Patent Publication Number: US-2007124229-A1

Title: Random drawing auction system and method based on entrance fee profit model

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates to a random drawing auction system and method based on an entrance fee profit model. More particularly, the present invention relates to a random drawing auction system and method based on an entrance fee profit model, in which information of an item to be auctioned is registered directly or through a seller, an entrance fee of the item is collected from each buyer wishing to bid for the item, a bidder offering a tender price closest to a reference contract price calculated using a random probability function is selected as a successful bidder after a bid for the item is terminated, the tender price offered by the successful bidder is collected from the successful bidder, the item is delivered to the successful bidder, and the collected tender price and an amount of money which is less than an open market selling price of the item in an accumulated entrance fee of the item is given to the seller as a sales payment for the item.  
     BACKGROUND ART  
      Recently, various kinds of electronic commerce using Internet have been introduced. Electronic commerce may be divided into a shopping mall type, a basic auction type, a reverse auction, a brokerage type, and a tender type.  
      In basic auction type electronic commerce, a seller puts an item up at auction through the Internet, and buyers offer diverse prices for the item. A buyer offering a highest price among the buyers is settled as a successful bidder, and a transaction is made.  
      Such basic auction is characterized by making a plurality of buyers to compete with one another and settling on a highest price. Accordingly, when the auction item is popular, a lot of buyers bid for the auction item, and a sales price may highly increase until the end of listing.  
      The basic auction is disadvantageous for buyers in that a seller can unfairly increase a bid to make a contract price higher than the seller&#39;s expected price. In this case, the basic auction cannot guarantee buyers a chance to purchase a desired item at a low price. Conversely, when a contract price is lower than an open market selling price, the basic auction cannot guarantee sellers an appropriate sales margin.  
      In a tender type auction, bidders pay an entrance fee and offer a tender price for an auction item. When a tender price is unique and lowest, it is determined as a contract price, and the item is knocked down to a bidder offering the unique and lowest tender price.  
      In such tender type auction, the total amount of entrance fees collected from bidders is given to a seller. Accordingly, even when the total amount of entrance fees is several times greater than an open market selling price of an item, the total amount is paid to the seller, and therefore, the seller may unfairly benefit. In addition, since a chance to purchase a very expensive item at a very low price is given to bidders, the tender type auction may provoke bidders to bid in a speculative manner.  
      Moreover, since a system operator in the tender type auction is usually a seller, the number of bids or the total amount of bid price of bidders is not restricted. As a result, the tender type auction may increase popular speculation, thereby giving rise to public criticism. In addition, since expensive items unsuitable to usual electronic commerce are auctioned, the tender type auction may be considered to deviate from the normal behavior of the electronic commerce.  
      Although the tender type auction has problems like stirring up the gambling spirit, promoting excessive and unfair benefit of a seller, and disturbing the order of electronic commerce, it has an advantage of ensuring a sales space for expensive articles and articles fundamentally having a small number of potential buyers.  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a random drawing auction system and method based on an entrance fee profit model, in which it is determined whether a buyer requesting permission to bid for an item is qualified for bidding in order to restrict speculative bidding, each of buyers permitted to bid sets a tender price for the item, a tender price closest to a reference contract price determined using a random probability function or close in a predetermined sequence to the reference contract price is selected after a bid for the item is terminated, a buyer having set the selected tender price is determined as a successful bidder, an amount of money that is less than an open market selling price of the item in the accumulation of initial entrance fees collected from all of the buyers in advance to the bid for the item and the tender price collected from the successful bidder are given to a seller as a sales payment for the item, and when a type of entrance fee is a variable type and an accumulated entrance fee of the item exceeds the open market selling price of the item, the surplus of the accumulated entrance fee is appropriately distributed and returned to the buyers after the bid is terminated.  
