Multiple auction coordination method and system

Abstract

A multi-auction service system and method for replicating an item to be auctioned at a plurality of remote auction services, where the multi-auction service detects bids at the plurality of remote auction services for the item in order to replicate the optimal bid at each of the remote auction services such that the optimal bid is afforded to a bidder or seller.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of coordinating an auction for an item between a multi-auction service, a plurality of remote auction services, and a plurality of bidders, the multi-auction service performing the steps of: 
 a) detecting that at least one bid for an item has been received by at least one of the remote auction services;    b) determining which, if any, of the remote auction services should receive a replicated bid;    c) transmitting the replicated bid to each of the remote auction services so determined.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the steps of: 
 d) receiving selling parameters from the seller representative of the item to be auctioned and preferences for the auction process;  
 e) storing the indicia representative of the item to be auctioned in memory associated with the multi-auction service.  
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising the step of determining by the multi-auction service and/or the seller on which of the plurality of remote auction services the item will be auctioned.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein if the quantity available is greater than one, the multi-auction service may split the quantity available into multiple lots to be auctioned at one or more remote auction services in either simultaneous or consecutive auctions.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the step of determining which remote auction services are to be selected to host auctions for the item comprises analyzing historical auction data on items similar to the item to be auctioned across prospective remote auction services.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of transmitting selling parameters for the item to at least one remote auction service.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein certain selling parameters have an associated language further comprising the step of translating the language of the descriptive selling parameters to an alternative language suitable for bidders at the remote auction service prior to transmitting the selling parameters to the remote auction service.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the seller parameters of the item transmitted to one or more remote auction services comprises identifying the multi-auction service as the seller in order to conceal the seller's identity.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the seller is identified as a subaccount of the multi-auction service and the seller's identity is not concealed.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the seller is identified directly or as an independent account at one or more remote auction services and the seller's identity is not concealed.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of prioritizing the transmitting of replicated bids to remote auction services.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of the multi-auction server determining whether the replicated bid should be identified as coming from the originating bidder, the multi-auction service or a third party proxy representative.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the determining step determines that at least one of the remote auction services should receive the replicated bid.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the determining step determines that the remote auction service that did not detect the bid should receive the replicated bid.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the functions performed by the multi-auction service are performed by a multi-auction service computer, the functions performed by remote auction service are performed by remote auction server computer, and the functions performed by the bidder are performed by a bidder computing devices all of which are interconnected by a computer network.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of the multi-auction service determining which of the detected bids is an optimal bid for the item by evaluating at least one of all of the following: nominal bid levels, the time stamp of the bids, the performance statistics of the bidders, and adjusting the bids for ancillary costs or otherwise prioritizing bids.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein more than one remote auction service receives an equivalent nominal bid for the item, and wherein the multi-auction service performs the steps further comprising: 
 d) establishing which of the detected equivalent bids is an optimal bid for the item;  
 e) determining which of the remote auction services is to receive a replicated optimal bid, if any;  
 f) transmitting the optimal bid as the replicated bid to each of the determined remote auction services; and  
 g) transmitting to the remote auction services with an equivalent bid that is not the optimal bid or to that bidder directly, indicia that the nominally equivalent bid level is insufficient.  
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the method of establishing which of the nominally equivalent bids is an optimal bid consists of comparing the time stamp of the bids, evaluating the performance statistics of the bidder, adjusting the bid for ancillary costs or otherwise prioritizing nominally equivalent bids.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the indicia transmitted to the remote auction service(s) comprises posting of a text message that the bid level is insufficient.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the indicia transmitted to the remote auction service(s) comprises posting an incremental bid level, rendering the previous bid insufficient.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the bidder is notified directly of the insufficiency of the bid via email, fax, telephone, pager, instant message or other form of communication.  
     
