Pubwan virtual objects (PVO's) are abstract representations of actual objects identified and described by pubwan volunteers. The represented objects would in most cases be items identified by volunteers as available for sale to the public. Base classes of such objects would be identified in a pubwan database in such a way that objects would be considered of the same class to the extent that they are "indistinguishable," in an "economic" sense. For many mass-produced consumer goods, the UPC (Universal Product Code) would be sufficiently one-to-one with these "classes." For some other manufactured goods, "make" and "model" might comprise a workable "key." Some "one-of-a-kind" items would of course be in a class by themselves. We shall refer to these "base classes" as PVO's of the "simple" ty