JP2002007783A - Auction system and auction method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an auction system by which an auction is prevented from being won at an unreasonably low price and a contract price can be raised to a high price desired by an entry person in an open system online auction performed via the Internet. SOLUTION: In the auction system for offering an entry object and the lowest contract price of the entry object over a computer network, updating and offering the highest price among bidding prices which is equal to and higher than the lowest bid price of the entry object within a bidding period successively to perform successfully bidding processing to a bidder who bids the highest bidding price, when the bidding period is finished, an early bidding-finishing period start time counting from a necessary time point within the bidding period and reset based on a bidding action is set and the bidding period is finished at an early stage, based on the finish of time counting of the early bidding- finishing period. The required time is set, after the lapse of a prescribed period from the start time of the bidding period or the reset time of the early bidding- finishing period, for example.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electronic commerce,
In particular, the present invention relates to an auction system and an auction method for auctioning through a communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development and spread of the Internet, electronic commerce (EC) on the Web has become possible.
C has the characteristics that cost can be greatly reduced and open transactions and two-way transactions are possible. In addition, EC is not limited to business-to-business (BtoB) transactions, but is also used for business-to-consumer (BtoC) and consumer-to-consumer (CtoC) transactions. Is predicted.

[0003] An online auction is performed as one form of electronic commerce (EC). As a method of online auction, a method of bidding for an amount exceeding a posted minimum bid price is predominant, and further, the above-mentioned method includes an open system in which the highest bid price of a bidder is displayed at any time, There is a closed system that does not display the bid amount of.

[0004] The closed system has a drawback that, if the auction site has no creditworthiness, an increase in the number of bid participants cannot be expected, and there is a high possibility that a bid will not be established. As a result, the operation of the auction site becomes difficult. On the other hand, in the open method, since the highest bid price of the bidding participant is displayed at any time, it is possible to make up for the above-mentioned shortcomings by compensating for the lack of creditworthiness, and is widely used as an auction site method. ing.

[0005]

However, in an open auction site, bidding is not performed until immediately before the end of a predetermined bidding period, except for some popular exhibitors. Tend to take place or tend to concentrate. As a result, the bid was made at an unreasonably low price due to several bid prices made immediately before the end of the bidding period, or the period during which the bidding was concentrated expired, and the amount desired by the exhibitor There is a problem that it is difficult to raise the successful bid price up to.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and prevents an open communication network auction conducted mainly via the Internet from being awarded with an unreasonably low price, which is desired by exhibitors. It is an object of the present invention to provide an auction system and an auction method capable of increasing a successful bid price to a high price.

[0007]

An auction system according to the present invention presents an exhibiting object and a lowest bid price of the exhibiting object on a computer network, and is equal to or more than a lowest winning bid price to be bid on the exhibiting object within a bidding period. In the auction system that sequentially updates and presents the highest price among the bid prices of the above, and performs a successful bid process to the bidder who is bidding the highest bid price at the end of the bidding period, a required time within the bidding period , An early bidding end period reset based on the bidding action is set, and the bidding period is ended early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding end period.

Further, the auction method of the present invention presents an exhibiting object and a lowest bid price of the exhibiting object on a computer network, and sets a bid price higher than the lowest contracting price to be bid for the exhibiting object within a bidding period. In the auction method of sequentially updating and presenting the highest price and presenting a bid to the bidder who is bidding for the highest bid price at the end of the bidding period, measurement starts from a required point in the bidding period In addition, an early bidding end period that is reset based on the bidding action is set, and the bidding period is ended early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding end period.

Further, in the auction system or the auction method according to the present invention, in the auction system or the auction method described above, the required time point includes a time at the same time as resetting or after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time of resetting. The time point includes a start time point of the bidding period.

[0010] Further, the auction system or the auction method of the present invention is characterized in that in the auction system or method described above, one or more of the bidding actions are performed. The reset of the early bidding end period may be performed by one bidding action, and the bidding period may be provisionally maintained if at least one participant enters. May be requested.