      According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a random drawing auction system based on an entrance fee profit model, including a database unit storing auction condition information including an open market selling price, auction quantity, auction duration, an initial entrance fee and an entrance fee type of an item auctioned through Internet, bid history information of a buyer wishing to purchase the item through the Internet, and bid details information of the item; an item registration unit allowing a seller to register auction condition information of an item or directly register the auction condition information and posting the item and the auction condition information to a web site when an auction start time of the registered item is encountered; a bid qualification determiner determining whether a buyer is qualified for bidding for an item based on the buyer&#39;s bid history information in response to the buyer&#39;s request for permission to bid for the item; a bid execution unit requesting the buyer to pay an initial entrance fee of an item when a buyer is determined as being qualified for bidding for the item, collecting an initial entrance fee of the item from the buyer, requesting the buyer to set a tender price for the item, and inputting the tender price; a bid terminator determining whether to terminate a bid for an item based on at least one among auction duration of the item, for which the bid is being executed by the bid execution unit, and an accumulated entrance fee resulting from the bid of each of buyers for the item; a successful bidder selector calculating a reference contract price using a minimum contract price and a maximum contract price of an item and a random number induced by a random probability function after a bid for the item is terminated, comparing the reference contract price with a tender price set by each of buyers, and selecting as a successful bidder a buyer that has set a tender price closest to the reference contract price or close in a predetermined sequence to the reference contract price; and a delivery/payment processor collecting a tender price set by a buyer selected as a successful bidder, performing a process to deliver an item to the successful bidder, and giving a sales payment to a seller of the item.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a random drawing auction method based on an entrance fee profit model, including (a) receiving auction condition information including an open market selling price, auction quantity, auction duration, an initial entrance fee and an entrance fee type of an item from a seller wishing to sell the item through Internet, registering the auction condition information in a database, and posting the item and the auction condition information when an auction start time of the item is encountered; (b) determining whether a buyer accessing through the Internet is qualified for bidding based on bid history information of the buyer in response to the buyer&#39;s request for permission to bid for the item, collecting an entrance fee of the item from the buyer when it is determined that the buyer is qualified, and requesting the buyer to set and input a tender price of the item; (c) determining whether to terminate the bid for the item based on at least one among the auction duration of the item and an accumulated entrance fee resulting from the bid of each of buyers for the item; (d) calculating a reference contract price using a minimum contract price and a maximum contract price of the item and a random number induced by a random probability function after the bid for the item is terminated, comparing the reference contract price with a tender price set by each of the buyers, and selecting as a successful bidder a buyer that has set a tender price closest to the reference contract price or close in a predetermined sequence to the reference contract price; and (e) collecting the tender price set by the buyer selected as the successful bidder, performing a process to deliver the item to the successful bidder, and giving a sales payment to the seller of the item. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic operating environment for a random drawing auction system based on an entrance fee profit model according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of the random drawing auction system based on an entrance fee profit model according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIGS. 3A through 3F  illustrate examples of databases (DBs) managed by the random drawing auction system based on an entrance fee profit model according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a random drawing auction method based on an entrance fee profit model according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5A  is a flowchart of a procedure for refunding an entrance fee in the random drawing auction method based on an entrance fee profit model, according to the embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 5B  is a flowchart of a procedure for selecting a successful bidder in the random drawing auction method based on an entrance fee profit model, according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic operating environment for a random drawing auction system  100  based on an entrance fee profit model according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the random drawing auction system  100  based on an entrance fee profit model according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as the random drawing auction system  100  according to the present invention or the random drawing auction system  100 ) is connected with sellers&#39; sales registration terminals  200  and buyers&#39; purchase application terminals  300  through a computer communication network such as Internet  400 . The sales registration terminals  200  and the purchase application terminals  300  may be personal computers, laptop computers, palm computers, Internet mobile phones, or Internet televisions. In an embodiment of the present invention, the sales registration terminals  200  and the purchase application terminals  300  are assumed to be personal computers.  
      The random drawing auction system  100  receives sales registrations for auction items from a sales registration terminal  200  through the Internet  400  and posts the auction item and auction conditions for each auction item (e.g., an open market selling price, auction quantity, auction duration, an initial entrance fee, and a type of entrance fee) to a website.  
      When buyers access the website of the random drawing auction system  100  through the Internet  400  using the purchase application terminals  300  and request permission to bid an item referring to the auction conditions for posted items, the random drawing auction system  100  determines whether the buyers are qualified for bidding for the item, requests bidders determined as being qualified to pay an initial entrance fee set for the item in advance to a bid, and requests bidders having prepaid the initial entrance fee to select a tender price.  
      After the bid for the item is terminated, the random drawing auction system  100  calculates a reference contract price of the item using a predetermined random probability function, selects a tender price closest to the reference contract price or close in a predetermined sequence to the reference contract price, and selects a bidder having set the selected tender price as a successful bidder.  
