Integrated method of exchanging goods electronically

A system comprising four modules:

• a first module comprising functionality of:
• sending a request, from an organizer, the request comprising one or more product specification terms, quantity terms, shipment terms, and payment terms;
• in response to the request, receiving one or more proposals, each proposal comprising the shipment terms, quantity terms, and payment terms;
• a second module comprising functionality of:
• converting the received shipment terms, quantity terms, and payment terms into a normalized shipment term, quantity term, and payment term, respectively;
• sending a bid notification to one or more bidders;
• a third module comprising functionality of:
• based on the normalized shipment term, quantity term, and payment term, accepting a plurality of bids from one or more bidders;
• a fourth module comprising functionality of:
• selecting three or less bidders based on the bids;
• sending a counter-offer to each of the bidders, the counter-offer comprising the shipment terms, quantity terms, payment terms, and a price;
• and
• receiving a counter-reply from each of the bidders, the counter-reply comprising the shipment terms, quantity terms, payment terms, and price;
• and
• and selecting one or more of the counter-replies.

A method for auctioning products or services, comprising the steps of:

• specifying a shipment schedule, the shipment schedule comprising a starting date, an ending date, and a time period for a plurality fo shipments;
• displaying each of the shipments based on the starting date, ending date, and time period;
• and
• displaying a quantity field and an expected time field for each of the shipments, the quantity field and expected time field configurable by a user.

A computerized method for auctioning products or services, comprising the steps of:

• sending a request, from an organizer, the request comprising one or more product specification terms, quantity terms, shipment terms, payment terms other terms that are relevant to the organizer's line of business or practices;
• in response to the request, receiving one or more proposals, each proposal comprising the product specifications, shipment terms, quantity terms, payment terms and other terms that are relevant to the organizer's line of business or practices;
• converting the received shipment terms, quantity terms, and payment terms into a normalized shipment term, quantity term, and payment term, respectively;
• based on the normalized shipment term, quantity term, and payment term, accepting a plurality of bids from one or more bidders;
• and
• selecting one or more of the bids.

A method for auctioning products or services, comprising the steps of:

• specifying a plurality of contract terms, the contract terms comprising a contract duration, a contract starting month, a total contract quantity, a number of shipments per month, a contract price basis, the contract price basis based on a fixed price or a formulate related price with reference to a publication or producer with further specifications;
• specifying a shipment schedule, the shipment schedule comprising a shipment month, and a number of shipments within the month;
• displaying each of the shipments based on the shipment month and the number of shipments within the month;
• displaying a quantity per shipment field and an expected shipment timing field for each of the shipments, the quantity per shipment field and the expected shipment timing field configurable by a user;
• bidding for a fixed contract price or a formula related price based on a formula, the formula specified as a reference to a publication or a producer with further specifications;
• and
• providing feedback to the bidders when a price information is closed.