Patent Publication Number: US-2012046977-A1

Title: Automated Ticket Selling System Having a Maximum Price Setting

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to a system for selling goods and services, such as airline tickets and, more particularly, to a method and system for managing the sale of such goods and services by a seller, such as an airline, to customers who have submitted an offer for the purchase of such items. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Airlines and other sellers have developed sophisticated revenue management systems (RMSs) to optimize revenue. Generally, when a flight is first added to an airline&#39;s flight schedule, the airline&#39;s revenue management system attempts to maximize revenue for the flight by establishing a plurality of fare classes and then allocating the number of seats and price assigned to each fare class. The revenue management system will thereafter continue to monitor the actual demand within each fare class relative to forecasted demand, to dynamically reevaluate the inventory allocation and pricing of each fare class for a given flight. In this manner, the airlines attempt to fly each aircraft as full as possible without allowing earlier-booking discount-fare passengers to displace later-booking full-fare passengers. 
     While conventional revenue management systems employ sophisticated tools to anticipate future travel, forecasting errors invariably lead to unanticipated excess capacity. In addition, an airline can utilize its revenue management system to forecast its anticipated excess capacity on a given flight associated with seats that are predicted to be empty. Furthermore, unexpected external events, such as a price war or extreme weather conditions, can also affect an airline&#39;s excess capacity. Thus, in an attempt to reduce such excess capacity, airlines periodically reevaluate the inventory allocation and pricing of each fare class for a given flight. An airline cannot simply discount the published fares for such unsold seats, however, without either starting a fare war or compromising its own underlying fare structure (i.e., without also reducing its full-fare prices for business travelers). 
     Although many airlines fill empty seats with “standby” passengers, this practice is typically limited to instances where some oversight on the part of either the passenger or the airline has occurred. For example, the passenger&#39;s flight may have been overbooked, the passenger may have missed an original flight, or the passenger may have purchased a ticket at or near the time of the flight. Moreover, standby travel is costly for the airline and is inconvenient for the passenger because there is no guarantee that the passenger will get to fly on the same day. 
     In addition, airlines attempt to sell excess capacity utilizing consolidators, who traditionally sell airline tickets at a discount. Since the terms of the relationship between the airlines and the consolidators are generally not flight specific and are typically defined months in advance, the sale of tickets through a consolidator does not provide a sufficiently dynamic mechanism for airlines to sell such excess capacity when actual demand fails to meet forecasted demand. 
     Previous attempts have been made to address the sale of excess capacity for items such as airline tickets. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207 entitled “Method And Apparatus For A Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System Designed To Facilitate Buyer-Driven Conditional Purchase Offers” provides a system by which buyers may submit a price at which they agree to purchase an item, such as an airline ticket, and to be flexible with regard to the identity of the seller, the travel itinerary, etc. One or more sellers may be notified of the buyer&#39;s conditional purchase offer and a seller may accept the conditional purchase offer. A system of this type is available on the Internet at www.priceline.com. Priceline.com uses preferential pricing made available to it by sellers (who remain anonymous until the transaction is complete) to accept conditional purchase offers from buyers. A successful buyer at priceline.com is charged his or her offer price, while priceline.com purchases the ticket from the supplier at the preferential price. Priceline.com keeps the difference between the offer price and the preferred purchase price, and may also charge a fee from the buyer when a sale is completed. The priceline.com system allows sellers to anonymously make discounted sales below published price without disrupting normal sales channels. 
     Another system that has been available on the Internet at www.travelbids.com allows buyers to post a fare corresponding to a reservation for travel by the buyer, so that travel agents could find a more favorable fare and make the sale. In an alternative embodiment available on the TravelBids site from 1998 to 2000, a buyer could post a “Maximum Price Listing” of the maximum amount the traveler was willing to pay for travel without the need to make a prior reservation. Travel agents, consolidators, or the airlines themselves would then review the listings in a billboard fashion and try to respond with travel arrangements at or below the Maximum Price Listing to obtain the sale. Like priceline.com, the TravelBids site did not allow the buyer to review the details of the transaction, e.g., airline and itinerary, before being bound to make a purchase. However, the buyer could specify that the maximum price they were willing to pay was conditional upon certain factors. These factors might be the number of stops that are acceptable or the hours of acceptable travel, or even the particular airline carriers wanted by the buyer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application is directed to particular features of an automated ticket selling system having a maximum price setting. In particular, one embodiment includes a method and apparatus for establishing a floor price for a bid for an item. According to this embodiment, a plurality of sellers register to bid for a listing for of an item, such as an airline ticket. Each seller submits an identification of a floor price to be applied to a bid for a listing for the item. In the case of air travel, a separate floor price would be specified for every flight. The floor price for the listing is then determined based on a highest identification of the floor price submitted by one of the plurality of sellers. 
