JP7490751B2 - Transaction Support System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transaction support system that determines the payment price for a transaction object through a bidding system and supports transactions between providers and users of the transaction object.

In recent years, advances in the Internet and terminal devices connected to it have made it easy to obtain a variety of information. For example, information on real estate can be easily collected from real estate advertising sites, etc., without having to visit a local real estate agent to check the posted information. Furthermore, with regard to such real estate, systems have been devised to support real estate transactions (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). On the other hand, even in the case of movable property, information can be obtained from various EC sites, etc., without having to visit the store that handles it.

JP 2017-228098 A JP 2017-215795 A JP 2015-194957 A

For example, in a real estate transaction, when a tenant has a potential property that he or she wants to rent or a buyer has a potential property that he or she wants to buy, it is difficult to have multiple real estate agents compete over the brokerage fees for those properties. This is because there are no sites for comparing brokerage fees or bidding, and the system relies on offline, human methods. Furthermore, for landlords and sellers, there are no sites that allow them to make bulk bids on real estate properties to multiple real estate agents, and the system relies on offline, human methods, making it difficult to have them compete over brokerage fees. On the other hand, for movable property, while there are sites that allow price comparisons and sites where buyers make bids, there are no sites that allow multiple sellers to compete over price, and there is a need to revitalize transactions.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to stimulate trading by encouraging competition over the prices paid for traded items.

(Modes of the Invention)
The following aspects of the invention are illustrative of the configuration of the present invention, and are described in terms of items to facilitate understanding of the various configurations of the present invention. Each item does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. Therefore, while taking into consideration the best mode for carrying out the invention, even if some of the components of each item are replaced or deleted, or other components are added, they may be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) A system for determining a payment price for a trade object through a bidding system and supporting a trade between a provider and a user of the trade object, comprising: a storage unit for storing a plurality of pieces of information used in the system; an interface unit for transferring information between the system and a terminal used by the user and the provider; a member registration unit for registering the user and the provider in the storage unit as a member user and a member provider using the system; and information capable of identifying the trade object for which the member user wishes to make a bid based on information input by the member user, which is stored in the storage unit as a bidding item. a bid item registration unit that registers a bid item in the memory unit, a bid item disclosure unit that discloses the bid item to a member provider, a bid price registration unit that registers a bid price input by the member provider for the bid item disclosed by the bid item disclosure unit, equivalent to the payment price, in the memory unit, linking it to the bid item, a bid price disclosure unit that discloses to the member user the bid prices of all member providers that have registered bid prices for the bid item registered by the member user, and a bid success processing unit that receives input from the member user, identifies the member provider who is the successful bidder and the details of the successful bid, and confirms the success of the bid item.

The transaction support system described in this section uses a bidding system to determine the payment prices for various transaction objects and supports transactions between providers of these transaction objects and users who need them, where the payment prices include various prices paid by users to the providers so that the transaction objects are provided in the format desired by the users. To achieve this, the transaction support system described in this section includes a memory unit, an interface unit, a member registration unit, a bid item registration unit, a bid item disclosure unit, a bid price registration unit, a bid price disclosure unit, and a successful bid processing unit. The memory unit holds various information used in this system, and this information includes member information, bid item information, bid prices, etc.

The interface unit is for passing information between the terminals used by users and providers and the system, and includes communication functions that utilize various networks, as well as information input and output functions. The member registration unit performs the member registration required for users and providers to use the system, and users are registered in the memory unit as member users and providers as member providers along with various information including their respective contact details. The bidding item registration unit registers information that can identify the transaction object for which the member user wishes to place a bid in the memory unit as a bidding item based on information input by the member user via the terminal and the interface unit. In other words, the member user inputs information that can directly or indirectly identify the transaction object for which a bid is desired into the terminal, and the bidding item registration unit, upon receiving the information, registers the input information as a bidding item either as is or after processing it.

The bid item disclosure unit is for disclosing the bid items registered in the memory unit to the member providers, and the range of bid items disclosed to each member provider and the range of information accompanying each bid item are set arbitrarily according to the situation. The bid price registration unit links the bid price input by the member provider for the bid item disclosed by the bid item disclosure unit, which is equivalent to the above-mentioned payment price, to the bid item and registers it in the memory unit. That is, each member provider inputs via a terminal the bid price that they can handle for the bid item in which they wish to participate, among the bid items disclosed to them. The bid price registration unit then receives this via the interface unit and registers it in the memory unit, linking it to the bid item, so that a bid item for which bid prices have been input from multiple member providers is linked to those multiple bid prices.

The bid price disclosure unit discloses to the member user the bid prices of all member providers who have registered bid prices for the bidding item registered by the member user. In other words, the bid price disclosure unit discloses the bid prices registered in association with each bidding item to the member user who registered the bidding item via the interface unit and the terminal, and the bid prices disclosed at this time include those of all member providers who have entered bid prices for the bidding item. The successful bid processing unit receives input from the member user via the terminal, identifies the member provider who has made the successful bid and the successful bid details, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item. In other words, the member user checks the bid price disclosed by the bid price disclosure unit, and if there is a bid price that the member user is satisfied with, specifies the member provider who presented that bid price, and inputs that the other party with whom the transaction will be performed has been decided. The successful bid processing unit, upon receiving this, identifies the member provider designated by the member user and the successful bid details, including the bid price and various conditions presented by that member provider, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the transaction support system described in this section uses a bidding system to determine the payment price paid by the member user to the member provider for the transaction object specified by the member user, so that the member user selects a member provider and the transaction is made under terms favorable to the member user. Furthermore, for member providers, the bidding item disclosure unit discloses bidding items for various transaction objects that each member provider can handle, increasing opportunities for them to participate in bidding that may result in a transaction, so that even if the payment price obtained for each transaction is lower, the possibility of increased profits is increased. This leads to the activation of transactions for various transaction objects.

(2) In the above paragraph (1), the bidding item registration unit is a transaction support system in which at least one of the following information about the transaction object input by a member user to register it as a bidding item: the URL of a web page on which information about the transaction object is posted, image data displaying the information about the transaction object, and text data showing the information about the transaction object.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the bidding item registration unit specifies information to be input by a member user via a terminal in order to register a bidding item. That is, at least one of the following information is input: a URL of a web page on which information on the transaction object is posted, image data showing the information on the transaction object, and text data showing the information on the transaction object.

The web page on which the information on the transaction object is posted may be a page of any site on which information that can identify the transaction object is posted, such as a real estate advertising site if the transaction object is real estate, or an EC site or a site of a manufacturer of the movable property if the transaction object is movable property. Then, such a site is viewed by the member user, and the URL of the page is input to the bidding item registration unit by copy and paste, etc. The image data on which the information on the transaction object is displayed may be image data saved in various formats such as PDF format or JPEG format, and includes character strings or images that can identify the transaction object. The text data showing the information on the transaction object may be document data saved in various formats such as WORD format, or the character string itself input by the member user via a terminal, and in either case, includes information that can directly or indirectly identify the transaction object. Regardless of the input information described above, the member user can easily input it from the terminal, lowering the threshold for the member user to register a bidding item, and making transactions more active.

(3) A transaction support system in which, in the above (1) and (2), the object of the transaction is real estate, the payment price is a brokerage fee, the member provider is a real estate agent, and the member users include at least some of the buyers, sellers, tenants, and landlords of the real estate.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the transaction objects registered as bidding items are real estate such as land and buildings, the payment price competed as the bid price is the real estate brokerage fee, and the member providers are real estate agents. Furthermore, the member users include at least some of the buyers, sellers, tenants, and lessors of real estate. With this configuration, the real estate agents who are member providers can access many items registered as bidding items and participate in transactions. Even if the brokerage fee is reduced to participate in bidding and the success rate is increased, which reduces the brokerage fee obtained for each item, the opportunities to participate in bidding will increase and the number of items that are won will increase, which will lead to increased revenue.

In addition, if the member user is a landlord of real estate, the property he/she wishes to rent is registered as a bidding item, and the property information is instantly transmitted to multiple real estate agents who wish to act as intermediaries, and the real estate agent who presents the most suitable conditions is selected as the real estate agent to intermediate the rental property. This significantly reduces the effort required to request real estate agents, which was previously done individually, and shortens the period until the property is actually available for rental, thereby reducing the risk of a blank period in which rent is not received. Furthermore, if the member user sets the amount of compensation, such as the landlord's wishes or the commission fee to be paid to the intermediary real estate agent at the time of contract completion, when registering the bidding item, the member user is freed from the task of face-to-face negotiations over the amount of compensation. In addition, if the member user is a tenant of real estate, he/she finds a property he/she wishes to rent on a rental property information site, etc., and the property information is registered as a bidding item, so that the real estate agent who can be requested to intermediate the rental contract can be easily identified. In addition, if there are multiple such real estate agents, each condition, such as the brokerage fee and location, is compared, and the real estate agent who is considered to be most suitable for the tenant is selected and requested to intermediate the rental contract.

