Patent ID: 8554650

Claim:
A method, comprising: merging, in a computer system, an importable electronic template having a text field and a response field, into a first and second general purpose template, respectively, to form a respective updated first general purpose template and updated second general purpose template; providing, to a first potential auction participant and a second potential auction participant, the updated first general purpose template and updated second general purpose template, respectively; receiving, from the first potential auction participant, a first response associated with the response field as merged into the updated first general purpose template; receiving, from the second potential auction participant, a second response associated with the response field as merged into the updated second general purpose template; qualifying at least one of the first and the second potential auction participants as an actual participant in a first auction, prior to commencement of the first auction, wherein the qualification is based at least in part on the respective first and second responses; automatically updating, in the computer system, both the updated first general purpose template and the updated second general purpose template into a respective first revised general purpose template and a second revised general purpose template, in response to receipt in the computer system of a modification to the importable electronic template; and qualifying at least one of the first and the second potential auction participants as an actual participant in a second auction, prior to commencement of the second auction, based at least in part on the respective revised first general purpose template and the revised second general purpose template.