     According to another embodiment, a method and apparatus for selling an item includes receiving a listing of an item to be purchased and a maximum purchase price to be paid for the item by a buyer. The system identifies one or more sellers that have the ability to sell the item and that have submitted a first indication of a floor price for the item and one or more indications of bids to sell for the item. The first round price may be an absolute currency value or a range of currency values. A floor price for the listing is then determined based on a highest of the received first indications. If one of the first round bid indications is equal to the determined floor price, a sale of the item is awarded to that seller at the floor price. If none of the received first round prices is equal to the floor price then a lowest first round bidder is determined to be the seller submitting the lowest first round price. In a second round of bidding, second round bids from eligible sellers are examined under the system rules. If one of the second round bids submitted is equal to the floor price, then a sale of the item is awarded to that seller at the floor price. However, if none of the second round prices is equal to the floor price, the lowest second round bidder is awarded the sale. Subsequent or fewer rounds of bidding also are contemplated. 
     According to still further embodiments, a method for bidding on an item begins when a buyer establishes a listing for an item including a purchase price. To be valid, the purchase price must be greater than the floor price established by sellers of the item. If there is a successful bid from a seller, as determined by the system applying pre-defined bidding rules, the buyer receives an identification of a seller providing the item and is charged the purchase price for the item. 
     According to further embodiments, the buyer may pay a fee to establish a listing. A seller winning a bid for the listing may also pay a fee upon being awarded a sale. Such fees may be used to generate revenue for the operator of the system disclosed herein. Alternatively, or in addition, the system may generate revenue by charging the buyer a price up to the buyer&#39;s price, keeping all or part of the difference between the buyer&#39;s purchase price and the seller&#39;s winning bid. 
     According to other embodiments, the methods and accompanying apparatus may be implemented on a computer network, such as the World Wide Web. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further aspects of the instant invention will be more readily appreciated upon review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiments included below when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a network in accordance with certain embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of a system server used with the network of  FIG. 1  in accordance with certain embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  is a tabular representation of a listing database stored by the system server of  FIG. 2  in accordance with certain embodiments; 
         FIG. 4  is a tabular representation of a bidding database stored by the system server of  FIG. 2  in accordance with certain embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart depicting an exemplary bid price submission process performed by a seller over the network of  FIG. 1  according to certain embodiments; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart depicting an exemplary process, performed by a buyer, for submitting a listing over the network of  FIG. 1  according to certain embodiments; 
         FIGS. 7A-7B  are a flow chart depicting an exemplary process for determining an award of a bid as determined by an operator of the system server of  FIG. 2  according to certain embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Generally, the present system accomplishes sales of items by allowing a plurality of users to post listings for desired items on a network site, such as an Internet Web Page, through communication between the users&#39; computing devices and a server maintaining the network site. The users supply a description of the desired item and the maximum price they wish to pay for the item. The users supply financial account identifiers and authorizations to charge the desired purchase price if a sale of the item is completed. The users may be required to pay a nominal listing fee to post a listing on the network site. 
     A plurality of sellers may register to sell one or more items on the site. Each participating seller eligible for a particular sale may submit a floor price and prices for one or more rounds of bidding to secure the sale of an item to a user. These prices are all submitted before a round of bidding for a listed item commences. The submitted prices may be required to be in increments of whole dollars, five dollar increments or the like. The number of rounds of bidding is preset, and sellers may submit up to one bid price per round of bidding. It is also contemplated that bids can be expressed in relative terms, e.g., $5 less than last round winning bid. 
     The system server, upon receipt of a listing for an item from a user, will determine if any sellers have submitted information sufficient to bid on the listed item. If so, then the floor price submitted by each seller is compared. The highest of the submitted floor prices will be recognized as the standing floor price for the bid. If any seller bids a price equal to or less than the standing floor price at any point during the bidding, then that seller is automatically awarded the bid and will receive the standing floor price for the sale. If more than one seller makes a bid less than or equal to the standing floor price, predefined criteria are used to award the sale to one of them at the standing floor price. The standing floor price is not revealed to any bidding seller. All floor price and bid price indications are confidential and are not revealed to other sellers or the buyer. 
     The system server will then conduct two or more rounds of bidding. This allows for greater competition among the sellers than a system in which only a single bidding round is provided. A lowest bidder for the first round will be determined and the remaining sellers will then have a second round of prices submitted. The lowest second round bidder will then be determined and the remaining sellers will have an opportunity to have a third round of prices considered. In certain embodiments, the winner of the third round will be awarded the sale corresponding to the listing. However, further rounds (or as few as two rounds) of bidding may be provided for. The lowest final round bidder may be charged a nominal fee for bidding on the sale. It is contemplated that the rounds of bidding will be conducted on a computer system and through an automatic comparison of data. Thus a sale may be determined as soon as a listing is posted. The user posting the listing may then be immediately notified of a sale over the computer network in any conventional manner. 
