Methods and Systems for Electronic Transactions

Abstract

In the preferred computer system, the user is provided with a separate Internet-accessible entity referred to here as the “personal page.” A personal page, preferably, includes memory for storing information related to the user. For example, on his/her personal page the user indicates what he/she wishes to purchase, possibly along with other criteria associated with the purchase, such as, for example, a time that the purchase should take The user is provided with the ability to create personalized bidding rules that vendors that offer goods and services must respect. Vendors have the ability to specify similar criteria, which describe the goods and/or services they offer. Vendors can indicate, for example, the prices of their goods, times and places that their services are available, etc. Preferably, these specifications, called “vendor scripts,” are embodied in active software/data entities (agents) that traverse sites on the Internet visiting sites hosting users' personal pages. Thus, preferably, vendor software/data agents (comprising vendor scripts) are the mobile, active elements in the system and purchasing requirements are stationary and more passive in comparison.

1 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . A method, comprising:
 defining purchasing requirements representing rules set by a buyer; and   determining, by a computer device, at least one purchasing strategy by comparing the purchasing requirements to vendor scripts including rules regarding at least one of goods or services offered by a vendor.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein defining purchasing requirements comprises:
 retrieving, by the computer device, at least one record from a library of purchasing requirements; and   defining parameter values of the purchasing requirements based on user input.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising:
 updating, by the computer device, the library of purchasing requirements based on a selection of the at least one purchasing strategy.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the at least one purchasing strategy includes at least one item available for purchase via a computer network. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 determining, by the computer device, at least one optimal purchasing strategy in response to initiation of an instruction to re-determine the at least one purchasing strategy.   
     
     
         42 . A system for providing purchase suggestions, comprising:
 means for defining purchasing requirements representing rules set by a buyer; and   means for determining at least one purchasing strategy by comparing the purchasing requirements to vendor scripts including rules regarding at least one of goods or services offered by a vendor.   
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the means for defining purchasing requirements comprises:
 means for retrieving at least one record from a library of purchasing requirements; and   means for defining parameter values of the purchasing requirements based on user input.   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43 , further comprising:
 means for updating the library of purchasing requirements based on a selection of the at least one purchasing strategy.   
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the at least one purchasing strategy includes at least one item available for purchase via a computer network. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 42  further comprising:
 means for determining at least one optimal purchasing strategy in response to initiation of an instruction to re-determine the at least one purchasing strategy. 
 
     
     
         47 . An article of manufacture including a tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that in response to execution by a computing device cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 defining purchasing requirements representing rules set by a buyer; and   determining at least one purchasing strategy by comparing the purchasing requirements to vendor scripts including rules regarding at least one of goods or services offered by a vendor.   
     
     
         48 . The article of manufacture of  claim 47 , wherein the operation of defining purchasing requirements comprises the operation of:
 retrieving at least one record from a library of purchasing requirements; and   defining parameter values of the purchasing requirements based on user input.   
     
     
         49 . The article of manufacture of  claim 48 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 updating the library of purchasing requirements based on a selection of the at least one purchasing strategy.   
     
     
         50 . The article of manufacture of  claim 47 , wherein the at least one purchasing strategy includes at least one item available for purchase via a computer network. 
     
     
         51 . The article of manufacture of  claim 47 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining at least one optimal purchasing strategy in response to initiation of an instruction to re-determine the at least one purchasing strategy.