      Thereafter, the random drawing auction system  100  collects the selected tender price from the successful bidder and gives a seller of the item notice so that the seller delivers the item to the successful bidder. After the delivery of the item is completed, the random drawing auction system  100  gives a sales payment for the item to the seller.  
      When a type of entrance fee is a variable type, after the bid ends, the random drawing auction system  100  calculates the accumulation of entrance fees collected from the bidders, calculates a maximum payable bid price that can be paid as the sales payment for the item using the open market selling price and the auction quantity of the item, determines whether to refund the entrance fee based on the accumulation of the entrance fees and the maximum payable bid price, and refunds a certain amount of money to the bidders. The type of entrance fee may be a fixed type where an initial entrance fee set by a seller for an item is fixed and a variable type where the initial entrance fee varies with the accumulated entrance fees obtained after a bid ends and a total number of bidders.  
       FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of the random drawing auction system  100 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , the random drawing auction system  100  includes a database (DB) unit  110  and a random drawing auction processing unit  130 .  
      The DB unit  110  includes a client DB  111 , an item DB  113 , an auction condition DB  115 , a buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117 , an item&#39;s bid details DB  119 , a delivery/payment details DB  121 .  
      The client DB  111  stores and manages basic information of a seller or a buyer. Referring to  FIG. 3A , the client DB  111  includes a client number field  1111 , a client name (corporation name) field  1112 , a residence registration number (corporation registration number) field  1113 , a client type field  1114 , an address field  1115 , a contact field  1116 , a login ID field  1117 , a password field  1118 , and a clearance account number field  1119 . Information for discriminating a seller and a buyer is recorded in the client type field  1114 . Information such as a home phone number, an office phone number, a mobile phone number, and/or an e-mail address is recorded in the contact field  1116 .  
      The item DB  113  stores and manages basic information of an item registered by a seller to be auctioned. Referring to  FIG. 3B , the item DB  113  includes an item management number field  1131 , an item model number field  1132 , an item name field  1133 , a manufacturer field  1134 , an item description field  1135 , an item photo field  1136 , and a registrant ID field  1137 . The item description field  1135  contains various types of item information that will be helpful to a buyer selecting an item. Information for identifying a registrant of the item, e.g., a seller ID, may be recorded in the registrant ID field  1137 . In addition, the item DB  113  may further include fields for recording other various types of information such as a provenance of the item, an optional item, and a delivery fee.  
      The auction condition DB  115  stores and manages information of auction conditions set for an item by a seller when the seller registers the item. Referring to  FIG. 3C , the auction condition DB  115  includes an auction serial number field  1151 , an item management number field  1152 , an auction type field  1153 , an auction duration field  1154 , an open market selling price field  1155 , an auction quantity field  1156 , an entrance fee field  1157 , an entrance fee type field  1158 , a contract price setup range field  1159 , a contract price setup unit field  1160 , and a maximum payable bid price field  1161 . Information for identifying an auction type (e.g., a normal type or a random drawing type) is recorded in the auction type field  1153 . In the present invention, the random drawing type is used. Either a fixed type or a variable type is recorded in the entrance fee type field  1158 . An initial entrance fee, a contract price setup range, and a contract price setup unit, which are suggested by a seller or the random drawing auction system  100 , are recorded in the entrance fee field  1157 , the contract price setup range field  1159 , and the contract price setup unit  1160 , respectively. The initial entrance fee, the contract price setup range, and the contract price setup unit for an item may be offered by a seller in accordance with the provision of the random drawing auction system  100 . When a seller does not offer the initial entrance fee, the contract price setup range, and the contract price setup unit for an item, the random drawing auction system  100  can offer them taking account of an open market selling price (indicating a price obtained by adding a predetermined weight to a full price of the item) and auction quantity of the item. The maximum payable bid price field  1161  contains the amount of money (i.e., a maximum payable bid price) calculated by the random drawing auction system  100  using the open market selling price and the auction quantity of the item. For example, when the open market selling price of the item is 100,000 won and the auction quantity of the item is 2, “200,000 won” is recorded in the maximum payable bid price field  1161 . The amount of money recorded in the maximum payable bid price field  1161  is used as reference for the limit of a sale payment to be given to a seller.  
