Patent ID: 7765141

Claim:
A method enabling flexible terms commodities trading by auction comprising the steps of: providing, upon a web site accessible upon the world wide web, a proposal format in which the type of auction can be specified in addition to the particular commodity, weight, price, and specific commodity category dependent quality characteristics desired by a prospective buyer in completion of a submission for initiating an open bid; providing the option of provision of a model of a particular commodity desired for purposes of indicating the quality desired by a prospective buyer; providing, upon a web site accessible upon the world wide web, a proposal format in which the type of auction can be specified in addition to the particular commodity, weight, price, and specific commodity category dependent quality characteristics offered by a prospective seller in completion of a submission for initiating an open offer; providing the option of provision of a sample of a particular commodity offered for purposes of indicating the quality offered by a prospective seller; conducting a commodities auction by: posting upon said web site a listing for a specified lot of a particular commodity in accordance with a completed proposal submission detailing a plurality of terms including weight, price, quality characteristics, delivery and payment comprising an open offer of said specified lot when initiated by a prospective seller and comprising an open bid of said specified lot when initiated by a prospective buyer; scheduling said auction of said specified lot by posting a plurality of schedule dates including but not restricted to commencement and conclusion dates between which responses to said listing will be received; posting upon said web site, in association with said listing, counter bids received in response to an open offer and counter offers received in response to an open bid which vary in any of the terms included in said plurality of terms detailed in said listing; posting upon said web site, in association with said listing, any offer indications by said prospective seller in response to posted counter bids and any bid indications by said prospective buyer in response to posted counter offers signifying a modification of at least one term in said listing; indicating upon said web site, in association with said listing, sale of said lot with the matching in all said terms inclusive of delivery and payment between any offer and any bid both concerned with said specified lot in accordance with said terms.