METHOD FOR DISCOVERING SALES EVENTS

Abstract

A method for discovering sales events, comprising receiving an event from a seller, receiving a first set of information from the seller, storing the first set of information in a database, placing a limit on the event, receiving an activation request from the seller, and activating the event. The method may further include receiving a request from a buyer, receiving a second set of information from the buyer, generating a list of one or more events based on the second set of information, receiving a selection from a buyer, wherein the selection includes at least one of the one or more events, and generating an optimized route to each of the at least one of the one or more events.

Claims

1. A method for discovering sales events, comprising: receiving, by one or more computer processors, an event from a seller; receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a first set of information from the seller; storing, by the one or more computer processors, the first set of information in a database; placing, by the one or more computer processors, a limit on the event; receiving, by the one or more computer processors, an activation request from the seller; and, activating, by the one or more computer processors, the event.

2. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 1, wherein the first set of information comprises at least one of an email address, a sale date, a sale date range, a sale time, a sale time range, a sale location, a sale goods genre, and a sale price range of the sale goods.

3. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 1, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event.

4. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 1, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

5. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 1, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event and to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

6. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a request from a buyer; receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a second set of information from the buyer; generating, by the one or more computer processors, a list of one or more events based on the second set of information; receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a selection from a buyer, wherein the selection includes at least one of the one or more events; and, generating, by the one or more computer processors, an optimized route to each of the at least one of the one or more events.

7. The method for discovering sales events as recited in claim 6, wherein the second set of information comprises a filter including at least one of a postal code, a date, a date range, an origin location, a sale event genre, a tag, and an option to include a partner/advertiser advertisement campaign.

8. A computer program product for discovering sales events, comprising: a computer readable storage medium and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to receive an event from a seller; program instructions to receive a first set of information from the seller; program instructions to store the first set of information in a database; program instructions to place a limit on the event; program instructions to receive an activation request from the seller; and, program instructions to activate the event.

9. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 8, wherein the first set of information comprises at least one of an email address, a sale date, a sale date range, a sale time, a sale time range, a sale location, a sale goods genre, and a sale price range of the sale goods.

10. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 8, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event.

11. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 8, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

12. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 8, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event and to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

13. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 8, further comprising: program instructions to receive a request from a buyer; program instructions to receive a second set of information from the buyer; program instructions to generate a list of one or more events based on the second set of information; program instructions to receive a selection from a buyer, wherein the selection includes at least one of the one or more events; and, program instructions to generate an optimized route to each of the at least one of the one or more events.

14. The computer program product for discovering sales events as recited in claim 13, wherein the second set of information comprises a filter including at least one of a postal code, a date, a date range, an origin location, a sale event genre, a tag, and an option to include a partner/advertiser advertisement campaign.

15. A computer system for discovering sales events, comprising: one or more computer processors; one or more computer readable storage media; and, program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more computer processors, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to receive an event from a seller; program instructions to receive a first set of information from the seller; program instructions to store the first set of information in a database; program instructions to place a limit on the event; program instructions to receive an activation request from the seller; and, program instructions to activate the event.

16. The computer system for discovering sales events as recited in claim 15, wherein the first set of information comprises at least one of an email address, a sale date, a sale date range, a sale time, a sale time range, a sale location, a sale goods genre, and a sale price range of the sale goods.

17. The computer system for discovering sales events as recited in claim 15, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event.

18. The computer system for discovering sales events as recited in claim 15, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

19. The computer system for discovering sales events as recited in claim 15, wherein the limit on the event is arranged to limit a duration of the event and to limit a frequency that the seller holds events.

20. The computer system for discovering sales events as recited in claim 15, further comprising: program instructions to receive a request from a buyer; program instructions to receive a second set of information from the buyer; program instructions to generate a list of one or more events based on the second set of information; program instructions to receive a selection from a buyer, wherein the selection includes at least one of the one or more events; and, program instructions to generate an optimized route to each of the at least one of the one or more events.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Various embodiments are disclosed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which corresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts, in which:

[0020] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an environment;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting operational steps for creating an event based on seller information;

[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting operational steps for creating an event and generating an optimized route based on seller and buyer information; and,

[0023] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of internal and external components of a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements. It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the disclosed aspects.

[0025] Furthermore, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

[0026] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It should be understood that any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the example embodiments. The assembly of the present disclosure could be driven by hydraulics, electronics, and/or pneumatics.

