Method and system for performing a buy or bid auction

Abstract

A method and system to facilitate an electronic commerce transaction includes receiving an offer for an item from a user of an electronic commerce system. The item is available for purchase via an auction facilitated by the electronic commerce system. The item is automatically awarded to the user if the offer is at or above a posted selling price.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method to facilitate an electronic commerce transaction, the method including: 
 receiving an offer for an item from a user of an electronic commerce system, wherein the item is available for purchase via an auction facilitated by the electronic commerce system; and    automatically awarding the item to the user if the offer is at or above a posted selling price.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the awarding includes converting the offer to an order for the item.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the offer comprises a bid.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining the offer in reserve if the offer is below the posted selling price.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 automatically reducing the posted selling price upon failing to achieve a certain sales volume within a specific time period; and    updating a merchandise catalog page to present the reduced posted selling price.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically increasing the posted selling price upon exceeding a certain sales volume within a specific time period.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         11 . An electronic commerce system, comprising 
 a manager automatically to award an auction item to a bidder if an offer is at or above a posted selling price via a web-based form across a network.    
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 a bid validator, coupled to the manager via the network, to receive the offer as a bid from a bidder via a web-based form across the network.    
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the manager is to convert the offer to an order for the item.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is to maintain the offer in reserve if the offer is below the posted selling price.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the manager is automatically to reduce the posted selling price upon receiving an indication that a certain sales volume was not achieved within a specific time period; and the system further includes: 
 a merchandise catalog page generator to update a merchandise catalog page based on instructions received from the manager to display the reduced posted selling price.    
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the manager is to reduce the posted selling price by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the manager is to reduce the posted selling price by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the manager is automatically to increase the posted selling price upon determining that a certain sales volume was achieved within a specific time period; the system further comprising: 
 a merchandise catalog page generator to update a merchandise catalog page based on instructions received from the manager to display the increased posted selling price.    
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the manager is to increase the posted selling price by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the manager is to increase the posted selling price by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         21 . A machine-readable medium having executable instructions to cause one or more machines to perform a method to facilitate an electronic transaction, the method including: 
 receiving an offer for an item from a user of an electronic commerce system, wherein the item is available for purchase via an auction facilitated by the electronic commerce system; and    automatically awarding the item to the user if the offer is at or above a posted selling price.    
     
     
         22 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the awarding includes converting the offer to an order for the item.  
     
     
         23 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the offer comprises a bid.  
     
     
         24 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , further comprising maintaining the offer in reserve if the offer is below the posted selling price.  
     
     
         25 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 automatically reducing the posted selling price upon failing to achieve a certain sales volume within a specific time period; and    updating a merchandise catalog page to present the reduced posted selling price.    
     
     
         26 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         27 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the posted selling price is reduced by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         28 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , further comprising automatically increasing the posted selling price upon exceeding a certain sales volume within a specific time period.  
     
     
         29 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the posted selling price is increased by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         30 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the posted selling price is increased by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         31 . An electronic auction system, comprising 
 manager means for automatically awarding an auction item to a bidder if an offer is at or above a posted selling price via a web-based form across a network; and    storage means coupled to the manager means, for storing the posted selling price.    
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising: 
 a validating means, coupled to the manager means via the network, for receiving a bid from a bidder via a web-based form across the network.    
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the manager means is for converting the bid to an order for the item.  
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the system is for maintaining the bid in reserve if the bid is below the posted selling price.  
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the manager means is for automatically reducing the posted selling price upon receiving an indication that a certain sales volume was not achieved within a specific time period; and the system further includes: 
 a merchandise catalog page generation means, coupled to the manager means, for updating a merchandise catalog page based on instructions received from the managing means for displaying the reduced posted selling price.    
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the manager means is for reducing the posted selling price by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the manager means is for reducing the posted selling price by a percentage of the posted selling price.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the manager means is for automatically increasing the posted selling price upon determining that a certain sales volume was achieved within a specific time period; the system further comprising: 
 a merchandise catalog page generation means for updating a merchandise catalog page based on instructions received from the manager means to display the increased posted selling price.    
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein the manager means is for increasing the posted selling price by a predetermined amount.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein the manager means is for increasing the posted selling price by a percentage of the posted selling price.