On the other hand, if the member user is a seller of real estate, the property he/she wishes to sell is registered as a bidding item, and the intention to sell the property is notified to multiple real estate agents at the same time, and the real estate agent who presents the most suitable conditions is selected from those agents. As a result, the request work, which previously relied on offline manual methods, can be completed by registering the bidding item in this system, significantly reducing the amount of work required, and furthermore, the brokerage fee at the time of conclusion of the contract is suppressed by bidding. On the other hand, if the member user is a buyer of real estate, he/she finds the property he/she wishes to purchase on a property sales information site, etc., and the property information is registered as a bidding item, making it easy to find a real estate agent who can be requested to act as a broker for the sale. If there are multiple such real estate agents, the brokerage fee, location, and other conditions are compared, and the real estate agent who is considered to be most suitable for the buyer is selected and requested to act as a broker for the sale.

(4) A transaction support system according to the above items (1) and (2), in which the object of the transaction is movable property, and the payment price is the cost of purchasing the movable property.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the transaction object registered as a bidding item is movable property including various products, and the payment price competed as a bid price is the cost of purchasing the movable property including the selling price of the movable property itself and shipping fee. In this case, the member provider is a seller who sells the movable property, and the member user is an individual or a corporation who wishes to purchase the movable property. With this configuration, the member provider sellers can access many items registered as bidding items and participate in many transactions that they can handle. Then, by lowering the bid price and participating in the bid to increase the success rate, and by increasing the number of bids participated in and the number of successful bids, an increase in profits can be expected. Also, an individual or a corporation as a member user can easily grasp multiple vendors selling the product by finding a product that they wish to purchase on an EC site, etc., and registering the product as a bidding item. Then, the various conditions of the multiple vendors, such as the selling price and shipping fee, are compared, and the vendor that is considered to be most suitable for the member user is selected and requested to sell the product.

(5) In the above paragraphs (1) to (4), the bid item disclosure unit discloses at least some of the bid items registered by the bid item registration unit to member providers who list the transaction objects on a specific website in preference to other member providers, and discloses the bid items to the other member providers if the member provider who received the preferential disclosure is unsuccessful.
The transaction support system described in this section is one in which the bid item disclosure unit discloses at least some of the bid items registered by the bid item registration unit to member providers who have listed the transaction objects on a specific website in priority to other member providers.

In other words, when disclosing at least some of the bidding items, the bidding item disclosure unit discloses the bidding items only to member providers who have posted the transaction objects on a specific website before disclosing the bidding items to other member providers, and bidding is conducted only among the disclosed member providers. Then, if the member provider who was given priority for disclosure is unable to win the bid, the bidding item is also disclosed to other member providers. This encourages an increase in providers posting transaction objects on the specific website, which in turn enriches the variety and quantity of transaction objects posted on this specific website, thereby increasing the frequency of use of both this system and the specific website and further stimulating transactions.

(6) In the above paragraph (5), the bid item disclosure unit identifies the transaction objects posted on the specific website and preferentially discloses the transaction objects that match the transaction objects indicated by the information registered as the bid items or that are included in the same category to the member providers who have posted the bid items on the specific website, the specific website being operated by the company operating the transaction support system or an associated company thereof, and the bid item registration unit inputs the URL of a webpage on which information of the transaction object is posted as the information of the transaction object input by the member user to register it as a bid item .
In the transaction support system described in this section, when the bidding items registered by the bidding item registration unit include a bidding item that indicates a transaction object that matches or is included in the same category as a transaction object posted on a specific website, and the provider who posted the transaction object on the specific website is a member provider registered in this system, the bidding item disclosure unit preferentially discloses to the member provider the bidding item that indicates a transaction object that matches or is included in the same category as the transaction object posted by the member provider. At this time, the bidding item disclosure unit grasps the transaction object posted on the specific website. This further encourages the use of this system and the specific website. Furthermore, in the transaction support system described in this section, the specific website on which the member provider posts the transaction object is operated by the company that operates the transaction support system or its affiliated company. Moreover, the bidding item registration unit inputs the URL of the web page on which the information of the transaction object is posted as the information of the transaction object input by the member user to register it as a bidding item.

(7) In the above paragraphs (1) to (6), the bid item disclosure unit discloses to the member provider to which the bid item is disclosed a bid price registered in association with the bid item by a member provider other than the member provider, the bid price registration unit accepts registration of a bid price for the same bid item from the same member provider two or more times, and the bid price disclosure unit discloses the most recently registered bid price for each member provider.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the bidding item disclosure unit discloses to the member provider to whom the bidding item is disclosed, the bid price linked to the bidding item and registered by another member provider different from the member provider. In other words, when the same bidding item is disclosed to multiple member providers, the bidding item disclosure unit discloses to each of those member providers the bid prices registered by the other member providers. Therefore, each member provider can check the bid prices of the other member providers participating in the same bidding item as itself.

Meanwhile, the bid price registration unit accepts two or more registrations of bid prices for the same bidding item from the same member provider, and updates the bid price in response to a request from a member provider who wishes to change his or her own bid price after checking the bid prices of other member providers. When disclosing the bid price to a member user, the bid price disclosure unit discloses the bid price most recently registered by each member provider, allowing the member provider to select the successful bidder. This encourages competition among multiple member providers, makes it easier for bid prices that satisfy member users to be offered, and stimulates trading.

(8) In the above items (1) to (7), the interface unit transmits and receives information via a web browser or a dedicated application installed on the terminal.
In the transaction support system described in this section, an interface unit that transfers information between the system and the terminals used by users and providers transfers information via a web browser or a dedicated application installed on the terminals of the users and providers. That is, when a web browser is used, the interface unit displays a screen for inputting and outputting information on the display unit of the terminal via the web browser, and transfers information using this screen. When a dedicated application is used, the interface unit transfers information through a screen displayed on the display unit of the terminal by the dedicated application started on the terminal. In either case, displaying an intuitively operable screen on the terminal allows for smooth transfer of information.

(9) In the above items (1) to (8), the successful bid processing unit of the transaction support system discloses at least one of the contact information of the member user who registered the successful bid item and the contact information of the member provider who won the successful bid item.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the successful bid processing section, which confirms the successful bid of a bid item, discloses at least one of the contact information of the member user who registered the successful bid item and the contact information of the member provider who won the bid item. In other words, when the member user's contact information is disclosed, the contact information obtained from the user when the member registration section registers the user as a member is disclosed to the member provider, and when the member provider's contact information is disclosed, the contact information obtained from the provider when the member registration section registers the provider as a member is disclosed to the member user. This allows direct communication between the member user and the member provider after the successful bid, making post-successful work smoother.

(10) In the above paragraphs (1) to (9), the successful bid processing unit receives revisions to the successful bid contents from either or both of the successful bidder and the successful member user for a bidding item for which a successful bid has been confirmed, and receives confirmation of the revised successful bid contents from either or both of the successful bidder, thereby reconfirming the successful bid.
The transaction support system described in this section is adapted to handle cases where it becomes necessary to make changes to the winning bid content at the time of winning, as a result of communication between the member user and the member provider directly or via this system after the winning bid for a bid item for which a successful bid has been confirmed. That is, the winning bid processing unit receives revisions to the winning bid content from either or both of the member provider and the member user to reflect the above-mentioned changes. The winning bid processing unit then reconfirms the winning bid by receiving confirmation of the revised winning bid content from either or both of the member provider and the member user, preferably from both if both have revised the winning bid content, or from the remaining if either has revised the winning bid content. In this way, by flexibly responding to changes to the winning bid content of a case after the winning bid, a transaction that satisfies both the member user and the member provider can be carried out.

(11) A transaction support system according to any one of (1) to (10) above, wherein the successful bid processing section simultaneously identifies a plurality of member providers as successful bidders in accordance with the contents of the bid item.
In the transaction support system described in this section, the successful bid processing unit simultaneously identifies multiple member providers as successful bidders depending on the content of the bidding item. This can occur, for example, when a single bidding item contains multiple identical movables, and it is desired to simultaneously purchase the movables from different member providers to meet the quantity of the movables. This makes it easier for member users to obtain the desired transaction object, and increases the opportunities for member providers to win the bidding item, further stimulating transactions.