[0027] It should be appreciated that the term substantially is synonymous with terms such as nearly, very nearly, about, approximately, around, bordering on, close to, essentially, in the neighborhood of, in the vicinity of, etc., and such terms may be used interchangeably as appearing in the specification and claims. It should be appreciated that the term proximate is synonymous with terms such as nearby, close, adjacent, neighboring, immediate, adjoining, etc., and such terms may be used interchangeably as appearing in the specification and claims. The term approximately is intended to mean values within ten percent of the specified value.

[0028] Adverting now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a sale creating/discovering environment, generally designated 100. FIG. 1 provides only an illustration of one implementation, and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure as recited by the claims. In some embodiments, sale creating/discovering environment 100 includes database 150, route optimization engine 140, seller computing device 120, and buyer computing device 122 connected to web server 130 over network 110.

[0029] Network 110 can be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a combination of the two, and can include wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In general, network 110 can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communication between seller computing device 120 and buyer computing device 122 and web server 130.

[0030] Seller computing device 120 may be a hardware device that allows a seller to create a sales event in sale discovery program 132. In some embodiments, seller computing device 120 is capable of communicating with web server 130 via network 110 to, for example, send data thereto. In some embodiments, seller computing device 120 may include a computer. Seller computing device 120 may include internal and external hardware components, as depicted and described in further detail with respect to FIG. 4. In some embodiments, seller computing device 120 may comprise a computer, a smartphone, an IPAD tablet computer, a SURFACE computer, or any other computing device suitable for communicating with network web server 130 via network 110.

[0031] Buyer computing device 122 may be a hardware device that allows a buyer to find a sales event in sale discovery program 132. In some embodiments, buyer computing device 122 is capable of communicating with web server 130 via network 110 to, for example, send data thereto and receive data therefrom. In some embodiments, buyer computing device 122 may include a computer. Buyer computing device 122 may include internal and external hardware components, as depicted and described in further detail with respect to FIG. 4. In some embodiments, buyer computing device 120 may comprise a computer, a smartphone, an IPAD tablet computer, a SURFACE computer, or any other computing device suitable for communicating with network web server 130 via network 110.

[0032] Web server 130 includes sale discovery program 132. Web server 130 may be a management server, a web server, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, web server 130 can represent a computing system utilizing clustered computers and components to act as a single pool of seamless resources when accessed through a network. In some embodiments, web server 130 is capable of receiving data from seller computing device 120 as well as requests for data from buyer computing device 122, via network 110. Web server 130 may include internal and external hardware components, as depicted and described in further detail with respect to FIG. 4.

[0033] Sale discovery program 132 receives requests to create sales events from seller computing device 120 and requests to find sales events from buyer computing device 122. Sale discovery program 132 can receive requests from buyers to find one or more sales events, receive a selection including one or more locations, and provide an optimized route to the one or more locations. Sale discovery program 132 can generally include any software capable of creating and storing sales events based on information from the seller, creating a unit limit on the sales events, finding stored sales events based on information from the buyer and generating a list of events, and communicating with route optimization engine 140 to generate an optimized route based on selected events from the buyer.

[0034] Database 150 is a central storage for a set of user and advertiser. Database 150 can be implemented using any non-volatile storage medium known in the art. For example, authentication database can be implemented with a tape library, optical library, one or more independent hard disk drives, or multiple hard disk drives in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). In some embodiments, database 150 contains the sales events and event information of the one or more sellers as well as information such as filters from the one or more buyers. Additionally database 150 can store partner/advertiser information.

[0035] Route optimization engine 140 is a processor that accesses, processes, and presents the data stored by database 150 and/or other data sources. Route optimization engine 140 has the ability to generate an optimized route of events selected by a user. For example, when a buyer is presented with a list of events and the buyer selects one or more of those events, route optimization management engine 140 generates a route to each of the one or more events. The route can be determined for a given user based on predetermined criteria, preferences, user specific information, current location, selection order, or other external sources such as traffic.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a flowchart 200, depicting operational steps for creating an event based on seller information. It should be appreciated that the same flowchart can be used for creating an advertisement campaign based on partner/advertiser information. As such, for the purposes of this disclosure, seller is synonymous with partner/advertiser and event request is synonymous with advertisement campaign request.

[0037] In step 202, sale discovery program 132 receives an event request from a seller. In some embodiments, sale discovery program 132 receives the event from seller computing device 120, via network 110, which is a request to set up a new event. For example, this event request may be initiated by a seller entering data into a computing device.

