Patent ID: 7587340

Claim:
A method for electronically managing auctions at auction websites over the internet that include short-bidding, the method comprising: at an auction website, creating an auction, which includes entering information about an item, setting a quantity for the item, and setting an asking price for the item, where the auction creating is performed via a seller user interface by a single seller at a first client computer; placing a bid on the item, including setting a bid price, where the bid price may be any price regardless of the asking price for the item and regardless of any bid prices on other bids, if any, for the item, where the bid becomes a short-bid contract when the bid price is less than the asking price, and where the bid is placed via a bid creator user interface by any one of a potential number of purchasing bidders at a second client computer; providing the seller with information on the short-bid contracts, if any, for the item, and receiving from the seller an indication of whether to accept any particular short-bid contract, where the providing and receiving are performed by the seller via a bid review user interface at the first client computer; and at the auction website, executing a short-bid sale of the item in a particular short-bid contract upon receipt of the acceptance indication for the particular short-bid contract.