A method and system are provided for using a computer to facilitate a
sales transaction between a group of buyers and at least one seller.
Potential buyers may create a group organized for purchasing a
product/service from one or more sellers. The computer system may output
the buyers' collective request for the product/service to one or more
sellers of the requested item. The sellers may respond by providing a
price quotation for the requested item, often on the basis of the number
of such items to be purchased by the group. The computer system notifies
group members of the submitted seller quotations, in response to which
some buyers may commit themselves to purchasing the item at the specified
price or otherwise indicating a price at which they would be willing to
commit to purchasing the item. Sellers may review the price quotations
submitted by other sellers and submit competing price quotations. In a
typical arrangement, an iterative process ensues in which sellers offer
lower and lower prices for the requested products/services until reaching
a point at which one or more buyers in the group are sufficiently
comfortable with the price to commit themselves to purchasing the
product/service.