Multistage auction process and system with flat rate entry fee

A non-transitory machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes said processor to perform operations comprising:

• setting a fixed entry fee for an auction;
• crediting a user with an initial bid balance of a fixed number of bids for use in an auction in response to the user's payment of the fixed entry fee;
• setting an initial auction price for an auctioned item;
• registering entry of a first user into the auction and setting the initial auction price as a current auction price in response to the entry;
• setting a bid window having a preselected time duration;
• enabling the receiving of bids entered by users;
• in response to each bid decrementing the current auction price by a preselected amount and decrementing the respective user's bid balance, and restarting the bid window;
• setting a rule for ending the auction, the rule including a parameter having a value which is a function receipt or non-receipt of a bid during a bid window;
• and
• ending the auction when conditions of the rule are met.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes said processor to perform operations comprising:

• setting a fixed entry fee for an auction;
• crediting a user with an initial bid balance of a fixed number of bids for use in an auction in response to the user's payment of the fixed entry fee and disabling the user from purchasing additional bids during the auction;
• setting an initial auction price for an auctioned item;
• setting a bid value by which the auction price will be decremented in response to a bid;
• registering entry of a first user into the auction and setting the initial auction price as a current auction price in response to the entry and attributing a bid to the first user without decrementing the first user's bid balance;
• setting a bid window having a preselected time duration;
• enabling the receiving of bids entered by users;
• in response to each bid decrementing the current auction price by a preselected amount and decrementing the respective user's bid balance, and restarting the bid window;
• setting a rule for ending the auction, the rule including a parameter having a value which is a function receipt or non-receipt of a bid during a bid window;
• and
• ending the auction when conditions of the rule are met.

A system for conducting an electronic auction comprising:

• a server comprising a database housing data for auction parameters, and wherein said server is coupled to communicate with a plurality of remote user locations;
• an entry fee register storing a value defining a flat entry fee for an auction and having a sensing circuit to allow a maximum of one entry fee per user per auction;
• a user bid balance register coupled to be incremented to a preselected bid balance for a selected auction in response to payment of the flat entry fee;
• auction price register for an auctioned item initially settable to register an initial auction price;
• a selection circuit actuatable by a user to request entry into an auction;
• a register circuit responsive to actuation of the selection circuit by a user to decrement a user account by an amount equal to the value in the entry fee register;
• a bid detector registering entry of a first user into the auction and setting the initial auction price as a current auction price in response to the entry;
• the bid detector further comprising a register coupled for preventing consecutive bids from one user;
• an auction price register coupled to decrement the current auction price by a preselected amount in response to outputs of said bid detector;
• and
• a rule-based comparator for ending the auction which is enabled to issue a signal commanding an end routine when conditions of the rule are met.