermediary 16.
That way, buyer's 12 can have a choice: search for items the
sellers 14 way, or by using the standard search tools available on
the intermediary 16 (e.g. the seller's 14 store may not have tools
such as the click boxes 146 to search for items etc.).
[0268] Turning back to FIG. 52, the seller profile tab 416 can be
configured to show, upon selection thereof, the seller's 14
profile. The profile may include without limitation: how long the
seller has been in business, total number of listings, business
profile, photos and video about the seller 14 and/or their place of
business etc. A location tab 418 can also provide information
regarding the location of the seller 14. Where privacy concerns are
important, the location can be shown in a map at a high level, e.g.
region, city or neighbourhood rather than an exact address. This
allows the geographic location to be clearly visible but does not
provide enough detail to identity the actual business address. A
video tab 420 can be selected to enable the buyer 12 to view video
content that has been uploaded by the seller 14. The video content
can provide clips of the seller's 14 physical place of business,
promotional videos, testimonials etc. As discussed above, buyers 12
can provide feedback to the seller 14. This feedback can be viewed
by potential buyers 12 by selecting a feedback tab 422. Any user
viewing the store front page 400 can also select a leave feedback
link 424 to post additional feedback and commentary about the
seller 14 and their store, listings etc. A buyer 12 can also select
an "Add to Favourite Sellers" link 426, which can add a link within
their account to that particular seller 14 to enable them to
quickly access that seller's 14 store at a later time.
[0269] Referring back to process of setting up a store, in one
embodiment, the first step is to review and modify the store name
if desired. For example, the store name may be defaulted to the
seller's user id. However, the seller 14 may wish to use another
name or trademark and can then have the opportunity to change the
store name to whatever they wish and this may be provided at an
additional cost. Also, as noted above, the name of the store in
this embodiment is used as the seller's 14 own personal web address
and thus the seller 14 may wish to have this modified for that
reason.
[0270] The seller 14 may also be able to personalize their store
front by choosing from a pre-made selection of design templates
provided by the system 10 (not shown). The templates offer a
"design skin" to improve the appearance of their store and to
differentiate it from others. Some templates can be offered at no
charge while others can be offered for a fee. The seller 14 can
also upload a company logo or trademark to create a brand using the
system 10. Also, if the seller 14 has appropriate video, they could
create a video of their facility and upload it to their store
front. Sellers 14 who have registered businesses can also have
their business verified by a third party and be given a special
distinction or a "stamp of approval" by the system 10. Similarly,
the seller 14 can identify special distinctions or awards they
received and indicate in which associations they are active etc.
The seller 14 may also choose extra features to include in their
store. For example, the seller 14 could subscribe to the store
manager, a unique program that would make managing their inventory
simple. In one embodiment, the store manager program gives the user
advanced features to manage items they are selling, similar to the
"Modify Catalogue" option 672 illustrated in FIG. 85, or they could
subscribe to other supplier's 520 parts catalogues from the
Part-a-Log feature into their store, as described later herein.
[0271] Sellers 14 can also use their store front to attach
advertising pages. In this way, the system 10 can restrict the
amount of data that the sellers 14 can add to a listing (such as
advertisements) while still providing space to advertise and
promote in any way they wish. For example, if the seller 14 is
currently running a promotion on certain products, they could
upload their flyers or advertisement to the ad page (not shown). As
with other value added features, the system 10 can be configured to
offer such a feature at an additional cost. It may be noted that
the administrator 34 can be used to monitor content that is being
uploaded to the seller's 14 store front for appropriateness and to
inhibit the use of advertising space to circumvent use of the
system 10, i.e. to avoid low cost advertising at the expense of the
system 10.
[0272] It may be noted that the system 10 provides a virtual
community for selling, exchanging and promoting businesses and to
allow buyers 12 access to various vendors, wholesalers, recyclers,
individuals, distributors etc. The system 10 can use the
categorization database 20 to perform a filtered query to determine
different types of users (i.e. Recyclers, distributors etc.) This
allows any user of the system 10 to reach potential customers and
partners in a convenient way. For example, sellers 14 can create
and distribute flyers to certain groups or types of users for
specific target marketing campaigns.
[0273] It can be seen that the store feature is not simply another
shopping cart type system that assigns sellers 14 a web domain with
e-commerce tools. It is a complete set of unique tools for a seller
14 to integrate their stores within the intermediary 16 to help
them sell more items, increase brand awareness etc. It also
provides buyers with powerful, focused search tools to find stores
and sellers 14 that sell, supply, manufacture etc. items and/or
related services they are looking for.
Bin Selling
[0274] Turning again to FIG. 12, the system 10 can also provide a
option for selling multiple unique parts consecutively without
having to perform all steps in a regular listing. The seller 14 can
select the Create a Bin icon 163 to create "bins" of items such
that the items 22 can be organized like shelves in a physical
store. The organization of items 22 into bins allows sellers 14 to
post items in much less time than a conventional listing while
providing the ability to recreate an existing physical store shelf
layout in their virtual store. The layout can provide one or more
bins organized into different sections and each bin having a group
of similar items 22. For example, a number of belt tensioners can
be arranged into bins grouped by engine size (3.1-3.4 L, 3.8 L
etc.).
[0275] It has been found that many items in an auto parts
recyclers' physical location are not necessarily inventoried, i.e.
not entered into their computer management systems, mostly because
there is no set part number or because the items are small and do
not warrant the time to enter them into their computer system. For
example, often electrical components such as switches, relays,
plugs and sensors may sell for less than $10.00 each and, as such,
taking the time to enter them into the computer using their
standard industry software, print a tag out and tag each of these
items is not considered feasible, let alone desirable. The cost of
labour in entering the items 22 is often considered too high and
such items are often grouped and stored in non-computer-inventoried
bins on shelves. In this situation, when a customer phones the
physical store and requests an item 22, the staff would require
some knowledge of what is stored where and then would need to go to
the appropriate shelf, find the appropriate bin or section and sift
through its contents to find the requested item.
[0276] To overcome these issues, bin selling through the system 10
can provide sellers 14 with the unique tools they need to quickly
and efficiently sell their inventory through the network 18.
Sellers 14 are then able to create "virtual shelves" arranged into
bins that match the actual physical layout of their physical store.
It has also been recognized that many parts recyclers are looking
for ways to make more money on the vehicles they dismantle which
can be accomplished by selling more parts from a single vehicle.
Using the system 10 to organize parts in a convenient and time
efficient manner simplifies this task.
[0277] By selecting the Create a Bin icon 163 from the main sell
menu page, a main bin selling page 440 is loaded by the system 10
as shown in FIG. 54. The bin selling page 440 is very similar to
the single and multi-item selling pages 24, 26 with similar options
denoted by the same numerals used in previous figures with a "c"
attached to the end of the numerals which may include: a photo
preview pane 180c, an upload photo link 182c to begin the photo
upload process as shown earlier, accepted payment methods click
boxes 202c, a save button 172c, a cancel button 174c, and an add
shipping details link 203c. The required details pane 176c is
configured to allow entry of information pertinent to a bin, and an
optional details pane 175c for adding optional details to the bin
as they are added. The optional details pane 175c also shares some
similar options that are explained in previous sections; attribute
tagging click boxes 207c, a next button 210c and a previous button
211c (not shown) to name a few. The optional details pane 175c, in
this example, is organized into four tabular sections 188c; a bin
details tab 442, an inventory tab 472, a shipping and payment tab
444 and a photos/video tab 446.
[0278] The bin required details pane 176c displays the details the
seller 14 needs to add before creating their bin. In the example
shown in FIG. 54, an item type entry box 448 enables the seller 14
to choose a descriptor, category and sub-category 60a utilizing the
same auto-fill features discussed above in the list an item listing
process. For example, as the seller 14 begins to type an item name
into the entry box 448, the auto-fill tool 52 can access the main
category database 44 and display a list of descriptors that match
and/or are associated with what has been entered, with such
descriptors broken down into a parts list 102, components lists 103
etc. as exemplified in the above examples. If the seller 14 wishes
to browse the categories, they can do so by selecting a browse
categories link 449 similar to the process explained above.
Typically, bins are used to organize items of the same sub-category
to not only simplify searching but also to make the listing process
more efficient.
[0279] A title entry box 450 is also provided which enables the
seller 14 to specify a title for the bin that will be visible to
all users that browse their inventory. The title can be displayed
on front of the visual representation of the bin 466 (see FIG. 55).
The name may be limited to a maximum number of characters according
to the size of the bin 466 and/or the number of bins 466 that will
be displayed. A sub-title entry box 452 can also be provided to
allow the seller 14 to further describe the contents. The sub-title
can also be made visible to all users and can be located underneath
the main title on the front of the bin 466 in smaller text. In the
example in FIG. 55, the sub-title for the bin in the lower left
corner of the page is, "2005 UP". If the seller 14 has organized
items into groups of items in a similar condition, a condition drop
down box 454 can be used to choose a default condition that will
appear for all items in the bin 466. For example, if the seller
chooses "OEM New" as the default condition, all items in the bin
466 are presumed to have that condition unless the seller 14 makes
a change accordingly. If the items 22 in the bin 466 are used, the
seller 14 can choose a condition that best matches a majority of
the items such as, "Used-Good". Alternatively, the seller 14 can
create multiple similar bins with items in different conditions. In
this way, the seller 14 can avoid having to assess and assign a
condition to each and every item 22 in the bin 466. A bin
description entry box 458 can be populated to give more details as
to the bin's contents. For example a seller 14 may specify that:
"All tensioners were inspected for quality. We have 5 year
guarantees on all of our items". When the seller 14 is ready to
create their bin, they click the create bin button 465 to create
the bin and give them access to the Inventory tab 472 which is
disabled until a bin is created. That is, if the bin is not
created, the user cannot click the inventory tab 472 since they
cannot add inventory to a bin that does not yet exist.
[0280] As discussed above in connection with the item-by-item
listing process, the seller 14 can review their shipping and
payment details in the shipping and payment tab 444. If the seller
14 has created selling preferences, the preferences that were
preset will be pre-populated in this tab 444, and if they want to
modify them, they can do so on a bin-by-bin basis. The system 10
may also be configured to allow sellers 14 to create selling
preferences specifically for bin items. By selecting the
photos/video tab 446, the seller 14 can upload pictures and video
to be displayed on the front of the bin 466. In this way, when a
buyer 12 views the bin, they can select, cursor-over or otherwise
highlight or focus on a bin 466 to view more details as shown in
FIG. 55. The picture/video can be displayed in a details box 468
that may include the other information associated with the bin 466.
In this way, information regarding the bin 466 can be easily
accessed without cluttering the appearance. The use of photos and
video allows the seller 14 to educate the buyer 12 if they do not
know what the item 22 looks like. The seller 14 can select the
photo/video tab 446, which loads the photo/video uploading tools
described earlier; choose one or more pictures or videos; and
select upload as described above. The picture that is displayed on
the front of the bin 466 is a thumbnail image and, if the seller 14
uploads multiple images, they can be requested to choose which
photo is to be displayed on the bin 466. As also shown in FIG. 55,
the bins 466 can be searched using a bin searching tool 470, an
advanced search filters option 289a can also be provided for the
buyer 12 to target specific bins 466 or items within such bins 466
and the page may be also configured to utilize other searching
tools and filters mentioned throughout this document.
[0281] The bin details pane 442a allows sellers 14 to include
additional optional details. If the contents of the bin 466 are all
of the same brand, the seller 14 can specify a brand by entering
one in a brand entry box 456. To provide even further details
regarding the contents of the bin 466, the seller 14 can also
specify the actual physical location of the bin in their physical
store by entering a bin location in Location of Bin 460 which can
be made private. Bin location information can be recorded to assist
the seller 14 in finding the item 22 once it is sold. For example,
if a buyer purchases a relay from a bin located in "Warehouse 1,
Rack 2A", when the item 22 is sold, the bin location can be added
to the email sent to the seller 14 so they can quickly find it at
their physical location for shipping to the buyer 12. A rack entry
box 462 can also be provided, which allows a seller 14 to assign a
physical bin to a particular shelf or rack. For example, any bins
that the seller 14 creates with "27" as the rack number can be
automatically grouped and displayed by the system 10 with other
bins having the same rack number since they are located on the same
rack. This rack number is private and related to the exact position
of the bin in the physical store. A private notes entry box 464 can
also be provided to the seller 14 to allow them to enter private
information about their bin contents. For example, the seller 14
may specify: "Make sure you pack these parts properly because the
last time we shipped one of these, the courier dropped the box".
This system 10 can then access this information and add the private
notes to the email sent to the seller 14 notifying them that an
item 22 from their bin has been sold. In this way, the seller 14
can remind themselves of specific information that they do not
necessarily want the buyer 12 to see. Other details, options and
information 467 may be displayed to further explain the contents of
the bin. As mentioned above, the seller 14 can also assign
attributes to the contents of the bin using the attribute click
boxes 207c.
[0282] Once a bin 466 has been created by a seller 14, the seller
14 then proceeds to the inventory tab 472 to add items 22 to the
bin 466 and can later remove items from the bin 466, e.g. if they
are sold offline etc. The inventory tab 472 displays an entry form
474 that resembles a spreadsheet. Various descriptive fields 476
are identified and each data row 478 has a corresponding cell to
allow the seller 14 to navigate through the form 474 while adding
details along the way, e.g. by "tabbing" through the cells. The
entry form 474 can also be configured to allow short-cut keys to be
used such as the tab or enter keys. In one embodiment, the enter
key can be used to both tab through the entries 478 for all cells
except the description cell 480, wherein a carriage return would
instead occur.
[0283] For the auto parts example described herein, the descriptive
fields 476 can be similar to those that would be entered in a
regular item listing described above and in this example comprises
item number, make/model, year, condition, description, part number,
SKU/stock number, price, quantity, private details, more details
and fees. As above, the auto-fill tool 52 can be initiated to
assist the seller 14 in entering the details. It may be noted that
the condition can be different than the representative condition
given to the entire bin, e.g. some items can be in a different
condition. It may also be noted that, as seen in FIG. 56, for the
entry of lengthier details such as for the description field, a
larger entry box 480 can be initiated temporarily as shown in FIG.
56. Similar to the bin 466 itself, the seller 14 can add private
notes that are specific to the item 22, which are private to them.
The more details field can be used to change any of the selling
preferences and other details not shown in this view for that
individual item. By selecting the more details field, a full
listing would then be displayed as shown in FIG. 57. In this way,
the complete details do not need to be entered in the same way as
for a regular listing but the process for modifying the details can
be accessed at any time when accessing the inventory in the bin
466. The fee field can be used to notify the seller 14 of the cost
for the listing if there is a fee. A total bin fees tally 481 can
be displayed to enable the seller 14 to quickly determine the cost
associated with that bin 466. The system 10 can be configured to
hide the fee column and/or other columns as well. This figure is
used for illustrative purposes only so other columns and details
may be included.