Because the present invention is configured in this way, it is possible to stimulate trading by encouraging competition over the prices paid for the items traded.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a transaction support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flow diagram showing an example of a procedure for a transaction using a transaction support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an example of a procedure of a bidding process included in the procedure of FIG. 2 . 1 shows an example of a screen on which a member user inputs information on a transaction object. 1 shows an example of a list of bidding items. 1 shows an example of a screen on which a bid price is entered by a member provider. 13 shows an example of a screen for displaying bid price information to a member user.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the same or corresponding parts will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings. Furthermore, detailed description of the same or corresponding parts as those in the prior art will be omitted.
Fig. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, the configuration of the transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the block diagram of Fig. 1, and may be such that some of the components shown in Fig. 1 are deleted, changed, or appropriately added depending on the contents and circumstances of the transaction objects to be handled, for example.

The transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention determines the payment price for the transaction object by a bidding system and supports transactions between the provider and user of the transaction object. The transaction object handled by the transaction support system 10 may be real estate such as land or buildings, or movable property including various products. When the transaction object is real estate, the payment price for the transaction object is usually a brokerage fee, and the provider is a real estate agent and the user is the buyer, seller, tenant, or lessor of the real estate. In contrast, when the transaction object is movable property, the payment price for the transaction object is the cost of purchasing the movable property until the user can use it, including the price of the movable property itself and shipping costs, and the provider is a seller or broker of the movable property, and the user is an individual or corporation that wishes to purchase the movable property.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a memory unit 12, an interface unit 14, a member registration unit 16, a bid item registration unit 18, a bid item disclosure unit 20, a bid price registration unit 22, a bid price disclosure unit 24, and a successful bid processing unit 26. In addition, a plurality of terminals 40 used by a member user U, a plurality of terminals 42 used by a member provider S, and a specific website 50 are connected to the transaction support system 10 via a network N. The terminals 40 and 42 may be any terminals that can be connected to the transaction support system 10 via the network N, and may be, for example, a personal computer, a dedicated transaction terminal, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, etc. The network N may include any network, such as the Internet, an intranet, or a dedicated network, and may be realized by wire and/or wireless. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the transaction support system 10 is connected to an administrator terminal used by an administrator of the transaction support system 10 directly or indirectly via the network N, etc., so that various settings and inputs are performed.

The memory unit 12 is for holding multiple pieces of information used in the transaction support system 10, and these pieces of information include various pieces of information such as information input from the terminal 40 of the member user U, information input from the terminal 42 of the member provider S, and information input from the administrator terminal. The memory unit 12 may be constructed as a database, and it is preferable that data can be freely added, changed, deleted, etc. The interface unit 14 is for transferring information between the terminal 40 used by the member user U and the terminal 42 used by the member provider S, and the transaction support system 10, and transmits and receives data for displaying transaction screens on the terminals 40 and 42, as well as various information related to transactions input through such screens.

That is, the interface unit 14 transmits and receives information, for example, via a web browser or dedicated application installed on the terminals 40, 42. When a web browser is used, the interface unit 14 transmits display data to the terminals 40, 42 in a format that the web browser can recognize, such as XML or HTML. Then, via the various screens that are displayed on the terminals 40, 42, the interface unit 14 receives data input from the member user U and member provider S and transmits data to be presented to the member user U and member provider S. When a dedicated application is used, the display of various screens on the terminals 40, 42 is mainly performed by the dedicated application, and the interface unit 14 receives data input from the member user U and member provider S via such screens and transmits data to be presented to the member user U and member provider S.

The member registration unit 16 is for registering users and providers who wish to use the transaction support system 10 in the memory unit 12 as member users U and member providers S who can use the transaction support system 10. That is, the member registration unit 16 receives information such as the name (name, corporate name, etc.) and contact information (telephone number, email address, etc.) of users who wish to use the transaction support system 10 via the terminal 40 and the interface unit 14, and registers the information in the memory unit 12, thereby registering the users as member users U. Similarly, the member registration unit 16 receives information such as the name and contact information of providers who wish to use the transaction support system 10 via the terminal 42 and the interface unit 14, and registers the information in the memory unit 12, thereby registering the providers as member providers S.

The bidding item registration unit 18 registers, as a bidding item, information that can identify the transaction object for which the member user U wishes to place a bid, in the storage unit 12, based on information input from the member user U via the terminal 40. At this time, the information input from the member user U may be, for example, the URL of a webpage on which information on the transaction object is posted, image data showing information on the transaction object, text data showing information on the transaction object, etc. The URL of the webpage may be that of a site that at least contains information that can identify the transaction object, such as a real estate advertising site, an e-commerce site for movable property, or a product introduction site for a manufacturer or seller of movable property. In this case, the bidding item registration unit 18 may register the URL itself input by copy and paste, etc., or may register other information that can identify the transaction object input by an administrator or the like who has checked the webpage with the URL.

The image data may be in any image format, such as PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, or BMP, as long as the image data contains an image capable of identifying the transaction object or a character string capable of identifying the transaction object. In this case, the bidding item registration unit 18 may register the image data itself, or may register the text data by converting the character string contained in the input image data into text data using an OCR function, or may register the text data input by the administrator, etc., after the image or character string contained in the input image data is confirmed by the administrator, etc. In addition, the text data input by the member user U may be included in a document file such as WORD or PDF, or may be text data directly input by the member user U on the screen displayed on the terminal 40. In this case, the bidding item registration unit 18 registers the text data itself, or data extracted from the text data capable of identifying the transaction object.

The bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses the bid items registered in the storage unit 12 by the bid item registration unit 18 to the member provider S, and at this time, determines which bid items to disclose, to which member provider S, and to what extent based on preset conditions, and discloses them. For example, the bid item disclosure unit 20 may set the transaction object and its category desired to be disclosed for each member provider S, and disclose them to the relevant member provider S only when a bid item indicating a transaction object matching the set transaction object or a bid item indicating a transaction object included in the set category of the transaction object is registered in the storage unit 12. Alternatively, the bid item disclosure unit 20 may set the member provider S to disclose all bid items registered in the storage unit 12.

Furthermore, the bid item disclosure unit 20 of this embodiment discloses at least some of the bid items registered in the storage unit 12 to the member provider S who has posted the transaction object on the specific website 50 in priority to other member providers S. Here, the specific website 50 is, for example, a real estate advertising site or a movable property EC site operated by the company operating the transaction support system 10 or its related companies, and there may be multiple such specific websites 50. For this reason, the transaction support system 10 is not limited to the example in which it is connected to the specific website 50 in an accessible manner as shown in FIG. 1, but may also be connected to the system of the company operating the specific website 50 or to a web server that realizes the specific website 50. In any case, the bid item disclosure unit 20 is capable of grasping the transaction object posted on the specific website 50.

The bid item disclosure unit 20 may also determine, based on a preset condition, which bid item is to be preferentially disclosed to which member provider S posted on a specific website 50 and to what extent. For example, the bid item disclosure unit 20 sets the trading object and its category for which preferential disclosure is desired for each member provider S posting a trading object on a specific website 50. That is, when a bid item indicating a trading object matching a trading object posted on a specific website 50 is registered, the bid item may be preferentially disclosed to the member provider S posting the trading object, or when a bid item indicating a trading object included in the same category as the trading object posted on a specific website 50 is registered, the bid item may be preferentially disclosed to the member provider S posting the trading object. Alternatively, the member providers S posting trading objects on a specific website 50 may include a member provider S who desires preferential disclosure of all bid items registered in the storage unit 12. When the preferential disclosure as described above is made, if the bidding between the member providers S that were preferentially disclosed is over and no successful bidder is found among those member providers S, the bidding item disclosure section 20 also discloses the item to other member providers S that were not preferentially disclosed.

The bid item disclosure unit 20 may also disclose the bid price registered by the bid price registration unit 22 together with the bid item, as described below. That is, to the member provider S to which the bid item is disclosed, the bid price registered in association with the bid item by a member provider S other than the member provider S may be disclosed. In this case, the bid price may be disclosed at the time it is registered by the other member provider S, or a notice may be given indicating that it can be disclosed at the time it is registered by the other member provider S. Conditions may also be set for such disclosure or notice; for example, disclosure or notice may be given when multiple different member providers S set the same bid price for the same bid item.

The bid price registration unit 22 links the bid price, which is input by the member provider S for the bid item disclosed by the bid item disclosure unit 20 and corresponds to the payment price for the transaction object, to the bid item and registers it in the storage unit 12. That is, for each bid item, the bid price registration unit 22 receives bid prices from all member providers S participating in the bid for that bid item via their respective terminals 42, and registers all of the bid prices in the storage unit 12 linked to each bid item. At this time, the bid price registration unit 22 may accept two or more registrations of bid prices for the same bid item from the same member provider S, and may register the most recently registered bid price among them as the most recent bid price of the member provider S who registered it. In this case, the storage unit 12 may hold the bid prices, including those input in the past, so that the transition of the bid prices registered multiple times by each member provider S can be understood.

The bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses to each member user U the bid prices of all member providers S who have registered bid prices for the bidding item registered by that member user U. For example, the bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses the bid prices registered up to that point when accessed by the member user U via the terminal 40. At this time, if a bid price has been registered two or more times for the same bidding item from the same member provider S, the bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses the most recently registered bid price. Furthermore, all bid prices registered multiple times by each member provider S may be disclosed to show the changes in bid prices for each member provider S.

The successful bid processing unit 26, upon receiving an intention to determine the successful bidder input from the member user U via the terminal 40, identifies the successful bidder member provider S and the winning bid details, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item. That is, the successful bid processing unit 26 receives input of at least the successful bidder member provider S and the intention to make a successful bid from the member user U, identifies the input member provider S as the successful bidder member provider S, and identifies the various conditions and the like presented by the member provider S and/or member user U at that time as the winning bid details. Then, as part of the successful bid processing, the successful bid processing unit 26 discloses at least one of the contact information of the member user U who registered the successful bid item and the contact information of the member provider S who won the successful bid item, both of which are registered in the registration unit 12. That is, the successful bid processing unit 26 communicates the contact information of the member user U to the member provider S, the contact information of the member provider S to the member user U, or both.

The successful bid processing unit 26 may also accept modifications to the successful bid content for a bid item for which a successful bid has already been confirmed. In this case, the successful bid processing unit 26 may accept modifications from either the successful bidder member provider S or the successful bidder member user U, or from both. When the successful bid processing unit 26 accepts modifications to the successful bid content from both the member provider S and the member user U, the successful bid processing unit 26 receives confirmation of the modifications from both the member provider S and the member user U and reconfirms the successful bid for the bid item. On the other hand, when the successful bid processing unit 26 accepts modifications to the successful bid content from either the member provider S or the member user U, the successful bid processing unit 26 receives confirmation of the modifications from the other party who has not made the modifications and reconfirms the successful bid for the bid item. Furthermore, the successful bid processing unit 26 may simultaneously identify multiple member providers S as successful bidders depending on the content of the bid item, particularly when the bid item is movable property. For example, when 200 masks are registered as a bidding item, the member user U may designate two member providers S that can provide 100 masks each as the successful bidders, and in such a case, the successful bid processing unit 26 simultaneously identifies those two member providers S as the successful bidders.

Here, each component of the transaction support system 10 as described above is divided into functional units, and is not divided into units of hardware such as computers that are actually used. In other words, two or more of the multiple components may be composed of a single piece of hardware, or one component may be composed of multiple pieces of hardware. Furthermore, any software can be applied to each piece of hardware, and the installation location and component equipment of each piece of hardware are also arbitrary. Furthermore, any connection method can be used to connect the hardware according to the relative positions of the hardware, and this method includes network connections such as the Internet.

Next, following the flow of the flow diagrams shown in Figures 2 and 3, a transaction support method using the transaction support system 10 shown in Figure 1 will be explained in two patterns, one in which the transaction object is real estate and one in which the transaction object is movable property. For the configuration of the transaction support system 10, please refer to Figure 1 as appropriate. Note that the flow diagrams shown in Figures 2 and 3 show an example of a procedural flow to explain a transaction support method using the transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the transaction support method is not limited to these flow diagrams, and may be a flow in which some of the steps shown in Figures 2 and 3 are deleted, changed, or added as appropriate, depending on the configuration and situation of the transaction support system 10, for example.

[When the transaction subject is real estate]
First, the basic flow of the transaction support method will be described with reference to FIG.
S10 (member registration): The member registration unit 16 registers users and providers who wish to use the transaction support system 10 based on information input by the users and providers. When the transaction object is real estate, the users are the buyers, sellers, lessees, and lessors of the real estate, and the providers are real estate agents. Real estate transactions include general real estate transactions such as leasing and buying and selling land and buildings, but the transactions actually handled by the transaction support system 10 may be limited to some of these, or other transactions may be added. For example, when a user registers as a member, the user uses the terminal 40 to launch a web browser or a dedicated application to access the transaction support system 10. FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen displayed on the terminal 40 at that time. When registering as a member, the user operates the member registration icon IC1 to move to the member registration screen and input information required for member registration. The information of the registered users and providers is stored in the storage unit 12 as member users U and member providers S. When a provider registers as a member, the provider also enters the required information on a dedicated screen displayed on the terminal 42 to register.

S20 (Selection of transaction object): The member user U selects the transaction object for which he/she wishes to place a bid. In the following, an example will be described in which the member user U is a buyer considering purchasing real estate. The member user U accesses various real estate advertising sites using the terminal 40 or the like, and searches for real estate that meets his/her desired conditions. The real estate advertising sites in this case may include the specific website 50 shown in FIG. 1. If a property that meets the conditions is found as a result of the search, the webpage on which the property is listed is bookmarked, or the like, so that the webpage can be accessed immediately. Note that the order of the above S10 and this step S20 may be reversed, and the transaction object may be selected first before membership registration.

S30 (Entering transaction object information): The real estate buyer (member user U) opens the web page on which the real estate selected in S20 is posted, copies the URL of that web page, and pastes the copied URL into the URL input box EB1 on a screen such as that shown in FIG. 4. Then, the next icon IC2 is operated to proceed to the registration process for the bidding item. If the transaction object information is to be entered using an image data file or document data file, the file icon IC3 is operated to register the file, and if it is to be entered by directly entering text data, the manual input icon IC4 is operated to enter the information. The login icon IC5 is used to perform the member's login process, and operations are usually performed while logged in. Furthermore, the site explanation icon IC6 is used to display an explanation of the site when the screen is displayed by a web browser.

S40 (Bidding item registration): The bidding item registration unit 18 registers the bidding item based on the information entered in S30. That is, since the URL pasted into the URL input box EB1 is that of the web page where the real estate is posted, the URL is registered as the bidding item as it is, as the information that can identify the real estate that the buyer (member user U) wishes to purchase. At this time, if the file or manually entered information entered in S30 is information that cannot directly identify the real estate, the information may be processed or added by an administrator or the like and registered as information that can directly identify the real estate, or the information may be registered as it is, as information to be added later. For example, FIG. 5 shows a list of registered bidding items. In the example of FIG. 5, the bidding items with item numbers 1, 5, and 6 are registered with the URL of the web page that can identify the real estate, and the bidding items with item numbers 2 and 4 are registered with the image or document file that can identify the real estate. In addition, the bidding items with item numbers 3 and 7 are registered with text data such as an address indicating the location of the real estate, and the bidding item with item number 8 is registered with the contact information of a person who has information about the real estate.

S50 (Bidding item determination): The bidding item disclosure unit 20 determines whether the real estate information registered as a bidding item in S40 above meets the pre-set priority disclosure requirements. If it is determined that the information meets the priority disclosure requirements (YES), the process proceeds to S60 to carry out priority disclosure, and if it is determined that the information does not meet the priority disclosure requirements (NO), the process proceeds to S90 to carry out normal disclosure.

S60 (Priority Disclosure of Bidding Items): The bidding item disclosure unit 20 discloses the real estate information determined to be equivalent to priority disclosure in S50 above to the real estate agent (member provider S) who is the priority disclosure recipient. For example, the real estate information (bidding item) that matches the real estate information registered as the bidding item in S40 above is disclosed to the real estate agent who has posted the real estate information on a specific website 50. As a method of disclosing real estate bidding items to each real estate agent, including not only priority disclosure items but also normal disclosure items, for example, a simple listing method can be mentioned, and the items may be listed by various criteria such as by date, by type of real estate, by region, etc. Also, instead of the simple listing method, the items may be directly disclosed to the real estate agent by various criteria such as by type of real estate, by region, or by the rank of the registered agent. More specifically, the items may be disclosed in a list such as that shown in FIG. 5. Regardless of the disclosure method, the disclosure information is transmitted to the terminal 42 used by the real estate agent to which the information is to be disclosed.