[0038] In step 204, sale discovery program 132 receives a first set of information from the seller. Specifically, sale discovery program 132 collects seller information related to the event. In some embodiments, and as previously discussed, the first set of information includes, but is not limited to, date range (including start date and end date), time range (including start time and end time), genre, location, description, tags, etc. In some embodiments, seller information may be manually inputted into seller computing device 120. In some embodiments, seller information may be collected by the seller creating a user profile.

[0039] In step 206, sale discovery program 132 stores the first set of information in database 150.

[0040] In step 208, sale discovery program 132 places a limit on the event. Specifically, sale discovery program 132 places a limit on the time range, date range, the location (i.e., the specific address may only have a certain number of events in a given time period), and/or any other number of relevant variables. The purpose of sale discovery program 132 is to create for the buyers an experience of non-mainstream sales events, such as yard sales, estate sales, garage sales, barn sales, dorm sales, road side vegetable stands, etc. In some embodiments, sales events are limited to a maximum of three days and a given location may only have a sale once every 30 days. In some embodiments, sale discovery program 132 allows the seller to create an event start date up to 30 days in the future. In some embodiments, the limit is specific to the type of sale that is occurring. For example, a limit of 7 days and 10 sales may be applied to an estate sale agency.

[0041] In step 210, sale discovery program 132 receives an event activation request from the seller. Following the creation of the event and the submission of the first set of information for the event by the seller, sale discovery program 132 requires the seller to activate the event. This is because the seller may create an event weeks before the event is actually set to take place. The activation request from the seller confirms that seller intends to proceed with the event.

[0042] In step 212, sale discovery program 132 activates the event. Once sale discovery program 132 activates the event, the event is then published such that it can be found by buyers, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a flowchart 300 depicting operational steps for creating an event and generating an optimized route based on seller and buyer information. It should be appreciated that the same flowchart can be used for creating an advertisement campaign based on partner/advertiser information. As such, for the purposes of this disclosure, seller is synonymous with partner/advertiser and event request is synonymous with advertisement campaign request.

[0044] In step 302, sale discovery program 132 receives an event request from a seller. In some embodiments, sale discovery program 132 receives the event from seller computing device 120, via network 110, which is a request to set up a new event. For example, this event request may be initiated by a seller entering data into a computing device.

[0045] In step 304, sale discovery program 132 receives a first set of information from the seller. Specifically, sale discovery program 132 collects seller information related to the event. In some embodiments, and as previously discussed, the first set of information includes, but is not limited to, date range (including start date and end date), time range (including start time and end time), genre, location, description, tags, etc. In some embodiments, seller information may be manually inputted into seller computing device 120. In some embodiments, seller information may be collected by the seller creating a user profile.

[0046] In step 306, sale discovery program 132 stores the first set of information in database 150.

[0047] In step 308, sale discovery program 132 places a limit on the event. Specifically, sale discovery program 132 places a limit on the time range, date range, the location (i.e., the specific address may only have a certain number of events in a given time period), and/or any other relevant variable. The purpose of sale discovery program 132 is to create for the buyers an experience of non-mainstream sales events, such as yard sales, estate sales, garage sales, barn sales, dorm sales, road side vegetable stands, etc. In some embodiments, sales events are limited to a maximum of three days and a given location may only have a sale once every 30 days. In some embodiments, sale discovery program 132 allows the seller to create an event start date up to 30 days in the future.

[0048] In step 310, sale discovery program 132 receives an event activation request from the seller. Following the creation of the event and the submission of the first set of information for the event by the seller, sale discovery program 132 requires the seller to activate the event. This is because the seller may create an event weeks before the event is actually set to take place. The activation request from the seller confirms that seller intends to proceed with the event.

[0049] In step 312, sale discovery program 132 activates the event. Once sale discovery program 132 activates the event, the event is then published such that it can be found by buyers, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0050] In step 314, sale discovery program 132 receives a request from a buyer. In some embodiments, sale discovery program 132 receives the request from buyer computing device 122, via network 110, which is a request to search for one or more events. For example, this request may be initiated by a buyer entering data into a computing device.

[0051] In step 316, sale discovery program 132 receives a second set of information from the buyer. Specifically, sale discovery program 132 collects buyer information related to the desired search for events. In some embodiments, and as previously discussed, the second set of information includes, but is not limited to, filters such as postal code, date/date range, origin location, sale event genre, tags, options to include partner/advertiser advertisement campaigns, etc. In some embodiments, buyer information may be manually inputted into buyer computing device 122. In some embodiments, buyer information may be collected by the buyer creating a user profile.