Further, in the auction system or the auction method according to the present invention, in the auction system or the auction method, an early bidding end period measured before and after the reset is different. For example, by gradually changing the early bidding end period short or long before and after the reset, it is possible to perform processing corresponding to the characteristics of the exhibit object and the demand characteristics.

Further, in the auction system or the auction method of the present invention, in the auction system or the auction method, information on early termination of a bidding period is presented on a display unit of the user terminal. By presenting the early termination information, the user can clearly grasp the end point of the auction, which in turn contributes to an increase in the contract price.

Further, the auction system or the auction method of the present invention is characterized in that, in the auction system or the auction method described above, the end information of the bidding period including the end due to the measurement end of the early ending bidding period is pictorially presented. . This can make the auction site more attractive and attract more users to the auction site.

Further, the auction system of the present invention
On the computer network, the exhibiting object and the lowest bid price of the exhibiting object are presented, and the highest price among the bid prices higher than the lowest winning bid price bid for the exhibiting object within the bidding period is sequentially updated and presented. In an auction system that performs a successful bid process to a bid participant who is bidding for the highest bid price at the end of a bidding period, an early bidding end period is measured from a required point in the bidding period, and within the early bidding end period, If there is no predetermined number of bidding activities, the bidding period is terminated early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding termination period.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An auction system and an auction method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to specific embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a computer network, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an overall flow of an auction process.

As shown in FIG. 1, a computer network according to the present embodiment is connected to the Internet 1 by a wired connection via a public line or a dedicated line, or a wireless connection via a mobile connection or a communication satellite connection. Also, a user terminal 3 such as a personal computer or a portable terminal such as a mobile phone is connected and constructed. The server 2 has a control unit, a storage unit, and the like, and has a measuring unit such as a timer or a connected computer, which is appropriate as long as it can be connected to the Internet 1 and can provide an auction site. The terminal 3 includes a control unit, a storage unit, a display unit, an input unit, and the like, and is appropriately connected to the Internet 1 and can use an auction site.

The storage unit of the server 2 stores a main program for performing auction processing, displaying a bid, a successful bid, and the like, a bidding period, an early bidding end period, exhibition target information, The bidding information such as the winning bid, the number of bids based on the personal information and the bidding performed by the bid participant using the terminal 3, the bidding price, the bidding information, and the bidding information are stored by setting or temporarily. The information stored in the storage unit of the server 2, such as the measurement information of the early bidding end period, the bidding information, etc., is transmitted to the control unit of the server 2 by the setting and input on the server 2 side or the bidding from the terminal 3 on the bidder side. Are used as appropriate to configure the overall flow of the auction process.

As shown in FIG. 2, the overall flow of a basic auction process for an arbitrary exhibition target is as follows: first, information on the exhibition target of an auction such as a product or service on the auction site; A bidding period for accepting the bidding price of the exhibit target is presented (S1). Among those who have accessed the auction site, those who wish to participate in the bidding will conduct the bidding, but those who participate in the bidding on the auction site for the first time are individuals such as name, address, payment method at the time of successful bid, etc. The information is registered on the auction site (S2, S3), and the personal information is stored in the storage unit of the server 2.

Then, when the bid participant bids on the bid price for a specific exhibiting object during the bidding period (S4),
The control unit of the server 2 determines whether or not the highest bid price exists before the bidding of the bid price for the exhibit (S
5) If the highest bid price does not exist, it is determined whether the bid price is equal to or higher than the lowest bid price (S6). If the bid price is equal to or higher than the lowest bid price in the above determination, the bid price is set as the highest bid price that is the highest price at that time, and presented on the auction site together with the name or nickname of the bid participant. (S7) If the bid price is less than the lowest bid price, a bid rejection process is performed (S8).

