Systems and methods for pricing and selling digital goods
View Patent ↗Some of the embodiments provided herein disclose receiving a plurality of bids, each bid being submitted by a bidder, and each bid having a bid value; assigning a weighting factor to each bid, the weighting factor being based, at least in part, on the bid value; selecting a first bid from the plurality of bids, the first bid having been submitted by a first bidder; selecting a second bid from the plurality of bids, the second bid being selected in a manner that is dependent, at least in part, on the weighting factor assigned to the second bid; performing a comparison of the value of the first bid with the value of the second bid; using the results of the comparison to determine whether to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder; and sending a copy of the digital file to the first bidder.
1. A computer-implemented method for vending a digital file, the method being performed by one or more computers, the method including:
receiving a plurality of bids, each bid being submitted by a bidder, and each bid having a bid value;
assigning a weighting factor to each bid, wherein the weighting factor for each bid is proportional to the bid value divided by a highest bid value in the plurality of bids;
selecting a first bid from the plurality of bids independent of the weighting factor assigned to the first bid, the first bid having been submitted by a first bidder, the first bid having a first bid value;
pseudo-randomly selecting a second bid from the plurality of bids in a manner that is dependent, at least in part, on a the weighting factor assigned to the second bid, the second bid having a second bid value;
performing, by the one or more computers, a comparison of the first bid value with the second bid value;
using the results of the comparison to determine whether to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder, wherein a number of copies of the digital file to be vended is not specified in advance of receiving the plurality of bids;
sending, by the one or more computers, a copy of the digital file to the first bidder if a determination is made in said using step to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder; and
sending, by the one or more computers, a message to the first bidder if a determination is made in said using step not to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparison determines whether the first bid value is greater than the second bid value.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparison determines whether the first bid value is greater than or equal to the second bid value.
4. A computer-readable medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of bids, each bid being submitted by a bidder, and each bid having a bid value;
assigning a weighting factor to each bid, wherein the weighting factor for each bid is proportional to the bid value divided by a highest bid value in the plurality of bids;
selecting a first bid from the plurality of bids independent of the weighting factor assigned to the first bid, the first bid having been submitted by a first bidder, the first bid having a first bid value;
pseudo-randomly selecting a second bid from the plurality of bids in a manner that is dependent, at least in part, on the weighting factor assigned to the second bid, the second bid having a second bid value;
performing, by the one or more computers, a comparison of the first bid value with the second bid value;
using the results of the comparison to determine whether to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder, wherein a number of copies of the digital file to be vended is not specified in advance of receiving the plurality of bids;
sending, by the one or more computers, a copy of the digital file to the first bidder if a determination is made in said using step to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder; and
sending, by the one or more computers, a message to the first bidder if a determination is made in said using step not to vend a copy of the digital file to the first bidder.
5. The medium of claim 4 , wherein the comparison determines whether the first bid value is greater than the second bid value.
6. The medium of claim 4 , wherein the comparison determines whether the first bid value is greater than or equal to the second bid value.