Patent ID: 7483857

Claim:
A method for conducting an online auction, including consideration of effects of uncertainty and risk factors while negotiating one or more e-commerce transactions, said method comprising: initiating, by an online market intermediary, said online auction, said initiating including declaring a specification of a risk class to which an offering party of said auction belongs and other terms for an auctioned item; determining the validity of received bids, by said online market intermediary, using rules for said auction; upon closure of said online auction in accordance with said rules, obtaining information on prices of various derivatives required for risk mitigation related to each valid bid received by said online market intermediary, wherein said various derivatives comprise: currency exchange rate derivatives; and any of price derivatives and insurance derivatives; and computing, by said market intermediary, a risk premium according to said various derivatives and risk classes to which said offering party and a counterparty belong for said each valid bid; based on said computing of said risk premium and said other terms, determining, by said online market intermediary, an assignment of said item from a seller to a buyer, a price paid by said buyer, an amount received by said seller, and amounts paid for online services used by said seller and said buyer, wherein said determining said assignment comprises: computing a risk-adjusted payout to seller (RPS) for said each valid bid; and assigning said item of said each valid bid with a highest RPS to said buyer: booking, by said online market intermediary, a contract, based on said assignment, said price paid by said buyer, said amount received by said seller, and said amounts paid for online services used by said seller and said buyer, to transact said online auction; and communicating said booking to said buyer and said seller.