Patent ID: 7970652

Claim:
An internet-based auction and transaction system for executing autonomous ascending bid auction instances for a plurality of independent participants in response to the initiation of the instances by the plurality of independent participants and for establishing multiple participant accounts that can be debited and credited in accounting for funds used and generated by participant transactions in the system, the system comprising: (a) a computer system in communication with the Internet and configured to execute a plurality of substantially simultaneous processes; (b) one or more processes executing on the computer system to perform the following: (i) maintain multiple participant accounts, each account accessible based on information received from a participant, the multiple participant accounts are debited and credited for the funds used and generated by participant transactions with the system; (ii) automatically, in response to information received via a participant interface to the system, initiate an autonomous ascending bid auction selling process based at least in part on information electronically received from a participant acting as a seller participant in the system, the ascending bid auction selling process describing an item offered for sale via the system generated autonomous ascending bid auction process to potential buyer participants; (iii) connecting a participant acting as a buyer in the system to at least one participant account maintained by the system and associated with the participant acting as the buyer in the system; and (iv) clearing by book entry transaction the payment between the participant acting as the buyer in the system with the participant acting as the seller in the system by debiting the participant account of the participant acting as the buyer and crediting the participant account for the participant acting as the seller within the system, the transaction between the participant acting as the buyer in the system and the participant acting as the seller in the system being responsive at least in part to the participant acting as the buyer in the system winning an item at the autonomous ascending bid auction process that was generated by the system in response to the participant acting as a seller via the participant interface to the system.