Methods and systems for supporting asset exchange

Abstract

In typical two-way trading systems, bidders cannot trade directly with other bidders, and sellers cannot trade directly with other sellers, resulting in possible missed trading opportunities. Methods, systems, devices, and networks for enabling two-way trading systems to perform multi-party exchanges are disclosed. Example embodiments allow multiple bidders (buyers), multiple sellers, or a seller and bidder of separate marketplaces to trade among themselves. Embodiments may discover, for bidders and sellers, opportunities to trade with other sellers or bidders, or both, without a time-consuming and limited process of searching and discovering relevant opportunities. Bidders and sellers may not find such opportunities on their own in typical two-way trading systems. The embodiments may be implemented as stand-alone systems or as add-ons that may be used to augment or enhance existing two-way trading systems.

1 . A method of operating an auction, the method comprising:
 transforming a representation of a first party's role in the auction by offering an asset, in the form of a representation of the asset, of the first party to a second party in exchange for an asset of the second party.   
     
     
         2 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein transforming the representation of a first party's role includes transforming a representation of a first seller of a first auction asset into a representation of a bidder of a second auction asset of a second seller by offering the first auction asset, in the form of a representation of the first auction asset, to the second seller in exchange for the second auction asset. 
     
     
         3 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein transforming the representation of a first party's role includes transforming a representation of a first bidder, bidding for a bid-on asset and having a first bidding asset, into a representation of a seller by offering the first bidding asset, in the form of a representation of the first bidding asset, to a second bidder, who is also bidding for the bid-on asset and who has a second bidding asset, in exchange for the second bidding asset. 
     
     
         4 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein transforming the representation of a first party's role includes transforming a representation of a first bidder, bidding for a first bid-on asset and having a first bidding asset, into a representation of a seller by offering the first bidding asset, in the form of a representation of the first bidding asset, to a second bidder, who is bidding for a second bid-on asset different from the first bid-on asset and who has a second bidding asset, in exchange for the second bidding asset. 
     
     
         5 . A method as in  claim 1  further comprising:
 obtaining relevant information about one or more wide area network marketplaces; 
 detecting multi-party trading opportunities based on the relevant information; 
 transforming representations of the opportunities into initial or revised offers for parties relevant to the trading opportunities; and 
 communicating representations of the offers to the parties. 
 
     
     
         6 . A method as in  claim 5  wherein obtaining relevant information includes using a network crawler designed to work with one or more of the wide area network marketplaces. 
     
     
         7 . A method as in  claim 5  wherein obtaining the relevant information includes obtaining relevant information through a direct interface or connection between a trading server and one or more of the wide area network marketplaces. 
     
     
         8 . A method of operating an auction, the method comprising:
 offering a bidder's bidding asset, in the form of a representation of the bidding asset, to a seller of an auction asset in exchange for the seller's auction asset, the bidder already bidding on a bid-on auction asset that is different from the seller's auction asset.   
     
     
         9 . An asset exchange server comprising:
 an activation module configured to (i) activate seller nodes to enable participation of sellers in the asset exchange marketplace and (ii) activate bidder nodes to enable participation of bidders in the asset exchange marketplace; and   a transformation module configured to (i) facilitate offering and bidding exchanges among the seller and bidder nodes as a function of representations of the sellers' auction assets and auction desires and the bidders' bidding assets and bid-on auction assets and (ii) transmit messages to the seller and bidder nodes to cause the nodes to recognize a state of an exchange of the sellers' and bidders' assets.   
     
     
         10 . An asset exchange server as in  claim 9  wherein (i) the seller nodes include a first seller node and a second seller node, (ii) a first auction asset is associated with the first seller node, (iii) a second auction asset is associated with the second seller node, and (iv) the transformation module is configured to transform a state of the first seller node into a bidder node by transmitting a message to the second seller node, the message including a representation of an offer to exchange the first auction asset for the second auction asset. 
     
     
         11 . An asset exchange server as in  claim 9  wherein (i) the bidder nodes include a first bidder node and a second bidder node, (ii) a first bidding asset is associated with the first bidder node, (iii) a second bidding asset is associated with the second bidder node, and (iv) the transformation module is configured to transform a state of the first bidder node into a seller node by transmitting a message to the second bidder node, the message including a representation of an offer to exchange the first bidding asset for the second bidding asset. 
     
     
         12 . A method of operating an asset exchange marketplace, the method comprising:
 activating seller nodes to enable participation of sellers in the asset exchange marketplace;   activating bidder nodes to enable participation of bidders in the asset exchange marketplace;   facilitating offering and bidding exchanges among the seller and bidder nodes as a function of representations of the sellers' auction assets and auction desires and the bidders' bidding assets and bid-on auction assets; and   transmitting messages to the seller and bidder nodes to cause the nodes to recognize a state of an exchange of the sellers' and bidders' assets.   
     
     
         13 . A device for supporting asset exchanges in a network, the device comprising:
 communication ports associated with respective entity interface devices, communication ports associated with selling entity interface devices being in a selling state, and communication ports associated with bidding entity interface devices being in a bidding state;   a processor configured to change the state of a communication port from a selling state to a bidding state or a bidding state to a selling state by transmitting over a given communication port a message including a representation of an offer for an asset associated with another communication port.