      The buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117  stores and manages information on a buyer&#39;s bid history. Referring to  FIG. 3D , the buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117  includes a buyer ID field  1171 , an item management number field  1172 , a bid number field  1173 , a bid date field  1174 , a total bid count field  1175 , and a total bid amount field  1176 . The total bid count field  1175  contains a total number of bids performed by a buyer for a certain item or during a predetermined period of time (e.g., for a month). The total bid amount field  1176  contains a total amount of bid prices placed by the buyer for the item or during the predetermined period of time. Information recorded in the total bid count field  1175  and the total bid amount field  1176  is used to suppress the buyer&#39;s excessive bidding behavior. The buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117  may include only one among the total bid count field  1175  and the total bid amount field  1176 .  
      The item&#39;s bid details DB  119  stores and manages bid details of an item during auction duration. Referring to  FIG. 3E , the item&#39;s bid details DB  119  includes an item management number field  1191 , a bidder ID (or buyer ID) field  1192 , a bid date/time field  1193 , a tender price field  1194 , an accumulated entrance fee field  1195 , and an accumulated number of bidders (or buyers) field  1196 . The accumulated entrance fee field  1195  contains the accumulation of entrance fees prepaid by buyers to bid, i.e., bidders, for an item. The accumulated number of bidders field  1196  contains a total number of bidders bidding for the item. The item&#39;s bid details DB  119  may further include a field containing a payment scheme used by a bidder to prepay the entrance fee.  
      The delivery/payment details DB  121  stores and manages a delivery result and payment details for an item knocked down to a successful bidder. Referring to  FIG. 3F , the delivery/payment details DB  121  includes an item management number field  1211 , a successful bidder (or buyer) ID  1212 , a tender price pay date field  1213 , an item delivery date field  1214 , and an item payment field  1215 .  
      The fields included in the DBs  111 ,  113 ,  115 ,  117 ,  119 , and  121  are not restricted to those described above, and a field may be added or eliminated by an operator of the random drawing auction system  100  when necessary. In addition, the random drawing auction system  100  can construct and manage a DB in addition to the above-described DBs  111 ,  113 ,  115 ,  117 ,  119 , and  121  when necessary.  
      The random drawing auction processing unit  130  shown in  FIG. 2  includes a client manager  131 , an item registration unit  132 , a bid qualification determiner  133 , a bid execution unit  134 , a bid terminator  135 , an entrance fee refund processor  136 , a successful bidder selector  137 , and a delivery/payment processor  138 .  
      The client manager  131  receives basic information from a seller wishing to sell an item using the random drawing auction system  100  online, receives basic information from a buyer wishing to buy the item provided by the seller, and registers the seller and the buyer in the client DB  111 .  
      In addition, the client manager  131  provides a program (referred to as a sales registration program) allowing a seller to register information on an item to be auctioned to the random drawing auction system  100  through the Internet  400 . Sellers can download the sales registration program to their sales registration terminals  200  and then directly register the item information in the random drawing auction system  100 . In addition, sellers can register the item information in the random drawing auction system  100  under the connection to the random drawing auction system  100 .  
      The item registration unit  132  receives basic information of an item and auction conditions for the item from a seller&#39;s sales registration terminal  200  through the Internet  400  and registers them in the item DB  113  and the auction condition DB  115 .  
      When the auction conditions received from a seller do not include an initial entrance fee, a contract price setup range, and a contract price setup unit, the item registration unit  132  sets the initial entrance fee, the contract price setup range, and the contract price setup unit (e.g., 1 won) taking account into an open market selling price and auction quantity of the item before registering the auction conditions in the auction condition DB  115 . Alternatively, when the auction conditions received from the seller include the initial entrance fee and the contract price setup range, the item registration unit  132  may determine whether the initial entrance fee and the contract price setup range are proper taking account into the open market selling price of the item.  
      In addition, the item registration unit  132  calculates a maximum payable bid price, which can be paid as a sales payment for the item, based on the open market selling price and the auction quantity of the item and registers the maximum payable bid price in the auction condition DB  115 .  
      The item registration unit  132  also refers to the auction condition DB  115  for the auction duration of an item and when an auction start time is encountered, posts the item and auction conditions (e.g., an open market selling price, auction quantity, an initial entrance fee, an entrance fee type, a contract price setup range, and a contract price setup unit) for the item to a web site of the random drawing auction system  100 .  
