Patent ID: 7958013

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of facilitating an electronic auction between a prospective buyer and a plurality of prospective sellers, comprising: at a computer system comprising at least one server with one or more processors and memory: receiving into the computer system a buyer's request for an offer; communicating the request for an offer to at least two of the sellers; receiving offers, including terms of sale in response to the request for an offer, from at least two of the sellers; automatically generating rating information about seller offers based on a plurality of predetermined criteria, wherein the plurality of predetermined criteria include at least one criterion other than price; communicating information regarding at least some of the seller offers to at least one other seller; receiving an adjusted offer from at least one of the sellers during a specified auction period; and, in response to detecting a buyer-specified event, automatically initiating a software process for communicating information regarding at least some of the seller offers and at least part of the rating information to the buyer.