Patent ID: 8527392

Claim:
A method of performing an auction of an item, the method comprising: during a first stage of an auction, using one or more computer processors: accepting live bids for the item from on-site bidders at a live, in-person auction; communicating the live bids to on-line bidders; accepting a maximum proxy price from a given on-line bidder, the maximum proxy price indicating a maximum price that the given on-line bidder is willing to pay for the item; and updating bidding information associated with the item to reflect a current bid associated with the item; the current bid based on one of the maximum proxy price and the live bids; during a second stage of an auction, based on one or more on-line bidders having submitted a maximum proxy price greater than a highest bid from the first stage, continuing to accept live bids from the on-site bidders until at least one of the following occurs; all of the maximum proxy prices are exceeded; and no further live bids are received.