On the other hand, if a maximum bid price exists for the exhibit before the bidding of the bid price, it is determined whether the bid price exceeds the maximum bid price (S
9) If the bid price is equal to or less than the maximum bid price, a bid rejection process is performed (S10). If the bid price is greater than the maximum bid price, the bid price is updated as the highest bid price at that time. It is set and presented on the auction site together with the names or nicknames of the bid participants (S11). In the display screen of the present embodiment, the highest bid price and the lowest bid price at that time are separately provided, but once the highest bid price is set, the lowest bid price is replaced with the highest bid price and updated. Good.

The above steps S2 to S11 are sequentially repeated every time a bid is made by a bidder until the end of the bidding period (S12), and finally the highest bid at the end of the bidding period The bidder of the price makes a successful bid for the exhibition target (S13), and the auction process for the specific exhibition target ends. It should be noted that the computer network in which the auction system or the auction method of the present invention is implemented and the process of the auction process are not limited to those having the above-described configuration, and can be applied to those having an appropriate configuration within the scope of the present invention.

Next, the process of ending the bidding period in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing from the start to the end of the bidding period in the present embodiment. FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are the first example, the second example, and the third example from the start to the end of the bidding period, respectively. It is a flowchart which shows the display screen transition of an example.

When an auction is performed on a specific exhibiting object, for example, a notebook personal computer as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 at the auction site of the present embodiment, an exhibiting article code and an exhibiting name of the notebook personal computer are initially provided at the site. Notebook PC XX, actual image of exhibit, bidding period (June 1, 2000-June 7, 2000), lowest bid price ($ 1
00) etc., and the time until the end of the bidding period is measured by the measuring means of the server together with the start of the auction (S)
101) At the same time, in the present embodiment, measurement of the early bidding end period set to 24 hours is started (S10).
2). The auction start screen on the display unit of the user terminal 3 is shown by G11, G21, G31.

Then, the control unit of the server 2 determines whether or not there is a bid during the measurement of the early bidding end period (S103).
The 4-hour early bidding end period is measured to the end, and the bidding period ends at the same time as the measurement of the early bidding end period ends (S1).
04, S105). In this case, on the display unit of the user terminal 3, as shown in FIG.
, The measurement information of the early bidding end period of 24 hours is sequentially shown, and the display screen G32 is displayed after the elapse of 24 hours without any bidding participants.

If there is a bid during the measurement of the early bidding end period, the measurement of the early bidding end period is reset (S106), and the time when the bidding period ends with the normal measurement from the time of resetting. And the measurement end time of a predetermined early bidding end period such as 24 hours for remeasurement (S10).
7) If the end of the bidding period comes early in the normal measurement, the bidding period ends at the end of the normal measurement of the bidding period (S108, S105), and the early bidding period for re-measurement is determined. If the measurement end time comes earlier, remeasurement of the early bidding end period is started (S10).
9).

In the above, for example, when there is no bid two hours after the start of the auction during the measurement of the early bidding end period, the display screen G12 of FIG. 4 or the display screen G22 of FIG. When the initial bidding of $ 1,000 is performed from XX and the initial bidding period is reset and the re-measurement of the early bidding ending period is started by the initial bidding of $ 1,000 two hours later, FIG. The display screen G13 or the display screen G23 of FIG. 5 is presented. On the other hand, for example, in the case where the time until the end of the bidding period in normal measurement is 15 hours, and the time comes earlier than the measurement end time in the early bidding end period set to 24 hours, as shown in the display screen G18 in FIG. , One in the time to early termination
5 hour countdown information is displayed. The above 1
The time until the early end other than 24 hours such as 5 hours may be counted based on the normal measurement of the bidding period, or may be counted based on the measurement of the 15 hours or the like recognized as the early bidding end period.