S70 (bidding process): Bidding takes place only between real estate agents (member providers S) who have been given preferential disclosure, and processing is carried out until the successful bid and the contents of the successful bid are determined. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.
S80 (Successful bid determination): If the result of the bidding process in S70 is that the successful bid has been confirmed (YES), the process proceeds to S120. If the successful bid has not been confirmed (NO), the process proceeds to S90.
S90 (normal disclosure of bid items): The bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses the real estate information determined not to be eligible for priority disclosure in S50 above to a real estate agent (member provider S) to whom the information is to be disclosed in accordance with preset conditions. Alternatively, the real estate information that was not successfully bid in the bidding process in S70 above is also disclosed to real estate agents other than the real estate agent that is the subject of priority disclosure, who are also recipients of the information in accordance with preset conditions. The specific disclosure method is the same as the method described in S60 above.

S100 (bidding process): Bidding is normally conducted between disclosed real estate agents (member providers S), and a process is carried out until the successful bid and the contents of the successful bid are determined. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.
S110 (Successful bid determination): As a result of the bidding process in S100, if the successful bid is confirmed (YES), the process proceeds to S120. If the successful bid is not confirmed (NO), the transaction is deemed not to have been concluded and the process ends.
S120 (Payment of system usage fee): When the successful bid is confirmed and the transaction is concluded, the successful bidder (member provider S) pays the prescribed system usage fee to the company operating the transaction support system 10, for example, via the transaction support system 10. Then, the transaction using the transaction support system 10 is completed.

Next, the flow of the bidding process, which corresponds to the processes of S70 and S100 in FIG. 2, will be described with reference to FIG.
S300 (bid price input): Each real estate agent (member provider S) inputs an affordable brokerage fee as a bid price for the real estate bidding item disclosed in S60 or S90 in Fig. 2 above. Specifically, the real estate agent inputs, via terminal 42, the brokerage fee that the real estate buyer (member user U) desires to purchase for the real estate. For example, Fig. 6 shows a screen displayed on terminal 42 for the real estate agent to input a bid price. In the example of Fig. 6, the real estate agent inputs a specific amount in bid price input box EB2.

S310 (bid price registration): The bid price entered in S300 above is registered in the registration unit 12 by the bid price registration unit 22 in association with the bid item. For example, when an input is made on a screen such as that shown in FIG. 6, the amount is entered in the bid price input box EB2, and the confirmation icon IC7 is operated to register the bid price and move to the confirmation screen. Also, when the cancel icon IC8 is operated on a screen such as that shown in FIG. 6, even if an amount is entered in the bid price input box EB2, the amount is not registered and the input and registration operation of the bid price is canceled. Note that the bid price registration unit 22 of this embodiment accepts the input and registration of bid prices from the same real estate agent multiple times for the same property, and the real estate agent may update the bid price multiple times within the bidding period.

S320 (bid price disclosure): The bid price is disclosed by the bid price disclosure unit 24 and the bid item disclosure unit 20. That is, the disclosure of the bid price by the bid price disclosure unit 24 is made to the real estate buyer (member user U) at the time when the real estate buyer performs an operation to request disclosure, for example. In this case, the bid prices of all real estate agents who have registered bid prices for the real estate that the real estate buyer wishes to purchase at the time of the real estate buyer's request are disclosed. For example, Figure 7 shows an example of a screen for disclosing such bid prices. In the example of Figure 7, bid prices registered by two real estate agents, agent member A and agent member B, are shown.

On the other hand, the bid price disclosure performed by the bid item disclosure unit 20 is made to the real estate agent, for example, when the real estate agent (member provider S) performs an operation to request disclosure or when preset conditions are met. In other words, the bid item disclosure unit 20 may disclose the bid prices registered by all real estate agents participating in the bidding for the real estate that the buyer wishes to purchase to all of those real estate agents, and may notify or disclose a new bid price registered by another real estate agent to encourage confirmation of the new bid price. The bid prices disclosed by both the bid price disclosure unit 24 and the bid item disclosure unit 20 include at least the most recently registered bid price by each real estate agent.

S330 (period determination): The bid price registration unit 22 determines whether the pre-set bidding period for the real estate bid item registered in S40 in FIG. 2 has passed. As a result, if it is determined that the pre-set bidding period has passed (YES), the process proceeds to S340, and if it is determined that the period has not yet passed (NO), the process returns to S300. In other words, until the pre-set bidding period has passed, the input and registration of bid prices in S300 to S320 above is accepted, and the bid price is also disclosed accordingly. The length of the bidding period to be set is arbitrary, and may be set by the buyer of the real estate (member user U) or by the administrator, etc. Alternatively, the process may proceed to S340 without setting a bidding period, for example, when the member user U closes the bid.

S340 (bid acceptance terminated): The bid acceptance for the real estate bidding item registered in S40 of FIG. 2 is terminated, and the bid price registration unit 22 is made to not accept any more bid prices from real estate agents (member providers S).
S350 (bidder intention determination): The buyer (member user U) who inputs the property he/she wishes to purchase in S30 in FIG. 2 determines whether there is a real estate agent (member provider S) participating in the bidding for that property that he/she would like to bid on that property that he/she would like to bid on. At this time, the buyer makes a comprehensive judgment based on the amount of the brokerage fee (bid price), the location of the real estate agent (company address), etc., and selects a real estate agent that is advantageous to him/her. If there is a real estate agent that would be a suitable bidder (YES), the process proceeds to S360. If there is no real estate agent that would be a suitable bidder (NO), the process ends the bidding process in S70 or S100 in FIG. 2, assuming that the current bid did not produce satisfactory results.

S360 (Successful bid input): The buyer of the property (member user U) selects the real estate agent that was judged acceptable as the successful bidder in S350 above, and performs input to determine the successful bidder. For example, when using the screen displayed on the terminal 40 as shown in Fig. 7, the real estate agent is selected by operating the selection icon IC9, and input to determine the successful bidder is performed. The cancel icon IC10 is used when canceling the selected real estate agent, etc.
S370 (Successful bid confirmation): The successful bid is confirmed by the successful bid processing unit 26. That is, the successful bid processing unit 26 confirms the real estate agent input by the member user U in S360 as the successful bidder, and further confirms the various conditions presented by the real estate agent, such as the brokerage fee, as the successful bid details.

S380 (Contact information disclosure): The successful bid processing unit 26 communicates the contact information of the buyer of the real estate (member user U) for the real estate for which a successful bid has been confirmed to the successful bidder real estate agent (member provider S), and/or communicates the contact information of the successful bidder real estate agent to the buyer of the real estate. Each contact information may be registered in the memory unit 12, and may be one of various communication methods such as telephone, SNS, e-mail, fax, short message, free phone app, etc. The method of disclosure may be any method that can be confirmed on the terminals 40 and 42.
S390 (Direct Contact): Using the contact information disclosed in S380 above, the real estate buyer (member user U) and the real estate agent (member provider S) make direct contact and, in some cases, arrange for a viewing of the property. Then, various conditions necessary for the contract are negotiated.

S400 (Determination of amendment of successful bid contents): As a result of the contact in S390, it is determined whether the conditions need to be adjusted and amendment of the successful bid contents is necessary. If it is determined that amendment is necessary (YES), the process proceeds to S410, and if it is determined that amendment is not necessary (NO), the necessary documents are exchanged between the buyer of the property and the real estate agent, and a sales contract is concluded.
S410 (Correction of successful bid details): The buyer of the real estate (member user U) and/or the real estate agent (member provider S) corrects the successful bid details once confirmed in S370 above, in accordance with the details of the adjustments made in S390 above. Any method of correction may be used as long as it can be executed from the terminals 40, 42.
S420 (Confirmation of Amendments): The buyer of the real estate (member user U) and/or the real estate agent (member provider S) confirms the amended successful bid details that reflect the amendments made in S410. Any method of confirmation may be used as long as it can be confirmed from the terminals 40 and 42.

S430 (reconfirmation of successful bid): Triggered by the confirmation received in S420, the successful bid processing unit 26 reconfirms the successful bid with the revised new successful bid details. Then, the buyer of the property and the real estate agent exchange necessary documents and the like, and a sales contract is concluded in accordance with the new successful bid details.
Here, in the above explanation, the case where the member user U is a buyer of real estate is explained, but the above explanation should be interpreted differently when the member user U is a seller, lessee, landlord, etc. of real estate. In other words, when the member user U is a seller of real estate, the explanation should be interpreted as requesting a real estate agent to mediate the sale of the real estate, and when the member user U is a tenant or landlord of real estate, the explanation should be interpreted as requesting a real estate agent to mediate the rental or lease of the real estate and ultimately concluding a rental contract.

[When the subject of the transaction is movable property]
Next, the transaction support method when the transaction object is movable property will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 again. Note that in cases where the transaction object is real estate, the description will be simplified or omitted. First, the basic flow will be described with reference to Figure 2.
S10 (member registration): The member registration unit 16 registers users and providers who wish to use the transaction support system 10 based on information entered by them. When the transaction object is movable property, the user is an individual or corporation wishing to purchase the movable property, and the provider is a distributor of the movable property. The specific registration method is the same as when the transaction object is real estate, and so a description thereof will be omitted.

