| 摘要 |
The present invention is an electronic, Internet-based system, and method for practicing same, which provides a potential buyer of an automobile the ability to search for, compare, identify and make an offer to purchase an automobile, which offer is transmitted to an automobile dealer. In the inventive electronic, Internet-based system, a potential buyer accesses a first user interface through a hyper-link directly from a participating automobile dealer's Internet site or from an advertisement tied to an automobile dealer (100). The act of accessing a first user interface through either form of hyper-link designates said automobile dealer as a target automobile dealer for the current potential buyer (110). By accessing the first user interface, a potential buyer may: i) configure the characteristics and options available for a desired automobile (120); ii) view available pricing information on the selected automobile configuration (130); and iii) make an offer to the target automobile dealer for the purchase of the selected automobile having the selected configuration (140), generating an offer transmittal to be sent to the target automobile dealer (150). After the target automobile dealer receives the offer transmittal (160-170), the target automobile dealer may contact the potential buyer directly to discuss the offer for the configured automobile (180). During such direct contact, the potential buyer is in a bargaining position which provides more comfort, advantages, and bargaining power to the potential buyer. |
