Patent ID: 8255288

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, designating items as being available for purchase via a sale process that includes an opt-in sale process for registered users and a default sale process for non-registered users, at least a portion of the default sale process being performed concurrent with the opt-in sale process to enable non-registered users that do not qualify for the opt-in sale process to acquire at least a portion of the items via the default sale process; registering users for the opt-in sale process by: receiving from a wireless device a request to purchase an item from a seller or a host in an impending offer for sale; associating the request with a user having a user account; verifying that the user is eligible to purchase the item in the impending offer for sale based at least in part on the user account; initiating the offer for sale of the items by making the items available for purchase by the registered users in the opt-in sale process and by the non-registered users in the default sale process; assigning a predetermined throttle rate to bots to control a purchase rate of the bots, wherein the bots are configured to attempt to purchase the item on behalf of the registered users that are eligible to purchase the item; and attempting to purchase the item on behalf of the registered users in the opt-in sale process after the offer for sale begins at a time after the registered users are verified to be eligible to purchase the item, wherein the attempting to purchase the item is performed by using the bots to attempt to purchase the item on behalf of the registered users that are eligible to purchase the item, the bots to compete concurrently against non-registered users that attempt to purchase the item in the default sale process without using the bots.