     
         22 . A method for allowing a bidder to communicate with a multi-auction service to allow the multi-auction service to selectively place bids at remote auction services for a plurality of items where at least one item is desired, comprising the steps of: 
 a) the bidder specifying to the multi-auction service an item or items tto be bid upon and their respective bidding parameters;    b) the bidder specifying to the multi-auction service at least one rule for bidding on similar or dissimilar items across auctions;    c) the multi-auction service periodically detecting the current optimal bid of the item at each of the respective remote auction services;    d) the multi-auction service generating and transmitting bids on the item or items such that an optimal bid for the bidder is active via at least one of the remote auction services if permitted by the at least one rule.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein if the quantity available is greater than one, the bidder may bid on up to the available quantity.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the buyer is not identified directly at one or more remote auction services and the buyer's identity is concealed.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22  wherein at least one item identifier and at least one rule for bidding is stored in memory associated with the multi-auction service.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22  wherein at least one rule specifies at least one of the maximum payment the bidder is willing to pay for the item and the duration of the bid to buy the item.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22  wherein at least one rule specifies that similar items are sought by the bidder where the bidder has a preference for one of the similar items as expressed by either a willingness to pay a premium for the item or other expressed preference scheme.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 11  or  22  wherein the timing of transmitting replicated bids is based on the time remaining to the close of the auction, level of bidding activity at the auction, proximity of the current bid level to a reserve or sudden death price, or the value of the item being auctioned.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  wherein the step of detecting that the bid has been received by a remote auction service comprises receiving a notification message from the remote auction service that the bid has changed on the item.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  wherein the periodicity of the multi-auction server probing one or more remote auction services in order to detect that bid have been received by one or more remote auction services is based on time remaining to the close of the auction, level of bidding activity at the auction, proximity of the current bid level to a reserve or sudden death price, and/or the value of the item being auctioned.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  further comprising the step of the multi-auction service requesting or responding to a request by the remote auction service or seller that bidding is to be suspended at the determined remote auction services.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  wherein the bids placed on various remote auction services are denominated in different currencies, further comprising the step of translating the currency of the bid into another currency in order to facilitate a comparison of value.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  wherein the bids placed on various remote auction services are denominated in different currencies, further comprising the step of translating the replicated bid into the appropriate currency for the particular remote auction service prior to transmitting the bid to said remote auction service.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  wherein the multi-auction service determines that a closing event has occurred based on the selling parameters for the auction and/or indicia received from one or more remote auction services and initiates a closing process that signals the end of the auction.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the closing process comprises at least one of the steps of: 
 e) communicating with the seller the optimal bid(s) received and the optimal bidder(s);  
 f) communicating with the buyer his status as the optimal bidder;  
 g) communicating with remote auction services from which optimal bids originated;  
 h) communicating with remote auction services from which optimal bids did not originate;  
 i) communicating with “backup” buyers their status in the event the optimal bidder fails to perform;  
 j) calculating and reconciling fees associated with the auction;  
 k) coordinating payment of the fees with participants;  
 l) coordinating payment of the item by the buyer to the seller;  
 m) shipping the item to the buyer;  
 n) communicating with the buyer after the sale to assess satisfaction; and  
 o) making data related to the bidders and auction activity available as marketing data to third parties.  
 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34  wherein detecting that a closing event has occurred comprises periodically communicating with each of the selected remote auction services.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the closing process comprises comparing the optimal bid or bids to a reserve price or amount established by the seller (or established by the bidder in the case of “reverse” auctions).  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34  further comprises the step of communicating the existence of a closing event to the determined remote auction services.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the multi-auction server determines that a closing event detected or initiated at a remote auction service should trigger the premature close of auctions at other remote auction services and communicates such to the other remote auction services.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  further comprising verifying that the transmitted bids were successfully replicated on the remote auction services so determined by comparing the current remote auction service bid to the previous optimal bid intended to be replicated.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 1  or  22  further comprising storing detected bids and bidder identifiers for items in memory of the multi-auction service for a variety of uses, including but not limited to identifying optimal and substitute bidders, and developing bidder data to be marketed to the seller and/or other purveyors of services.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein an alternative optimal bidder is selected if the original optimal bidder does not perform.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41  further comprising the step of analyzing the bid history for items in order to determine the efficacy of any or all of the following: auction formats; various remote auction services; auction duration and timing; closing events; expected closing price range; descriptive text, graphics, video and audio.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 41  further comprising the step of providing a database reporting system for clients to monitor and track the bidding and transaction activity occurring on remote auction services on selected items.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising the step of the multi-auction service determining which item at the remote auction services match the bidder criteria for items to be bid upon.  
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the at least one item to be auctioned are not split into multiple lots and are auctioned as a single lot at more than one remote auction services concurrently by replicating and coordinating the auction at more than one remote auction service.  
     
     
         47 . A networked system for coordinating the sale of an item to an optimal bidder across a plurality of remote auction services comprising: 
 a) a networked multi-auction service system comprising: 
 i) means for communicating with the plurality of remote auction services;  
 ii) means for replicating the item to be auctioned at the plurality of networked remote auction services;  
 iii) means for detecting a plurality of bids from a plurality of remote auction services;  
 iv) means for determining which of said plurality of detected bids is the optimal bid;  
 v) means for replicating the optimal bid across the plurality of remote auction services;  
   b) the plurality of networked remote auction services each comprising: 
 vi) means for receiving selling parameters for the item to be auctioned from the multi-auction service or sellers directly;  
 vii) means for receiving bids for the item to be auctioned from the plurality of bidders and said multi-auction service;  
 viii) means for updating the bid for the item to be auctioned; and  
   c) a plurality of bidders comprising means for bidding on the item to be auctioned at one or more of the remote auction services.