      The bid qualification determiner  133  receives from the client manager  131 , identification information (e.g., a buyer ID) of a buyer accessing the random drawing auction system  100  through the Internet  400  using a purchase application terminal  300  to buy an auctioned item, and checks all information regarding the buyer accessing the random drawing auction system  100  with reference to the client DB  111  and the buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117 .  
      When a buyer requests a permission to participate in a bid for an item (e.g., item#n) posted by the item registration unit  132 , the bid qualification determiner  133  determines whether the buyer is qualified to bid for the item with reference to the buyer&#39;s bid history stored in the buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117 .  
      In detail, when the buyer&#39;s bid history includes a total bid count for the item or a total bid count during a predetermined period of time, the bid qualification determiner  133  checks whether the total bid count exceeds a maximum available bid count, that is, the maximum number of bids permitted to the buyer for an item or during the predetermined period of time, and determines whether the buyer is qualified according to the result of the check. Alternatively, when the buyer&#39;s bid history includes a total bid amount for the item or during a predetermined period of time, the bid qualification determiner  133  checks whether the total bid amount exceeds a maximum available bid amount, that is, the maximum amount of bid price permitted to the buyer for an item or during the predetermined period of time, and determines whether the buyer is qualified according to the result of the check.  
      When the total bid count exceeds the maximum available bid count or the total bid amount exceeds the maximum available bid amount, the bid qualification determiner  133  determines that the buyer is unqualified, notifies the buyer of disapproval, and restricts the bid of the buyer.  
      When the buyer is determined as being qualified for a bid by the bid qualification determiner  133 , the bid execution unit  134  requests the buyer to pay an initial entrance fee of the item, requests the buyer to set a tender price for the item after collecting the initial entrance fee from the buyer, and registers the tender price in the item&#39;s bid details DB  119 .  
      When the buyer, i.e., the bidder finishes the bid for the item, the bid execution unit  134  adds an item management number, a bid number, a bid date, etc., regarding the bid for the item made by the buyer to the buyer&#39;s bid history stored in the buyer&#39;s bid history DB  117  and updates the total bid count or the total bid amount in the buyer&#39;s bid history.  
      In addition, when the buyer finishes the bid for the item, the bid execution unit  134  adds a bidder ID, a bid date/time, and a tender price regarding the bid for the item made by the buyer to the item&#39;s bid details stored in the item&#39;s bid details DB  119  and updates an accumulated entrance fee and an accumulated number of bidders in the item&#39;s bid details.  
      The bid terminator  135  refers to the item&#39;s bid details DB  119  for the accumulated entrance fee of the item for which bidding is executed by the bid execution unit  134 , refers to the auction condition DB  115  for auction conditions for the item, and determines whether to terminate the bid for the item.  
      If an entrance fee type included in the auction conditions for the item is a fixed type, the bid terminator  135  terminates the bid for the item when the accumulated entrance fee of the item reaches a maximum payable bid price set for the item or when an auction end time of the item is encountered even though the accumulated entrance fee of the item does not reach the maximum payable bid price.  
      If the entrance fee type included in the auction conditions for the item is a variable type, the bid terminator  135  terminates the bid for the item when the auction end time is encountered regardless of the accumulated entrance fee.  
      When the bid for the item is terminated by the bid terminator  135 , the entrance fee refund processor  136  determines whether to refund an entrance fee based on the entrance fee type, the accumulated entrance fee, the accumulated number of bidders (buyers), and the maximum payable bid price and refunds a certain amount of money to each of bidders that have made a bid for the item.  
      In detail, when the entrance fee type is the variable type, the entrance fee refund processor  136  determines whether the accumulated entrance fee obtained after the termination of the bid exceeds the maximum payable bid price. If it is determined that the accumulated entrance fee exceeds the maximum payable bid price, the entrance fee refund processor  136  refunds every bidder for the item the amount of money calculated by dividing the surplus of the accumulated entrance fee by the accumulated number of bidders for the item. Consequently, every bidder is refunded some of the initial entrance fee, and therefore, every bidder could bid for the item with an entrance fee less than the prepaid initial entrance fee. However, if the accumulated entrance fee does not exceed the maximum payable bid price, the entrance fee refund processor  136  does not perform the refund operation.  
