IP Library Granted Patent US 7,904,346
Granted Patent B2
US 7,904,346 · App. 10/750,052 · Granted Mar 8, 2011

Method and system to adjust a seller fixed price offer

Assignee: eBay Inc.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,904,346
App. No.
10/750,052
Granted
Mar 8, 2011
Kind
B2
Abstract

An auction method includes an auction price-setting process and a fixed price process for purchasing a seller's offering to a buyer. The seller may adjust a seller fixed-price offer during the auction price-setting process.

Claims (14)

1. A network-based commerce system including:

a processor coupled to a memory through a bus; and

an auction price-setting process executed from the memory by the processor during an auction to cause the processor to lower a reserve price associated with a listing of an item to a seller-adjusted reserve price, and to lower a proxy bid of a buyer to a predetermined amount below the seller-adjusted reserve price when the proxy bid is higher than the seller-adjusted reserve price.

2. The network-based commerce system of claim 1 , wherein the auction price-setting process further causes the processor to automatically notify a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined percentage range of the seller-adjusted reserve price.

3. The network-based commerce system of claim 1 , wherein the auction price-setting process further causes the processor to automatically notify a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined value range of the reserve price.

4. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions to cause a machine to perform a method to facilitate operation of a network-based commerce system, the method including:

with a network-based auction price-setting process, lowering a predefined reserve price associated with a listing of an item to a seller-adjusted reserve price during a network-based auction for the item price setting process; and lowering a proxy bid of a buyer to a predetermined amount below the seller-adjusted reserve price when the proxy bid is higher than the seller-adjusted reserve price.

5. The machine-readable medium of claim 4 , including automatically notifying a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined percentage range of the seller-adjusted reserve price.

6. The machine-readable medium of claim 4 , including automatically notifying a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined value range of the reserve price.

7. A method to facilitate operation of a network-based commerce system, the method including:

with a network-based auction price-setting process executed from a memory by a processor, lowering a predefined reserve price associated with a listing of an item to a seller-adjusted reserve price during a network- based auction for the item price setting process; and

lowering a proxy bid of a buyer to a predetermined amount below the seller-adjusted reserve price when the proxy bid is higher than the seller-adjusted reserve price.

8. The method of claim 7 , including automatically notifying a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined percentage range of the seller -adjusted reserve price.

9. The method of claim 7 , including automatically notifying a seller of the item when a high proxy bid is within a predetermined value range of the reserve price.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 5, 2004
From: GROVE, BRIAN; EDSON, ZAK; GROVE, STEVE; SANDLER, ANDREW LEIGH
To: EBAY INC.
Reel/Frame 015853/0082 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 60437183 · Dec 31, 2002
Provisional Application 60494400 · Aug 11, 2003
Related Publication 20050015308A1 · Jan 20, 2005