Patent ID: 7693747

Claim:
In a system for initiating an online auction, a method comprising: receiving a request to acquire at least one line item from a buyer, wherein the request comprises initial information including at least one attribute describing the item, and wherein the received request does not comprise a complete specification according to a specificity definition associated with the item; in response to receiving the request, performing at a processor a matching action using the received at least one attribute to create a data collection template, the data collection template having a plurality of cells adaptable for collecting the data; requesting a complete specification of the item in accordance with the specificity definition by presenting the data collection template to the buyer; receiving an edited version of the data collection template, the version including at least one cell having information provided by the buyer at a time after the request to acquire at least one line item is received; generating, in response to at least a portion of the data collected from the buyer, a report showing the data, including at least one of the attributes relating to the line item; and outputting the report to at least one supplier.