Patent ID: 7752114

Claim:
An auction method comprising the steps of: transmitting data of a tender screen, by a server computer system, in response to a request from a purchase applicant to bid for a seat ticket, said tender screen including a seating table associated with tendering conditions of seats, the tendering conditions including collective offer for seats; receiving, by the server computer system, based upon said tendering conditions, tender data input to said tender screen; determining, by the server computer system, a successful bidder in accordance with a single or multiple sets of said tender data; wherein said tender data includes one of three tender types, a personal tender, a tender from a complete group, and a tender from an incomplete group, and wherein said step of determining said successful bidder includes: a first determination step of determining, by the server computer system, whether the tender type of a highest tenderer is said personal or said tender from said incomplete group; a step of, on condition that said first determination is true, determining, by the server computer system, that said highest tenderer is a successful bidder; a second determination step of, on condition that said first determination is false, determining, by the server computer system, whether each member of said complete group is a non-successful bidder; and a step of, of condition that said second determination is true, abandoning, by the server computer system, a tender for all the members of said complete group.