Auction of multiple heterogeneous items among multiple buyers and sellers using software agents linked via a communication network

• US 20030208408A1
• Filed: 05/03/2002
• Published: 11/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Garg, Rahul, Mishra, Debasis
• Granted Patent: US 7,472,076 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0617 Representative agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for conducting an online auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties. The method includes the the steps of accepting an offer in respect of an item, accepting one or more subsequent offers that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer, and rejecting the previously accepted offer. While the offer/s is/are binding on a party making the offer, acceptance of the offer/s is/are not binding on a party accepting the offer. Classes of “seller strategies”, for offering items to potential purchasing parties, and “buyer strategies”, to decide which offers to accept, are also disclosed. As a result of the interaction of the buyer and seller strategies, the auction mechanism converges to an allocation of items to buyers at particular prices and assists in discovering a free and fair competitive equilibrium price. The auction is performed using terminals connected via a communications network and software-based agents hosted on the terminals, wherein the software-based agents act on behalf of the participating parties.

Claims

1. A method for conducting an auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, said method including the the steps of:

accepting an offer in respect of an item;

accepting one or more subsequent offer/s that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding on the accepting party; and

one or more of said steps is/are performed using software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties, said software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said offers is only accepted if the offer provides a surplus of at least a minimum surplus amount, wherein said surplus is a function of a current price of said item.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each preferable offer that provides an increased surplus compared to a surplus provided by a previously accepted offer is accepted.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a surplus comprises a function selected from the group consisting of:

the difference between the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item and the current price of said item;

the difference between the current price of said item and the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item;

the ratio of the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item to the current price of said item;

the ratio of the current price of said item to the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item;

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price decreases; and

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price increases.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein acceptance of said offer/s is binding on a party accepting said offer/s when said auction closes.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said auction opens and closes at specified times.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said auction starts at a specified time and closes when no further offers are made for a specified period of time.

8. The method of claim 5, including the additional steps of:

making a binding offer to purchase said item at a specified initial price;

making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time and if said increased price is less than a specified maximum price.

9. The method of claim 8, including the additional step of making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is rejected by each party said offer was made to.

10. The method of claim 5, including the additional steps of:

making a binding offer to sell said item at a specified initial price;

making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time; and

withdrawing said item from the auction if said reduced price is lower than or equal to a specified reserve price.

11. The method of claim 10, including the additional step of making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is rejected by each party said offer was made to.

12. The method of any one of claims 1, 5, 8 and 10, wherein said item comprises one of the group consisting of:

a single good;

multiple goods bundled together;

a single service;

multiple services bundled together; and

a combination of goods and services bundled together.

13. The method of any one of claims 1, 5, 8 and 10, wherein said terminals comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of computer systems, electronic terminals, personal digital assistants (PDA'"'"'s), and mobile telephones.

14. A method for conducting a descending price auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, said method including the the steps of:

accepting an offer in respect of an item at a specified price;

accepting one or more subsequent offer/s that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding on the accepting party; and

one or more of said steps is/are performed using software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties, said software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network.

15. A system for conducting an auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, including:

processing means for accepting an offer in respect of an item;

processing means for accepting one or more subsequent offers that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

processing means for rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding; and

one or more of said processing means comprise software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network, said software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of said offers is only accepted if a respective offer provides a surplus of at least a minimum surplus amount, wherein said surplus is a function of a current price of said item.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each preferable offer that provides an increased surplus to a surplus provided by a previously accepted offer is accepted.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein a surplus comprises a function selected from the group consisting of:

the difference between the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item and the current price of said item;

the difference between the current price of said item and the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item;

the ratio of the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item to the current price of said item;

the ratio of the current price of said item to the accepting party'"'"'s valuation of said item;

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price increases; and

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price decreases.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein acceptance of said offer/s is binding on a party accepting said offer/s when said auction closes.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said auction opens and closes at specified times.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said auction starts at a specified time and closes when no further offers are made for a specified period of time.