     The system for accomplishing a sale of an item disclosed herein may gain revenues from the receipt of a listing fee from the plurality of users and the nominal fee from the completion of the sale. Thus, such a system is not dependent solely on margin revenue from individual sales in order to maintain profitability. The system also may gain further revenues by retaining all or a portion of the difference between the purchase price submitted by the buyer and the price at which the sale was awarded to the lowest final round bidder. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-7B , wherein similar components of the present system are referenced in like manner, various features of an automated ticket selling system having a maximum price setting are disclosed. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , there is depicted an exemplary computer network  10  through which a plurality of users operating user terminals  16  may communicate with one or more buyer-driven commerce system servers  12  over network connection  18  to submit purchase offers for bookings identified by a seller through one or more seller servers  14 . 
     Although computer network  10  is preferably an Internet-based network such as the World Wide Web, it may be any one or more of a local area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), an intranet environment, an extranet environment, a wireless network or any other type of computer network, such as those enabled over public switched telephone networks. 
     User terminals  16  may each be any type of computing device, such as a personal computer, a workstation, a network terminal, a hand-held remote access device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or any other device that can accomplish two-way electronic communication over the network connection  18 . Users may run a web browser or the like on user terminal  16  to communicate with the system server  12 , preferably over the Internet. Specific functions and operations of user terminals  16 , system server  12 , and seller servers  14  are discussed further below. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , displayed therein are exemplary components of a computing device, such as system server  12 . It should be understood that any of user terminals  16 , and seller server  14  may share similar configurations. However, for sake of brevity, the discussion immediately below will refer to the system server  12  only. 
     The primary component of the system server  12  is a processor  20 , which may be any commonly available microprocessor, such as the PENTIUM III manufactured by INTEL CORP. The processor  20  may be operatively connected to further exemplary components, such as RAM/ROM  22 , a clock  24 , input/output devices  26 , and a memory  28  which, in turn, stores one or more computer programs  30 , a listing database  300 , and a bidding database  400 . 
     The processor  20  operates in conjunction with random access memory and read-only memory in a manner well known in the art. The random-access memory (RAM) portion of RAM/ROM  22  may be a suitable number of Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM) chips having a storage capacity (typically measured in kilobytes or megabytes) sufficient to store and transfer, inter alia, processing instructions utilized by the processor  20  which may be received from the application programs  30 . The read-only memory (ROM) portion of RAM/ROM  22  may be any permanent, non-rewritable memory medium capable of storing and transferring, inter alia, processing instructions performed by the processor  20  during a start-up routine of the system server  12 . 
     The clock  24  may be an on-board component of the processor  20  which dictates a clock speed (typically measured in MHz) at which the processor  20  performs and synchronizes, inter alia, communication between the internal components of the system server  12 . 
     The input/output device(s)  26  may be one or more commonly known devices used for receiving system operator inputs, network data, and the like and transmitting outputs resulting therefrom. Accordingly, exemplary input devices may include a keyboard, a mouse, a voice recognition unit and the like for receiving system operator inputs. Output devices may include any commonly known devices used to present data to an system operator of the system server  12  or to transmit data over the computer network  10  to remote users  16  and seller server  14 . Accordingly, suitable output devices may include a display, a printer and a voice synthesizer connected to a speaker. 
     Other input/output devices  26  may include a telephonic or network connection device, such as a telephone modem, a cable modem, a T-1, T-2 or T-3 connection, a digital subscriber line or a network card, or the like for communicating data to and from other computer devices over the computer network  10 . In an embodiment involving a network server, it is preferred that the communications devices used as input/output devices  30  have capacity to handle high bandwidth traffic in order to accommodate communications with a large number of user terminal  16  and seller servers  14 . 
     The memory  28  may be an internal or external large capacity device for storing computer processing instructions, computer-readable data, and the like. The storage capacity of the memory  28  is typically measured in megabytes or gigabytes. Accordingly, the memory  28  may be one or more of the following: a floppy disk in conjunction with a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, a CD-ROM disk and reader/writer, a DVD disk and reader/writer, a ZIP disk and a ZIP drive of the type manufactured by IOMEGA CORP., and/or any other computer readable medium that may be encoded with processing instructions in a read-only or read-write format. Further functions of and available devices for memory  28  will be apparent. 
     The memory  28  preferably stores, inter alia, a plurality of programs  30  which may be any one or more of an operating system such as WINDOWS 2000 by MICROSOFT CORP, and one or more application programs, such as a web hosting program and a database management program of the type manufactured by ORACLE, each of which may be necessary to implement the embodiments of the present invention. The programs  30  preferably include processing instructions for accomplishing communication of buyer-driven commerce data between user terminals  16 , system server  12  and seller server  14 , as described herein. Accordingly, the programs  30  may include a web hosting application and the like for allowing users to submit information, such as purchase offers, to the system server  12 , to receive information regarding bids that are awarded through the system server  12 , and the like. The web hosting software may include functionality sufficient to read JAVASCRIPT, HTML, XML and other similar programming languages typically used in conjunction with hard-wired or wireless Internet applications. The programs  30  preferably also include a database management program, of the type commonly manufactured by ORACLE CORP. to save, retrieve and analyze data received through system server  12 . The programs  30  also preferably include other applications, such as VISUAL BASIC, to allow an system operator to program specific functions to be performed by the system server  12  as described herein. The programs  30  operate to form an online commerce system which operates in the manner described below. 