S20 (Selection of trading object): The member user U selects the trading object for which he wishes to place a bid. In the following, an example will be explained in which the member user U is an individual who wishes to purchase a movable property (goods) and the member provider S is a seller. The member user U accesses various EC sites that handle movable property using a terminal 40 or the like, and searches for the movable property he wishes to purchase. The EC site for the movable property in this case may include the specific website 50 shown in FIG. 1. If the movable property he wishes to purchase is found as a result of the search, he or she makes the webpage on which the movable property is listed immediately accessible by, for example, bookmarking the webpage.
S30 (input of transaction object information): The person wishing to purchase the movable property (member user U) opens the web page on which the movable property selected in S20 above is posted, copies the URL of that web page, and pastes the URL into the URL input box EB1 on the screen shown in Figure 4, for example. Then, he operates the next icon IC2 to proceed to the registration process for the bid item. Explanations of other input methods are omitted here, as they are the same as those for real estate.

S40 (Bidding item registration): The bidding item registration unit 18 registers the bidding item based on the information entered in S30. That is, since the URL pasted into the URL input box EB1 is that of the web page where the movable property is posted, it is registered as the bidding item as it is, as the information that can identify the movable property that the purchaser (member user U) wishes to purchase. At this time, if the file or manually entered information entered in S30 is information that cannot directly identify the movable property, the information may be processed or added by an administrator or the like, and registered as the information that can directly identify the movable property, or it may be registered as it is, as the information to be added later. For example, FIG. 5 shows a list of registered bidding items. In the example of FIG. 5, the bidding items with item numbers 1, 5, and 6 are registered with the URL of the web page that can identify the movable property, and the bidding items with item numbers 2 and 4 are registered with the image or document file that can identify the movable property. In addition, the bidding items with item numbers 3 and 7 are registered with text data such as the model number and quantity of the movable property, and the bidding item with item number 8 is registered with the contact information of the manufacturer of the movable property, etc.

S50 (bidding item determination): The bidding item disclosure unit 20 determines whether the movable property information registered as a bidding item in S40 corresponds to the preset priority disclosure requirements. If it is determined that the movable property information corresponds to the priority disclosure (YES), the process proceeds to S60 to perform priority disclosure, and if it is determined that the movable property information does not correspond to the priority disclosure (NO), the process proceeds to S90 to perform normal disclosure.
S60 (priority disclosure of bid item): The bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses the movable property information determined to be eligible for priority disclosure in S50 above to the seller (member provider S) that is the target of priority disclosure. For example, the movable property information (bid item) is disclosed to a seller who has posted on a specific website 50 an item that matches the item indicated by the movable property information registered as the bid item in S40 above. The method of disclosing movable property bid items to each seller, including not only priority disclosure items but also normal disclosure items, is arbitrary, and examples include a simple enumeration method or disclosure in a list as shown in FIG. 5.

S70 (bidding process): Bidding takes place only between sellers (member providers S) that have been given preferential disclosure, and processing is carried out until the existence of a successful bid and the contents of the successful bid are determined. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.
S80 (Successful bid determination): If the result of the bidding process in S70 is that the successful bid has been confirmed (YES), the process proceeds to S120. If the successful bid has not been confirmed (NO), the process proceeds to S90.
S90 (normal disclosure of bid items): The bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses the movable property information determined not to be eligible for priority disclosure in S50 above to a seller (member provider S) to whom the information is to be disclosed in accordance with preset conditions. Alternatively, the movable property information for which a successful bid was not confirmed in the bidding process in S70 above is also disclosed to a seller other than the seller that is the subject of priority disclosure, who is also eligible for disclosure in accordance with preset conditions. The specific disclosure method is the same as the method described in S60 above.

S100 (bidding process): Bidding is normally conducted between disclosed sellers (member providers S), and a process is carried out until the existence of a successful bid and the contents of the successful bid are determined. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.
S110 (Successful bid determination): As a result of the bidding process in S100, if the successful bid is confirmed (YES), the process proceeds to S120. If the successful bid is not confirmed (NO), the transaction is deemed not to have been concluded and the process ends.
S120 (Payment of system usage fee): When the successful bid is confirmed and the transaction is concluded, the successful bidder (member provider S) pays a prescribed system usage fee to the company operating transaction support system 10, for example, via transaction support system 10. Then, the transaction using transaction support system 10 is completed.

Next, the flow of the bidding process, which corresponds to the processes of S70 and S100 in FIG. 2, will be described with reference to FIG.
S300 (bid price input): Each seller (member provider S) inputs a bid price within the range that they can handle (which may include shipping costs or may be stated separately) for the movable property bidding item disclosed in S60 or S90 in FIG. 2 above. Specifically, the seller inputs via terminal 42 the selling price that they desire for the movable property that the potential purchaser (member user U) wishes to purchase. For example, FIG. 6 shows a screen displayed on terminal 42 for the seller to input the bid price. In the example of FIG. 6, the seller inputs a specific amount in bid price input box EB2.

S310 (bid price registration): The bid price registration unit 22 links the bid price entered in S300 to the bidding item and registers it in the registration unit 12. The specific registration method is the same as when the transaction object is real estate, so a detailed explanation is omitted. Note that the bid price registration unit 22 in this embodiment accepts and registers multiple bid prices from the same seller for the same movable property.

S320 (bid price disclosure): The bid price is disclosed by the bid price disclosure unit 24 and the bid item disclosure unit 20. That is, the disclosure of the bid price by the bid price disclosure unit 24 is made to the potential purchaser (member user U) at the time when the potential purchaser performs an operation to request disclosure. In this case, the bid prices of all sellers who have registered bid prices for the movable property that the potential purchaser wishes to purchase at the time of the potential purchaser's request are disclosed. For example, Figure 7 shows an example of a screen for disclosing such bid prices. In the example of Figure 7, bid prices registered by two sellers, member A and member B, are shown.

On the other hand, the bid price disclosure made by the bidding item disclosure unit 20 is made to the seller, for example, when the seller (member provider S) performs an operation to request disclosure or when preset conditions are met. In other words, the bidding item disclosure unit 20 may disclose to all sellers the bid prices registered by all sellers participating in the bidding for the movable property that the potential purchaser wishes to purchase, and may notify or disclose a new bid price registered by another seller to encourage confirmation of the new bid price. The bid prices disclosed by both the bid price disclosure unit 24 and the bid item disclosure unit 20 shall include at least the most recently registered bid price by each seller.

S330 (period determination): The bid price registration unit 22 determines whether or not the preset bidding period has passed for the bid item for the movable property registered in S40 in Fig. 2. If it is determined that the preset bidding period has passed (YES), the process proceeds to S340, and if it is determined that the period has not yet passed (NO), the process returns to S300.
S340 (bid acceptance terminated): The bid acceptance for the movable property bidding item registered in S40 of FIG. 2 is terminated, and the bid price registration unit 22 is made to not accept any further bid price registrations from sellers (member providers S).

S350 (Determining intention to make a successful bid): The prospective purchaser (member user U) who entered the desired movable property in S30 in Figure 2 determines whether there is a seller (member provider S) participating in the bidding for that movable property who is willing to make the successful bid. At this time, the prospective purchaser makes a comprehensive judgment on the selling price of the movable property, shipping fee (bid price), arrival date, etc., and selects a seller who is advantageous to him/her. If there is a seller who is willing to make the successful bid (YES), the process proceeds to S360, and if there is no seller who is willing to make the successful bid (NO), it is determined that a satisfactory result was not obtained in this bid, and the bidding process in S70 or S100 in Figure 2 is terminated.

S360 (Successful bid input): The prospective purchaser (member user U) selects the seller who was judged acceptable as the successful bidder in S350 above, and performs input to determine the successful bidder. At this time, if the prospective purchaser desires multiple quantities of movable property, multiple sellers selling the same movable property may be selected as successful bidders to satisfy that quantity. The specific method is the same as for real estate, so an explanation is omitted.
S370 (Successful bid confirmation): The successful bid is confirmed by the successful bid processing unit 26. That is, the successful bid processing unit 26 confirms the seller input by the member user U in S360 as the successful bidder, and further confirms the selling price and other terms and conditions presented by that seller as the successful bid details. If multiple sellers were selected as successful bidders, all of those sellers are confirmed as successful bidders.

