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Methods and apparatus for anonymously requesting bids from a customer specified quantity of local vendors with automatic geographic expansion

  • US 20060155609A1
  • Filed: 01/07/2005
  • Published: 07/13/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of requesting bids from a plurality of vendors, the method comprising:

  • storing product information and geographical information for each of the plurality of vendors;

    receiving a request for a product from a customer, the request including data indicative of the product, data indicative of a desired delivery location, and data indicative of a quantity of a plurality of desired responses;

    determining that a first geographical area is closer to the desired delivery location than a second geographical area is to the desired delivery location;

    selecting a first quantity of vendors associated with the first geographical area;

    selecting a second quantity of vendors associated with the second geographical area if the first quantity of vendors is less than the quantity of desired responses;

    storing a unique message identifier associated with a unique customer identifier of the customer; and

    sending a first electronic message to the first and second quantity of vendors in response to selecting the first and second quantity of vendors, the first electronic message including the unique message identifier, the first electronic message excluding the unique customer identifier.

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