     The memory  28  preferably also stores a plurality of relational databases, such as a listing database  300  and the bidding database  400 , examples of which are depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , respectively. In referring to the databases depicted therein, it is important to note that the first row of the databases includes a field header for each field of the database and the remaining rows each correspond to one record of the database. Fields of data, are represented by each column. Further or fewer fields and records of data may be used. The databases  300 ,  400  described herein may be configured into any number of relational databases. In addition, configurations other than database formats may be used to store the data maintained in exemplary databases  300  and  400 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an exemplary listing database  300  is provided to store listings and customer data which are submitted to the system server  12  by the plurality of users through user terminals  16  in accordance with the exemplary process described below with respect to  FIG. 6 . Although the system described herein may be useful for any item in which a plurality of sellers may bid to achieve a sale to a user posting a listing, the exemplary listing database  300  described herein will be described for an embodiment involving the sale of round-trip airline tickets. In such an embodiment, the exemplary listing database  300  may include a listing identifier field  302 , a user identification field  304 , a financial account identifier field  306 , an origin city field  308 , a destination field  310 , a departure date field  312 , a return date field  314 , a non-stop designation field  316 , a number of travelers field  318 , a ticket class field  320 , and a purchase price offered field  322 . These fields may be re-arranged, deleted, or altered in any manner to accommodate other products or services. 
     The listing identifier field  302  may contain a unique identifier pertaining to a particular listing for an item as submitted by a user or potential purchaser who accesses the system  12  to place the listing. The unique identifier may be any alphabetic, numeric or alpha-numeric code which is assigned to the listing. The code may be generated by the system  12  or selected by the user upon accessing the system  12 . 
     The user identifier field  304  may contain a unique identifier pertaining to a user submitting a listing for an item. The unique identifier may be any alphabetic, numeric or alpha-numeric code which is assigned to the listing. The code may be generated by the system  12  or selected by the user upon accessing the system  12 . Additional user identification data, such as a user name, a user address, a user telephone number, and other information corresponding to a user may likewise be stored in this field. Alternatively, such data may be stored in a separate user database (not shown) and cross-referenced to the information stored in field  304  of listing database  300  in any known manner. 
     Financial account identifier field  306  may be used to store an identification of a financial account to be charged in the event of a sale of the listed item to the user. Accordingly, the field  306  may store a credit card number corresponding to a credit card account owned by or available to the user. Other types of accounts, such as a checking or a savings account may be identified. In addition to the account number, other information may be stored in this field  306 , such as a name of a bank or other financial institution through which the identified account is maintained. 
     Fields  308 - 320  of listing database  300  represent product specific fields which, in the embodiment described, relate particularly to airline tickets. It is to be understood that these fields may be deleted and replaced by appropriate fields when another type of product or service is available for sale through the system server  12 . However, in the context of round-trip airline ticket sales, it may be desirable to include some or all of the following exemplary fields. 
     Origin city field  308  may contain an identification of a city or location from which a corresponding user wishes to depart. Destination field  310  may contain an identification of a city or location to which the corresponding user wishes to travel. Departure date field  312  may contain an indication of a date on which the corresponding user wishes to travel from the specified origin city to the destination. Return date field  314  may contain an indication of a date on which the corresponding user wishes to return to the origin city from the destination. Non-stop field  316  may contain an indication of whether the user wishes to travel non-stop between the origin city and the destination. Number of travelers field  318  may contain an indication of the total number of persons (including the user) travelling between the origin city and the destination on the desired dates. Ticket class field  320  may contain an indication of the class of ticket that the corresponding user wishes to purchase (examples of classes for airline ticket sales generally including first class, business class, coach and economy). 
     Further data may be collected and stored in additional fields (not shown) of listing database  300 , such further data of the type generally associated with the sale of airline tickets. Such further data may include a preferred departure time or time range, a preferred return time or time range, meal specifications, frequent flyer membership identification, an indication of whether one-way or round-trip tickets are preferred, as may be specified by the corresponding user in certain embodiments. 
     Finally, listing database  300  may contain a purchase price field  322  which may be included for any product or service sold through system server  12 . The purchase price field indicates the maximum price at which the corresponding user will purchase the item. This, in turn, is referred to herein as a “maximum price setting” for a listed item. 
     Turning to  FIG. 4 , therein is depicted an exemplary bidding database  400  for storing pricing data which is submitted to the system server  12  by the plurality of sellers through seller servers  14  according to the exemplary process described below with respect to  FIG. 5 . Although the system described herein may be useful for any item in which a plurality of sellers may bid to achieve a sale to a user posting a listing, the exemplary bidding database  400  discussed herein will be described for an embodiment involving the sale of round-trip airline tickets. In such an embodiment, the exemplary bidding database  400  may include a seller identifier field  402 , an origin city field  404 , a destination field  406 , a travel dates field  408 , a ticket class field  410 , a first round price field  412 , a second round price field  414 , and a third round price field  416 . As with the listing database  300 , the fields of bidding database  400  may be re-arranged, deleted, or altered in any manner to accommodate other products or services. 