[0284] To provide further convenience, the entry form 474 can be
converted and downloaded to a PDF format by selecting a Download
PDF form link 482 so the seller 14 can populate the fields offline.
Similar to database and spreadsheet interfaces, tabbing through the
end of an entry can cause the next data row 478 to be created by
assigning the next sequential item number. It can be seen that the
entry form 474 can allow the seller 14 to quickly add items to a
bin from one convenient page rather than having to individually
list an item using the process described above. Before listing the
bin, the seller 14 can select a Save button 487 to save the
information without posting it for later completion and, once the
bin 466 is to be posted, the seller can select a Post Items button
485. As can also be seen in FIG. 56, helpful hints 484 can be
displayed to assist the seller 14 as they are populating the entry
form 474.
[0285] Once the bins 466 are created and listed by the seller 14,
there are various ways that the bins 466 can be viewed by potential
buyers 12 or browsers. For example, the items in a bin can be
viewed directly by performing a basic search and viewing the
individual item's detailed listing (i.e. does not have to be
accessed through the bin), by browsing through bins (a bin tab can
be provided as described below), by browsing the contents of a bin
using standard view, by browsing the contents of a bin using a list
view, or by browsing using a "Shelf View" to name a few. Each of
these examples will now be described.
[0286] Performing a basic search is one way of looking at all items
22 or multi-items 24 that are posted and match the search criteria.
When a buyer 12 performs a search, all of the items 22 (including
bin items) appear in the results page shown in FIG. 58. When the
search returns bin items, a bin tab 488 can be included. The buyer
12 may then select the bin tab 488 to load the bin results and bin
detailed listing 493 as exemplified below and illustrated in FIGS.
59 and 60. FIGS. 18A and 18B are other embodiments of the results
page that do not show the bin tab 488.
[0287] When the detailed listing 493 is loaded for a bin item, as
shown in FIG. 59, all of the information for that listing is
displayed in a tabular 490 format similar to other listings with
the addition of a bin reference portion 494 and a bin picture
portion 492. If the seller 14 did not upload a picture with their
bin listing, then the picture displayed in the bin detailed listing
493 may display the bin 466, which notifies the buyers 12 that the
item is found in a bin 466 as shown in FIG. 59. If the buyer 12
selects the photo portion 492, a new window may then be loaded
which then shows the bins contents as will be explained later. If
the seller 14 did upload a picture for the listing, then the
picture portion 492 can display that picture as shown in FIG. 60.
The picture portion 492 can be configured such that only selection
of the representation of a bin 466 would take the user to the bin
listings. The bin reference 494 is included in the listing summary
495 and indicates the bin 466 that the item is from. As shown in
FIGS. 59 and 60, a bin link 496 can be included, which is
associated with the bin name. By selecting the bin link 496, the
bin 466 contents can then be loaded.
[0288] As noted above, bin items can also be browsed by browsing
through bins. From the main results page shown in FIG. 58, the
buyer 12 can select the bin tab 488 and can refine their search
from the advanced search menu 289. For example, the buyer 12 could
view all bins 466 or view only bins 466 from a particular seller
14. FIG. 61 illustrates an example bin view page 498, which
illustrates one embodiment of how the bins 466 can be arranged to
make it easy for the buyer 12 to browse through them. If the buyer
12 wishes to see more information without actually clicking the bin
466, they can place their mouse over the bin 466 to bring up a
details box 468 as shown in FIG. 55. If the seller 14 wishes to
view the bin contents, they can select the desired bin 466.
[0289] When a buyer 12 selects a bin 466, the contents may then be
displayed in a "Standard View" 502 by default. A standard view
lists all of the bin's 466 items in a manner similar to the way
items are displayed in the results page shown in FIG. 58. As seen
in FIG. 62, when a bin 466 is selected, the top of the bin listing
page 500 can be configured to display the bin's information, the
picture of the bin 466, the category, sub-category and descriptor
for the items in the bin 466, the brand, the description and the
seller's 14 user id. Below is the bin search box 470 that allows
the buyer 12 to search only the contents of the bin 466. The buyer
12 may then select a desired item listed in the standard view 502
to display the bin item's detailed listing 493. There may be more
search tools than illustrated in these examples.
[0290] The contents of a bin 466 can also be browsed using a "List
View" 508. The list view 508 is accessed by selecting a List View
tab 506 rather than a Standard View tab 504. An example list view
508 is shown in FIG. 63, wherein the information is organized in
the same way as displayed to a seller 14 when they enter items into
their bin 466 through the entry form 474. The list view 508 is also
a convenient way to browse through listings where the items do not
have a corresponding picture and can provide more detail at the
same time which reduces the need for "clicking" items to view more
information. If the buyer 12 wishes to view the bin item's detailed
listing 493, they can select any line item, click more details or
click the buy it link shown in FIG. 63.
[0291] The Shelf View allows buyers 12 to view a representation of
the actual shelf or rack at a seller's 14 physical location. Shelf
View can be used in various ways. For example, if a seller 14 has
specified the location and rack number of their items, the system
10 can automatically group the items in the appropriate shelf
(based on their location). If the seller 14 allows buyers 12 to use
Shelf View, the buyers 12 can browse through the items as if they
were in the seller's 14 actual physical store. Turning now to FIG.
64, a photo 510 of an actual shelf can be obtained and uploaded
into a suitable interface. Each item 22 in the photo can then be
tagged by the seller 14 so that a buyer 12 can highlight an item
using their mouse as seen in the photo 510 and a summary box 512
would then be displayed providing the key item details the buyer
may want to know such as, but not limited to, price, sku, part
numbers, type of item etc. A full bin detailed listing 493 may be
displayed upon selecting a link in the box 512 (not shown) or
simply by selecting the summary box 512 itself. In this way, the
virtual shopping experience can be enhanced by bringing the buyer
12 into the seller's 14 physical store to add a level of reality to
their shopping experience.
[0292] Shelf View makes it easy for sellers 14 because they can
take one picture that includes multiple items reducing both the
seller's 14 time needed to take the pictures and the upload time
required to send the pictures to the system 10. As shown in FIG. 64
for example, the photo 510 includes 16 different items 22.
[0293] The bin 466 may also be auto numbered and assigned a unique
"Bin ID". For example, if a user has two bins 466, one can be
labelled "Bin 1" and the other can be labelled "Bin 2". This helps
the seller 14 keep track of how many bins 466 they have. Sellers 14
can also print their bin contents making it easy to reconcile
inventory. As well, an invoice tool (not shown) for sellers 14 can
be integrated into the system 10 so that sellers 14 could use the
system 10 as their inventory and sales management system. This
allows the seller 14 to generate invoices, run end of day reports
etc.
[0294] The bin tool can also be used with existing inventory
catalogues and items to automatically organize the items into bins
466 based on the type of items they are and other related details.
For example, a seller 14 that has uploaded their items and/or
catalogues to the items database 22 can allow the system 10 to take
that inventory and organize it into bins 466 for display purposes.
Buyers 12 can then browse through the bins 466 to find items to
purchase.
[0295] Users may also be able to customize their item entry form
(FIG. 56). For example, if a seller 14 feels more comfortable
entering the year of vehicle before the make/model, then the seller
14 could move "Year" in front of "Make/Model". DHTML is one
suitable technology that may be used for modifying the entry form
474. In another example, if the seller 14 does not enter private
information, they could hide the "Private Field" from the entry
form 474.
[0296] The system 10 can offer certain specialty tags or bin
"skins" at an additional cost. The purpose of such specialty tags
can be to make the seller's bin 466 stand out and attract more
buyers 12. For example, the seller 14 could purchase, "Hot Item",
"Limited Edition" or "Great Deal" tags to display in the top right
corner of their bin. In another example, a seller 14 with a bin 466
full of chrome racing wheels could purchase a "skin" to make their
bin 466 appear to be brilliant shiny chrome to reflect their chrome
wheels.
Part-a-Log/Parts Catalogue
[0297] FIG. 65a illustrates an overview of the functional outline
of the system 10 parts catalogue. The items or parts posted by the
seller 14 on the system 10 can be supplied to the seller 14 by a
third party group, herein referred to as suppliers 520, wherein a
supplier 520 can comprise a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor,
retail store, etc. It may be noted that the suppliers 520 do not
require a paper catalog to use the parts catalogue feature, only an
inventory list that can either be in constant communication with
system 10 or updated on a periodic basis. In order for the
relationship between the supplier 520 and the seller 14 to be
effective, the seller 14 requires access to said supplier's 520
inventory, as well as a method to translate inventory naming
conventions and respond to information updates. The supplier 520
should also be able to translate their inventory nomenclature to
match that of the seller 14. This is a challenge known within the
industry, as FIG. 65b illustrates an example of the naming
convention differences between a standard supplier 520 and seller
14. The supplier's 520 vehicle name in their database 521 utilizes
a single data field in naming the vehicle make and model; whereas
the seller's 14 vehicle name in their database 522 utilizes two
data fields to name the vehicle, separating the make and model into
independent data fields. Thus, there is an inconsistency between
the inventory listings for a supplier 520 and seller 14, resulting
in delays and complications with item searches and orders placed by
the seller 14. Therefore, a cohesive media for communication
between the said supplier 520 and seller 14 is required.
[0298] The system 10 incorporates a mechanism for suppliers 520,
sellers 14 and buyers 12 to effectively manage the sale and
distribution of items, herein referred to as the "Part-a-Log". The
Part-a-Log acts as a master catalogue for all parts contained
within the system 10.
[0299] Suppliers 520 upload their product catalogues to the system
10, having the intermediary 16 ensure that their data integrates
seamlessly with inventory naming conventions used by both buyers 12
and sellers 14. For example, data conforming to ACES, Internet
Parts Ordering (IPO), Parts Information Exchange Standard (PIES),
Shop Connectivity Standard (i.Shop) or a supplier's 520 custom way
of organizing data can be merged into the common standard utilized
by the system 10. The supplier 520 has the option of selling items
through chosen sellers 14 or directly to buyers 12. A supplier 520
that chooses only to sell through approved sellers 14 can have
their inventory catalogue available for viewing to sellers 14, but
items can only be purchased through said sellers 14. A seller 14
wanting to sell a supplier's 520 items must apply to and be
approved by the said supplier 520. Once approved, a buyer 12 can
view and purchase supplier's 520 items through the seller 14. This
system eliminates the need for paper catalogues, facilitates making
changes to updated pricing and product information and maintains
the integrity of the distribution network; a critical requirement
in the industry. Also, the Part-a-Log provides buyers 12 with a
choice of sellers 14 carrying the same supplier's 520 inventory.
Payment to the supplier 520 depends on the relationship between the
seller 14 and a supplier 520. If the seller 14 already has an
account setup through their physical "bricks and mortar" store, the
supplier 520 may charge the seller's 14 "bricks and mortar" charge
account. If the supplier 520 and the seller 14 have never done
business before, the supplier 520 may require that the seller 14
prepay the items. The choice is ultimately up to the supplier 520
and seller 14, not the administrator 34.
[0300] To become a supplier 520 and setup their supplier 520
account, the user would click either the "Part-a-Log" link (not
shown) found in the Account link 118 or by selecting the Parts
Catalogue option 165 from the main sell menu page shown in FIG. 12,
to be brought to the main Part-a-Log Control Panel as shown in FIG.
66. The Part-a-Log application may also have its own web interface
and allow the user to go through that interface over the network 18
to also arrive at the Part-a-Log Control Panel. This web interface
would be directly connected to the system 10 and may share the
categorization database 20.
[0301] The left menu shown in FIG. 66 displays the general
Part-a-Log control panel tabs 525 that both the supplier 520 and
seller 14 have access to. Once the user makes the decision to
become a supplier 520 and is approved by the administrator 34, more
tabs will be available specifically for suppliers 520, as discussed
below. The user sees two links within the Part-a-Log Control Panel
workspace 524 the first time they arrive there: a "Become a
Supplier" link 540 and a "Become a Seller" link 542. If user wishes
to learn more about the different account types they could click
the "more info" links 543 to open a new window displaying
information on each (not shown). At the bottom of the Control Panel
workspace 524 is a Part-a-Log information area 539 which explains
what the Part-a-Log is, how it works and what it can do for the
user etc.
[0302] To become a supplier 520, the user would click on the
"Become a Supplier" link 540 and be brought to a window featuring a
supplier information box 544 containing details about becoming a
supplier 520, such as what is a supplier 520, how it works, what is
required to become a supplier 520 etc, as shown in FIG. 67. When
the user is satisfied and wants to continue, they would click the
"Apply Now" button 546 to take them to the supplier application
page 548, as illustrated in FIG. 68.
[0303] The supplier application page 548 displays the application
form that the user is required to fill out. Before the user becomes
an active supplier 520, the system 10 and/or the administrator 34
conducts a review to ensure that the supplier 520 is a valid
business and follows other security measures to check the user. In
some cases, if the supplier 520 wishes to be distinguished as being
a "Verified Supplier", the system 10 will work with key third-party
companies to review the supplier 520. Some parts of this review are
automated while others require the administrator 34.
[0304] The supplier application page 548 requires general business
information 550. This does not include their contact information,
telephone number, email, address etc. as this information is
obtained through the registration for the system 10 user account,
as previously outlined. The user describes the nature of their
business in the Business Description box 552 and selects a Business
descriptor 554 most relevant to their business. The supplier
application page 548 also requests that the user completes a
primary markets field 556 and indicate whether their business has a
physical store 558. The user can also include any additional
comments 560 pertaining to their business deemed important to the
administrator 34. Once the form is complete, they would click the
"Send Application" button 562 to send it to the administrator 34
for review.
[0305] As demonstrated in FIG. 69, once the application is sent,
the date and time 564 they sent the application is displayed as
well as the status 566 of their application. The different stages
are, but not limited to: "Received--Waiting for Review", "In
Review" and either "Unsuccessful" or "Approved". These appear in
the main workspace 524 for the users who have applied to become
suppliers 520. Once the administrator 34 approves the supplier 520,
the user's status changes and they are sent an email welcoming them
and giving them instructions on how to upload their inventory (not
shown). A copy of the email is also sent to their Inbox 644 in
their Message Centre 530, as discussed below. The supplier 520 also
gains full access to supplier Part-a-Log control panel tabs 527
displayed along the left hand side of the Part-a-Log Control panel
workspace 524 as shown in FIG. 70.
[0306] Once the user is a registered supplier 520, they can upload
their product data to the system 10. The two most common ways of
doing so include uploading their inventory file in an accepted file
format such as, but not limited to ".cvs" or ".xls" (not shown);
and for larger suppliers 520 or suppliers 520 with advanced
integrated systems such as EDI, the system 10 can link to their
data network to receive constant updates on products by API's
provided by the administrator 34 and/or supplier 520 or by using
another technology. No uploading is required in this example.