      When the entrance fee type is the fixed type, since the accumulated entrance fee does not exceed the maximum payable bid price, the entrance fee refund processor  136  does not perform the refund operation. When the random drawing auction system  100  supports only the fixed entrance fee type, the random drawing auction system  100  may not include the entrance fee refund processor  136 .  
      The entrance fee refund processor  136  may manage an item whose entrance fee has been partially refunded using a separate DB (not shown). In this case, the DB may store information such as an item management number, an initial entrance fee, a final entrance fee (i.e., varied entrance fee), a refund amount, a refund date, and a refunded buyer with respect to the item.  
      When the bid for the item is terminated by the bid terminator  135 , the successful bidder selector  137  calculates a reference contract price for the item using a minimum contract price and a maximum contract price obtained from a contract price setup range set for the item and a random number induced by a random probability function. For example, when the minimum contract price is 1,000 won, the maximum contract price is 20,000, and the random number is 0.03, the reference contract price may be [1,000+(20,000−1,000)×0.03=1,570]. Here, the random probability function induces an arbitrary number between 0 and 1 as the random number.  
      Thereafter, the successful bidder selector  137  compares the reference contract price with tender prices set by respective bidders bidding for the item and selects as a successful bidder, a bidder setting a tender price closest to the reference contract price or a bidder setting a tender price close to the reference contract price in a predetermined sequence (e.g., in a third place or a fifth place).  
      Here, to select a bidder offering a tender price closest to the reference contract price, a method using an absolute value of a difference between the reference contract price and a tender price (hereinafter, referred to as an “absolute-value scheme”), a method of selecting a tender price closest to the standard price from among tender prices that are at least the reference contract price (hereinafter, referred to as a “low-cut scheme”), or a method of selecting a tender price closest to the standard price from among tender prices that do not exceed the reference contract price (hereinafter, referred to as a “high-cut scheme”) may be used.  
      When using the absolute-value scheme, the successful bidder selector  137  calculates an absolute value of a difference between the reference contract price and each of all tender prices, detects a minimum absolute value, and selects as a successful bidder a bidder that has set a tender price giving the minimum absolute value. When there are at least two bidders set the tender price giving the minimum absolute value and the auction quantity of the item is 1, the successful bidder selector  137  may check a bid sequence of each of the at least two bidders, referring to the item&#39;s bid details DB  119  and select a bidder having an earliest bid sequence from among the at least two bidders as a successful bidder. When the auction quantity of the item is plural, the successful bidder selector  137  sequentially detects minimum absolute values as many as the auction quantity and selects bidders having set tender prices giving the detected minimum absolute values as successful bidders.  
      When using the low-cut scheme, the successful bidder selector  137  selects a tender price closest to the reference contract price from among tender prices that are at least the reference contract price and selects a bidder having set the selected tender price as a successful bidder.  
      When using the high-cut scheme, the successful bidder selector  137  selects a tender price closest to the reference contract price from among tender prices that do not exceed the reference contract price and selects a bidder having set the selected tender price as a successful bidder.  
      The delivery/payment processor  138  requests the successful bidder selected by the successful bidder selector  137  to pay the tender price set by the successful bidder and, upon collecting the tender price from the successful bidder, requests the seller of the item to deliver the item to the successful bidder.  
      In addition, when the delivery of the item is completed, the delivery/payment processor  138  gives, as a sales payment, the amount of money that does not exceed the maximum payable bid price in the accumulated entrance fee and some of the tender price paid by the successful bidder to the seller of the item.  
      Thereafter, the delivery/payment processor  138  stores information on the results of the delivery and the payment in the delivery/payment details DB  121 .  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a random drawing auction method based on an entrance fee profit model according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 4 , in operation S 100 , basic information of an item and auction conditions for the item are received through Internet from a seller wishing to auction the item and registered in a DB, using a random drawing auction system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the random drawing auction system calculates a maximum payable bid price for the item based on an open market selling price and auction quantity of the item which are included in the auction conditions for the item and registers the maximum payable bid price in the DB.  
      When the random drawing auction system determines based on auction duration of the item that an auction start time is encountered in operation S 120 , it posts the item and the auction conditions for the item to a web site in operation S 140 .  