     The seller identifier field  402  may contain an identification of a seller who may bid for an item available through system server  12 . The seller identifier field  402  may include any identification suitable to identify a particular seller, such as a name of the seller, a location of the seller and the like. 
     Fields  404 - 409  of bidding database  400  represent product specific fields which, in the embodiment described, relate particularly to airline tickets. It is to be understood that these fields may be deleted and replaced by appropriate fields when another type of product or service is available for sale through the system server  12 . However, in the context of round-trip airline ticket sales, it may be desirable to include some or all of the following exemplary fields. 
     Origin city field  404  may contain an identification of a city or location from which a user purchasing the airline ticket will depart. Destination field  406  may contain an identification of a city or location to which a user purchasing the airline ticket will travel. Travel dates field  314  may contain an indication of a range of travel dates for which the corresponding pricing data for the sale of an airline ticket (as supplied in fields  410 - 416 ) will be applied. Ticket class field  409  may contain an indication of the class of ticket for which the submitted pricing data in fields  410 - 416  is valid. 
     Further airline-specific data may be collected and stored in additional fields (not shown) of bidding database  400 . Such further data may include a preferred departure time, a preferred return time, meal specifications, a specification of one-way or round-trip tickets and the like, as may be specified by the corresponding seller in certain embodiments. 
     Further fields of bidding database  400  may include a floor price field  410  for storing a floor price submitted by a corresponding seller for a specified airline ticket, a first round price field  412  for storing a first round price submitted by a corresponding seller for a specified airline ticket, a second round price field  414  for storing a second round price submitted by a corresponding seller for a specified airline ticket and a third round price field  416  for storing a third round price submitted by a corresponding seller for a specified airline ticket. The data in fields  410 - 416  may be used by the system server  12  to determine a seller that is to be awarded a listing of an item for sale in accordance with the process described below with respect to FIGS.  7 A- 7 B. It is to be understood that fewer or additional bidding rounds may be accommodated in certain embodiments described herein. 
     In  FIG. 5  there is depicted an exemplary process  500  for submitting bid prices for a listed item, as performed by a seller according to certain embodiments. Process  500  begins when a seller submits an item to be bid (step  501 ). In the example described herein, the item is a round-trip airline ticket having a particular origin, destination and dates of travel associated therewith. 
     At step  502 , the seller submits a floor price for the item. The floor price is the lowest price at which a seller will agree to sell the item. In a bid for a listed item involving a plurality of sellers, the highest floor price submitted by any of the sellers will be the standing floor price for the bidding process. The highest floor price is selected as the standing floor price to encourage sellers to participate without fear that the system is merely a reverse auction that rewards only the lowest bidder. Sellers typically do not desire to participate in reverse auction systems because such systems, while theoretically efficient, may be perceived as not allowing sellers to make a reasonable profit. 
     Next, at step  503 , the seller submits a first round price to be submitted in a first round of bidding for the sale of the item. 
     At step  504 , the seller submits subsequent round prices based on how many rounds of bidding are to be performed by the system server  12 . Each of the prices submitted by a seller should be equal to or greater than that seller&#39;s floor price submitted, else the submitted pricing data will be considered invalid. 
     Finally, at step  505 , the seller may update prices as and when necessary, after which the process  500  then ends. For example, the prices submitted for each round may be dependent on a number of items available. In the case of airline tickets, if the number of unsold seats is greater than, say, 25, the airline may decide on a first level of pricing for tickets on this flight. However, if the number of unsold seats is less than, say, 10, the price levels for each round of bidding may be increased due to lower supply. Other economic factors may likewise be used. For example, the updated prices submitted in step  505  may reflect changes in demand for the item, changes in inventory for the item, competition for the sale of the item, and any other factors which affect the pricing of products and services. In certain embodiments, any submitted changes in prices will be applied only to those listings posted by users after the changed pricing is submitted by the seller. The pricing submitted in steps  501 - 505  may be stored in appropriate fields of the bidding database  400 . The pricing may then be applied to the bidding process discussed below in conjunction with  FIGS. 7A-7B . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , there is depicted an exemplary process  600 , as performed by a buyer, for submitting a listing according to certain embodiments. The process  600  begins at step  602  where a user submits travel information (e.g., an origin city, a destination, travel dates, number of passengers, ticket class, acceptable or unacceptable sellers and the like), identification information (e.g., a user identifier, a user name, contact information and the like) and a purchase price for a desired item. This data may be stored in the appropriate fields of the listing database  300 . 