[0052] In step 318, sale discovery program 132 generates a list of events based on the second set of data. For example, if the buyer is looking for lawn equipment and fresh vegetables, sale discovery program 132 may generate a list of events which includes one or more yard sales, one or more garage sales, and one or more farmer's markets within the specified geographic location.

[0053] In step 320, sale discovery program 132 receives a selection from the buyer. Specifically, in this step the buyer selects from the list of events those events of interest. For example, the buyer may select one garage sale, one yard sale, and two farmer's markets.

[0054] In step 322, sale discovery program 132 generates an optimized route based on the selection from the buyer. In this step, sale discovery program 132 may access route optimization engine 150 or use other third party route mapping engines known in the art. For example, sale discovery program 132 may generate the fastest route between the selected one garage sale, one yard sale, and two farmer's markets. In some embodiments, if a hot dog stand is selected, sale discovery program 132 provides a route that places the buyer's time of arrival at the hot dog stand around a certain time, for example, lunch time.

[0055] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of internal and external components of computing device 400, which is representative of the computing devices of FIG. 1. It should be appreciated that FIG. 4 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. In general, the components illustrated in FIG. 4 are representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Examples of computer systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be represented by the components illustrated in FIG. 4 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, laptop computer systems, tablet computer systems, cellular telephones (i.e., smart phones), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices.

[0056] Computing device 400 includes communications fabric 402, which provides for to communications between one or more processing units 404, memory 406, persistent storage 408, communications unit 410, and one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 412. Communications fabric 402 can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric 402 can be implemented with one or more buses.

[0057] Memory 406 and persistent storage 408 are computer readable storage media. In this embodiment, memory 406 includes random access memory (RAM) 416 and cache memory 418. In general, memory 406 can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer readable storage media. Software is stored in persistent storage 408 for execution and/or access by one or more of the respective processors 404 via one or more memories of memory 406.

[0058] Persistent storage 408 may include, for example, a plurality of magnetic hard disk drives. Alternatively, or in addition to magnetic hard disk drives, persistent storage 408 can include one or more solid state hard drives, semiconductor storage devices, read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROM), flash memories, or any other computer readable storage media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital information.

[0059] The media used by persistent storage 408 can also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive can be used for persistent storage 408. Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage 408.

[0060] Communications unit 410 provides for communications with other computer systems or devices via a network. In this exemplary embodiment, communications unit 410 includes network adapters or interfaces such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communications links. The network can comprise, for example, copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. Software and data used to practice embodiments of the present disclosure can be downloaded to computing device 400 through communications unit 410 (i.e., via the Internet, a local area network, or other wide area network). From communications unit 410, the software and data can be loaded onto persistent storage 408.

[0061] One or more I/O interfaces 412 allow for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computing device 400. For example, I/O interface 412 can provide a connection to one or more external devices 420 such as a keyboard, computer mouse, touch screen, virtual keyboard, touch pad, pointing device, or other human interface devices. External devices 420 can also include portable computer readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. I/O interface 412 also connects to display 422.

[0062] Display 422 provides a mechanism to display data to a user and can be, for example, a computer monitor. Display 422 can also be an incorporated display and may function as a touch screen, such as a built-in display of a tablet computer.

[0063] The present disclosure may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure.

[0064] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

[0065] Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

[0066] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the C programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.

[0067] Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

[0068] These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[0069] The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[0070] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0071] It will be appreciated that various aspects of the disclosure above and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0072] 100 Sale creating/discovering environment [0073] 110 Network [0074] 120 Seller computing device [0075] 122 Buyer computing device [0076] 130 Web server [0077] 132 Sale discovery program [0078] 140 Route optimization engine [0079] 150 Database [0080] 200 Flowchart [0081] 202 Step [0082] 204 Step [0083] 206 Step [0084] 208 Step [0085] 210 Step [0086] 212 Step [0087] 300 Flowchart [0088] 302 Step [0089] 304 Step [0090] 306 Step [0091] 308 Step [0092] 310 Step [0093] 312 Step [0094] 314 Step [0095] 316 Step [0096] 318 Step [0097] 320 Step [0098] 322 Step [0099] 400 Computing device [0100] 402 Communications fabric [0101] 404 Processing units [0102] 406 Memory [0103] 408 Persistent storage [0104] 410 Communications unit [0105] 412 Input/output (I/O) interfaces [0106] 416 Random access memory (RAM) [0107] 418 Cache memory [0108] 420 External device(s) [0109] 422 Display