A method for buying commodities comprising identifying suppliers of commodities
having surplus capacities; entering into take or pay supply agreements for a plurality
of commodities with one or more of said suppliers, each of said supply agreements
specifying a cost for an individual commodity, said cost being less than market
cost for said individual commodity in the absence of said take or pay supply agreement.
A method of selling commodities comprising identifying combinations of commodities
which are generally used by industrial consumers and establishing a price for each
combination, said price being lower than the sum of said market costs of said individual
commodities; and establishing a Web site at which said identified combinations
of commodities are offered for sale at said price, wherein no price for an individual
commodity is quoted. The method of buying and selling can be combined. A computer
system for implementing the method delivers Web pages offering for sale to industrial
customers a combination of individual commodities at a price which is lower than
the sum of the market prices of the individual commodities.