[0307] As discussed earlier, each supplier 520 may store their data
differently. The system 10 and the administrator 34 will work with
each supplier 520 to ensure their data integrates seamlessly into
the system 10 platform and categorization database 20. If the
supplier 520 chooses to upload their inventory by a single file,
they would do so through the "My Inventory Catalog" tab 532 on the
supplier Part-a-Log control panel tabs 527.
[0308] Referring to FIG. 70, along the left hand side of the screen
is the supplier Part-a-Log control panel tabs 527 which the user
can select to navigate through the various supplier's 520
functions. This includes the Dashboard 526, Sales & Orders 528,
Distributor Requests 529, Message Centre 530, My Distributors 531,
My Inventory Catalog 532, My Account 534, My Selling Preferences
536, and Help 538 tabs. The Distributor Requests 529 and My
Distributors 531 tabs are specific to suppliers 520 and are added
to the general Part-a-Log control panel tabs 525 once the user
becomes a registered supplier 520. Each of the supplier Part-a-Log
control panel tabs 527 will be discussed herein.
[0309] FIG. 70 illustrates the user has selected the Dashboard tab
526, and in this example the Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524
contains 6 windows displaying information particular to the
supplier's 520 account. The Account Details window 570 shows the
supplier's 520 account related details such as: what seller package
they are enrolled in, their next billing date, their current
account balance etc. The New Distributor Requests window 572 gives
the supplier 520 a summary of their distributor requests from
sellers 14. A distributor request is a request from a seller 14
wanting to subscribe to the supplier's 520 inventory items
catalogue to sell the supplier's 520 inventory to buyers 12. The
seller's 14 user ID may be displayed along with the date the
supplier 520 received the request for convenience. To view any of
the requests from the dashboard 526, the supplier 520 would click
on any one of the requests. The Pending Applications window 574
shows the supplier 520 which seller's 14 requests are pending. When
the supplier 520 views a seller 14 request, they either accept,
decline or decide later. If the supplier 520 has not either
accepted or declined the request, the request is considered
pending. The Sales Snapshot window 576 shows the supplier 520 the
dollar value of their sales orders they generated through the
system 10. The sales orders may be broken down by: today, week,
current month and current year. As well, the supplier's 520 top 3
sellers may be displayed. The My Catalog window 578 may show the
supplier 520 the last time they updated or synced their catalog
with the system 10 and may display the top five selling items in
their catalog. The Where I'm Selling window 580 shows the supplier
520 a map depicting the locations of where they are selling their
items. The system 10 can be configured to display more or less
details than shown in the Figures.
[0310] The user has the ability to customize the display of the
Dashboard tab 526 Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524 by
clicking the "Customize Dashboard" link 568 in the top right corner
of the page.
[0311] The "Sales & Orders" tab 528 is where all of the sales
and order information are located and organized. When a seller 14
sells an item to a buyer 12 through the system 10, an order is
automatically placed by the seller 14 to the supplier 520 for that
sold item. The best way to illustrate this is by the following
example. The seller 14 had applied to a supplier 520 to sell their
products and was approved by the supplier 520. The next day, a
buyer 12 searches the system 10 and finds an air filter they wish
to purchase from the seller 14. The air filter is a product from
the supplier 520 that the seller 14 doesn't actually physically
have in stock. They have it in their "virtual inventory" meaning
that if the seller 14 sells it, they will need to buy it from the
supplier 520 before sending it to the buyer 12. So the buyer 12
decides to purchase the air filter and pays the seller 14. The
seller 14 then receives confirmation of the payment from the buyer
12 and an order is then automatically sent to the supplier 520 for
the air filter by the seller 14. Depending on what arrangement the
seller 14 and the supplier 520 have, the seller 14 may or may not
have prepaid the item. Some suppliers 520 offer credit to their
sellers 14 meaning that the sellers 14 don't have to pay for every
item individually before ordering it. For the purposes of this
example, we will assume that the seller 14 had to prepay the air
cleaner. Once the seller 14 pays the supplier 520 for the air
cleaner, the supplier 520 either sends it to the seller 14 or ships
it directly to the buyer 12 (depending on the way the seller 14 and
supplier 520 have setup their account).
[0312] As shown in FIG. 71, there are four separate sections in the
"Sales & Orders" tab 528: Summary 582, New Orders 584, Open
Orders 586 and Completed Orders 588.
[0313] When the user selects the Summary tab 582, a snapshot of the
supplier's 520 performance is displayed in the Part-a-Log control
panel workspace 524. The top of the page, as shown in FIG. 71,
features an order summary section 590 which displays the number of
new orders, open orders and completed orders the supplier 520 has
received from sellers 14. Also, the page features a sales summary
section 591 that translates their orders into dollar figures so the
supplier 520 could see hard dollar values of their performance. The
sales summary 591 also shows the supplier their sales by current
day, week, current month, and current year. The Top 3 Sellers
section 592 features the supplier's 520 top three sellers 14. The
seller's 14 business names are displayed along with their dollar
sales figures and their location. If the supplier wants to view the
seller's 14 account, they would click the business name 593 to view
the seller's 14 profile in greater detail.
[0314] When user selects the New Orders tab 584 listed under the
Sales & Orders tab 528, the order details for when the supplier
520 receives orders for their products are displayed, illustrated
by FIG. 72. The new orders list 594 are displayed in order of when
they were received with the newest order at the top. The supplier
can change the way the orders are sorted to oldest to newest if
they wish by clicking the "Date Received" title 600. The orders
shown on this page are in summary form showing only the buyer's
user ID 595, business name 596, item descriptor 597, SKU/Stock
number 598, shipping location 599 of the buyer and the date 600 the
order was received. To view the full order details, the supplier
would click the "View" link 601 beside the order to bring up the
full order details.
[0315] The full order details, depicted in FIG. 73, provide all the
information for a particular order. For example, in one embodiment
the Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524, displays information
for the Order Details 602, Item Details 604, and Seller Details
606. Additional information may be added for display.
[0316] The Order Details 602 section states the Order ID number 607
generated by the system 10. This number cannot be changed and is
used for tracking and reporting within the system 10. Also, the
Order Date & Time, in the format of "day of
week-month-day-year-time (EST)" and the category path the item was
listed in (i.e. Auto Parts>Body Parts>Hood) is shown. Under
the Status heading 608 within the Order Details 602 section, the
status is set to "Ordered" when the item is ordered and the method
of payment is also indicated. If the supplier 520 requires that the
seller 14 prepays all items, the status 608 will show "Payment
Received" indicating when the seller 14 has paid the supplier 520.
If the supplier 520 allows the seller 14 to charge items, then the
status will indicate "Charged on Account" once the supplier 520 has
filled the order. This is explained in greater detail below.
[0317] The Items Details 604 section provides information relating
specifically to the item order by the seller 14, such as the
headline, stock numbers, and condition of item. The listing ID 609
is generated when the supplier 520 listed the item in their
inventory and is used for tracking the listing. This is different
than the order ID 607 as there can only be one unique order ID 607
(every order is considered unique) but there can be multiple orders
with the same listing ID 609 (different orders with the same items
sold). For example, a fuel tank for a '90 Chev Blazer is listing ID
#123456. Six different sellers 14 order the same fuel tank so
although the listing ID #123456 is the same for all six orders
(they ordered the same item), each order is different so they will
have different order IDs 607. The item cost 610 is an optional
field that displays the cost of the item for the supplier. Due to
constantly changing prices, the item cost 610 is displayed for
convenience for the supplier in reviewing their selling prices. For
example, let's assume that the cost of the supplier's item
increased to $50. If the supplier sees that the selling price is
$49.00, they will know immediately that a $1.00 gross profit is
impractical. This is very helpful with items whose cost changes
frequently. The system 10 also uses this field to calculate the
mark-up for the item based on the price charged to sellers 14.
[0318] The Seller Details section 606 displays business information
regarding the seller 14 of the item. The account terms 611
determined by the supplier 520 at the time they approved the seller
14 are also displayed. Some suppliers 520 deal with sellers 14 that
already have accounts setup through their "bricks and mortar"
stores. In these cases, most of the time the suppliers 520 don't
require the seller 14 to prepay each item individually since they
will charge their "brick and mortar store" charge account. If the
supplier 520 and seller 14 have never done business before, then
the supplier will likely require the seller 14 to prepay all items
before they are shipped. Whichever option the supplier 520 chooses,
they must specify it in the terms 611. The example in FIG. 73 shows
that under the terms heading 611, the supplier requires the seller
14 to prepay all items. This is later explained in more detail.
Seller comments 612 allow the seller 14 to enter comments that
appear on every order form. The example in FIG. 73 shows that the
seller's comments 612 were, "If you're shipping Fed-Ex, my account
number is 58555555. Please send it collect." This makes it easy for
the seller 14 to communicate special information pertaining to
their orders. The seller 14 can update this any time and the
changes will appear on all new orders immediately. Also displayed
within the Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524 is an item
picture 614. The item picture 614 shows the default picture
displayed in the item's detailed listing 228. If no photos are
available, the outline of the photo will remain in place with the
words "No Photo Available". Clicking this item picture area 614
will load up the actual detailed listing 228 in a new window
allowing the supplier 520 to view the full listing as the buyer 12
and seller 14 see it.
[0319] The supplier can click the "Print Order" link 616 in the top
right corner of the page to print out a copy of the order details.
Another embodiment of the order details incorporates an "Email
Order" link that will allow the supplier 520 to email the order
(not shown). This is useful for larger companies.
[0320] Once the item is packaged and ready to be shipped, the
supplier 520 can click the "Complete Order" button 618. This will
bring the supplier to a new page that allows them to enter in the
tracking information if they wish (not shown). Some suppliers 520
will not do this if they are shipping multiple items to the seller
14. For example, assume the seller 14 has had an account with a
supplier for over 20 years. The seller 14 subscribed to the
supplier's 520 inventory to make it easier to sell. The seller 14
places regular stock orders through their "bricks and mortar" store
with the supplier 520 on a weekly basis, thus forcing the supplier
520 to enter in detailed tracking information every time they sell
an item through the system 10 would be too time consuming and
unnecessary. In this instance, simply by clicking the "Complete
Order" button 618, the seller 14 will know that the order has been
processed (that is, the supplier has charged the item to the
seller's 14 account) and the item has been packaged and shipped,
or, will be shipped once their regular stock order is shipped.
Clicking the "Complete Order" button 618 will also move the order
from the "Open Orders" section 586 to the "Completed Orders"
588.
[0321] Once the supplier 520 views the new order, as shown in FIG.
73, the order is moved to the "Open Orders" section 584 as they are
no longer considered new and not yet completed. To close out an
order, the supplier must click the "Complete Order" button 618 to
move it into the "Completed Orders" section 588. The "Open Orders"
586 view is similar to the new orders 584 view, showing a new order
list 594a. This is illustrated in FIG. 74, where like elements to
those shown in FIG. 72, are given like numerals with the suffix "a"
for clarity. The "Completed Orders" tab view (not shown) lists
completed orders for the supplier's 520 reference. Completed orders
remain in the system for 6 months after which time they are cleared
out. Suppliers 520 are therefore encouraged to print out hard
copies of their order details (FIG. 73) for their records.
[0322] As shown in FIG. 75, distributor requests are sent to the
supplier 520 by sellers 14 wanting to sell the supplier's 520
products. The Distributor Requests section 529 manages the
supplier's distributor requests and is broken up into four
sections. The summary tab 620 gives the supplier a quick overview
of how many distributor requests, pending requests and declined
requests the supplier 520 has. When the Distributor Requests tab
529 is clicked, the summary page (not shown) is displayed by
default. The New Requests tab 622 displays all of the new requests
623 sent to the supplier 520. When a seller 14 applies to a
supplier 520, the seller 14 is listed on this page for supplier 520
to review. The page displays the seller's 14 user ID 628, business
name 629 (only if they are a business), the contact name 630,
location of the seller 631, if they are a current customer 632 of
the supplier 520 and the date 633 the supplier received the
request.
[0323] FIG. 75 shows that the supplier (e.g. Auto Zone) has
received three seller requests 623. To view the application, the
supplier would click the "View" link 627 beside the appropriate
seller 14 to load up the seller 14 application as shown in FIG.
76.
[0324] FIG. 76 shows the summary information 634 at the top of the
page and displays all the details listed in the seller's completed
application form 636 below. The supplier 520 can select either the
Approve button 638, Decide Later button 640 or Decline button 642
to address the seller's 14 request. If the supplier 520 approves
the seller 14, the application would move into the "My
Distributors" tab 531 and the seller 14 would be able to sell the
supplier's 520 items 22. Buyers 12 would be able to purchase items
from the supplier 520 through the newly approved seller 14. If the
supplier 520 chooses the Decide Later button 640, the application
would move into the "Pending Requests" tab 624 and if the supplier
chooses the Decline button 642, the application would move into the
"Declined Requests" tab 626. The supplier can also view the
seller's 14 store by selecting the "View Seller's JustParts Store"
link 635. At the bottom of the Part-a-Log control panel workspace
524, the seller's 14 distributor application form (shown later in
FIG. 89) is displayed.
[0325] The Pending Requests tab 624 displays all of the seller 14
applications for which the supplier 520 clicked the Decide Later
button 640. This allows the supplier 520 to review the applications
at their convenience. The sellers 14 are organized exactly as shown
within the New Requests tab 622. Once the supplier 520 is ready to
make a decision, they would click the "View" link 627 beside the
appropriate seller 14 application. They would have the same three
buttons available: Approve 638, Decide Later 640 and Decline 642
(not shown).
[0326] The Declined Requests tab 626 displays all of the
applications that the supplier 520 declined (not shown). The
sellers 14 are organized exactly as shown within the New Requests
622 and Pending Requests 624 tabs. If the supplier 520 changes
their mind and decides they want to approve one of their declined
sellers 14, they would click the "View" link 627 beside the
appropriate seller application. An "Approve" button would be
displayed on the page allowing the supplier 520 to change their
mind If they click this, a notification would be displayed telling
the supplier 520 that they are about to approve a declined seller
14. Once they confirm, the seller 14 information and application is
moved into the "My Distributors" tab 531 (not shown).
[0327] Continuing with FIG. 77, the Message Center tab 530 is the
central location where all correspondence from sellers 14,
potential sellers 14 and the system 10 is organized and where the
supplier 520 can create and send messages from. Three links appear
on the side menu under messages: Inbox 644, Compose Message 646 and
Sent Messages 648. For convenience, the same links are also
organized into Message Centre headings 643 in the message area of
the Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524.