      Thereafter, when a buyer accesses the random drawing auction system through the Internet and requests permission to bid for the item in operation S 160 , the random drawing auction system inquires about the buyer&#39;s bid history in operation S 180  and determines whether the buyer is qualified to bid for the item in operation S 200 . When it is determined that the buyer is unqualified, the unqualified buyer is notified of disapproval in operation S 440 . Operation S 200  has been described above when the operations of the bid qualification determiner  133  were described with reference to  FIG. 2 , and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.  
      When it is determined that the buyer is qualified in operation S 200 , the random drawing auction system requests the buyer to pay an initial entrance fee for the item, requests the buyer to set a tender price for the item after collects the initial entrance fee from the buyer, and registers the tender price set by the buyer, i.e., bidder, in operation S 220 .  
      In operation S 240 , the random drawing auction system performs operation to determine whether to terminate a bid for the item.  
      If an entrance fee type of the item is a fixed type, when it is determined that an accumulated entrance fee of the item reaches the maximum payable bid price in operation S 260  or when it is determined that an auction end time of the item is encountered in operation S 280  even though the accumulated entrance fee of the item does not reach the maximum payable bid price, the random drawing auction system terminates the bid for the item in operation S 300 . When it is determined that the accumulated entrance fee of the item does not reach the maximum payable bid price in operation S 260  and when it is determined that the auction end time of the item is not encountered in operation S 280 , the random drawing auction system returns to operation S 160  to continue the bid.  
      If the entrance fee type of the item is a variable type, when it is determined that the auction end time of the item is encountered in operation S 320 , the random drawing auction system terminates the bid for the item in operation S 340 . When it is determined that the auction end time is not encounter in operation S 320 , the random drawing auction system returns to step S 160  to continue the bid.  
      After terminating the bid in operation S 340 , the random drawing auction system recognizes that the entrance fee type of the item is the variable type, determines whether to refund an entrance fee based on the accumulated entrance fee of the item and the maximum payable bid price of the item, and refunds a certain amount of money to each of all bidders in operation S 360 , which will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 5A . As described above, the random drawing auction system according to the present invention performs the refund operation only when the entrance fee type is the variable type.  
      After operation S 300  or S 360 , the random drawing auction system calculates a reference contract price for the item using a minimum contract price and a maximum contract price obtained from a contract price setup range set for the item and a random number induced by a random probability function in operation S 380 .  
      Thereafter, in operation S 400 , the random drawing auction system compares tender prices set by bidders for the item with the reference contract price calculated in operation S 380  and selects as a successful bidder a bidder having set a tender price that is closest to the reference contract price or close in a predetermined sequence to the reference contract price. Selecting as a successful bidder a bidder having set a tender price closest to the reference contract price will be described with reference to  FIG. 5B .  
      In operation S 420 , the random drawing auction system requests the successful bidder to pay the tender price set by the successful bidder, requests the seller of the item to deliver the item to the successful bidder after collecting the tender price from the successful bidder, and gives the seller a sales payment for the item after the delivery of the item is completed. Here, the sales payment given to the seller has been described when the operations of the delivery/payment processor  138  were described with reference to  FIG. 2 , and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. When the entrance fee type is the variable type, the random drawing auction system may perform operation S 360  after performing operation S 420 .  
       FIG. 5A  is a flowchart of operation S 360  of refunding the entrance fee in the random drawing auction method shown in  FIG. 4 . Referring to  FIG. 5A , the random drawing auction system recognizes that the entrance fee type of the item is the variable type after terminating the bid and determines whether the accumulated entrance fee of the item exceeds the maximum payable bid price in operation S 361 .  
      When it is determined that the accumulated entrance fee of the item does not exceed the maximum payable bid price in operation S 361 , the random drawing auction system stops the refund operation and does not refund to the bidders in operation S 3362 .  
      When it is determined that the accumulated entrance fee of the item exceeds the maximum payable bid price in operation S 361 , the random drawing auction system calculates the surplus, i.e., the difference between the accumulated entrance fee and the maximum payable bid price in operation S 363 .  
