Patent ID: 7949595

Claim:
A method of setting initial minimum bids for tickets in a ticket auction using a computing device, the method comprising: setting, at least in part by the computing device, an initial minimum bid for a first set of seat tickets for a first event based at least in part on historical data including one or more of sold tickets, concessions, merchandise, or event parking; setting, at least in part by the computing device, an initial minimum bid for a second set of seat tickets for the first event based at least in part on bid information for the first event, wherein the second set of seat tickets are auctioned after the first set of seat tickets, and wherein the bid information, used to set the initial minimum bid for the second set of seat tickets for the first event, includes information related to bid values of bids received for one or more tickets for the first set of seat tickets; determining, using the computing device, winning bids for tickets for a first set of seats, wherein the winning bids include a highest winning bid from a first bidder and a lowest winning bid from a second bidder; calculating, using the computing device, a first ticket price lower than the highest winning bids and higher than the lowest winning bid; charging the first bidder the first ticket price for at least one ticket; and charging the second bidder the first ticket price for at least one ticket.