Patent ID: 7853500

Claim:
A method of permitting users to participate in an electronic auction, the method being implemented using a computing system and comprising the steps of: (a) presenting items to users with the computing system from a set of N items from a database of items available for auction, said set of N items being characterized by a common auction expiration period; (b) receiving a set of N bids for said set of N items from said users using the computing system, such that said set of N bids includes at least one unconditional bid for one item in said set of N items, and the remainder of said set of N bids being comprised of conditional bids for a remainder of said N items; (c) processing said set of bids with the computing system prior to said common auction expiration period to determine if there is at least one winning bid in said set of bids, said processing being performed such that said conditional bids are not considered unless said unconditional bid for said one item is unsuccessful, and such that at most only a single item from said set of N items is matched to a single one of said set of N bids when determining said at least one winning bid.