Method and system of facilitating a transaction

Abstract

A method and system facilitate a transaction via a network-based transaction facility. For example, a pre-order relating to an item may be recorded in a database, a plurality of offers to sell the item may be received, and a matching operation may detect a correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers. The pre-order may be set to a reserve state in the database responsive to detecting an offer of the plurality of offers matching the pre-order, in which the reserve state is to reserve the offer of the plurality of offers pending to perform a transaction with the pre-order.

1 . A system to facilitate a transaction, the system including:
 matching logic to automatically detect a correspondence between a pre-order relating to an item and a plurality of offers to sell the item, the matching logic further to set the pre-order into a reserved state in a database responsive to a detection of the correspondence, wherein the reserved state is to reserve the pre-order ending performance of a transaction involving a corresponding offer of the plurality of offers.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a database at a transaction facility to record the pre-order relating to the item, the pre-order specifying a plurality of pre-order attributes.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the database is further to receive the plurality of offers to sell the item, each offer specifying a plurality of offer attributes. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the correspondence includes an exact correspondence. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the correspondence includes a correspondence degree greater than a predetermined value. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the pre-order specifies a criterion, and wherein the correspondence is detected by determining whether the criterion is met or exceeded. 
     
     
         7 . A method comprising:
 automatically detecting a correspondence between a pre-order relating to an item and a plurality of offers to sell the item; and   responsive to a detection of the correspondence, setting the pre-order into a reserved state in a database, wherein the reserved state is to reserve the pre-order pending performance of a transaction involving a corresponding offer of the plurality of offers.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the reserved state is to set the pre-order into a state ready to be filled. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the pre-order specifies a criterion, and wherein the correspondence is detected by determining whether the criterion is met or exceeded. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 responsive to a confirmation of an order from a buyer of the pre-order, communicating an establishment of a transaction to the buyer of the pre-order and a seller of the offer.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the pre-order includes a plurality of pre-order attributes, and wherein the offer includes a plurality of the offer attributes. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of pre-order attributes include a pre-order product condition and a minimum seller rating. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the pre-order product condition includes a pre-order item descriptor, a pre-order item price, and a pre-order expiration specification. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of offer attributes includes an offer product condition and a seller rating. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the offer product condition includes an offer item descriptor, an offer item price and a seller identifier. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the seller rating is established based on a trading history of the seller of the offer. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the correspondence between the pre-order and the plurality of offers is automatically detected using the plurality of pre-order attributes of the pre-order and the plurality of the offer attributes of the plurality of offers. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the correspondence includes a correspondence degree within a predetermined range. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method of facilitating a transaction via a network-based transaction facility, the method comprising:
 automatically detecting a correspondence between a pre-order relating to an item and a plurality of offers to sell the item; and   responsive to a detection of the correspondence, setting the pre-order into a reserved state in a database, wherein the reserved state is to reserve the pre-order pending performance of a transaction involving a corresponding offer of the plurality of offers.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:
 responsive to a confirmation of an order from a buyer of the pre-order, communicating an establishment of a transaction to the buyer of the pre-order and a seller of the offer.