[0328] As soon as the supplier clicks on the "Message Center" tab
530, they are defaulted into the Inbox 644 to read messages
immediately. When the supplier 520 has new, unread mail, the words
"New Messages" appear in the top right corner of their screen (not
shown). Clicking this also takes them into their inbox 644. The
message list 649 is organized by: From 650, Subject 651, Type 652
and Date 653. The From heading 650 displays the user ID (i.e. the
seller 14 name). If the message is from the administrator 34,
"JustParts" would appear in the "From" 650 field. The subject 651
line displays the subject specified by the message sender. The Type
field 652 displays the type of message it is. Examples of different
message types are, System Message, Seller Inquiry, Order
Confirmation etc. This makes it easy and convenient for the
supplier to sort the message list 649 when there are many messages.
For example, the supplier may want to read only their Order
Confirmations instead of filtering through all of their mail. The
date 653 shows the day of the week, month, day, year and time in
EST. To view the full message, the supplier would click the subject
651 of the message they wish to read. The page then refreshes and
shows the message (not shown).
[0329] Other embodiments of this feature include a notification
system allowing the administrator 34 to send automated system
messages. For example, if a supplier 520 hasn't paid their system
10 invoice, the system 10 can send an automated reminder message to
the user.
[0330] The Compose Message tab 646 or selecting "Compose Message"
from the Message Centre headings 643 will bring the supplier 520 to
the application where they could compose a message (not shown). To
compose a message, the supplier would enter the name of the
recipient. The name would automatically appear by the auto-fill
tool 52 if the recipient is one of the supplier's sellers 14. For
example, the seller 14, Tbauto is one of the supplier's sellers 14
so by typing, "Tb" in the "To" field, Tbauto would appear in the
results as a suggestion. The supplier could arrow down to select
it. The auto-fill tool 52 works by user ID, business name and
contact name. Typing in any of those three in the auto-fill 52
would pull up a suggested match. This is convenient for the
supplier 520 as most messages they compose will be to users in
their address book. When a message is sent, a copy is placed under
the "Sent Messages" tab 648. If the supplier wants to view the
messages they sent, they could view them by clicking the "Sent
Messages" tab 648.
[0331] The "My Distributors" tab 531 is where the supplier 520 can
view all of their seller's 14 details and information. Under the My
Distributors tab 531, the user can select the Summary 654,
Distributor Details 656, or Suspended 658 tabs.
[0332] When a supplier clicks on the My Distributors tab 531, the
Summary tab 654 is shown immediately, as illustrated in FIG. 78.
The summary tab 654 displays a list of the supplier's sellers 14
similar to the listing provided under the Distributor Requests tab
529 illustrated in FIG. 75. For clarity like elements are given
like numerals with the suffix "'". The list 625 of the suppliers'
sellers 14 are organized by user ID 628', business name 629',
contact name 630', location 631' and seller since date 653. To view
the details about individual sellers 14, the supplier 520 would
click the "View" link 627' beside the seller's 14 user ID 628'.
This will show seller's 14 details and the supplier Part-a-Log
control panel tabs 527 changes to the Distributor Details tab
656.
[0333] As demonstrated in FIG. 79, under the Distributor Details
tab 656, a supplier can view the details of a seller 14; all
details from their application form are displayed in the form
window 662. The top details section 659 displays all the
information that was available in the summary tab 654 along with
two links: a "View Seller's JustParts Store" link 655 which would
direct the supplier 520 to the seller's 14 store and a "Send
Message to Seller" link 657 that when clicked would open the
compose message page 646 in the message center 530. Another
embodiment of this feature can include a link "Sales Info" which
would allow the supplier to click the link to view the sales
activity of the seller 14 (not shown).
[0334] If the supplier 520 does not wish the seller 14 to sell
their inventory, the supplier 520 would click the Suspend button
660. When a seller 14 is suspended, they no longer have access to
the supplier's 520 inventory and all listings containing their
inventory are suspended (that is, not visible to buyers 12). When a
seller 14 is suspended, an email is sent to both the supplier 520
and seller 14 confirming the suspension. At the bottom of the
Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524, a display box 662 shows all
of the details found on the seller's 14 original application (see
subsequent FIG. 89). A search tool (not shown) would allow the
supplier 520 to search for a particular seller 14. Also clicking
the seller name 661 would open their seller 14 profile on the
system 10.
[0335] The Suspended tab 658 provides a seller list 625'' of all
the sellers 14 the supplier 520 has suspended, as shown in FIG. 80.
The sellers 14 are listed in a similar format as the Distributor
Requests tab 529 and the My Distributors 531 Summary tab 654;
therefore, like elements are given like numerals with the suffix
"''" for clarity. Also, the seller's 14 suspended date 663 is
displayed. To view the seller's 14 full details, the supplier 520
would click the "View" link 627'' beside the seller's user ID
628''. Clicking the View link 627'' would open up the seller
details page that is identical to the "Distributor Details" 656
shown in FIG. 79 with one difference; the "Suspend" button 660 is
now a "Reactivate Seller" button (not shown). Clicking this will
re-enable the seller 14 to sell the supplier's 520 inventory. They
will be moved from the "Suspended" tab 658 to the Summary 654 and
My Distributors tab 531. A notes field 664 at the bottom of the
Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524 will allow the supplier 520
to add comments about the seller 14, adding convenience for
suppliers 520 that have many associated sellers 14. For example, if
a supplier 520 reviews their suspended sellers 14 after 6 months,
they may not remember the reason why they suspended them in the
first place. FIG. 80 illustrates how a supplier can add a comment
for a suspended seller 14 because they did not pay their account
for items they purchased. After 12 months, the suspended sellers 14
are cleared out of the system 10 automatically if they haven't been
reactivated.
[0336] The My Inventory Catalog tab 532 is where all of the
supplier's 520 items they are selling are located. There are three
main sections within the Inventory Catalog tab 532. They are:
"Summary" 671, "Modify Catalog" 672 and "Other Details" 673.
[0337] When the user Clicks the "My Inventory Catalog" tab 532, the
system 10 defaults to the summary section 671, which gives the
supplier 520 a summary of their inventory. The summary section 671,
depicted in FIG. 81, states the total number of items 665 the
supplier 520 has in their catalogue at the top of the Part-a-Log
control panel workspace 524. Below that, the an item list 674
breaks down the item total 665 into major category headings such as
"AC, Heating & Cooling" or "Body Parts & Exterior", giving
the supplier 520 a good indication of the types of items they have
listed on the system 10.
[0338] As explained earlier, there are many different standards
that are used in the auto industry to ensure that suppliers' 520
and sellers' 14 data are linked properly. Some of the more widely
adopted standards known to one skilled in the industry include the
ACES, IPO, PIES, and i.Shop. The method that the supplier uses to
sync their data into the system 10 is stated under the Data
Synchronization Type heading 666.
[0339] If the supplier 520 manually uploads a file of their
inventory to sync with the system 10, the name of the file last
uploaded is displayed under the File Name heading 667. If the
method used for syncing data between the system 10 and the supplier
doesn't require manually uploading files, the name of the method
will be in place of the file name 667. For example, some suppliers
will sync their data automatically through different means such as
EDI or through an API. In these instances, either "EDI" or "API"
would be displayed in the file name field 667. Also stated is the
Catalog Available Since data 668, showing the date when their
catalog first became available to sellers 14 on the system 10.
Under the Last Updated heading 669, the date of the last time the
supplier synced their catalog with the system 10 is stated. If the
supplier 520 uses automated data syncing such as EDI, "Automated
Data Syncing Enabled" would be shown under Last Updated 669. If
there was a problem with the communication between the system 10
and the supplier's 520 data, the date and time of the last full
sync would be displayed. If the supplier 520 uploads files to
update their catalog, they can upload a new inventory file by
clicking the Sync Catalog button 670. This will open up an upload
window (not shown) where they can choose their new file and upload
it to the system 10 to be synced.
[0340] If the supplier 520 wants to modify an item in their catalog
they can do so without having to re-upload another file and sync
it. The benefit of uploading a file and syncing is that it is easy
and convenient especially when a supplier 520 has many changes.
However, if there are minimal changes, a supplier 520 may choose to
make those changes directly to their catalog on the system 10. To
edit items within the system 10, the supplier 520 would click on
the "Modify Catalog" tab 672 from the supplier Part-a-Log control
panel tabs 527. As shown in FIG. 82, the top of the Part-a Log
control panel workspace 524 features the same information found in
top of the summary tab 671 page. Underneath is the supplier's 520
inventory organized exactly as it was uploaded and synced and
displayed in a spreadsheet style called "Edit View" 675. The first
column is a sequential list that matches the item line. For
example, the first line is row 1, the tenth line is row 10 and so
on. This makes it easy for the supplier when referring back to
their spreadsheet file such as excel; if they need to change
something on row 120 in their excel/spreadsheet file, then they can
quickly navigate to row 120 in their inventory file on the system
10. This makes modifying data very convenient. Furthermore, every
second line is a different shade to make it easy for the supplier
to read.
[0341] Editing listings in the Edit View 675 is a fast and easy way
as opposed to going through My Account 534 to make the changes
because the supplier can immediately change the contents of an
individual cell. FIG. 83 demonstrates a workflow example of the
Edit View 675 for changing inventory details for a supplier 520. In
first section block 680, it is assumed that the supplier 520 wants
to change the price of their '94-98 Chev Model air pump from $56.00
to $62.00. They would simply click the price cell 681 in row 3 and
type in "62", as shown in second section block 682. That cell 681
would be highlighted in yellow indicating it was modified. The
Supplier 520 can do the same in all fields. For the make, model and
year fields 685 in this example, the same features explained
earlier in the Vehicle Details tab 182 would be available to the
supplier 520. In those fields the Supplier 520 may use the
auto-fill tool 52 or type their own details not found in the
categorization database 20.
[0342] Returning to FIG. 82, if the Supplier 520 wants to edit the
return policy or other information that isn't displayed in this
view for a particular item, they would click the "View" link 676 in
column 2 beside the item to open the full edit view as shown in
FIG. 84. It may be noted that when a supplier 520 changes item
details, it affects every seller 14 that has subscribed to the
supplier's 520 catalog as the changes will take effect immediately
once the supplier 520 saves their changes. It is the supplier's
responsibility for maintaining their inventory and ensuring that it
is correct. For example, if the supplier 520 removes an item from
their catalogue, buyers 12 will no longer be able to purchase that
item; therefore, the seller 14 will not be able to sell that item
from the supplier 520. Also, the system 10 may be configured to
give the seller 14 tools to automatically adjust their pricing
based on the suppliers cost. For example, if a supplier 520
increases the price of an item, the seller 14 will likely not know
about it and thus not change their selling price. Therefore, the
seller 14 may use these tools to set their selling price to
automatically adjust so the seller 14, for example, makes a minimum
of 20% profit on each sale. If the supplier 520 increases the cost
of an item, then the system 10 can automatically increase the
seller's 14 selling price for that item to compensate for the
higher cost.
[0343] If the Supplier 520 wants to search for a particular item,
they can do so using the search tool 677 at the top of their Edit
View 675 pane. The search returns matching results by highlighting
the row or rows in yellow. For example, FIG. 85 shows the supplier
520 searched for part number "25336" so row "11" 688 is highlighted
because it matched the search criteria. Other search tools
explained earlier can also be used by the supplier 520 but not
shown in the Figure.
[0344] Business accounts will have special features that will allow
the user who registered to be the account administrator that can
give permissions to other users within their business to modify
their system 10 catalogue etc. For example, the supplier's 520
manager or owner may want to only be able to change their catalogue
information. A further embodiment of this feature is to add the
ability for the user to track changes to their catalog. For
example, if the user wants to see who changed the price of an item
from $100 to $10, they could do so. When the supplier 520 has
finished making their changes and tries to navigate away from the
Modify Catalogue page 672, they are prompted to save the catalogue
(not shown). If the changes are saved, they take effect immediately
and the "Last Updated" field 669 is updated to reflect the new date
and time.
[0345] If the supplier 520 wants to re-upload a file instead of
modifying it within the system, they would click the "Browse For
New File" link 678 found under the "Sync Catalog" button 670. A
file uploading tool (not shown) would appear allowing the supplier
520 to search for their file. The supplier 520 would then select
the file and click the "Upload File" button to upload it to their
"Modify Catalog" page 672 in the system 10. Once it's uploaded, the
supplier 520 could preview the file before syncing. The "Last
Updated" field 669 displays "New File. Catalog Not Synced" while
the "Sync Catalog" button 670 is red reminding the Supplier 520
that they have not synced their file. Clicking the Sync Catalog
button 670 will sync the catalog. The changes take effect
immediately and all sellers 14 will have the updated version of
their catalog.
[0346] Further embodiments of the Modify Catalog 672 tab
incorporate the option of adding and removing items from the "Edit
View" 675 so the Supplier 520 can customize the columns For
example, if the supplier 520 only wants to see the make, model,
year, price and sku/stock number columns in the Edit View 675, they
can hide all the other columns (part numbers, description etc).
They can always unhide them later at any time. Another embodiment
involves adding "Enable/Disable Quick Entry" links (not shown) so
the supplier 520 can choose whether to modify their data by
clicking in and changing the contents of a cell. Some suppliers 520
would rather open the full listing before changing anything, shown
in FIG. 84. For example, the supplier 520 may find it too easy to
change a cell accidentally by simply clicking in the cell so they
may want to disable this feature making it impossible to change any
cell unless they open the item in the full edit view, shown in FIG.
84. This is similar to locking a worksheet in a Microsoft Excel
application preventing unauthorized changes from happening
accidentally.
[0347] The Other Details tab 673 under the Inventory Catalog 532
display other features related to the supplier's catalog (not
shown).
[0348] The "My Account" tab 534 under the Supplier 520 Part-a-Log
control panel tabs 527 lists all information pertaining to the
Supplier 520 such as contact information, business information,
account type, billing and invoice information and other information
from their original supplier 520 application form. Any changes the
supplier 520 wishes to make would be done through this tab 534.
[0349] The supplier's selling preferences are all listed in the "My
Selling Preferences" tab 536. Selling preferences include
information but is not limited to: Ship To Locations, Accepted
Methods of Payment, Return Policy, Warranty, Currency and other
Shipping details. The supplier 520 can make any global changes to
these preferences directly from here. Selling preferences allow the
supplier 520 to preset all of their standard information that, in
most cases, doesn't change from item to item like a supplier's
warranty and return policy. Another embodiment includes a feature
that will allow the supplier 520 to create different selling
preferences for different part types. For example, the supplier 520
may want separate warranty and return policies for engines and
power window motors. This selling preferences page is similar to
the page explained earlier in the item listing process.
[0350] The Help tab 538 features videos, and help documentation to
assist suppliers 520 with using the parts catalog application.
