Patent ID: 7624051

Claim:
A method performed by a bid engine computer system, the method comprising presenting, to a consumer, by the bid engine computer system, types of goods available for sale including at least one of milk, bread, eggs, beef and olives, receiving, from the consumer, by the bid engine computer system, selections from among said types of goods, causing, by the bid engine computer system, a list comprising the consumer's selections to be presented to the consumer, automatically formulating, by the bid engine computer system, at least two bids for the list of items in response to the list being submitted to the bid engine computer system for auction by said consumer, each of said bids including terms under which the bidder is willing to sell the list of items to the consumer, at least one of the terms of each bid a) being different from any term in each other bid, b) being other than the price of the list of items, and c) being other than a delivery term, presenting, by the bid engine computer system, the bids concurrently to the consumer, and receiving, by the bid engine computer system, an indication from the consumer as to which of the concurrently presented bids the consumer wishes to accept.