Online Marketplace

A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• receiving inventory data from one or more sellers, the inventory data from each seller specifying an available quantity of a particular product, an ask price for the particular product, and a discount function associated with the product, the discount function specifying a discount offered by the seller upon satisfaction of a discount condition;
• receiving user input from a plurality of users, the user input for each user specifying that the user is requesting information about the particular product;
• providing data that cause presentation, to each of the users, of a product request user interface that includes information about the particular product and a bid submission element;
• receiving bids from the plurality of users, each respective bid specifying a price that a respective user will pay for the particular product, each bid also being associated with a unit quantity that specifies a quantity of the particular product that the user will purchase;
• selecting a final price for the particular product using the ask prices for the product, a total quantity of the particular product requested by the users, and the discount functions;
• and
• allocating the particular product to a set of users at the final price each user in the set of users being associated with a bid that meets the final price.

A system comprising:

• a user device;
• and
• one or more computers operable to interact with the device and to:
• receive inventory data from one or more sellers, the inventory data from each seller specifying an available quantity of a particular product, an ask price for the particular product, and a discount function associated with the product, the discount function specifying a discount offered by the seller upon satisfaction of a discount condition;
• receive user input from a plurality of users, the user input for each user specifying that the user is requesting information about the particular product;
• providing data that cause presentation, to each of the users, of a product request user interface that includes information about the particular product and a bid submission element;
• receive bids from the plurality of users, each respective bid specifying a price that a respective user will pay for the particular product, each bid also being associated with a unit quantity that specifies a quantity of the particular product that the user will purchase;
• compute a final price for the particular product using the ask prices for the product, a total quantity of the particular product requested by the users, and the discount functions;
• and
• allocate the particular product to a set of users at the final price, each user in the set of users being associated with a bid that meets the final price.