Patent ID: 7917414

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for facilitating the negotiation and sale of an item between a seller and at least one bidder across a network, said seller and said at least one bidder being remote from one another, said method comprising the steps of: receiving, from said seller to said at least one bidder, item data about said item, said item being nonstandard; in response to an offer by said at least one bidder to said seller, counteroffering, by said seller, with new sales terms to said at least one bidder, wherein said new sales terms include a new price, said new price being less than a listed ask price in said item data and greater than a bid price in said offer, and said offer of said at least one bidder and the counteroffer by said seller being in real-time; and selecting, among said at least one bidder, a buyer of said item at or above said new sales terms, wherein, in said selecting, if a particular at least one bidder or a different bidder offers terms at or above said new sales terms, the particular or different bidder is automatically selected as the buyer of said item at said terms, and wherein the communications between said seller and said at least one bidder involve at least one electronic device.