S380 (Contact information disclosure): The successful bid processing unit 26 communicates the contact information of the person who wishes to purchase the movable property (member user U) for which a successful bid has been confirmed to the seller (member provider S) who made the successful bid, and/or communicates the contact information of the seller who made the successful bid to the person who wishes to purchase the movable property. The content and method of this are the same as in the case of real estate, so a description thereof will be omitted.
S390 (Direct Contact): Using the contact information disclosed in S380 above, contact is made directly between the prospective purchaser (member user U) and the seller (member provider S) to confirm the details of the transaction and whether any adjustments need to be made.

S400 (decision to amend successful bid details): As a result of the contact made in S390, it is determined whether the transaction details need to be adjusted and whether the successful bid details need to be amended. If it is determined that amendments are necessary (YES), the process proceeds to S410. If it is determined that amendments are not necessary (NO), the necessary communication (order request, etc.) takes place between the potential buyer and the seller, and the transaction is concluded.
S410 (correction of successful bid details): The successful bid details confirmed in S370 above are corrected by the intended purchaser (member user U) and/or seller (member provider S) in accordance with the confirmation results, etc., made in S390 above.

S420 (Confirmation of amendments): The intended purchaser (member user U) and/or seller (member provider S) confirms the amended successful bid details that reflect the amendments made in S410 above via terminals 40, 42.
S430 (reconfirmation of successful bid): The confirmation received in S420 above triggers the successful bid processor 26 to reconfirm the successful bid with the revised new successful bid details. Then, necessary communication (order request, etc.) takes place between the would-be buyer and the seller, and the transaction is concluded in accordance with the new successful bid details.

Here, the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the transaction support method using the same are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art within the technical concept of the present invention. For example, the transaction object may be various real estate or movable property as long as it is tradable, including products such as used cars, jewelry, and furniture, and service products such as renovation work and interior construction work. In addition, although real estate and movable property are described separately above, they may be handled together by one transaction support system 10. Furthermore, the screens displayed on the terminals 40 and 42 are not limited to the examples shown in Figures 4 to 7, and may be any screen configuration for exchanging necessary data.

According to the embodiment of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the following effects can be obtained. That is, the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a memory unit 12, an interface unit 14, a member registration unit 16, a bid item registration unit 18, a bid item disclosure unit 20, a bid price registration unit 22, a bid price disclosure unit 24, and a successful bid processing unit 26, as shown in FIG. 1. The memory unit 12 holds various information used in the system 10, including member information, bid item information, bid prices, etc. The interface unit 14 is for transferring information between the terminal 40 used by the user and the terminal 42 used by the provider and the system 10, and includes a communication function using various networks, an information input/output function, etc.

The member registration unit 16 performs the member registration required for users and providers to use the system 10, and users are registered as member users U and providers as member providers S in the storage unit 12 along with various information including their respective contact information (see S10 in FIG. 2). The bidding item registration unit 18 registers, based on information input from the member user U via the terminal 40 and the interface unit 14, information that can identify the transaction object for which the member user U wishes to place a bid, as a bidding item in the storage unit 12 (see S40 in FIG. 2). That is, the member user U inputs information that can directly or indirectly identify the transaction object for which a bid is desired to be made into the terminal 40, and the bidding item registration unit 18 that receives the information registers the input information as a bidding item, either as is or after processing it.

The bidding item disclosure unit 20 discloses the bidding items registered in the storage unit 12 to the member provider S, for example, by displaying the bidding items as shown in FIG. 5. The range of bidding items disclosed to each member provider S and the range of information accompanying each bidding item are set arbitrarily according to the situation (see S90 in FIG. 2). The bidding price registration unit 22 links the bid price, which is input by the member provider S via a screen as shown in FIG. 6, for the bidding items disclosed by the bidding item disclosure unit 20, to the bidding item and registers it in the storage unit 12 (see S310 in FIG. 3). That is, each member provider S inputs a bid price that he or she can handle for a bidding item that he or she wants to participate in among the bidding items disclosed to him or her via the terminal 42 (see S300 in FIG. 3). Then, the bid price registration unit 22, which receives it via the interface unit 14, links it to the bidding item and registers it in the storage unit 12, so that the bidding item for which bid prices have been input from multiple member providers S is linked to those multiple bid prices.

The bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses to the member user U the bid prices of all member providers S who have registered bid prices for the bidding item registered by the member user U (see S320 in FIG. 3). In other words, the bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses the bid prices registered in association with each bidding item to the member user U who registered the bidding item via the interface unit 14 and the terminal 40, and the bid prices disclosed at that time include those of all member providers S who have input bid prices for the bidding item. The successful bid processing unit 26 receives input from the member user U via the terminal 40, identifies the successful member provider S and the successful bid contents, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item (see S370 in FIG. 3). That is, the member user U checks the bid prices disclosed by the bid price disclosure unit 24, for example, via a screen as shown in FIG. 7, and if there is a bid price that the member user U is satisfied with, specifies the member provider S who has submitted the bid price, and inputs that the person with whom the transaction will be performed has been decided (see S360 in FIG. 3). The successful bid processing unit 26 that receives it identifies the member provider S designated by the member user U and the successful bid details including the bid price and various conditions presented by the member provider S, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item.

With the above-described configuration, the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can use a bidding system to compete for the payment price paid by the member user U to the member provider S for the transaction object specified by the member user U, allowing the member user U to select the member provider S and conduct a transaction under conditions favorable to the member user U. Furthermore, for the member provider S, the bidding items for various transaction objects that each member provider S can handle are disclosed by the bidding item disclosure unit 20, increasing the opportunities for the member provider S to participate in bidding that may result in a transaction, and therefore, even if the payment price obtained for each transaction is low, the possibility of increasing profits can be increased. This makes it possible to stimulate transactions of various transaction objects.

In addition, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the member user U inputs at least one of the following information via the terminal 40 in order for the bid item registration unit 18 to register the bid item: the URL of a web page on which information about the transaction object is posted, image data on which the information about the transaction object is displayed, and text data showing the information about the transaction object, via a screen such as that shown in FIG. 4 (see S30 in FIG. 2). For example, in the case of a web page on which information about the transaction object is posted, the URL of that page is input to the bid item registration unit 18 by copying and pasting, etc. Any of the above-mentioned input information can be easily input by the member user U via the terminal 40, lowering the threshold for the member user U to register a bid item and making transactions more active.

In addition, in the transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transaction object registered as a bidding item may be real estate such as land or a building, the payment price competed as a bid price may be a real estate brokerage fee, and the member provider S may be a real estate agent. Furthermore, the member user U may include at least some of the buyers, sellers, tenants, and lessors of real estate. With this configuration, the real estate agent who is the member provider S may access many items registered as bidding items and participate in transactions. And even if the brokerage fee is reduced to participate in bidding and the success rate is increased, the brokerage fee obtained for each item may decrease, and the opportunities to participate in bidding may increase, which may result in an increase in the number of items that are won, which may lead to increased profits.

In addition, if the member user U is a landlord of real estate, by registering the property he/she wishes to rent as a bidding item, he/she can instantly convey the property information to multiple real estate agents who wish to act as intermediaries, and he/she can select the real estate agent who presents the most suitable conditions as the real estate agent who will intermediate the rental property. This significantly reduces the effort required to make requests to real estate agents, which was previously done individually, and shortens the period until the property is actually available for rental, thereby reducing the risk of a blank period in which rent is not received. Furthermore, if the member user U sets the amount of compensation, such as the landlord's wishes or the commission fee to be paid to the intermediary real estate agent at the time of contract completion, when registering the bidding item, he/she can be relieved from the task of face-to-face negotiations regarding the amount of compensation. In addition, if the member user U is a tenant of real estate, he/she can easily find a real estate agent who can intermediate the rental contract by finding the property he/she wishes to rent on a rental property information site, etc., and registering the property information as a bidding item. In addition, if there are multiple such real estate agents, he/she can compare each condition, such as the brokerage fee and location, select the real estate agent that is most suitable for the tenant, and request rental intermediation.

On the other hand, if the member user U is a seller of real estate, by registering the property he/she wishes to sell as a bidding item, he/she can notify multiple real estate agents of his/her intention to sell the property at the same time, and can select the real estate agent who presents the most suitable conditions from among those real estate agents. As a result, the request work, which previously relied on offline manual methods, can be completed by registering the bidding item in the system 10, so that the work effort can be significantly reduced, and further, the brokerage fee at the time of the conclusion of the contract can be suppressed by bidding. On the other hand, if the member user U is a buyer of real estate, he/she can easily find a real estate agent who can be requested to mediate the sale and purchase by finding the property he/she wishes to purchase on a property sales information site, etc., and registering the property information as a bidding item. Then, if there are multiple such real estate agents, it is possible to compare each condition, such as brokerage fee and location, and select the real estate agent who is considered to be most suitable for the buyer and request the brokerage and purchase.