      Next, the random drawing auction system calculates a refund amount by dividing the surplus by a total number of bidders (i.e., buyers) that have bidden for the item in operation S 364  and returns the refund amount to each of the buyers having bidden for the item in operation S 365 . For example, when the maximum payable bid price is 100,000 won, the initial entrance fee of the item is 500 won, and the total number of bidders having bidden for the item is 1000, the accumulated entrance fee of the item will be [500×1000=500,000] after the bid is terminated. Here, the accumulated entrance fee exceeds the maximum payable bid price, and the surplus is 400,000 won, which is divided by the total number of bidders, 1000. As a result, the refund amount is 400 won. Accordingly, each of the bidders is refunded  400  won. Since the initial entrance fee of the item is partially refunded, the initial entrance fee is changed from 500 won to 100 won consequently.  
       FIG. 5B  is a flowchart of operation S 400  of selecting the successful bidder in the random drawing auction method shown in  FIG. 4 . In particular,  FIG. 5B  illustrates operations for selecting as the successful bidder a bidder having set a tender price closest to the reference contract price using the absolute-value scheme, the low-cut scheme, and the high-cut scheme.  
      When a random drawing auction system according to an embodiment of the present invention selects the absolute-value scheme as a method of selecting the successful bidder in operation S 401 , it calculates an absolute value of a difference between the reference contract price calculated in operation S 380  and each of tender prices set by all of the bidders for the item in operation S 402 .  
      In operation S 403 , as many minimum absolute values as the auction quantity of the item are sequentially selected from among the calculated absolute values. For example, when the auction quantity of the item is 2, two minimum absolute values are selected.  
      In operation S 404 , the random drawing auction system detects a bidder having set each of tender prices giving the absolute values selected in operation S 403 .  
      When it is determined that the number of bidders detected in operation S 404  is plural in operation S 405 , the random drawing auction system checks a bid sequence of each of the detected bidders in operation S 406  and selects a bidder having an earliest bid sequence as the successful bidder in operation S 407 .  
      Meanwhile, when the random drawing auction system selects the low-cut scheme in operation S 401 , it compares the reference contract price calculated in operation S 380  with each of tender prices set by all of the bidders for the item and selects tender prices that are at least the reference contract price in operation S 408 .  
      In operation S 409 , as many tender prices closest to the reference contract price as the auction quantity of the item are sequentially selected from among the tender prices selected in operation S 408 .  
      In operation S 410 , the random drawing auction system detects a bidder having set each of the tender prices selected in operation S 409 . Thereafter, the random drawing auction system performs operations S 405 , S 406 , and S 407 .  
      When the random drawing auction system selects the high-cut scheme in operation S 401 , it compares the reference contract price calculated in operation S 380  with each of tender prices set by all of the bidders for the item and selects tender prices that do not exceed the reference contract price in operation S 411 . Thereafter, the random drawing auction system performs operations S 409 , S 410 , S 405 , S 406 , and S 407 .  
      The above description just concerns embodiments of the present invention. The present invention is not restricted to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made thereto within the scope defined by the attached claims. For example, the shape and structure of each member specified in the embodiments can be changed.  
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
      According to the present invention, in an accumulated entrance fee of an item, the amount of money that does not exceed an open market selling price of the item is given to a seller of the item as a sales payment, unfair benefit of the seller occurring when the accumulated entrance fee greatly exceeding the open market selling price is promoted by the seller&#39;s foul manipulation can be prevented.  
      In addition, since a lucky bidder casually offering a tender price closest to a reference contract price, which is arbitrarily set for the item using a random probability function after a bid for the item is terminated, is selected as a successful bidder, competitively bidding in a speculative manner can be prevented. Moreover, since a seller can purchase at a low cost, the seller can enjoy buying an item.  
      The present invention also provides a distribution channel for expensive articles and articles fundamentally having a small number of potential buyers and a new distribution environment for usual articles. Since an accumulated entrance fee (that does not exceed the open market selling price of an item) and a tender price paid by a successful bidder for the item are given to a seller of the item as a sales payment, the seller is guaranteed an appropriate sales margin.  
      In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to expand a sales market using an entrance fee based scheme employed by existing tender type auction, a sales payment given to a seller can be restricted to about an open market selling price, the limit of the price of an article and registrable items can be adjusted, and advantages of the tender type auction can be provided.  
      Moreover, in the present invention, a total bid count or a total bid amount granted to buyers for one item or during a predetermined period of time is restricted, thereby preventing the buyers from bidding recklessly or speculatively.