Systems and Methods for Dynamic Pricing and Auction Adjudication During Online Auctions
First Claim
1. A method running under a processor of an auction system, the method comprising:
- receiving at the auction system a plurality of bids on an item at auction, wherein the auction system is an internet-based auction system;
automatically evaluating a reserve price of the item and, when determining the reserve price is too high, adjusting the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid of the plurality of bids is less than the reserve price;
when the adjusted reserve price is at least one of equal to and less than the highest bid, automatically awarding the item to a high bidder corresponding to the highest bid; and
when the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid, automatically sending a first electronic message to the high bidder to inform the high bidder that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as the high bidder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic auction system hosting an auction includes a pricing and an adjudication application. The pricing application adjusts an opening price of an auction item to be less than a reserve price in response to buyer interest factors. The adjudication application receives bids on the item and automatically evaluates a reserve price and, when determining the reserve price is too high, adjusts the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid is less than the reserve price. When the adjusted reserve price is equal to or less than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically awards the item to a high bidder. When the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically sends an electronic message to the high bidder to inform that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as high bidder.
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Citations
84 Claims
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1. A method running under a processor of an auction system, the method comprising:
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receiving at the auction system a plurality of bids on an item at auction, wherein the auction system is an internet-based auction system; automatically evaluating a reserve price of the item and, when determining the reserve price is too high, adjusting the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid of the plurality of bids is less than the reserve price; when the adjusted reserve price is at least one of equal to and less than the highest bid, automatically awarding the item to a high bidder corresponding to the highest bid; and when the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid, automatically sending a first electronic message to the high bidder to inform the high bidder that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as the high bidder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system comprising:
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an auction system including a processor and a database coupled to a network and hosting an auction on the network; and an adjudication application running on the auction system, the adjudication application receiving a plurality of bids on an item during the auction and automatically evaluating a reserve price of the item and, when determining the reserve price is too high, adjusting the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid of the plurality of bids is less than the reserve price, wherein when the adjusted reserve price is at least one of equal to and less than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically awards the item to a high bidder corresponding to the highest bid, wherein when the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically sends an electronic message to the high bidder to inform the high bidder that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as the high bidder. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method running under a processor of an auction system that is an internet-based system, the method comprising:
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in response to buyer interest factors that correspond to an item begin auctioned during an action hosted by the auction system, dynamically adjusting an opening price of the item to be less than a reserve price of the item during at least one iteration of the auction; and receiving at the auction system a plurality of bids on the item and, when the plurality of bids on the item is greater than the opening price and lower than the reserve price of the item, automatically determining the reserve price is too high and adjusting the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid of the plurality of bids is less than the reserve price; when the adjusted reserve price is at least one of equal to and less than the highest bid, automatically awarding the item to a high bidder corresponding to the highest bid; when the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid, automatically sending an electronic message to the high bidder to inform the high bidder that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as the high bidder. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A system comprising:
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an auction system including a processor and a database coupled to a network and hosting an auction on the network; a pricing application running on the auction system and dynamically adjusting an opening price of the item to be less than a reserve price of the item during at least one iteration of the auction in response to buyer interest factors that correspond to the item; and an adjudication application running on the auction system and automatically determining a reserve price of the item is too high and adjusting the reserve price to an adjusted reserve price when a highest bid of a plurality of bids is less than the reserve price, wherein when the adjusted reserve price is at least one of equal to and less than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically awards the item to a high bidder corresponding to the highest bid, wherein when the adjusted reserve price is greater than the highest bid the adjudication application automatically sends an electronic message to the high bidder to inform the high bidder that the reserve price has been adjusted and to inform of their status as the high bidder. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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Specification