Method and system for managing and conducting a network auction

Abstract

There is described a method and system for managing Internet auction transactions by creating an auction website by, for example, a financial institution. The auction website is accessible by the financial institution's account holders (e.g., holders of checking, savings, credit card, and investment accounts). Thus, all buyers and sellers in auction transactions on the auction site, for example, have accounts with the financial institution, with settlements occurring between the accounts of the users at the financial institution. Payments are debited from the buyer's account(s) with a credit going to the account of the seller, less any fees. All charges occur internally, so no interchange is owed, for example, to a card association in connection with a transaction. Financial institution customers benefit from the system in that buyers and sellers are authenticated and settlement occurs almost instantaneously.

1 . A method for conducting an auction website operated by a sponsoring financial institution comprising: 
 registering potential buyers and sellers for the auction website by verifying that the potential buyers and sellers have at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution;    upon verification of at least one active account, issuing an individual registration identification to each of the potential buyers and sellers having at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution, wherein the individual registration identification is associated with the at least one active account;    facilitating access to the auction website through a network;    listing goods of registered sellers on the auction website;    tracking auction performance histories for each buyer and each seller;    accepting bids from registered potential buyers for listed goods of registered sellers through the auction website;    recognizing (i) a final bid amount for at least one good listed by a registered seller and (ii) a registered buyer who bids the final bid amount for the at least one good;    prompting the registered buyer of the at least one good to select a buyer's payment account and the registered seller of the at least one good to select a seller's payment account;    comparing the final bid amount to a pre-determined threshold amount to determine a preferred payment process, wherein the preferred payment process when the final bid amount is above the pre-determined threshold amount includes: 
 debiting the buyer's selected payment account for the final bid amount; and  
 depositing the final bid amount into an escrow account; and  
 facilitating settlement between the buyer payment account and the seller payment account both held at the sponsoring financial institution, wherein facilitating settlement between the buyer's payment account and the seller's payment account includes:  
 setting a first time period within which the seller must deliver the good to the buyer;  
 when the seller delivers the good to the buyer within the first time period, setting a second time period within which the buyer inspects the goods to determine conformance; and  
 when either (i) the buyer acknowledges conformance of the good within the second time period or (ii) the second time period expires with no further contact from the buyer, retrieving the final bid amount from the escrow account; and  
 crediting the final bid amount to the seller's payment account.  
   
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the auction performance histories include at least payment history, purchasing history, delivery and product conformance history.  
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 alerting a potential buyer based on the potential buyer's tracked purchasing history when a good is listed on the auction website that is in line with the potential buyer's tracked purchasing history.    
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein alerting the potential buyer is achieved through at least one of the following including e-mail and pager.  
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one active account is a brokerage account.  
   
   
       6 . A method for conducting an auction website operated by a sponsoring financial institution comprising: 
 registering potential buyers and sellers for the auction website by verifying that the potential buyers and sellers have at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution;    upon verification of at least one active account, issuing an individual registration identification to each of the potential buyers and sellers having at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution, wherein the individual registration identification is associated with the at least one active account;    facilitating access to the auction website through a network;    listing goods of registered sellers on the auction website;    tracking auction performance histories for each buyer and each seller;    accepting bids from registered potential buyers for listed goods of registered sellers through the auction website;    recognizing (i) a final bid amount for at least one good listed by a registered seller and (ii) a registered buyer who bids the final bid amount for the at least one good;    prompting the registered buyer of the at least one good to select a buyer's payment account and the registered seller of the at least one good to select a seller's payment account;    comparing the final bid amount to a pre-determined threshold amount to determine a preferred payment process, wherein the preferred payment process when the final bid amount is below the pre-determined threshold amount includes: 
 debiting the buyer's selected payment account for the final bid amount and crediting the seller's selected payment account with the final bid amount; and  
 facilitating settlement between the buyer payment account and the seller payment account both held at the sponsoring financial institution, wherein facilitating settlement between the buyer's payment account and the seller's payment account includes:  
 setting a first time period within which the seller must deliver the good to the buyer;  
 when the buyer does not receive the good from the seller within the first time period, returning the final bid amount to the buyer's payment account and charging the seller's payment account with the final bid amount.  
   
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the auction performance histories include at least payment history, purchasing history, delivery and product conformance history.  
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 alerting a potential buyer based on the potential buyer's tracked purchasing history when a good is listed on the auction website that is in line with the potential buyer's tracked purchasing history.    
   
   
       9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein alerting the potential buyer is achieved through at least one of the following including e-mail and pager.  
   
   
       10 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the at least one active account is a brokerage account.  
   
   
       11 . A method for conducting auctions over a network utilizing an auction website sponsored by a financial institution, the method comprising: 
 (a) identifying a population comprising at least a seller and at least a potential buyer who are account holders of the financial institution;    (b) providing each seller and each potential buyer access to the auction website with each seller listing at least one good to be auctioned;    (c) conducting an auction to establish a selling price for the at least one good, a successful buyer and a successful seller;    (d) confirming whether a payment account of the successful buyer is in good standing; and    (d) upon completion of the auction, debiting the payment account of the successful buyer and crediting a receiving account of the successful seller.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the payment account is a credit card account.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the payment account is a checking or savings account.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the buyer or seller may settle a transaction of the auction with a different account than which was registered with the auction website.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the financial institution offers insurance for reimbursing the buyer for nonconformance of the at least one good up to a set amount.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the buyer requests a bargaining session with the seller to keep nonconforming goods at a reduced price.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein an escrow account is established for a purchase of the at least one good and the buyer receives interest back on a principle of an amount in escrow, in addition to the principle, where the at least one good is nonconforming.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 11  wherein a payment into the receiving account of the seller is at least partially applied to a payment account of the seller.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the payment account of the seller is a mortgage account.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 11  wherein a payment into the receiving account of the seller is at least partially applied to a checking or savings account of the seller.