System and method for managing and evaluating network commodities purchasing

A computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, in response to execution by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:

• retrieve, from a database containing price data sets previously exchanged between buyers and sellers, one or more price data sets representing a specified time period, wherein each of the retrieved price data sets is responsive to a product specification data set that includes at least one parameter value and a unit of measure for each of one or more items, and wherein each of the retrieved price data sets includes at least a parameter value, a quoted cost, and a selling unit of measure for at least one item;
• for each responsive item in the retrieved price data sets, determine a total item price based on the quoted cost for the item in the respective price data set;
• sum the total item price per item across the retrieved price data sets to produce a combined item price total;
• for each responsive item in the retrieved price data sets, verify the selling unit of measure is as specified for the corresponding item in the product specification data set, and if not, mathematically convert the selling unit of measure to the specified unit of measure;
• sum the units of measure per item across the retrieved price data sets to produce a combined item unit total;
• and
• divide the combined item price total by the combined item unit total to thereby generate a metric price per unit for the specified time period for each item in the product specification data set.

A method of generating price metrics, comprising:

• under control of instructions that are executed by one or more computing devices:
• specifying a product specification data set that includes at least one parameter value and a unit of measure for each of one or more items;
• retrieving, from a database containing price data sets previously exchanged between buyers and sellers, one or more price data sets representing a specified time period, wherein each of the retrieved price data sets is responsive to the product specification data set and includes at least a parameter value, a quoted cost, and a selling unit of measure for at least one item;
• for each responsive item in the retrieved price data sets:
• determining a total item price based on the quoted cost for the item;
• verifying the selling unit of measure is as specified for the corresponding item in the product specification data set, and if not, mathematically convert the selling unit of measure to the specified unit of measure;
• and
• dividing the total item price by the selling unit of measure, thereby generating an individual metric price per unit for the item;
• summing the individual metric price per unit for the item across the retrieved price data sets;
• and
• dividing the summed individual metric price per unit by the number of individual metric prices, thereby generating an overall metric price per unit for the specified time period for each item in the product specification data set.

A computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, in response to execution by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:

• retrieve, from a database containing price data sets previously exchanged between buyers and sellers, one or more price data sets representing a specified time period, wherein each of the retrieved price data sets is responsive to a product specification data set that includes at least one parameter value and a unit of measure for each of one or more items, and wherein each of the retrieved price data sets includes at least a parameter value, a quoted cost, and a selling unit of measure for at least one item;
• for each responsive item in the retrieved price data sets:
• determine a total item price based on the quoted cost for the item;
• verify the selling unit of measure is as specified for the corresponding item in the product specification data set, and if not, mathematically convert the selling unit of measure to the specified unit of measure;
• and
• divide the total item price by the selling unit of measure to thereby generate an individual metric price per unit for the item;
• sum the individual metric price per unit for the item across the retrieved price data sets;
• and
• divide the summed individual metric price per unit by the number of individual metric prices to thereby generate an overall metric price per unit for the specified time period for each item in the product specification data set.