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Computer auction system

  • US 5,890,138 A
  • Filed: 08/26/1996
  • Issued: 03/30/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/26/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method of auctioning product on-line where computer terminals of potential purchasers are used to access a computer site comprising an auction server computer, said method comprising(a) assigning to each product a designated time for the product to be auctioned,(b) carrying out an auction at substantially the designated time by setting a fixed time period for completing the auction, displaying a current price for the product and decreasing the price of the product as the time remaining in the auction decreases, displaying the quantity of product remaining to be auctioned and decreasing the quantity to immediately reflect instructions from purchasers of their desire to purchaser the product as the instructions are received during the auction to provide dynamic feedback to potential purchasers during the auction,(c) providing each potential purchaser with a designated actuation control for instructing the computer site of the decision to purchase the product at the current price at the time of receiving the instructions,(d) removing a potential purchaser from the auction upon said purchaser operating the actuation control to purchase the product at the displayed current price at the time the instructions are received and decreasing the quantity of product remaining to be auctioned,(e) continuing to decrease said price in step (c) and to display the price and the decreased quantity of product remaining to each potential purchaser not removed in step (d);

  • (f) registering potential purchasers and obtaining and recording financial data for automated payment of purchased product,(g) increasing the remaining quantity if a preselected time limit for obtaining said financial data is exceeded, and(h) upon receipt of said financial information within the preselected time limit, initiating a transfer of funds to complete the sale of the product and confirming the purchase of the product at the current price to the potential purchaser by sending a message confirming the purchase to the potential purchaser.

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