[0351] Sellers 14, in the context of the part catalogue
application, are defined as any user who applies to a particular
supplier 520 to sell their products. For example, if the company
Tbauto applied to sell a supplier's 520 inventory and was approved,
Tbauto would be considered a seller 14 of that said supplier 520.
Typically, the supplier 520 determines if a seller 14 is approved
or declined, not the system 10 or the administrator 34.
[0352] To become a seller 14, the user would click either the
"Part-a-Log" link found in their My Account 534 or in the Sell 116
menu to be brought to the main Part-a-Log Control Panel, as shown
in FIG. 86. In contrast to becoming a supplier 520, as discussed
previously, the user would click on the "Become a Seller" link 542
and be brought to a page (not shown) which would feature more
detailed information about becoming a seller 14 (what is a seller,
how it works, what is required to become a seller etc). There will
be a "Don't Show Me This Again" link that will allow the seller 14
to bypass this information page the next time they return (not
shown). When the user is satisfied and wants to continue, they
would click the "Search For Suppliers" link (not shown) to take
them to the main Search Suppliers page, shown in FIG. 87.
[0353] Once the user has selected the "Become a Seller" link 542,
the seller 14 Part-a-Log control panel tabs 690 will appear. The
seller Part-a-Log control panel tabs 690 are similar to the
Supplier 520 Part-a-Log control panel tabs 527, including a
Dashboard tab 691, a Sales & Orders tab 692, a Search Suppliers
tab 693, a Message Centre tab 694, a My Suppliers tab 695, a My
Inventory Catalogs tab 696, a My Account tab 697, a My Selling
Preferences tab 698, and a Help tab 699.
[0354] The "Search Suppliers" tab 693, illustrated in FIG. 87,
allows the user to find a desired supplier 520 from all the
available suppliers 520 on the system 10. The top of the search
page offers a sub-menu 700 that allows the user to search for
suppliers 520 by supplier name 702, brand 704 and category 706 to
name a few. By default, the "Supplier" item 702 is highlighted. The
seller 14 has four ways to find and view a supplier 520:
[0355] The user could click on any of the suppliers 520 from the
supplier list section 714 shown on the page. They are listed in
alphabetical order. For example, FIG. 87 shows a supplier list 714
containing suppliers whose name starts with A and B. The user could
click on any of the names displayed such as "Acer Tire" to bring up
their Supplier 520 profile. As well the user could select the "See
All Suppliers" link 716 to view a list of all suppliers 520 in the
system 10.
[0356] The user could search for a Supplier 520 using the "Search
Suppliers" tool 708 at the top of the page. Other search tools
explained earlier can be used as well although not shown in the
Figure. For example, using the click boxes 146, the user can locate
suppliers 520 that sell Honda fenders by choosing "Auto Parts &
Accessories>Body Parts & Exterior Accessories>Fenders"
and "Honda" from the click boxes.
[0357] The user could click on a featured supplier 712 which
appears under the alphabetical list near the top of the Part-a-Log
control panel workspace 524.
[0358] The user could click on a letter from the alphabet selector
tool 710 to display all suppliers 520 whose business name starts
with the letter they chose. If the supplier's business name starts
with a number such as "1-Stop Auto", the user would click the "0-9"
link to show all suppliers 520 whose business name starts with a
number.
[0359] The "Brand" tab 704 from the sub-menu 700 loads a page (not
shown) that resembles the "Supplier" page 702 to display suppliers
by brand. If the user clicks on a letter such as "M", all suppliers
520 that sell brands that begin with "M" are displayed. Similarly,
when the user clicks the "Category" tab 706 a page (not shown)
loads which allows the seller 14 to browse different categories and
sub-categories 60a and view all suppliers 520 that sell products in
that category/sub-category. For example, the seller 14 may want to
find a supplier 520 that sells Blower Motors so they would click
the "Blower Motor" sub-category.
[0360] When the seller 14 finds a supplier 520 they are interested
in and clicks on them, they are bought to a display of the
supplier's 520 profile as illustrated in FIG. 88. The top section
718 of the Part-a-Log control panel workspace 524 displays summary
information about the supplier's business. An Add to Favourites
link 719 allows the user to add the supplier 520 to their favourite
sellers list (not shown). A Contact Supplier link 720 takes the
seller 14 to the message center 530 where they can ask the supplier
520 a question. The top section 718 also displays a multimedia
application 721, such as picture or video, showing the seller 14
the supplier's 520 facility location.
[0361] The lower section 728 of the Part-a-Log control panel
workspace 524 is separated into heading tabs 722. The "Company
Profile" tab 723 shows the entire company profile including all
public (non-private) information listed on the supplier 520
application form. The "Markets" tab 724 displays information about
the major markets the supplier 520 targets and ships to. For
example, the markets tabs may show that a supplier's 520 products
cater to the European market. A North American seller 14 who has no
intention of shipping to Europe would disregard this supplier 520.
The "Photos/Video" tab 725 displays uploaded videos and photos by
the supplier 520. The "Feedback" tab 726 allows the seller 14 to
view the feedback score and comments other sellers 14 have given
the supplier 520. An example of a comment is, "Auto Zone is a great
company to deal with. Their products are great quality and their
customer service is second to none!" The "Catalogue" tab 727
displays the supplier's 520 up-to-date catalog for the seller 14 to
browse through and see the items they have for sale.
[0362] At the bottom of the top section 718, there is an Apply Now
button 730 that, when selected, loads the seller application page
732, illustrated in FIG. 89. This is an example of an application
form the seller 14 needs to fill out and send to the supplier 520
if they want to subscribe to a supplier's catalogue and order from
the supplier 520.
[0363] The seller application page 732 requires the seller 14 to
give their company information, similar to that required in the
Supplier Application page 548; therefore, like elements are given
like numerals with the suffix "a" for clarity. The seller
application page 732 contains fields for general business
information 550a, a business description box 552a, a business
descriptor 554a section, a primary markets 556a section, a physical
store inquiry 558a, and an area for the seller 14 to add any
additional comments 560a for the supplier 520. The seller
application page 732 also requires the seller to complete a credit
account field 734 to verify the sellers 14 payment method. As
explained earlier, some sellers 14 may already have a business
relationship with the supplier 520 and therefore already have a
charge account setup through their bricks and mortar store. Other
sellers 14 will be new to the supplier 520 and therefore may need
to pre-pay all items before they are shipped. These are two
examples of payment methods although there can be more. Once the
seller application page 732 is complete, the seller 14 would click
the "Send Application" button 562a to submit it to the Supplier 520
they are applying to. Once the seller application 732 is sent to
the supplier 520, the seller 14 can track the status of the
application through their "Message Centre" 530 in the Account 118
and in the seller Part-a-Log control panel tabs 690.
[0364] Similar to the submission of a supplier 520 application page
548 discussed previously, the user is brought to a status page (not
shown), similar to that illustrated in FIG. 69. The date and time
the seller 14 sent the application to the supplier 520 is displayed
as well as the status of their application. The different stages
are but not limited to: "Received--Waiting for Review", "In
Review", "Approved" and "Not Approved". If the supplier 520
approves the seller 14, the status changes to "Approved" and if the
supplier 520 declines the seller's request, "Not Approved" is
displayed. Once the seller 14 is approved, they are sent an email
welcoming them and giving them an overview of how being a seller 14
works. A copy of the email is also sent to their Message Centre
530. The seller 14 immediately gains full access to supplier's 520
catalogue once they are approved by the supplier 520. If the seller
14 applied to more than one supplier 520, the page may be
configured to show all of the suppliers 520 the seller 14 applied
to with the status beside each of the suppliers 520 (not
shown).
[0365] As stated above, once a seller 14 clicks on Become a Seller
link 542, they have access to the seller Part-a-Log control panel
tabs 690. The seller Dashboard tab 691, illustrated in FIG. 90,
provides the seller 14 with a convenient overview of the important
information and activity in their account. It is similar to the
dashboard tab 526 of the supplier 520 except that the information
displayed applies to sellers 14, not suppliers. There are 6 windows
displaying different information. The Account Details window 736
shows the seller 14 what seller package they are enrolled in, their
next billing date, their current account balance and other account
related details. The My Suppliers window 738 gives the seller 14 a
summary of the suppliers 520 they have subscribed to. The
suppliers' business names are shown. The New Suppliers Available
window 740 shows the seller 14 new suppliers 520 that are available
on the system 10. The user can click the business name of a
supplier 520 from the New Suppliers Available window 740 to display
the supplier's 520 profile. The Sales Snapshot window 742 shows the
seller 14 the dollar value of their sales they generated through
the Part-a-Log application. The sales are broken down by: today,
week, current month and current year. As well, the seller's 14 top
3 suppliers are displayed based on sales. The My Catalogs window
744 may show the seller's 14 top 5 selling items. The Where I'm
Selling window 746 shows the seller a map of where they are selling
their items. If the seller 14 wishes to customize their Dashboard
tab 691, they can do so by clicking the "Customize Dashboard" link
748 in the top right corner of the Part-a-Log control panel
workspace 524. This arrangement is one example of the workspace
panel 524 layout and other embodiments can display other
information in a variety of layouts.
[0366] The seller 14 Sales & Orders tab 692 is similar to the
Sales & Orders tab 528 described in the supplier 520 section.
The difference is that the seller 14 is purchasing the item from
the supplier 520 then selling it to the buyer 12 therefore the
Sales & Order information section is broken up into two parts:
a) the buyer's 12 orders and b) the purchase orders (from the
supplier 520). The Sales & Orders pages will house all of the
information regarding the sale of the item as outlined in the
supplier 520 section. For example, the New Orders page (not shown)
will not only show the seller 14 the buyer 12 information (e.g.
what they sold, who they sold to, where the item will be shipped,
if the buyer paid for the item etc.) but it will show purchase
order details for the sale (e.g. which supplier 520 the item they
sold is purchased from, the purchase price, if the supplier 520 is
shipping direct to the buyer 12, if the item has been pre-paid or
charged etc.) The Sales & Orders pages for sellers 14 will
therefore contain all of the buyer 12 and supplier 520 details for
each sale. All information in the new orders, open orders and
completed orders tabs (not shown) are similar to the supplier 520
tabs described in earlier sections.
[0367] The seller 14 Message Centre tab 694 is the same as
described for the supplier 520 Message Centre 530 in the prior
sections however, it is designed for the seller 14, not the
supplier 520.
[0368] The My Suppliers tab 695 is similar to the My Distributors
tab 531 in the Supplier 520 section; however, the seller's 14
suppliers 520 are listed, rather than the supplier's sellers 14.
This tab allows the seller 14 to view their suppliers' 520
profiles, contact the suppliers 520, view their catalogues etc.
[0369] The My Inventory tab 696 will load the seller's 14 catalogs
they have subscribed to and organize them based on supplier, brand,
category, sub-category, descriptor etc. The seller 14 can view the
catalogs similar to the process illustrated in the supplier 520
section shown in FIG. 82; however, the seller 14 cannot modify the
catalogue items. They can send questions to the supplier 520 about
the catalog or about a certain product in the catalogue and they
can set pricing rules that allows them to set min and max profit
percentages etc. The rules can be added globally, that is for all
items, or they can be set by category, sub-category or descriptor.
For example, a seller 14 may set their minimum gross profit
percentage for each item sold in the "Electrical" category at 20%
and for the "Engine" category at 35%. Therefore, all item prices
will be set accordingly.
[0370] The My Account 694, My Selling Preferences 698, and Help 699
tabs under the seller Part-a-Log control panel tabs 690 are the
same as those listed under the supplier Part-a-Log control panel
tabs 527 stated previously.
AlsoFits Application
[0371] Another embodiment of the system 10 described herein may
incorporate an application that allows users to indicate what other
items their products will fit or interchange with. For example, a
fender from a 1987 Ford F-150 Pick Up truck will "also fit" a 1988,
1989, 1990 and 1991 Ford F-150 Pick Up truck. This application is
referred to herein as "AlsoFits". The said AlsoFits application
functions to facilitate the seller's 14 entry of additional
compatibility/fitment information to their listing for the purpose
of increasing the probability of a buyer 12 finding their listing
and thereby selling the item. It does this by offering the seller
14 a variety of suggestions from other sellers 14 to choose, herein
referred to as AlsoFits Suggestions. It includes ratings and
comments by other users. To further enhance this feature and make
it truly powerful, AlsoFits is built to be "user generated"
allowing users to help build the AlsoFits database 19 within the
system 10. This Web 2.0 functionality will make it easy for others
to share their knowledge.
[0372] In one embodiment, the AlsoFits application is integrated
into the system 10, defined herein. In another embodiment, the said
AlsoFits application could be its own free standing website
(www.alsofits.com). Users can use AlsoFits.com as a reference to
determine what other applications their items fit or are compatible
with and/or add their own knowledge to the platform. In turn, the
information is shared on the system 10 so that when a seller 14
lists an item, AlsoFits suggests other uses/compatibility that the
seller 14 may want to "add" to their listing to make it easier for
buyers 12 to find the item.
[0373] It is noted that although the AlsoFits application can be
used in numerous industries, for the purposes of this disclosure,
all examples and explanations will involve the automotive
industry.
[0374] For example a user of the AlsoFits application adds that a
fender from a 1990 Pontiac Bonneville will also fit a 1991, 1992,
1993 and 1994 providing that it is from a "4 door" model. The user
may have done this through the system 10 or through the free
standing website (www.AlsoFits.com). The next day a seller 14 goes
to the system 10 to sell a fender from his 1994 Bonneville. The
system 10 asks the seller 14 if he wants to include the information
that AlsoFits user added the day before. The seller 14 can choose
to include it or not. The seller 14 in this example adds the
information since he didn't know his fender was compatible with the
other model years and finishes the listing. The following day a
buyer 12 searches for a fender for his 1992 Bonneville and the
seller's 14 listing appears and so he purchases it. Although the
seller 14 previously did not know that his 1990 Bonneville fender
was the same as a 1990-1993 Pontiac Bonneville, the seller 14 sold
his item because of the data that the AlsoFits user provided.
[0375] The AlsoFits application is available through the Sell tab
116, as illustrated in FIG. 91. When a user lists an item using the
Sell feature 116, as previously explained through FIGS. 12 to 43,
the system 10 takes a unique approach by giving the seller 14 the
opportunity to add general or specific information about their
item. The AlsoFits application is integrated into the vehicle
details 182 tab in the single item 24 selling process as described
in FIGS. 12 to 17; therefore, like elements are given like numerals
with the suffix "'" for clarity. FIG. 91 illustrates an example of
a seller 14 creating a listing for 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt engine.
The category path 750 for the descriptor `engine` is shown below
the `what are you selling` field 194. In this example, the system
10 automatically selected the "Auto Parts>Engine Parts>Engine
Assemblies" category and sub-category 60a. As well, the seller 14
in this example preset their shipping methods in their selling
preferences to "free shipping" so they system 10 shows the seller
14 their current shipping method 774. To change the shipping
method, the seller 14 would click the `change` 774 link beside
`free shipping` to bring the seller 14 to the shipping and payment
tab 183 where they can modify their details.