In addition, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the transaction object registered as a bidding item may be movable property including various products, and the payment price competed as a bid price may be the selling price of the movable property itself and the cost of purchasing the movable property including shipping fee. In this case, the member provider S is a seller who sells the movable property, and the member user U is an individual or corporation who wishes to purchase the movable property. With this configuration, the member provider S, such as a seller, can access many items registered as bidding items and participate in many transactions that each of them can handle. Then, by lowering the bid price and participating in the bid to increase the success rate, and by increasing the number of bids participated in and the number of successful bids, an increase in profits can be expected. Furthermore, an individual or corporation as a member user U can easily grasp multiple vendors selling the product by finding a product that he or she wishes to purchase on an EC site, etc., and registering the product as a bidding item. Then, the member user U can compare the various conditions such as the selling price and shipping fee of such multiple vendors, select the vendor that is most suitable for the member user U, and request the sale.

Furthermore, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the bidding item disclosure unit 20 discloses at least some of the bidding items registered by the bidding item registration unit 18 to the member provider S who has posted the transaction object on the specific website 50 in preference to other member providers S (see S60 in FIG. 2). That is, when disclosing at least some of the bidding items, the bidding item disclosure unit 20 discloses the bidding items only to the member provider S who has posted the transaction object on the specific website 50 before disclosing them to other member providers S, and allows bidding only between the disclosed member providers S. Then, if the member provider S who has been preferentially disclosed fails to win the bid, the bidding item is also disclosed to the other member providers S. This can encourage an increase in the number of providers who post transaction objects on the specific website 50, which can enrich the variety and quantity of transaction objects posted on the specific website 50, thereby increasing the frequency of use of both the system 10 and the specific website 50, making it possible to further stimulate transactions.

Furthermore, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when a bidding item indicating a trading object matching a trading object posted on a specific website 50 is among the bidding items registered by the bidding item registration unit 18, and the provider who posted the trading object on the specific website 50 is a member provider S registered in the present system 10, the bidding item disclosure unit 20 may preferentially disclose to the member provider S the bidding item indicating the trading object matching the trading object posted by the member provider S. This can further encourage use of the present system 10 and the specific website 50.

Furthermore, in the transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses to the member provider S to whom the bid item has been disclosed, the bid price registered in association with the bid item by another member provider S different from the member provider S to which the bid item has been disclosed (see S320 in FIG. 3). In other words, when the same bid item is disclosed to multiple member providers S, the bid item disclosure unit 20 discloses to each of those member providers S the bid prices registered by the other member providers S. Thus, each member provider S can check the bid prices of the other member providers S participating in the same bid item as itself.

Meanwhile, the bid price registration unit 22 can update the bid price in response to a request from a member provider S who has checked the bid prices of other member providers S and wishes to change his/her own bid price by accepting two or more registrations of bid prices for the same bidding item from the same member provider S. Then, when disclosing the bid price to the member user U, the bid price disclosure unit 24 discloses the bid price most recently registered by each member provider S, allowing the member provider S to select the successful bidder. This can encourage competition among multiple member providers S and make it easier to provide a bid price that satisfies the member user U, thereby revitalizing transactions.

In addition, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the interface unit 14, which transfers information between the terminals 40, 42 used by the user and provider and the system 10, transfers information via a web browser or a dedicated application installed on the terminals 40, 42 of the user and provider. That is, when the interface unit 14 uses a web browser, the web browser displays a screen for inputting and outputting information on the display unit of the terminals 40, 42, and information can be transferred using the screen. When a dedicated application is used, information can be transferred through a screen displayed on the display unit of the terminals 40, 42 by the dedicated application started on the terminals 40, 42. In either case, information can be transferred smoothly by displaying an intuitively operable screen on the terminals 40, 42.

In addition, in the transaction support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the successful bid processing unit 26, which confirms the successful bid for a bidding item, discloses at least one of the contact information of the member user U who registered the successful bid item and the contact information of the member provider S who won the bidding item (see S380 in FIG. 3). This allows the member user U and member provider S to communicate directly after the successful bid, making it possible to carry out post-successful work smoothly.

Moreover, the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can respond to cases where it becomes necessary to make changes to the successful bid content at the time of the successful bid as a result of communication between the member user U and the member provider S directly or via the system 10 after the successful bid for a bid item for which a successful bid has been confirmed. That is, the successful bid processing unit 26 receives revisions to the successful bid content from either or both of the member provider S and the member user U to reflect the above-mentioned changes. The successful bid processing unit 26 then reconfirms the successful bid by receiving confirmation of the revised successful bid content from either or both of the member provider S and the member user U, preferably from both if both have revised the successful bid content, or from the remaining if either has revised the successful bid content (see S410 to S430 in FIG. 3). In this way, by flexibly responding to changes in the successful bid content of a case after the successful bid, a transaction that satisfies both the member user U and the member provider S can be carried out.

Furthermore, in the transaction support system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the successful bid processing unit 26 may simultaneously identify multiple member providers S as successful bidders depending on the content of the bid item, particularly when the bid item is movable property. This makes it easier for the member user U to obtain the desired transaction object, and increases the opportunities for the member provider S to win the bid item, further stimulating transactions.

10: transaction support system, 12: memory unit, 14: interface unit, 16: member registration unit, 18: bidding item registration unit, 20: bidding item disclosure unit, 22: bidding price registration unit, 24: bidding price disclosure unit, 26: successful bid processing unit, 40, 42: terminal, 50: specific website, U: member user, S: member provider

Claims (8)

A system for supporting transactions between providers and users of a transaction object by determining a payment price for the transaction object through a bidding system, comprising:
A storage unit for storing a plurality of pieces of information to be used in the system;
an interface unit for transmitting and receiving information between the system and terminals used by the users and the providers;
a member registration unit for registering the user and the provider in the storage unit as a member user and a member provider who use the system;
a bidding item registration unit that registers, in the storage unit as a bidding item, information that can identify the transaction object for which the member user wishes to make a bid based on information input by the member user;
a bidding item disclosure unit for disclosing the bidding item to member providers;
a bid price registration unit that registers in the storage unit a bid price equivalent to the payment price input by a member provider for the bid item disclosed by the bid item disclosure unit in association with the bid item;
a bid price disclosure unit that discloses to a member user bid prices of all member providers who have registered bid prices for a bidding item registered by the member user;
a successful bid processing unit that receives input from a member user, identifies the successful member provider and the successful bid details, and confirms the successful bid for the bidding item;
the bidding item disclosure unit discloses at least a portion of the bidding items registered by the bidding item registration unit to a member provider who has posted a transaction object on a specific website in preference to other member providers, and when the member provider who has been preferentially disclosed fails to win the bid, discloses the bidding items to the other member providers as well;
The bidding item disclosure unit grasps the trading objects posted on the specific website, and preferentially discloses the bidding items to the member providers who have posted the bidding items on the specific website that match the trading objects indicated by the information registered as the bidding items or that are included in the same category,
The specific website is operated by the company that operates the transaction support system or an affiliate of the company,
The bidding item registration unit is characterized in that the URL of a web page on which information of the transaction object is posted is input as information of the transaction object input by a member user to register it as a bidding item . 2. A transaction support system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the object of the transaction is real estate, the payment price is a brokerage fee, the member provider is a real estate agent, and the member users include at least some of the buyers, sellers, tenants, and lessors of the real estate. 2. A transaction support system according to claim 1 , wherein the transaction object is movable property, and the payment price is the cost of purchasing the movable property. The bid item disclosure unit discloses, to a member provider to which the bid item is to be disclosed, a bid price registered in association with the bid item by a member provider different from the member provider,
the bid price registration unit accepts two or more registrations of bid prices for the same bidding item from the same member provider,
4. A transaction support system according to claim 1, wherein said bid price disclosure section discloses the most recently registered bid price for each member provider. 5. A transaction support system according to claim 1, wherein the interface unit transfers information via a web browser or a dedicated application installed on the terminal. A transaction support system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the successful bid processing unit discloses at least one of the contact information of the member user who registered the successful bid item and the contact information of the member provider who won the successful bid item. The transaction support system described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the winning bid processing unit reconfirms the successful bid for a bidding item for which a successful bid has been confirmed by receiving revisions to the winning bid contents from either or both of the member provider who made the successful bid and the member user who was the successful bid, and by receiving confirmation of the revised winning bid contents from either or both of them. 8. A transaction support system according to claim 1, wherein said successful bid processing unit simultaneously identifies a plurality of member providers as successful bidders depending on the contents of a bid item.

Images