Real time auction with end game

1. A method comprising:

entering a bid amount, on a first computer connected to the Internet, for an item being sold via an Internet auction;

storing information on the first computer about the entered bid amount required to overcome any current bids on the item, wherein the information cannot be viewed by a user of the first computer; and

utilizing the information, at the first computer, for local determination of whether the entered bid is sufficient to overcome any current bid amounts without communicating the entered bid over the Internet.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein:

the entered bid includes an indication of time and date for execution of the entered bid by an agent program; and

wherein the agent program keeps the entered bid secret from users other than the user that placed the entered bid until the time and date specified by the indication.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said Internet auction is one in which the a server stores maximum bid amounts entered by users, but only displays a current bid amount without displaying said the maximum bid amount, and wherein the information stored at the first computer determines whether an entered bid is higher than the maximum bid amounts.

4. A method of automated auction bidding, comprising:

hosting an auction on a first computer connected to the Internet, wherein the first computer is configured to allow a plurality of users to bid on an item from networked computers;

receiving, at the first computer, from a first user a maximum amount that the first user is willing to pay for the item;

transmitting to a second computer, at a first time, maximum bid information indicative of the maximum amount that the first user is willing to pay for the item, wherein the maximum bid information cannot be viewed by a second user at the second computer; and

at a second time subsequent to said first time, receiving a quick bid transmission from the second computer indicating that the second user has selected an icon displayed at the second computer, wherein the quick bid transmission defines an automatically bid amount that will exceed the maximum amount of the first user without the second user entering a bid amount, and wherein the bid amount of the second user is determined by the second computer using said maximum bid information without getting information about said bid amount on said second computer from the first computer at said second time.

5. The method as in claim 4 wherein there are a plurality of bids, wherein some bids are known to all users and some bids cannot be viewed by users other than the user that placed the bid.

6. The method as in claim 5 wherein said plurality of bids includes a plurality of bids associated with bid execution times; and bids are not transmitted to the first computer hosting the Internet auction prior to said bid execution times.

7. The method as in claim 4 , wherein the bid amount generated by the quick bid transmission is displayed to the second user in response to a specified action by the second user.

8. A system, comprising:

a client computer configured to communicate with a server computer and obtaining information from the server computer about an item to be auctioned, wherein said information comprises information about maximum bid amounts submitted by a plurality of bidders for said item and a current winning bid for said item, and wherein the information about maximum bid amounts are not disclosed to a user of the client computer; and

said client computer further configured to display a single icon that, when selected by the user, sends a bid to said server computer without the user entering a bid amount, wherein the sent bid includes a bid amount determined by the client computer based upon said information about maximum bid amounts.

9. The system as in claim 8 , wherein said client computer automatically updates at least one screen to show a new winning bid amount.

10. The system as in claim 8 , wherein said client computer allows sending a plurality of bids to be executed at a plurality of times.

11. A method, comprising:

displaying on a first computer a current price for at least one item being sold via an Internet auction;

storing on the first computer information about a current maximum bid that has been placed for the item, wherein the current maximum bid has been placed by a user other than the user of the first computer and wherein said information is kept secret from the user of the first computer;

determining on the first computer based upon said information the bid amount required to overcome the current maximum bid amount; and

displaying an icon on said first computer which allows a bid to be entered based upon said determining, wherein said icon enables the user to enter a bid sufficient to overcome the current maximum bid without manually entering a bid amount.

12. The method as in claim 11 , further comprising:

entering a manual bid by the user, by means other than said icon; and

running an applet on said first computer, which accesses said information to determine whether said manual bid is higher than said maximum bid.

13. The method as in claim 11 , wherein said icon allows said bid to be placed by selecting a single icon and without the user manually entering a bid amount.