[0376] The AlsoFits feature plugs into vehicle details tab 182
below the data fields 225. As depicted in FIG. 91, an AlsoFits
indicator 766 notifies the seller 14 that there is compatibility
data that matches information entered into their data fields 225
and the `what are you selling` field 194. When there are AlsoFits
suggestions from other users, an "X AlsoFits Entries Matching" note
766 appears in the AlsoFits window with the "X" representing the
total number of suggestions available. The example shown in FIG. 91
indicates that there are three alsofits entries that match the
`2006 Chevrolet Cobalt engine`. The system 10 uses the information
added by the seller 14 (e.g. descriptor, make, model and year etc.)
and cross references the alsofits database 19 to determine the
suggestions. If the seller 14 wants to see the matching alsofits
suggestions 786, they would click the View link 768 to display them
as shown in FIG. 92. An AlsoFits suggestion pane 772 appears. If
the seller 14 wishes to hide the AlsoFits suggestion pane 772 they
would select the "Hide" link 784 to hide the alsofits pane as shown
in FIG. 91, or select the "Close AlsoFits Window" link 783.
[0377] The AlsoFits suggestions from other users are displayed in a
list 786 divided into different columns The list 786 is organized,
in this example, according to Rating 787, Make/Model 790, Year
Range 792, and Notes and Conditions 794.
[0378] The rating 787 is a number or value based on set criteria.
One example would be for users to rate the suggestions based on
their level of confidence that the information is correct. For
example, if an AlsoFits entry has a rating 788 of 10 (with 10 being
the highest possible rating), that would mean that all users who
rated the information believe that the information is accurate. If
the rating 788 received a lower value, it would indicate to the
seller 14 that some users do not agree with this information or
think differently. For the purposes of this document, rating 788 is
shown only as another embodiment of the system 10 described
herein.
[0379] If the seller 14 wants to view more information about a
particular AlsoFits suggestion or its rating 788, they would click
the individual suggestion from the AlsoFits suggestion list 786 to
display supplementary details that lists all of the threads 798, or
comments, attached to the AlsoFits suggestion for the seller 14 to
review. For example, in FIG. 93, the seller 14 would see that
thread 800 states that user `Jackson21` added that a 2006 to 2007
Chevrolet Cobolt with specific conditions (shown in the Figure)
would also fit the seller's 14 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt (meaning that
the item he is selling is considered the same as one found on a
2006-07 Chevrolet Cobalt providing the conditions specified in the
Notes and Conditions 794 are the same). He would also see in thread
802 that user `racer55` agreed with `Jackson21` and added his own
comments.
[0380] This is a very powerful way for users to interact and share
information about their items/parts while allowing these users to
apply the information to an item listing. If the seller 14 wants to
close the supplementary details, they would click the Close link
801 beside the suggestion. If the seller 14 decides to add the
AlsoFits suggestion to their listing, they would simply click the
"Add" link 787 beside the entry shown in FIGS. 91-94. Once added,
the information found in the suggestion is added to the data fields
225 as shown in FIG. 94. Once the listing is posted, the alsofits
compatibility data becomes searchable. FIG. 94 shows that the
seller's 14 listing will be searchable by the 2007-08 Saturn Aura
and 2006-07 Chevrolet Cobalt information. Note that the first two
suggestions added to the seller's 14 listing. appear in the data
fields 225. Notice that the `add` link 786 beside the alsofits
suggestions changes from an `add` link to a `remove` link 799
indicating to the seller 14 that the suggestion has been added to
their listing. If the seller 14 wants to remove a suggestion from
their listing, they can click the remove link 799 beside the
suggestion they wish to remove in the alsofits list 786, or they
can click the remove link 789 beside the suggestion they want to
remove in the data fields 225.
[0381] In another embodiment, the AlsoFits information and tool
will also be accessible as a standalone application through the
"Tool Box" link 523 in the main navigation tabs. This allows users
to add information into the system 10 without having to sell an
item or go through the sell process, as described.
[0382] The administrator 34 has a tool (not shown) to review all
AlsoFits suggestions to ensure that users abide by the system 10
policies (i.e. no profanity, information is relevant and not caused
by a spam server etc.) The AlsoFits.com website owned by the system
10 will utilize the same functionality as described herein for the
system 10.
[0383] Further to the alsofits details described above and
described in the single item selling process, the following will
provide more details and examples regarding the ability for a user
to add compatibility details to a listing.
[0384] The tools in the vehicle details pane 182a allows the seller
14 to enter compatibility details that will match the item they are
selling. For example, a user may be selling an item that fits "all"
Honda vehicles. In that case, the seller 14 can easily type in
Honda in the make field 219. If the seller 14 does not enter any
other information (such as model, year, sub-model etc.) in the data
fields 225, the system 10 will know the item will fit all Honda's.
For example, if the seller 14 only entered Chevrolet in the Make
field 219, the seller 14 is specifying that their item will fit all
`Chevrolet` vehicles regardless of model, sub-model, and year
range. If the seller 14 adds a make 219, model 220, and sub-model
223, (but no year) then the system 10 will assume that the item
will fit all years of the specified make, model and sub-model.
[0385] As mentioned earlier, if the seller 14 types in a make 219
that is not found in main category database 44, the entry is still
accepted but flagged and sent to the administrator 34. The
administrator 34 can then review the entry and determine if it
should be added to the main category database 44. This adds "user
generated Web 2.0" functionality to the platform allowing users to
help populate the main category database 44. For example, if the
seller 14 types "Holden" in the make field 219, the make will not
appear in the Make list 219a since the system does not have the
Australian made vehicle in its main category database 44. The
seller 14 is allowed to finish their listing. The administrator 34
is then notified of the new make and conducts a review of the
Holden make to ensure it is legitimate and not made up by the
seller 14. The administrator 34 then adds it to the main category
database 44 so the next time a user types in "Hol" in the make
field 219, Holden will be available by auto fill tool 52 for
selecting in the Make list 219a generated.
[0386] Furthermore, once a user has entered compatibility data,
such as a make in this example, it becomes searchable. In the
example in FIG. 91, the seller 14 chose "Chevrolet" as the make. If
a buyer 12 searches for "Chevrolet" using top search menu 120, the
seller's 14 listing would appear in the search results because the
word Chevrolet appears in the listing. If the buyers 12 uses the
advanced search filters 111 and selects a particular model and year
of Chevrolet, the listing would again appear in the search results
because the seller 14 has specified that their item would fit all
Chevrolet vehicles for all years.
[0387] The user can enter data for the item model within the model
field 220, similar to the function of the make field 219 explained
above. It is important to note that the model field 220 can be used
independently of the make field 219. For example, if the seller 14
chooses a model 220 from the Model list 220a without entering a
make in the Make field 219 first, the system 10 may be configured
to automatically fill in the make field 219 using the auto-fill
tool 52 if it found a match in the main category database 44. For
example, if the seller 14 entered Cobalt in the model field 220
without entering the make, the system 10 would automatically know
that the Cobalt make is Chevrolet.
[0388] It is important to note that the administrator 34 can change
the display of the model and sub-model fields 220, 223 by combining
them into a single model field for convenience and searching. Some
vehicles only use a model name while others have a model and
sub-model name. For example, "Saturn Aura" is a make and model
while "Chevrolet C15 Suburban" is another make and model `Chevrolet
C15` with the sub-model `Suburban` attached to it. Most people in
the industry would refer to this vehicle as a Suburban, not a C15.
Combining the two together makes searching better for both the
buyer 12 and seller 14.
[0389] The Year Range field 758 allows the seller 14 to further
refine their compatibility data by allowing the seller 14 to add a
year or year range to their criteria. For example, in FIG. 91, if
the seller 14 added 2008 in the `to year` field 222, it would mean
that the seller 14 is indicating the item will also fit a 2007 to
2008 Chevrolet Cobalt with a 2.4 L engine. If a buyer 12 searches
for items for either a 2007 or a 2008 Cobalt, the seller's 14
listings would appear because it matches the buyer's 12 search
criteria. However, if the buyer 12 searched for items for a 2009
Cobalt, the listing would not appear because the seller 14
indicated that the item would not fit.
[0390] As noted earlier, if the make and model names specified by
the seller 14 match a vehicle in the main category database 44, the
auto-fill tool 52 would be able to display the year lists 221a,
222a shown in FIG. 16D for that make and model. However, if the
make and model do not match a vehicle in the main category database
44, the years will be unknown and so the `from year` 221a and `to
year` 222a results lists would not be displayed and the user could
enter their own year in the fields 221, 222. In that case, the
system 10 would accept the custom year and send it to the
administrator 34 to determine if they should be added to the main
category database 44.
Questions/Help Database
[0391] There are a variety of other unique features that are part
of the system 10. Although these features can be used in numerous
industries, for the purposes of this document all examples and
explanations will involve the automotive industry.
[0392] Custom Questions when Selling to Assist Users
[0393] When a user is selling both an item 24 and/or multi-item 26,
the system 10 provides a question window 804 displaying a list of
recommended questions 806 to better describe the item. This is done
to help the seller 14 provide all of the important item details to
ultimately increase the chances of selling the item by helping the
buyer 12 with their purchase decision. The system 10 includes a
questions/help database 23 with custom question/option libraries
for auto and truck parts. A question/option library is a list of
options 806 users can quickly add to their listing usually by using
click boxes 808. FIGS. 95 and 96 illustrate the system 10 providing
a list of possible item options 806, the user can select a click
box 808 or select from a question/option list 810 to add to their
listing instead of manually typing them into the description.
[0394] Consider the following example. A user is selling an outside
rear view mirror for their car. Without the assistance from the
system 10, the user posts the item describing it as "in great
shape" since they didn't know what else they should say about the
item. A buyer 12 finds the item, but is looking for the model with
the power option and heated glass. The buyer 12 realizes that the
listing says nothing about those options so the buyer 12 does not
purchase the item or is forced to contact the seller 14 and wait
for a reply. Contacting the seller 14 slows the purchase process as
human intervention is required. These questions 806 are designed to
reduce the human intervention required to make the sale and works
especially well for helping sellers 14 record answers to commonly
asked questions. These questions relate to the "item" the user is
selling and have been designed by the administrator 34. Answering
the questions is completely optional. FIGS. 95 and 96 show two
examples of questions 806 that the seller 14 can use to post
additional details about the item they are selling; one for a door
mirror and one for a steering column respectively.
[0395] Once the seller 14 answers the questions 806, the answers
are then made searchable so the buyer 12 can refine their search
based on the questions 806, as illustrated in FIG. 97. FIG. 97
displays the search results page 295 previously described in FIG.
19. For example, a buyer 12 searches in the search results page 295
for a mirror for their vehicle and the system 10 returns over 100
results. To refine their search, the buyer 12 uses an advanced
search feature 290, as described previously herein. This feature
290 shows the buyer 12 the same questions 806 the sellers 14 were
asked when listing the items, and allows the buyer 12 to filter
their search based on those questions 806. For example, as
illustrated in FIG. 97, the buyer 12 selects "Right (Passenger
Side)" from options in the Advanced Search Filters 289 and
immediately the results filter to show only listings 294 that
contain right mirrors based on the seller's 14 answers. The search
is dynamic meaning that the list 294 is automatically updated to
reflect the options selected by the user in the advanced search
feature pane 290. If the user clicks "Heated Glass" option, the
list 294 refines further to show only heated, right side
mirrors.
[0396] Keywords for Categories & Models & Custom Incorrect
Spelling Database
[0397] The system 10 has a custom list (not shown) of keywords for
both categories/items and vehicles that includes different names
for each of them. It is very common in the auto industry to have
many different names or short forms that refer to the same part.
For example, a "transmission" is commonly referred to as a
"tranny", or an "ECM" is commonly referred to as a "brain box" or
"computer" and a "Catalytic Converter" is called a "cat". The
system 10 may obtain this name database from research and input
from those in the industry. Another example is a "Heater Motor"
which is commonly referred to as a "Blower Motor", "Blower Fan" or
"Heater Fan" and the plastic "Wheel" that pushes the air is known
as the "Squirrel Cage". Although these examples are very simple,
the database (not shown) is used for more than simple name
replacements. For example, if a user sells an "engine wiring
harness connector" (a descriptor) for their vehicle, the system 10
knows that buyers 12 may search for a "pigtail" or more
specifically an "engine pigtail". If a buyer 12 searches for these
terms, the seller's 14 item (engine wiring harness connector) would
appear in the search results 289 because an engine pigtail is a
slang term that relates to a wiring connector.
[0398] The same applies to vehicle names. For example, a "Ford
F-150 Pickup Truck" is commonly referred to as a "Ford Half ton" or
an "F150" (notice it does not have a `-` after the F). Another
example is a "Ford Thunderbird" which is usually called a "T-Bird",
or "TBird". Without this custom database, a buyer 12 that searches
"F150 rims" in the top search bar 120 would find no results (unless
the seller 14 purposely typed in F150 in their listing). With the
custom database included in the system 10, when the buyer 12 types
"F150" in the search bar 120, the system 10 would automatically
know to look for all listings with items relating to an "F-150
Pickup Truck". Although these are very simple examples, this custom
list is much more complex. Briefly, users commonly look for, or
sell items, that fit multiple vehicles of the same "class" or
"series". For example, a Mercedes-Benz E300, E320, E420, E430, E500
and E550 are all considered to be in the "E-Class" series. Because
the system's 10 custom intermediary database 42 knows this, a
seller 14 using the AlsoFits feature, described previously herein,
can type "E-Class" (or "EClass" or "E Class") in the model field
220. This way, when a buyer 12 searches for a particular model in
any E-Class series, say an E320 CDI, the seller's 14 listing will
appear in the search results 289 even though the seller 14 did not
specifically choose that particular model.
[0399] The third part of this feature is the custom incorrect
spelling database (see FIG. 1). The system 10 currently has more
than 163,000 spelling variations for both categories,
sub-categories, descriptors, vehicle names etc. This makes it easy
for both the buyer 12 and seller 14 because they can make a
spelling mistake and the system 10 would still know what they
meant. For example, if a user types "fodr" or "hiunday", the system
10 will know the user actually means "Ford" or "Hyundai".
[0400] Everything typed in by users is tracked and monitored by the
administrator 34 so that the incorrect spelling database can be
constantly updated. If the administrator 34 notices a term not
found in their database, it can be added. This can be performed
manually or through an automated process.
