Conditional purchase offer management system

A system for processing the sale of goods or services, comprising:

• a memory device storing a program;
• a processor in communication with said memory;
• said processor operative with said program to:
• receive a first conditional purchase offer from a customer for the purchase of said goods or services, wherein said first conditional purchase offer is a binding offer including a customer-defined price;
• receive a payment identifier specifying a credit card account for use in providing payment for said goods or services;
• after receiving said first conditional purchase offer and said payment identifier, query a database of seller-defined rules provided by a plurality of sellers to determine if said goods or services are to be sold to said customer for said customer-defined price, said seller-defined rules including prices which are concealed from said customer;
• if no goods or services are to be sold to said customer after said querying, transmit a rejection of said first conditional purchase offer to said customer;
• and
• take an action to deter said customer from submitting a second conditional purchase offer for said goods or services.

A computer system for processing the sale of goods or services, comprising:

• means for receiving a first conditional purchase offer from a customer for the purchase of said goods or services, wherein said first conditional purchase offer is a binding offer including a customer-defined price;
• means for receiving a payment identifier specifying a credit card account for use in providing payment for said goods or services;
• means for, after receiving said first conditional purchase offer and said payment identifier, querying a database of seller-defined rules provided by a plurality of sellers to determine if said goods or services are to be sold to said customer for said customer-defined price, said seller-defined rules including prices which are concealed from said customer;
• means for, if no goods or services are to be sold to said customer after said querying, transmitting a rejection of said first conditional purchase offer to said customer;
• and
• means for taking an action to deter said customer from submitting said second conditional purchase offer for said goods or services.

An article of manufacture comprising:

• a computer readable medium comprising instructions for:
• receiving a first conditional purchase offer from a customer for the purchase of goods or services, wherein said first conditional purchase offer is a binding offer including a customer-defined price;
• receiving a payment identifier specifying a credit card account for use in providing payment for said goods or services;
• after receiving said first conditional purchase offer and said payment identifier, querying a database of seller-defined rules provided by a plurality of sellers to determine if said goods or services are to be sold to said customer for said customer-defined price, said seller-defined rules including prices which are concealed from said customer;
• if no goods or services are to be sold to said customer after said querying, transmitting a rejection of said first conditional purchase offer to said customer;
• and
• taking an action to deter said customer from submitting a second conditional purchase offer for said good or services.