Conducting commerce between individuals with integrated shipping

#The present invention relates to electronic commerce and more particularly to systems and methods for conducting electronic commerce between individuals.

#Consumers today have a large number of payment choices when purchasing goods or services in person at merchant storefront locations or in mail-order or telephone commerce (referred to herein as “physical world” transactions). For example, most merchants in these transactions accept cash, checks, travelers checks, money orders, and a variety of payment cards, including debit cards, credit cards, and even smart cards. Most consumers have one or more payment cards in their wallet as well as cash and checks. With access to these forms of payment, a consumer can purchase almost any good or service from any merchant.

#Consumers also have a large number of choices of how to purchase goods from other individuals in the physical world. For example, at a garage sale, a consumer can choose to hand a seller cash, a personal check, a travelers check, or a money order for goods being sold at the garage sale. The seller can choose to accept or not to accept the purchaser's check based on information available to the seller at the time of purchase. Individuals who are not merchants are not able to accept payment cards for purchases because of payment rules established by banks and card associations which, essentially, limit payment card acceptance to qualified merchants.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a network environment implementing an embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a network payment environment implementing a specific embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a seller and a buyer registration process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

#Features of embodiments of the present invention will now be described by referring first to FIG. 1, where a payment system 100 according to the invention is shown. Payment system 100 is shown implemented across a network 102. Network 102, in a particular embodiment, is the world-wide network of networks known as the “Internet”. Upon reading this disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize that other network and communication infrastructures may also be used in the implementation of the present invention. Further, variations of the present invention may be implemented without reliance on the Internet or other networks. Although embodiments of the invention may be implemented using other networks, the Internet is currently preferred because of its accessibility from around the world using common interfaces and protocols. These common interfaces and protocols are well known in the art. For example, the Internet uses a communication protocol referred to as the “Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol” (TCP/IP). The Internet also makes use of a number of common information transport protocols, including basic file transfer protocols (FTP). Other, more interactive, protocols have also been developed for use on the Internet.

#In the past several years, a graphically-interactive information transport protocol has been widely accepted on the Internet. This protocol, called the “Hyper Text Transfer Protocol” (HTTP) enables use of a distributed information system known as the “world wide web” (the “web” or “WWW”) which follows a conventional client-server model. The web allows client computers to use browser software to view and interact with documents residing in servers across the Internet. Web clients and servers communicate using the HTTP protocol to transfer both textual and graphical information in a coordinated manner. An HTTP session is established between a client browser and a server based on a request initiated by the client browser. This request typically involves the client browser's specification of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the desired server. The request typically follows the format: <protocol identifier>://<protocol server address>/<qualifier>, where the protocol may include, e.g., HTTP, FTP, etc. The development and proliferation of web servers providing information via the WWW has led to an explosion of Internet commerce applications, including the development of auction and classified ad sites.

#For the purposes of this disclosure, examples will be given referring to Internet sites and resources which utilize the HTTP protocol. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other network interfaces and protocols may be used. For example, network 102 may be a public or private X.25 network using SNA or ATM protocols, etc.