     Next, at step  604 , the user may provide a payment identifier corresponding to a financial account from which the purchase price for the item is to be paid. The financial account may be a credit card account, a debit account, a bank account such as a checking account and the like. This data may be stored, for example, in financial account identifier field  306  of listing database  300 . In a preferred embodiment the buyer agrees to purchase the item and gives permission to charge the payment identifier for the sale if the sale can be completed at or below the price specified by the buyer, plus applicable fees, taxes, surcharges, etc., if any. 
     It is contemplated that the user may be charged a listing fee to post a listing through the system server  12 . The listing may be a nominal fee (e.g. $5.00). In the alternative, the listing fee may be charged only after a sale of the desired item to the user is completed. Accordingly, at step  606 , the user may authorize the charge to the identified financial account at any time. The user may also provide conditional authorization for the charge of the purchase price if a seller is identified. In a preferred embodiment, the buyer submits information over the Internet by using an Internet browser to fill out electronic forms through a web site maintained and operated by the system operator. Alternative methods of submitting information, such as by telephone, wireless web, etc. also are contemplated. 
     After all the above-identified information has been received, the system server  12  will review submitted pricing data from the sellers to determine an award of the listing to a particular seller in accordance with the bid determination process of  FIGS. 7A-7B . It is contemplated that the determination of a seller may be performed automatically upon completion of a listing by the user. Thus, a user may be promptly notified of the sale via the network connection  18  upon submission of the listing information. Alternatively, such notification may take place via an electronic mail (e-mail) message, an instant message or in any other available manner, such as off-line, for example, by written notification sent via first class mail or via a telephone or voice-mail message. In alternate embodiments, the notification may be delayed where the bid determination process or the notification is not performed over the network  10 . 
     If a potential seller has been identified, the process  600  continues to step  704  of  FIG. 7A . Otherwise the process  600  ends and the user is notified that no sale has been completed. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , therein are depicted exemplary processes  700  for determining an award of a bid for a listed item as performed by the system server  12 . The process  700  begins at step  702  wherein one or more sellers register with the system server  12  to sell a particular item, such as an airline ticket good for travel between an origin city and a destination during predetermined dates. The registration may include the submission of floor prices and prices for one or more rounds of bidding for the item. A user may then post a listing corresponding to the item (step  704 ), including a purchase price for the item. 
     The pricing data submitted by the sellers for the item are then identified by the system server  12  (step  706 ) from data stored in the bidding database  400 . As stated previously, a standing floor price for the bid process is determined from the highest floor price submitted by any of the plurality of sellers. At step  707 , the system determines whether the floor price is less than or equal to the buyer&#39;s purchase price. If not, the process ends and the user is notified that no sale of the item will be completed. If the floor price is less than or equal to the buyer&#39;s price the system proceeds to step  708 . 
     At step  708 , the identified data is analyzed to determine whether any of the submitted first round bid prices are less than or equal to the purchase price submitted by the user. If none of the first round prices are less than or equal to the purchase price, the process  700  ends and the user is notified that no sale of the item will be completed. If one or more of the submitted first round prices are less than or equal to the purchase price, the process  700  continues to step  710  below. 
     At step  710 , the system server  12  determines whether any of the submitted first round prices are less than or equal to the standing floor price. If so, the process  700  continues to step  740 , discussed further below. Otherwise, the process  700  continues to step  712 . 
     At step  712 , a lowest first round bidder is determined. The lowest first round bidder is that seller who submitted the lowest first round price greater than the standing floor prices. 
     Next, at step  714 , for sellers other than the lowest first round bidder the system retrieves second round bids. The lowest first round bidder retains the first round price for the next round of bidding. The process  700  then continues to step  716 , as depicted in  FIG. 7B . 
     At step  716 , the system server  12  determines whether any of the second round bids are less than or equal to the lowest first round bid. If so, the process continues to step  718  below. Otherwise, the process continues to step  720 , discussed further below. 
     At step  718 , the system server  12  determines whether any received second round prices are less than or equal to the standing floor price. If so, the process  700  continues to step  740 , discussed further below. Otherwise, the process continues to step  720 . 
     At step  720 , the system server  12  determines a lowest second round bidder. The lowest second round bidder corresponds to that seller submitting the lowest price in the second round. In certain iterations of the process  700 , it may be that the lowest second round bidder corresponds to the lowest first round bidder when no lower bids were submitted in the second round. 
     Next, at step  722 , for sellers other than the lowest second round bidder the system retrieves third rounds bids. The seller with the lowest second round bid retains that bid for the third round of bidding. 
     At step  724 , the system server  12  determines whether any of the third round bids are less than or equal to the lowest second round bid. If so, the process continues to step  726  below. Otherwise, the process continues to step  728 , discussed further below 
     At step  726 , the system server  12  determines whether any received third round prices are less than or equal to the standing floor price. If so, the process  700  continues to step  740 , discussed further below. Otherwise, the process continues to step  728 . 