[0401] Listing with No Pictures & the Custom Image Database
[0402] The system 10 has, and continuously adds, preset pictures
for categories/items so that when a user sells an item without a
picture, the user will have the opportunity to use the standard
"generic" picture that resembles their item. For example, if a user
is selling a fender but does not have a picture of it, the seller
14 can use the preset picture prepared by the system 10. This helps
the buyer 12 to identify the item if they don't recognize the name
of it. For example, many buyers 12 will not know what an "EGR" is
so a picture would help them identify it as the correct item they
are looking for. Although items will vary across years and models,
the pictures will serve a reference point only. The picture
database will be custom to the system 10 for categories,
sub-categories, descriptors and vehicles. This would also be very
useful for sellers 14 that use the bin feature, described
previously herein, to sell their items. Since most sellers 14
creating a bin will not take individual pictures of each item
within the bin, using a standard picture to display on the front of
their bin would be very convenient.
[0403] Similar functionality applies to vehicles. The system 10
stores pictures when vehicles are posted to build a detailed
picture library (see FIG. 1) of vehicles that can be filtered down
to, but not limited to, the year, make, model/submodel and trim
package. This is subsequently described below. The system 10 may
also use some vehicle pictures from the ACES database 40 or third
party database so if a seller 14 list a vehicle and does not have a
picture of the vehicle, they could use a standard photo that
resembles the vehicle. For example, a seller 14 lists a 1995 Ford
Mustang GT but does not have a picture of it. The seller 14 could
use a picture from the main category database 44, or the system 10
picture database instead.
[0404] An advanced look up tool (not shown) will utilize the
database to create a unique search tool for users allowing them to
look up an item and/or vehicle from a particular year, make and
model/submodel for reference purposes. For example, a buyer 12 is
told by his mechanic that he needs an "EGR" for his 1990 Volkswagen
Jetta. The buyer 12 has no idea what it looks like or what it is so
he can use this tool on the system 10 to search for the item. The
system 10 will search its library for both current and past
listings for a "1990 Volkswagen Jetta EGR". Once found, the buyer
12 could review the different pictures from current and past
sellers 14 to show the buyer 12 what the EGR looks like. As well,
the system 10 can add a short description beside the pictures
explaining what the item is and what it does. This is an extremely
powerful tool for anyone in the automotive industry. In yet another
example, if a user does not know what a 1985 Ford Mustang GT looks
like they can use this tool in the system 10 to view the car. The
system 10 would search pictures and video files from all current
and previous listings to find a match.
[0405] Shipping Features
[0406] If a seller 14 chooses the "Contact Seller" shipping method
(not shown), he receives shipping requests from buyers 12 for the
item he is selling. For example, choosing `Contact Seller` for the
Canada 157 region, the item would appear in the listing with no
shipping price as shown in FIG. 21. FIG. 21 illustrates one example
of what buyers 12 would see when they view an item's details. In
another embodiment, the message center 150 can allow the buyer 12
to request a shipping quote from the seller 14. Once the seller 14
receives the shipping quote from the buyer 12, he could enter the
shipping information into a request form (not shown) similar to
that shown in FIG. 20 for the flat fee shipping method shown by
numerals 156a and 156b. The seller 14 can see the country, city,
province/state and postal/zip code to calculate the shipping price.
Once the seller 14 finishes and sends the quote to the buyer 12,
the buyer 12 will then have total item price (shipping and item
price combined). A "Buy This Item" link (not shown) will be found
in the message 150 so the buyer 12 could purchase the item from
that message. When the buyer 12 clicks it, the purchase
confirmation page (not shown) is updated to show the total price
and the buyer 12 is then able to complete the purchase. The message
centre 150 therefore allows buyers 12 and sellers 14 to purchase
and sell parts through messages. It may be noted that the messages
can be configured to keep the buying and selling process within the
system 10 to make sure that users do not circumvent the system 10.
In this case, emails can be sent to the user, but they are brought
back to the system 10 such that responses are made within the
system 10.
[0407] Sellers 14 can use these features with all messages. For
example, a buyer 12 contacts the seller 14 and asks an item related
question along with a shipping question such as, "Do you still have
this item available? Can you ship overnight?" Regardless of whether
the seller 14 had shipping details attached to the listing or not,
they can respond with another shipping quotation similar to the
Contact Shipping example explained above. In this example, the
seller 14 had posted the item with a flat shipping price of $5.00
via UPS Ground. The seller 14 can respond to the buyers 12 message
and click the Add Shipping Quote link in the message (not shown) to
send a custom quotation to the buyer 12 for overnight shipping. The
seller 14 can then add another shipping option, UPS Next Day Air
for $25.00 and send it to the buyer 12. When the buyer 12 receives
the message, they can purchase the item from the message with
either the UPS Ground $5.00 shipping or choose the UPS Next Day Air
$25.00 option. It can be seen that sellers 14 have many options
when communicating with sellers 14. The system 10 is designed to be
flexible and allow the seller 14 to operate as they would in their
bricks and mortar business.
[0408] Another embodiment of this feature allows a seller 14 to
find an item he is selling and create a manual shipping quote to
send to a buyer 12. For example, Seller A receives a phone call
from a buyer 12 asking if he has Product A available. The seller 14
does have it and although the seller 14 did not receive a shipping
quote or message through the system 10 from the buyer 12, the
seller 14 is able to view his Product A listing and a Send Quote
link (not shown) would appear, only visible to the seller 14 as
that is his listing. Clicking that link would allow the seller to
enter details about a shipping price, review the item price and
send it to a buyer's 12 email. When the buyer 12 receives this
email, they are able to purchase the item from the quote message
through the system 10. In this way, seller's 14 can send buyer's 12
quotations directly attached to their listings on the system 10
without waiting for buyer's 12 to contact them. This is very
convenient when seller's 14 receive phone calls or email messages
from outside the system 10 for items the seller 14 is selling on
the system 10. Sellers 14 can quickly send a quote and let the
buyer 12 purchase the item through the system 10. Another
embodiment of this feature allows the seller 14 to create a quote
for an item they do not have listed on the system 10 by allowing
them to quickly list it. For example, Seller A is contacted by a
buyer 12 who is looking for Product B. Although the seller 14 has
the item available in his bricks and mortar store, it is not listed
on the system 10. The seller 14 can then can quickly create a
listing on the system 10 for Product B and send the buyer 12 a
quote with the item price and shipping to the buyer's 12 email.
They buyer 12 can them purchase the item through the system 10.
[0409] Custom Vehicle Database
[0410] Although the system 10 uses the ACES vehicle database 40 for
vehicle information, the system 10 has their own custom
intermediary database 42 (not shown). To reiterate, the ACES
database 40 provides vehicle information such as make, model and
sub-model names and years for vehicles marketed in North America.
However, ACES 40 may not include vehicle information from other
markets such as Australia, China and the United Kingdom. The system
10 is building a master vehicle database (not shown) that includes
vehicles from all over the world. Using the AlsoFits tool, as
described previously herein, if sellers 14 add vehicles to their
listing that are not found in the main category database 44, the
system 10 accepts the vehicles and reviews them. The administrator
34 will then research each vehicle to determine that it is a
legitimate vehicle and then adds it to the custom database so other
users can find it later in the auto-fill tool 52. For example, a
seller 14 lists an item for a 2008 Holden Barina, an Australian
vehicle not found in the ACES database 40. The system 10 allows the
seller 14 to complete the listing and the administrator 34 is
informed of the new model. The administrator 34 then reviews the
2008 Holden Barina and decides to add it to the main category
database 44. The next time a buyer 12 or seller 14 uses the
auto-fill tool 52 to lookup a vehicle, the 2008 Holden Barina would
be appear. This allows the system 10 to let the "users" help
populate the main database 44.
[0411] Damage Designer
[0412] The "Damage Designer" feature allows the seller 14 to
highlight specific areas of an item within a picture and assign a
damage type and/or comment to the buyer 12. For example, a user
lists a fender with a few dents in it; however, due to the glossy
paint finish and the camera flash, the dents do not appear in the
picture. This is a common problem in the auto industry. The Damage
Designer was created to allow the seller 14 to clearly indicate
where a part has been damaged.
[0413] Currently, a standard has been developed by the Automotive
Recyclers Association (ARA) which lists 14 different damage types
to describe items including, burn, dent, bent, hail, rip or crack,
buckle, lip, parking lot dings etc and developing damage codes. The
ARA Damage Description Codes are three characters long representing
the location, damage, and units of damage to the part. For example,
2D1 represents a one unit dent in location 2. There may be a
primary and secondary code for each part, as in 2D1,4S2. If there
is no damage on a part the code is 000. Although this method is
supposed to be the standard in the used auto parts industry,
converting an item's damage and/or condition into "codes" makes it
very difficult for a buyer 12 to understand where it is damaged.
The buyer 12 would have to spend time looking at a legend 814, as
illustrated in FIG. 98, to understand what the codes mean.
Furthermore, the codes only give general areas of damage and do not
give the buyer 12 the "exact" location on the part. For example,
look at the first "Front Clip" item 816 in the legend 814, the
damage area "2" is for the entire hood. The buyer 12 would not know
where the damage on the hood is using the ARA Damage Codes.
[0414] Therefore, the Damage Designer feature allows users to
quickly highlight damaged or imperfect, referred to herein as
damaged, areas by allowing the user to outline the "exact" damaged
area proportional to the image. For example, FIG. 99 shows an
embodiment of the Damage Designer page after the seller 14 clicked
the Use Damage Designer link 831a from the photos 184a tab pane
displayed in FIG. 22. A picture 818 of a red glossy fender a seller
14 is posting has been uploaded. The picture 818 clearly
illustrates where the damage is on the fender because of the dark
black marks 820 and 822 on the picture 818 and how extensive the
damage is by the size of the outline proportional to the picture.
The smaller circles 822 reflect smaller damaged areas. The user has
many drawing tools 824 available such as but not limited to a
rectangle tool 826, to draw a rectangular box, a circle tool 828,
to draw a circle, and a free form tool 830, to draw a custom
outline around the exact damaged areas. The user can change the
colour and thickness of the lines so they stand out against
different coloured pictures 818.
[0415] FIG. 99 also shows the damage menu 832 that appears each
time the user finishes highlighting an area, allowing the user to
choose the damage type 834. For convenience, the menu 832 offers
similar damage types 834 as those suggested by the ARA and also
includes custom damage types 834. FIG. 100 also presents a comment
field 840, that the user completes after they choose the damage
type. The user can then attach comments 836 to give buyers 12 a
better description of the damage. To accommodate users accustomed
to using the ARA damage codes, the seller 14 will have the option
of entering the damage codes by selecting the "Add ARA Damage Code"
link 837 in the top right corner of the comment box 840. Clicking
this will open the damage code entry tool (not shown). FIG. 101
shows another embodiment of the single item detailed listing 236
page previously illustrated in FIG. 22. FIG. 101 displays the
edited image 818' in the listing details page 236' buyers 12 see
once the seller 14 has posted the item. FIG. 101 shows the user has
placed their mouse over the first damage area 822 causing the first
comment box 840' to open with the comment 836' the user wrote. FIG.
101 shows what a buyer 12 would see if they clicked the
Picture/Video Gallery tab 304 in the item's detailed listing page
236'. In this view, all of the comments 836' entered by the seller
14 are displayed with an indicator (not shown) showing which
comment 840 belongs to which damaged area on the image 844
displayed beside the comment boxes 840. In FIGS. 100 and 101, if
the seller 14 added ARA damage codes, the damage codes 846 appear
to buyers 12. These codes 846 are shown in the top right hand side
of the comment boxes 840.
[0416] The Damage Designer feature is integrated into all of the
selling and photo upload features. Once the photo is uploaded, the
seller 14 only has to click the "Use Damage Designer" button 831a
(not shown) to open the tool. This tool can also be used to
highlight anything in a picture the seller 14 wants to show buyers
12. For example, one user selling a performance engine may want to
emphasize and point out a special feature of the item. The user
could highlight this special feature in the picture, choose a
special option from the damage types menu 834 and add a comment
such as "This is the performance distributor that will increase
your performance by 15%." This is a great way for sellers 14 to
emphasize special items in their pictures. The example given herein
is specific to the use of auto parts; however, the use of this tool
can extend to a variety of other applications.
[0417] Repair Quote & Service Tendering/Supplier Locator
System
[0418] The repair quote and service tendering system allows buyers
12 to request repair quotes and/or quotes for any type of service
related to the system 10 from sellers/service providers 14 who
registered to receive these quotes. Service providers 14 include
but are not limited to, body shops, mechanical repair shops, tire
shops, custom detailers, fabrication shops etc. For example, a
buyer 12 may wish to send out a request to determine the price to
get his car repainted. Another user may want to send out a request
to all custom designers to create a head rest.
[0419] The method of the feature is that the seller 14 would
register for an account on the system 10 and configure their
account by choosing which notifications from buyers 12 they wish to
receive. The seller/service provider 14 would be presented with a
list of notifications based on the type of account they registered
with. For example, if a seller 14 registers as a body shop, the
settings for the account would pertain to body shop services such
as, "Receive requests for paint jobs", "Receive requests for body
work" etc. If the seller 14 registered as a mechanic, the
notifications would pertain to mechanic services such as, "Receive
requests for tune-ups" or "Receive requests for "engine
installations". Other advanced settings allow the seller 14 to
filter their notifications. For example, a seller/service provider
14 may only want to receive requests from buyers 12 within 10
kilometres from their business. Once the service provider 14 has
configured their account, they are ready to accept service quotes
and tenders. These configuration settings are determined and
created by the system 10.
[0420] Next, a buyer 12 could submit a service request to all
sellers 14 who have subscribed to receive the notifications
requesting the price for service, how long it would it take etc.
The request appears in the seller's 14 inbox 644 (see FIG. 77) in
their message centre 530 and they receive an email notification
(not shown) directing them to their inbox 644. The request lists
information such as, but not limited to, user id of buyer, date and
time, comments, buyer vehicle information (year, make
model/sub-model), and any pictures and/or video the buyer 12
attached to the request. As example of a comment in a request may
be, "How much would it cost to repaint my car?"
[0421] The seller 14 then reviews the requests and uses the
pictures and/or video to help them determine the quote. It is
extremely difficult to price out a service through pictures as the
buyer 12 may not have included all of the pertinent information so
the seller 14 does not respond with a fixed price. Instead, they
send the buyer 12 a price range. For example, the seller 14 would
respond to the buyer 12 by saying, "To repaint your car, the price
would be between $500.00 and $600.00 dollars for paint and labour."
The seller 14 would respond to the request in a standard response
form similar to the parts car seller response form 325 shown in
FIG. 47. The seller 14 could include more estimates for different
services. For example, the seller 14 may say, "If you want to
change the colour, the price range would increase to $650.00 to
$750.00. The seller 14 responds directly from the request in their
inbox 644.
