Patent ID: 7933785

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing a distributed service marketplace, the method comprising: receiving, from a user, requirements for services; electronically preparing a search message including the requirements for services; transmitting the search message to one or more service providers; automatically receiving bids from the one or more service providers that satisfy the requirements for services; sorting the received bids based on criteria selected by the user; automatically selecting a best bid from the received bids based on the sorting; automatically transmitting a contract document to the service provider associated with the best bid; and automatically receiving the contract document from the service provider associated with the best bid, wherein the contract document includes a status of at least one of accepted, rejected, and amended, wherein if the received contract document includes the status of rejected, then automatically selecting a next best bid from the received bids based on the sorting, and repeating the automatically transmitting and automatically receiving the contract document steps with the next best bid.