Online auction platforms and methods of operating the same to facilitate prospective buyer paid memberships or subscriptions

Abstract

Online auction platforms and methods of operating the same to facilitate prospective buyer paid memberships or subscriptions. In one method of operating an online auction platform, the method includes the steps of receiving an auction listing listed at a recorded time for a product including an initial auction bid price and a direct purchase price, determining, by one or more network connected servers, a release time for the auction listing for non-subscribing users based on the recorded time and a time delay parameter, first displaying the auction listing to a subscribing user of the online auction platform prior to the auction listing being available to a non-subscribing user of the online auction platform, and second displaying the auction listing to a non-subscribing user of the online auction platform after a predetermined time has elapsed between the recorded time and a then-current server time or on or after the release time.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.