Marketplace system in which users generate user-to-user preorder listings via a definitive product catalog

An electronic marketplace system that supports user-to-user sales of products, the system comprising:

• a server system that provides user access to a browsable electronic catalog, said browsable electronic catalog including descriptions of products that can be listed by users for sale to other users;
• and
• a preordering component that provides functionality for a buyer to preorder a product from an unspecified seller by browsing the electronic catalog to a description of the product to be preordered and selecting a preordering option to initiate creation of a preorder listing, whereby buyers can create preorder listings for selected products;
• wherein the server system in configured to incorporate viewable information regarding the preorder listings into pages of the electronic catalog in conjunction with catalog descriptions of corresponding products, whereby potential sellers are notified via the electronic catalog of marketplace demand levels for specific products.