     At step  728 , the system server  12  determines the lowest third round bidder. The lowest third round bidder corresponds to that seller submitting the lowest price in the third round. In certain iterations of the process  700 , it may be that the lowest third round bidder corresponds to the lowest second round bidder when no lower bids were submitted in the third round. 
     At step  730 , the sale is awarded to the lowest third round bidder. The user is then notified of the sale and the purchase price and listing price are charged to the financial account identified by the user (step  732 ). The seller who was awarded the listing is then paid the amount corresponding to the lowest third round bid (step  734 ). Then, at step  736 , the item is delivered to the user in any conventional manner. In the case of airline tickets, the delivery may include a confirmation of an airline e-ticket, a mail delivery of a paper-based airline ticket or any other conventional method for delivering an airline ticket to a user. After step  736 , the process ends. 
     As described previously, it is contemplated that a bidder submitting a price less than or equal to the standing floor price will be automatically awarded the sale of the listed item. Thus, with process  700 , if it is determined in any round of bidding that one or more sellers has submitted a price less than or equal to the standing floor price, the process  700  will continue to step  740 . 
     At step  740 , the system server  12  will determine if two or more sellers has submitted a price less than or equal to the floor price. If at least two sellers have done so, the process continues to step  742 , wherein one of the sellers will be awarded the sale at the standing floor price based on a predefined criteria. For example, the sale may be awarded to the seller that submitted the lowest bid. Alternatively, the sale may be awarded randomly to one of the sellers, on a rotation basis to eligible sellers, to the seller with the highest market share, or the highest market share in the origin city or destination city. Other such secondary factors may be used for this determination. 
     If, on the other hand, only one seller has submitted a bid price less than or equal to the floor price, the process  700  continues from step  740  to step  744  wherein the listing is awarded to that seller. From either step  742  or step  744 , the process  700  continues in the manner described above from step  732 . 
     In describing process  700 , it should be noted that multiple bidding rounds allow for more competition between sellers than having just a single round. The multiple rounds of bidding allow a seller, no matter how large or small, to strategically select pricing for subsequent rounds of bidding in order to capture sales of an item. Accordingly, two or more rounds of bidding may be provided for during process  700 . Furthermore, by automatically awarding the bid to the seller matching or beating the floor price, smaller competitors may aggressively increase sales in direct competition with sellers having a larger market share. The provision of a standing floor price also encourages participation, particularly by the seller with the greatest market share, by assuring that the system does not unduly reward an aggressive price cutter seeking to gain market share. 
     EXAMPLES 
     The following examples are provided to illustrate potential embodiments of the invention. They are intended to be illustrative of the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. 
     The process of these examples is dependent upon certain pre-defined rules that the system is programmed to follow. The sellers are aware of these rules and base their bids accordingly. It is the interplay of these rules and the sellers&#39; bids that allow the automated system to award the winner in each case. 
     Rules: 
     
         
         1. The bidding participants for any particular listing are only those sellers who have entered predefined data for the listed item. 
         2. The floor price for the listed item is determined to be the highest of all the floor prices set by the individual sellers for that item. (This allows any participant to prevent what it may define as predatory pricing for the item.) For purposes of the examples, the floor price must be at least 25% lower than the seller&#39;s lowest published price for that item. 
         3. The system will only bid as low a necessary, in $5 increments, in dollar amounts divisible by 5 (i.e. $100, $105, $110, etc.) 
         4. The system will not automatically generate a bid for a seller in a subsequent round that beats the same seller&#39;s bid in a proceeding round. 
         5. Each seller has a maximum of two bids for any item. 
         6. Whenever there is more than one bid for an item, bidding “the floor” is defined as the lowest bid. Thus, bidding “$5 less than the lowest bid” is defined as higher than the floor. 
         7. Whenever there is more than one bid for an item, bidding a specific amount is considered lower than “$5 less,” even if the result of both is the same dollar value. 
         8. In the case where more than one seller bids the identical amount during any round of bidding, their bids in subsequent rounds are examined and the winner in the current round is determined to be the one with the lowest bid in the subsequent rounds. 
         9. If the lowest bids in the subsequent rounds or the final round are identical, tie breaking rules are used to award the listing. 
       
    
     In all the following examples, it is assumed that the all sellers are bidding on the same item, and that they all have identical products to offer. In reality, however, less than all the sellers may qualify under the conditions set by the buyer, e.g., the buyer may have excluded one or more sellers from consideration or picked flight times or number of stops that exclude certain sellers. 
     Example #1 
     Just One Bidding Seller 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $200 
                 $130 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and sets the floor price at $100 
         2. 1 st  Round: since the only bid is above the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, the 1 st  Round bid is disregarded 
         3. 2 nd  Round: since Seller A&#39;s bid is below the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, Seller A is awarded the listing at $150. Even though Seller A was willing to go as low as $130, since there were no other bidders, this was not necessary. 
