Auction method and server

Abstract

Provided are an auction method and server that enable a seller and bidders to determine the price of a product at their own discretion by enabling the bidders to participate in a bid between the lowest price offered by the seller and the highest price of the product, and give benefit to both the seller and successful bidders by applying the successful bid price of a lowest successful bidder to all the successful bidders as a sale price.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An auction method, comprising:
 providing, by a processor, an upper limit of a bidding price range, a lower limit of the bidding price range, and a limited number of available products to terminals of bidders in real time over a network to be displayed on the terminals of the bidders in real time;   receiving, by the processor, bidding prices for each product from the terminals of the bidders over the network, the bidding prices being within the bidding price range;   determining, by the processor, a current number of bidders based on the received bidding prices from the terminals of the bidders in real time;   providing, by the processor, bidding information to the terminals of the bidders in real time over the network to display the bidding information on the terminals of the bidders in real time, wherein the bidding information includes bidding rankings of the bidders, an average bid price, and the current number of the bidders;   selecting, by the processor, a group of winning bidders, wherein the winning bidders are selected in descending order of the received bidding prices and a total number of products bid by the winning bidders is equal to the limited number of available products;   applying, by the processor, a lowest bidding price among bidding prices of the winning bidders as a winning bid price to all of the winning bidders;   receiving, by the processor, payment from the winning bidders at the winning bid price;   making payment, by the processor, to the seller at the lower limit of the bidding range regardless of the winning bid price; and   providing, by the processor, each winning bidder with savings information calculated by subtracting the lowest bidding price from a bidding price of each winning bidder.   
     
     
         2 . The auction method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing, by the processor, a predetermined benefit to one or more winning bidders with the lowest bidding price.   
     
     
         3 . An auction server, comprising:
 a storage configured to maintain a database of an upper limit of a bidding price range, a lower limit of the bidding price range, and a limited number of available products, the lower limit of the bidding price range being offered by a seller;   a receiver configured to receive bidding prices for each product from terminals of bidders over a network, the bidding prices being within the bidding price range;   a selector configured to select a group of winning bidders after termination of bidding, wherein the winning bidders are selected in descending order of the received bidding prices and a total number of products bid by the winning bidders is equal to the limited number of available products;   a payment processor configured to apply a lowest bidding price among bidding prices of the winning bidders as a winning bid price to all of the winning bidders, to request payment from the winning bidders at the winning bid price, and to make payment to the seller at the lower limit of the bidding price range regardless of the winning bid price; and   a controller configured to control the storage, the receiver, the selector, and the payment processor, wherein the controller is further configured to provide the upper and lower limits of the bidding price range, and the number of available products to the terminals of the bidder in real time over the network to be displayed on the terminals of the bidders in real time,   wherein the controller is further configured to determine the current number of bidders based on the received bidding prices from the terminals of the bidders in real time,   wherein the controller is further configured to provide bidding information to the terminals of the bidders in real time over the network to display the bidding information on the terminals of the bidders in real time, wherein the bidding information includes bidding rankings of the bidders, an average bid price, and the current number of the bidders, and   wherein the controller is further configured to provide each winning bidder with savings information calculated by subtracting the lowest bidding price from a bidding price of each winning bidder.   
     
     
         4 . The auction server of  claim 3 , wherein the controller provides a predetermined benefit to one or more winning bidders with the lowest bidding price.