[0422] Once the seller 14 sends the quote to the buyer 12, the
request is organized into folders in the buyers "My Account" 697
(not shown) making it easy to manage and keep track of all of their
quotes. For example, one folder may be named by the buyer 12 as
"Quote to paint car", while another may be named "Quote to fix the
squeaky brakes". Another example would be for the buyers 12 to
create folders based on the different vehicles they are sending the
requests for (e.g. Fix the 98 Caravan, or Paint the Tahoe etc). The
buyer 12 could then review the request, research the seller 14 by
viewing their system 10 profile and feedback and then make the
decision of who to use. Or, at the very least, the buyer 12 could
narrow down their choices to two or three sellers 14 and then visit
them in person outside the system 10.
[0423] The service will also be accessible from both the search
results page (not shown) and through the Tool Box tab 523. When a
buyer 12 searches for an item that is related to a service, the
system 10 provides the buyer 12 with a list of sellers 14 or
service providers 14 the buyer 12 may be interested in, located at
the bottom of the search results. For example, a buyer 12 searches
for a hood for his vehicle and finds one that they want to buy. The
system 10 gives the buyer 12 a list of body shop sellers/service
providers 14 close to the buyer's 12 location. That way, if the
buyer 12 is looking for someone to install the item they are about
to purchase, they can find both the item and service facility to
install it through the system 10. The buyer 12 can then click on a
seller/service provider 14 to view their profile that includes
video, pictures and the description of their facility etc.
[0424] The buyer 12 can also send requests directly from the Tool
Box 523 so they don't have to search for an item to find a list of
service providers 14 but rather, search for one by service type.
For example, a buyer 12 may search for all custom designers to make
a special item for their car or search for a transmission repair
shop, located in the Toronto area that specializes in BMW
transmissions. The page would be similar to the Search Suppliers
693 page shown in FIG. 87. The buyer 12 has access to advanced
filters 111, 289 similar to that of the seller 14. In this case,
the buyer 12 only wants to find sellers 14 within 100 kilometres of
his house. The buyer 12 would then send his request to the service
provider 14. The system 10 matches the service providers to the
main category database 44 to associate their services with
descriptors, categories, sub-categories, vehicle make, models and
years etc.
[0425] Both the buyer 12 and service provider 14 can add pictures
or video when sending requests.
[0426] Similar to the tendering system, a user may search
specifically for a supplier 520 using the sourcing tool. Suppliers
520, as described in the Part-a-Log tool above, can setup detailed
profiles and allow sellers 14 to subscribe to their item
catalogues. The sourcing tool can be used to perform detailed
searches and find suppliers 520 for specific items. For example, a
seller 14 may want to find a supplier 520 that sells parts for
automatic transmissions (broad supplier 520 search), or they may
want to find a supplier 520 that specifically sells rubber body
mounts for Ford Trucks. Having such a sourcing tool gives the
seller 14 the ability to locate suppliers 520 they may want to do
business with. Once they are interested in a supplier 520, they can
view the supplier's 520 detailed profile (company videos,
brochures, background information etc.).
[0427] Auto-Part-It
[0428] The "Auto-Part-It" tool is a further embodiment to the List
a Multi-Item option 162 (see FIG. 12), as described herein and
illustrated in FIGS. 24 to 41. However, when the seller 14 reaches
the "Choose Parts" 191 tab, they choose the items they wish to
create individual listings for, and then the Auto-Part-It tool
creates individual listings for each of those items. To reiterate
using an auto parts example, the Multi-Item listing 162 makes one
entry for the complete vehicle so that buyers 12 can request parts
from that single listing. In this embodiment, the system 10 would
use its Auto-Part-It tool to create separate entries for every item
the user selected in the Choose Parts tab 191 in addition to
creating a vehicle multi-item 26 listing.
[0429] The main difference between the Auto-Part-It tool and the
List Multi-Item 162 tool is that the user may be required to add a
price to each item. The system 10 may be configured to allow the
seller 14 to add the items without adding a price and allowing
buyers 12 to request the shipping and `item` price for the items.
The system can also auto generate the headline for each of the
items so the seller 14 doesn't have to manually type it for every
one of their items, thus reducing the time required to make an
entry. The auto-generated headline is very convenient as it takes
the year, make, model and the selected item (descriptor) to create
the headline, a required field. If the seller 14 wants to change
the headline, they can do so at any time. FIG. 102 shows one
example of the modified choose parts tab 191 shown herein in FIG.
36, and like elements are given like numerals with the suffix "'"
for clarity. Each item in the tree 270', in this example, has a
listing for its price 849, a description 850, and an auto-generated
headline 851. If an item/descriptor in the tree structure 270' has
questions from the questions database 23 attached to it, a "Q" 848
will appear at the end of the listing beside the "Add more details"
link 852. Selecting this link 852 will open the questions window
(not shown) to show questions similar to those illustrated in FIGS.
95 and 96 related to that item, so the seller 14 can add more
details to the item listing.
[0430] When the seller 14 is finished choosing their items, they
are presented with a summary page 853 shown in FIG. 103. The
summary page 853 shows the seller 14 the total number of part
listings 854 that will be generated from the multi-item listing 26
and shows the total fees 856, if fees apply, for the listing, the
potential sales revenue 858 if they sold all of the items, which
represents the sum of all item prices, and the total revenue if all
parts sold 860. This is calculated by taking the vehicle cost 251,
as entered in the required details pane 176a, and subtracting it
from the total revenues 860.
[0431] Clicking the "Finish" button 274' would create individual
listings for all of the items/parts the seller 14 chose to list
from the choose parts tab 191. The individual listed parts would
appear in the "Parts" tab 286 shown in FIGS. 18 and 97 in the
search results page and the multi-item listing would appear, in
this example, in the "Parts Vehicles" tab 288 shown in FIGS. 18 and
97. Buyers 12 can still send parts request to the seller 14 even if
they used the "Auto-Part-It" feature. A link (not shown) to the
part car listing would appear in every item listing from that
vehicle. For example, if a user viewed the individual hood listing
created by the system 10 they could click the "View Parts Car"
button (not shown) to take them directly to the parts car
(multi-item 26) listing.
[0432] The benefit of using the Auto-Part-It tool would be to let
the system 10 generate individual listings from a single,
multi-item 26. For example, from one vehicle, the system 10 can
generate in this example, over 1,700 individual listings. The
administrator 34 has a database containing a list of
items/descriptors as they relate to multi-items 26. For example,
the database contains a list of different parts found on cars,
trucks, vans, SUV's etc. so the system 10 knows what to generate.
Consider this example: Seller A lists a truck and uses the
Auto-Part-It feature. The system 10 then creates individual part
listings for all parts on that truck (right fender, left fender,
right headlight, left headlight, engine, transmission, truck box,
truck cab etc.) using the main category database 44 descriptors,
positions etc. explained earlier. If the seller 14 wanted to create
individual listings for all the parts on that vehicle, it would
take him days to create listings for the thousands of parts on that
vehicle. The Auto-Part-It tool makes it quick and simple. The
system 10 would know that different parts are available on
different vehicle types (cars, trucks, etc.), vehicle makes (Ford,
Chevrolet etc.), vehicle years (e.g. air bags are not available on
vehicles in the 1950's) etc.
[0433] The system 10 can use and/or integrate with third party
databases to assist in creating the individual item listings. For
example, if a the system 10 offers the Auto-Part-It tool for heavy
equipment machine such as backhoes, bull dozers etc. the system 10
may integrate databases with known parts for those machines so that
the system 10 can properly create the individual listings.
[0434] As mentioned earlier, the Auto-Part-It is an additional
feature that can be added as a further embodiment to the List a
Multi-Item option 162 to offer a different service based on the
needs and wants of the seller 14.
[0435] Other `Websites` Integration
[0436] When users list a "Parts Vehicle" and specify they are
willing to sell the complete vehicle or its parts, an option the
seller 14 chooses when listing their parts vehicle, the vehicle
listings become available on websites related to the system as a
value added benefit of using the system 10. These other websites
are similar to the system 10; however, they can include other
applications, such as forestry equipment, mining equipment,
construction equipment, cars and trucks and more. If the vehicle is
sold through the system 10 or any of the other system's 10 sites,
the listing is taken down from all sites. All three sites will
share similar functionality to the system 10 as fully described
herein.
[0437] Knowledge Database Tool
[0438] The system 10 includes a detailed knowledge based video and
blogging platform (not shown) specific to the niche parts industry.
This tool will allow users to share their knowledge on an
international platform. For example, users can watch "how-to"
videos on how to change their oil, repair dents or remove and
replace parts. The videos will feature both professional and
non-professional videos so users can watch how the experts do
things. Organizations such as the Collision Repair Association of
America can feature their own training videos for their registered
members or a user can post a question about a car problem they
cannot fix to receive advice from other users. Users can link these
videos and/or blogs to a category/item and/or make, model and year
for searching purposes. For example, a buyer 12 searches for a
heater motor for their 2000 Dodge Neon. In the search results page
there will be a link (not shown) to the knowledge base tool if
there are entries related to that item. In this example the user
clicks the link to read about problems other users encountered with
the heater motor.
[0439] Parts Alert & the Wanted Board
[0440] This is a unique search method that will appeal to users who
cannot find their parts listed on the system 10 and do not want to
continuously check to see if they become available. A user will
search for an item and if no item is found they will have the
option of posting it to the wanted board (not shown) by clicking,
"Post to Wanted Board" (not shown). The wanted board features a
page dedicated to items that people are looking for accessible by
clicking the "Wanted Board" tab (not shown) beside Tool Box 523 in
the main menu. The item is then stored in the buyer's My Account
697 using the Parts Alert tool (not shown) so that if that item
becomes available, the user will receive an email notifying them
that their item is now available with a link to the listing. The
system 10 will continue to search for that item until the user
removes it from their settings under My Profile.
[0441] Sellers 14 can review the Wanted Board to find items they
have to sell. For example, a buyer 12 looks for a rare tail lamp
for his 1948 Chevrolet Truck. The search does not return any
results, so the item is posted to the Wanted Board and is then
stored in the buyer's 12 account using Parts Alert. Later, another
user decides to sell a 1948 Chevrolet Truck tail lamp and lists it
on the system. As soon as this listing becomes active, the buyer 12
receives an email from the system 10, providing notification that
someone is selling the tail lamp they requested. Three days later,
another seller 14 reviews the Wanted Board and notices a request
for a tail lamp that they have. Clicking on the listing will take
the seller 14 into the sell page and pre-fills the item information
based on the buyer's 12 request. The seller 14 lists his item and
the buyer 12 receives a message telling him that a seller 14
responded to his request on the Wanted Board with a link to the
listing. This makes it very convenient for buyers 12 and sellers 14
and prevents lost sales for sellers 14.
[0442] An extension of this feature is to allow users to add
vehicle profiles to their My Account so that when the user needs to
find parts for that vehicle, they can go to it in My Account and
the system 10 would automatically pull in all parts and parts cars
listed on the system 10, including from the Part-a-Log as described
previously herein, for that vehicle and organize them into first
tier categories, similar to the way items are organized in a
seller's Store Front as described previously herein. This allows
for the buyer 12 to find all items and parts cars available for
their vehicle rather than having to "search" for items or parts
cars.
[0443] Using the searching tools in the Buy 114 and Sell 116 tabs
allows the users to find items or vehicles very easily by offering
a wide array of lookup combinations. Users can type in these
different combinations to find the vehicles dynamically in the
auto-fill list 52. For example, if a user types "de", the list will
display all makes, models, and sub-models that begin with "de". If
the user types "84" the list filters to show only vehicles
available in 1984. If the user types in "84 Mustang", the system
will automatically choose a 1984 Ford Mustang even though the user
only selected the partial year "84" and the model. This is one
example of a user's search parameters; however, there are many more
complex combinations that the system 10 can use to find a user's
desired vehicle and/or items from a particular vehicle.
[0444] Some of the combinations may include:
[0445] Year, Make and Model/Sub-model
[0446] Year Model
[0447] Make
[0448] Make Model/Sub-Model
[0449] Model, or year and model
[0450] Year Sub-model
[0451] Sub-Model, or year and sub-model
[0452] Year Trim Package (i.e. "02 GT" pulls up a 2002 Ford Mustang
GT)
[0453] Trim Package
[0454] The year field accepts 1, 2 and 4 characters. For example,
typing "84" pulls up all vehicles made in 1884 and 1984 and typing
"1984" pulls up all vehicles made in the 1984.
[0455] This is a very powerful way of searching based on research
from auto parts professionals.
[0456] Watch Us Race
[0457] Another feature that allows users from all over the world to
"race" each other using satellite and GPS tracking is the "Watch Us
race" tool. For example, a user creates and posts his vehicle
profile outlining the type of vehicle he has (e.g. Honda Civic),
its engine size and other vehicle specific details etc. Then, using
his mobile phone with internet and GPS tracking enabled, or, using
a GPS device, or using his notebook computer with an available
wireless signal to allow him to connect to the internet and a GPS
unit, he logs into the system's 10 sister website. Once connected,
he races on any road or terrain and the satellite tracks his course
and speed. Then his time and course layout gets posted on the
system's 10 sister website beside his vehicle profile. Other users
from anywhere in the world can then create their own vehicle
profile and race the user to beat his time on a similar course
(i.e. straight road). The user can choose to receive email
notifications if other users beat his time. The user can setup the
race again directly from that email. Further options will organize
the racers into different groups and classes based on such criteria
as vehicle type, country, province/state etc. This can also be used
with both motorized and non-motorized vehicles or methods of
transportation.
[0458] Product Advertising
[0459] As described above, A Product Advertising option 167 can be
selected from the main sell menu as shown in FIG. 12 to allow
sellers 14 or administrators of other websites or systems to
integrate and/or promote their item listings from their website
into the items database 22 and the system 10. For example, ABC
Company may have their own website but may want to use the
intermediary 16 to promote their items and generate more sales by
listing all of their items in the intermediary's 16 items database
22. The system 10 can be configured to generate revenue from
sending referrals from the intermediary 16 to the seller's own
website or store and/or charge a commission fee for sales generated
from buyers 12 who found the seller's 14 item on the items database
22 and purchased the item from the seller 14 on the seller's 14 own
website.
[0460] This tool allows other part sellers 14 and websites to
integrate with the system 10. What makes this tool very different
is that the system 10 organizes the all of the integrated data into
the categorization database 20 making the data searchable using the
system's extensive search tools. The result is that the system 10
becomes the one central portal to the items databases and item
catalogues and integrates, buyers 12, sellers 14 and supplier 520
into an e-commence platform. Furthermore, the system 10 allows
sellers 12 and suppliers 520 to utilize the system's 10 selling
tools to list and sell their items within the system 10, or, sell
their items on their own e-commerce systems using the Product
Advertising tool giving them unparalleled flexibility in how they
want to do business.
[0461] Although the invention has been described with reference to
certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be
apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims
appended hereto.
* * * * *
References