       
    
     Example #2 
     Two Bidders, Simple Case 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $200 
                 $150 
                 $5 less 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $130 
                 $190 
                 $140 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and sets the floor price at $130 
         2. 1 st  Round: since all bids are above the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, all 1 st  Round bids are disregarded 
         3. 2 nd  Round: Seller B is the winner of this round and uses up one of its two allowed bids. Since at least one of the sellers has an additional bid remaining (in this case they both do), it goes to the next round 
         4. 3 rd  Round: The system converts Seller A&#39;s $5 less bid to $5 less than the last round winning bidder, which makes Seller A&#39;s bid $135. Since Seller B&#39;s bid is the floor, which was previously defined as $130, Seller B is awarded the listing. 
       
    
     Example #3 
     Two Bidders, Rule Prevents One Seller from Beating its Own Prior Bid 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $200 
                 $140 
                 $5 less 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $130 
                 $190 
                 $150 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and sets the floor price at $130 
         2. 1 st  Round: since all bids are above the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, all 1 st  Round bids are disregarded 
         3. 2 nd  Round: Seller A is the winner of this round and uses up one of its two allowed bids. Since at least one of the sellers has an additional bid remaining (in this case they both do), it goes to the next round 
         4. 3 rd  Round: The system converts Seller A&#39;s $5 less bid to $5 less than the last round winning bidder, which makes Seller A&#39;s bid $135. However, this is not counted since Seller A was the winning bidder in the proceeding round. Since Seller B&#39;s bid is the floor, which was previously defined as $130, Seller B is awarded the listing. 
       
    
     Example #4 
     Three Bidders with Examination of Subsequent Bid to Determine Winner 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $200 
                 $130 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $130 
                 $190 
                 $125 
                 $5 less 
               
               
                   
                 Seller C 
                 $125 
                 $185 
                 $130 
                 $5 less 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest publish fare for that day and sets the floor price at $130 
         2. 1 st  Round: since all bids are above the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, all 1 st  Round bids are disregarded 
         3. 2 nd  Round: since both Seller A and Seller C bid equal to the floor, the 3 rd  Round is examined to determine the winner. 
         4. In the 3 rd  Round, Seller A bid the floor, which is defined to be less than $5 less, so Seller A is awarded the listing. 
       
    
     Example #5 
     Three Bidders where One Loses Because of the Rule that a Specific Bid is Considered Lower than $5 Less 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $150 
                 $130 
                 $5 less 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $130 
                 $150 
                 $125 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller C 
                 $125 
                 $150 
                 $130 
                 $125 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and sets the floor price at $130 
         2. 1 st  Round: since all bids are identical, the 2 nd  Round is examined, and Seller B is the winner of this round and uses up one of its two available bids bidding $150. 
         3. 2 nd  Round: since Seller B is the lowest bidder, it is the winner of this round and uses up the second of its two available bids, bidding $125, but the amount is counted as $130 since that is the floor. 
         4. In the 3 rd  Round, Seller B is not counted (even though it was the lowest bidder since the floor is defined as the lowest bid) because it had already used up its two bids. 
         5. Seller A&#39;s $5 less bid is converted to $125, which is $5 less than the last round winner. Seller C&#39;s bid is also $125. In this case the system will consider the specific amount of $125 to be lower than the $5 lower amount, as determined by the rules, and award the listing to Seller C. 
       
    
     Example #6 
     Three Bidders where the Date/Time Stamp is Examined to Determine the Winner 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $100 
                 $200 
                 $130 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $130 
                 $190 
                 $125 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller C 
                 $125 
                 $185 
                 $130 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and sets the floor price at $130 
         2. 1 st  Round: since all bids are above the Maximum Price offered by the buyer, all 1 st  Round bids are disregarded 
         3. 2 nd  Round: since both Seller A and Seller C bid equal to the floor, and since the floor is considered to be lower than any specific amount, the bids of Sellers A and C in the 3 rd  Round are examined to determine the winner. 
         4. In the 3 rd  Round all sellers bid the floor, so the system uses tie breaking rules to award the sale as between Sellers A and C. In this example, the date/time stamp of the bids in the system is used to determine the winner. Since Seller A&#39;s bid has an earlier date and time, Seller A is awarded the listing at the floor price of $130. 
       
    
     Example #7 
     Three bidders where the seller&#39;s published prices are examined to redefine the floor price. In this case it is a very competitive route where all the sellers are bidding the floor price. 
     Maximum Price Listing of $150 
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Floor 
                 1 st  Round 
                 2 nd  Round 
                 3 rd  Round 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Seller A 
                 $150 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller B 
                 $150 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                 Seller C 
                 $155 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
                 Floor 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Process: 
     
         
         1. The system determines that floor price is NOT at least 25% lower than the lowest published fare for that day and resets the floor price at $140 
         2. Since all bids are identical, the system uses tie breaking rules to determine the winner. In this example, the system randomly assigns the sale to Seller C. 
       
    
     Although the invention has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments and examples, it is to be understood that the descriptions have been provided for purposes of illustration only and that other variations both in form and detail can be made thereupon by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the appended claims.