Facilitating a supply of used items

Abstract

Techniques are described for facilitating a supply of used items on behalf of an entity that desires to acquire such used items, such as a merchant that sells used items to customers. The used items are obtained based on interactions with recipients who receive items that are sold or otherwise provided by one or more merchants (or other suppliers of items), such as by supplying appropriate information and materials to the recipients along with the items. In some situations, when an item is delivered or otherwise supplied to a recipient by a merchant, the merchant also supplies information to the recipient that indicates an offer from a used item acquirer entity to re-acquire the item from the recipient (such as after the recipient has used the item) and shipping materials for use in returning the item to an indicated destination if the recipient accepts the offer.

1 - 32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored contents that configure a computing device of an item provider to at least:
 receive an indication of an item previously obtained by a recipient from the item provider;   determine, by the configured computing device of the item provider, to make an offer for re-acquisition of the item to the recipient, wherein the determining includes identifying multiple alternative payment amounts for the item that are each associated with one or more criteria corresponding to the item; and   initiate providing the offer for re-acquisition of the item to the recipient, to enable the re-acquisition by the item provider of the item from the recipient in exchange for one of the multiple alternative payment amounts whose associated one or more criteria are satisfied for the re-acquisition.   
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the initiating providing of the offer for re-acquisition of the item to the recipient includes delivering to the recipient an indication of the offer along with associated shipping materials for use by the recipient with the item if the recipient accepts the offer. 
     
     
         35 - 61 . (canceled) 
     
     
         62 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the stored contents include instructions that, when executed, further configure the computing device to at least:
 receive an indication of acceptance by the recipient of the offer; and 
 after receiving the indication of acceptance, make the item available to customers of the item provider that are distinct from the recipient. 
 
     
     
         63 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the determining to make the offer is based at least in part on determining that current demand exists at the item provider for the item. 
     
     
         64 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the determining to make the offer is based at least in part on determining a current supply at the item provider of the item. 
     
     
         65 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the determining to make the offer is based at least in part on determining that the item is of a specified item types. 
     
     
         66 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the determining to make the offer is based at least in part on determining that the item is in a group of specified items for which re-acquisition offers will be made. 
     
     
         67 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33  wherein the determining to make the offer is based at least in part on determining that associated information for the recipient qualifies the recipient to receive re-acquisition offers. 
     
     
         68 - 85 . (canceled) 
     
     
         86 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, by one or more configured computing devices of an item provider, an indication of an item previously obtained by a recipient from the item provider;   determining, by the one or more configured computing devices, an offer for re-acquisition of the item for the recipient, wherein the determining includes identifying multiple alternative payment amounts for the item that are each associated with one or more criteria corresponding to the item; and   initiating, by the one or more configured computing devices, providing the offer for re-acquisition of the item to the recipient, to enable the re-acquisition by the item provider of the item from the recipient in exchange for at least one of the multiple alternative payment amounts whose associated one or more criteria are satisfied for the re-acquisition.   
     
     
         87 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 86  further comprising:
 receiving an indication of acceptance by the recipient of the offer; and 
 making the item available via a network site of the item provider to customers of the item provider that are distinct from the recipient. 
 
     
     
         88 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 86  further comprising determining to make the offer to the recipient based at least in part on at least one of current demand at the item provider for the item or a current supply at the item provider of the item. 
     
     
         89 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 86  further comprising determining to make the offer to the recipient based on the recipient being determined to qualify to receive re-acquisition offers and on the item being determined to be qualified for re-acquisition offers. 
     
     
         90 . A system comprising:
 a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and   one or more processors in communication with the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:
 receive an indication of an item previously obtained by a recipient from an item provider; 
 determine an offer for re-acquisition of the item to be indicated to the recipient, the offer indicating multiple alternative payment amounts for the item that are each associated with one or more criteria corresponding to the item; and 
 initiate providing the offer for re-acquisition of the item to the recipient, to enable the re-acquisition by the item provider of the item from the recipient in exchange for at least one of the multiple alternative payment amounts whose associated one or more criteria are satisfied for the re-acquisition. 
   
     
     
         91 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to:
 receive an indication of acceptance by the recipient of the offer; and 
 make the item available via a network site of the item provider to customers of the item provider that are distinct from the recipient. 
 
     
     
         92 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to determine one or more terms for the re-acquisition, and wherein the initiating providing of the offer includes indicating to the recipient the one or more terms and the multiple alternative payment amounts and the one or more associated criteria for each of the multiple alternative payment amounts. 
     
     
         93 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to determine to make the offer to the recipient based at least in part on demand at the item provider for the item. 
     
     
         94 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to determine to make the offer to the recipient based at least in part on a supply at the item provider of the item. 
     
     
         95 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to determine to make the offer to the recipient based at least in part on the recipient being determined to qualify to receive re-acquisition offers. 
     
     
         96 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the one or more processors are further configured by the executed computer-executable instructions to determine to make the offer to the recipient based at least in part on the item being determined to be qualified for re-acquisition offers. 
     
     
         97 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the determining of the offer includes determining the multiple alternative payment amounts for the item, and wherein the one or more criteria associated with each of the multiple alternative payment amounts are based at least in part on multiple possible conditions of the item. 
     
     
         98 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the determining of the offer includes determining the multiple alternative payment amounts for the item, and wherein the one or more criteria associated with each of the multiple alternative payment amounts are based at least in part on multiple possible times at which the re-acquisition of the item by the item provider occurs. 
     
     
         99 . The system of  claim 90  wherein the determining of the offer includes determining the multiple alternative payment amounts for the item based at least in part on an item type of the item.