METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HOLDING A TWO-STAGE LIVE AUCTION FOR ON-SITE AND ON-LINE BIDDERS
A method and apparatus are provided for conducting a live auction that combines various features of traditional and online auctions. According to one aspect of the present invention, the live auction includes a live, in-person auction component and a real-time online bidding environment component. Bidding information associated with an item in the online bidding environment is updated to reflect a current bid associated with the item in the live, in-person auction. During the live, in-person auction, a bid is be accepted from an online bidder in the online environment that reflects the online bidder's bid price for the item. Subsequently, the system bids on behalf of the online bidder against other online bidders as well as one or more live bidders that are participating in the live, in-person. As such, the live auction enables real-time online bidding in a live, in-person auction.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/839,259, filed Jul. 19, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/264,526, filed Nov. 1, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09,620,809, filed Jul. 21, 2000, which is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/457,466, filed Dec. 8, 1999, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60,111,717, filed Dec. 8, 1998, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
COPYRIGHT NOTICEContained herein is material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent disclosure by any person as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights to the copyright whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates generally to the fields of auctioning and online commerce. More particularly, the invention relates to an online live auction format that combines features of both Internet and traditional, real world auctions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWith the advent of online auctioning pioneered by eBay Inc., the assignee of the present invention, more and more Internet users are realizing the ease and convenience of buying items online. As the leading person-to-person trading site, buyers are compelled to trade on eBay's web site due to the large amount of content available. Similarly, sellers are attracted to eBay to conduct business where there are the most buyers. Ebay currently provides over two million new auctions, and 250,000 new items every day from which users may choose.
Auction houses that run live, real-time, on-site auctions (“traditional auctions”) continue to experience much success. However, geographic barriers, travel costs, and other constraints limit the participation in such auctions.
It is desirable, therefore, to expand the reach of traditional auctions via the Internet. In particular, it would be advantageous to combine the best of both Internet and traditional auctions into a live auction that enables real-time online bids in a live, in person auction.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA method and apparatus are described for conducting a live auction that combines various features of traditional and online auctions. According to one aspect of the present invention, the live auction includes a live, in-person auction component and a real-time online bidding environment component. During the live, in-person auction, bidding information associated with an item in the online bidding environment is updated to reflect a current bid associated with the item in the live, in-person auction. A bid is accepted from an online bidder in the online environment that reflects the online bidder's bid price for the item. Subsequently, the system bids on behalf of the online bidder against one or more live bidders that are participating in the live, in-person auction.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which:
A method and apparatus are described for carrying out a live auction that combines various features of traditional and online auctions, thereby enabling real-time online bids in a live, in-person auction. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form.
As will be described in greater detail below, the present invention includes features that seek to enhance the traditional auctioning experience. According to one embodiment, a live auction combines various features of traditional and Internet auctions (also referred to as online auctions). In a first stage of the live auction, prior to a live, in-person auction, online users are provided access to catalog information for searching and viewing of items available in the live, in-person auction. In addition, during this first stage, any absentee bids are accepted from the online users for items available in the live, in-person auction. Subsequently, in a second stage of the live auction, the live, in-person auction begins. During this stage, bidding information is updated on the online auction site as bids from online bidders as well as live bidders are submitted to the live, in-person auction. During a final end of auction stage, the item is awarded to the highest bidder. An auction house, such as for example Butterfields, conducts the live, in-person auction. Advantageously, in this manner, the reach of traditional auctions may be expanded via the Internet, thereby enabling real-time online bidding in a live, in-person auction.
In the preferred embodiment, the steps of the present invention are embodied in machine-executable instructions. The instructions can be used to cause a general purpose or special-purpose processor that is programmed with the instructions to perform the steps of the present invention. Alternatively, the steps of the present invention might be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components.
The present invention may be provided as a computer program product which may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the present invention. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. Moreover, the present invention may also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).
Client-Server EnvironmentThe real-time event screen 220 enables online bidders to either view or listen to the live, in-person auction. Depending on the option the online bidder selects an audio or audio/video stream is sent to the online bidder's computer. The stream is originated at the auction house and generally captures the auctioneer's actions. The audio stream is provided in, for example, Windows or Real Player formats. Implementation details regarding video and audio streaming over the Internet are known to those skilled in the art and are therefore not provided herein.
A computer system 300 representing an exemplary server in which features of the present invention may be implemented will now be described with reference to
A data storage device 307 such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system 300 for storing information and instructions. Computer system 300 can also be coupled via bus 301 to a display device 321, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), for displaying information to a computer user. Typically, an alphanumeric input device 322, including alphanumeric and other keys, may be coupled to bus 301 for communicating information and/or command selections to processor 302. Another type of user input device is cursor control 323, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 302 and for controlling cursor movement on display 321.
A communication device 325 is also coupled to bus 301 for accessing remote servers via the Internet, for example. The communication device 325 may include a modem, a network interface card, or other commercially available network interface devices, such as those used for coupling to an Ethernet, token ring, or other type of network. In any event, in this manner, the computer system 300 may be coupled to a number of clients and/or other servers via a conventional network infrastructure, such as a company's Intranet and/or the Internet, for example.
System OverviewThe listing management process 415 interacts with online bidders and provides them with catalog information about the items in which they are interested. The listing management process 415 may support a text-based item listing format, such as that depicted in
The absentee bidding process 425 tracks bids submitted by online bidders for the items 210 available in the live, in-person auction. Based upon the bid amounts received, the absentee bidding process 425 selects an absentee bid as the second highest absentee bid received plus a one bid increment amount as listed in a bid increment table provided by the seller.
The live auction interface 435 provides an interface that updates bidding information associated with an item in the online environment to reflect a current bid associated with the item in the live, in-person auction. A real-time bidding process 430 accepts bids from the online bidders, via the live auction interface, reflecting the online bidder's bid price for the item, and bids on behalf of the online bidder against one or more live bidders that are participating in the live, in-person auction. The real-time bidding process 430 in conjunction with the live auction interface 435 enables real-time online bidding in the live, in-person auction
While, in order to facilitate explanation, the listing servers 410 are generally discussed as if they were a single device, in actuality, the listing servers 410 may comprise multiple physical and/or logical devices connected in a distributed architecture, and the various functions performed may actually be distributed among multiple devices. For example, any function can be implemented on any number of machines or on a single machine. Also, any process may be divided across multiple machines.
Although absentee bids are not required by the present invention,
Procedural method steps for implementing the live auction as described by the present invention are now provided. Referring now to the flow diagram of
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Claims
1. A computer implemented method in a live auction to allow bids by one or more remote bidders and by one or more onsite bidders, the method comprising:
- using a first computer: processing bids, from one or more onsite bidders and from one or more remote bidders, for an item being auctioned at a live auction site; wherein the processing of bids includes choosing as a starting bid in the onsite auction a highest bid from the bids from the one or more remote bidders; and
- using a second computer: transmitting to one or more remote bidders information pertaining to the item; receiving bids for the item from the one or more remote bidders; selecting, from the bids received from the one or more remote bidders, the second highest bid received by the remote bidders, plus a one bid increment amount provided by the seller of the item, as a bid for the item; and transmitting to the one or more remote bidders information regarding the acceptance and rejection of the onsite and remote bids.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 20, 2013
Publication Date: Dec 19, 2013
Applicant: eBay Inc. (San Jose, CA)
Inventors: Daniele Levy (San Francisco, CA), Bradley A. Handler (Menlo Park, CA)
Application Number: 13/971,209