22. The system of claim 19, further including:

processing means for making a binding offer to purchase said item at a specified initial price;

processing means for making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time and if said increased price is less than a specified maximum price.

23. The system of claim 22, further including processing means for making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is rejected by each party said offer was made to.

24. The system of claim 19, further including:

processing means for making a binding offer to sell said item at a specified initial price;

processing means for making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time; and

processing means for withdrawing said item from the auction if said reduced price is lower than or equal to a specified reserve price.

25. The system of claim 24, further including processing means for making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is rejected by each party said offer was made to.

26. The system of any one of claims 15, 19, 22 and 24, wherein said item comprises one of the group consisting of:

a single good;

multiple goods bundled together;

a single service;

multiple services bundled together; and

a combination of goods and services bundled together.

27. The system of any one of claims 15, 19, 22 and 24, wherein said terminals include one or more selected from the group consisting of computer systems, electronic terminals, personal digital assistants (PDA'"'"'s), and mobile telephones.

28. A system for conducting a descending price auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, including:

processing means for accepting an offer in respect of an item at a specified price;

processing means for accepting one or more subsequent offers that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

processing means for rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding; and

one or more of said processing means comprise software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network, said software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties.

29. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for conducting an auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, said computer program product including:

computer program code means for accepting an offer in respect of an item;

computer program code means for accepting one or more subsequent offers at a revised price that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

computer program code means for rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding; and

one or more of said computer program code means comprise software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network, said software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein each of said offers is only accepted if the offer provides a surplus of at least a minimum surplus amount, wherein said surplus is a function of a current price of said item.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein each preferable offer that provides an increased surplus compared to a surplus provided by a previously accepted offer is accepted.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein a surplus comprises a function selected from the group consisting of:

the difference between the current price of said item and a valuation of said item;

the difference between a valuation of said item and the current price of said item;

the ratio of the current price of said item to a valuation of said item;

the ratio of a valuation of said item to the current price of said item;

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price increases; and

a function of the current price of said item that increases as said current price decreases.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein acceptance of said offer/s is binding when said auction closes.

34. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein said auction opens and closes at specified times.

35. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein said auction starts at a specified time and closes when no further offers are made for a specified period of time.

36. The computer program product of claim 33, further including:

computer program code means for making a binding offer to purchase said item at a specified initial price;

computer program code means for making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time and if said increased price is less than a specified maximum price.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, further including computer program code means for making a subsequent binding offer to purchase said item at an increased price if a current offer is rejected.

38. The computer program product of claim 33, further including:

computer program code means for making a binding offer to sell said item at a specified initial price;

computer program code means for making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is not accepted within a specified period of time; and

computer program code means for withdrawing said item from the auction if said reduced price is lower than or equal to a specified reserve price.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, further including computer program code means for making a subsequent binding offer to sell said item at a reduced price, if a current offer is rejected.

40. The computer program product of any one of claims 29, 33, 36 and 38, wherein said item comprises one of the group consisting of:

a single good;

multiple goods bundled together;

a single service;

multiple services bundled together; and

a combination of goods and services bundled together.

41. The computer program product of any one of claims 29, 33, 36 and 38, wherein said terminals include one or more selected from the group consisting of computer systems, electronic terminals, personal digital assistants (PDA'"'"'s), and mobile telephones.

42. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for conducting a descending price auction of a plurality of heterogeneous items between a plurality of selling and potential purchasing parties, said computer program product including:

computer program code means for accepting an offer in respect of an item at a specified price;

computer program code means for accepting one or more subsequent offers at a revised price that is/are preferable to a previously accepted offer; and

computer program code means for rejecting said previously accepted offer;

wherein

acceptance of each of said offers is not binding; and

one or more of said computer program code means comprise software-based agents hosted on terminals connected via a communication network, said software-based agents acting on behalf of said parties.