During the remeasurement of the early bidding end period, it is determined whether or not there is a bid again (S110). If there is no bidding during the measurement, the 24-hour early bidding end period is completed. After the measurement, the bidding period ends at the same time as the measurement of the early bidding end period (S111, S105). If there is a bid during the measurement of the early bidding end period, the measurement of the early bidding end period is reset. (S112), the process returns to the process of S107 again, and the same process is performed.

In the above, as an example of a pattern from the start to the end of the bidding period, for example, as shown in a display screen G13 in FIG. 30 minutes have passed without any delay (display screen G14). Thereafter, the early bidding end period is reset due to the second bidding of $ 2,000 from XX, and the early bidding is again performed as in the display screen G15. Start re-measurement of end period. Further, the processing of resetting and remeasurement of the early bidding end period accompanying the bidding is repeated up to 24 hours before the end of the bidding period, and the display screens G16 and G17 are displayed around 24 hours before the end of the bidding period. Mr. □ bid $ 123,000 as the highest bid price at that time, and the number of bids is 54.

Thereafter, 55 hours before the end of the bidding period, 55
Bid's $ 124,000 is bid as the maximum bid price, and the 15-hour period until the end of the normal measurement of the bidding period is counted down instead of the set 24-hour early bidding end period (display screen G18). . Then 55
If there is no bid after the bid and the bidding period is over, a successful bid process is performed. As shown in the display screen G19, Mr. と な り becomes the successful bidder, and the successful bid price becomes $ 124,000. Then, after the auction is completed, the successful bidder is notified by e-mail, for example, and the successful bidder pays by a predetermined payment method and delivers the exhibit to the successful bidder.

As another example of a pattern from the start to the end of another bidding period, for example, as shown in a display screen G23 in FIG.
After starting the remeasurement of the early bidding end period reset by the first bidding, 30 minutes elapse without rebidding (display screen G2).
4) After that, the early bidding end period is reset by the second bidding of $ 2,000 from Mr. XX,
The remeasurement of the early bidding end period is started again as in the display screen G25. Then, if there is no bid during the remeasurement of the early bidding end period after the second bidding, the bidding period ends early when the measurement of the early bidding end period ends.
Then, at the early end of the bidding period, a successful bid process is performed, and as shown on the display screen G26, Mr. XX becomes the successful bidder, and the successful bid price becomes $ 2,000, notification to the successful bidder, payment from the successful bidder, exhibited goods Delivery is made.

The auction system or auction method of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, the above-mentioned early bidding end period starts measurement at the start of the bidding period and at the time of resetting by bidding, but can be measured from a required time during the bidding period, for example, after a predetermined time has elapsed from the bidding period. Alternatively, the measurement may be performed from a point in time after a predetermined standby time has elapsed from the time of resetting by bidding. In addition, the early bidding end period measured before and after the reset may be made different, for example, the early bidding end period may be gradually changed before or after the reset so as to correspond to the characteristics of the exhibit and the demand characteristics. It can be performed.

Further, the bidding action for resetting the early bidding end period is not limited to one bidding action as described above, but also includes a case where a plurality of bids are made within a predetermined period or the like. Efficiency and the successful bid price can be increased. Instead of resetting the early bidding end period, the early bidding end period is measured from the required point in the bidding period, and if there is no predetermined number of bidding activities such as one or more during the early bidding end period, the early bidding Even in a configuration in which the bidding period is terminated early based on the measurement of the termination period, it is possible to increase the efficiency of operation of the auction site and increase the contract price.

Also, the countdown until the end of the bidding period or the early bidding end period may be displayed pictorially on the screen together with the display of the time or instead of the display of the time. You may make it walk with the countdown of. The state of the auction may be displayed on a battle screen. These screen displays make the auction site more attractive and attract more users to the auction site.

[0034]

The auction system and auction method of the present invention prevent an open communication network auction conducted mainly via the Internet from being awarded with an unreasonably low price and a high price desired by exhibitors. This has the effect that the successful bid price can be raised up to that.

Further, since bidding is performed at the same time as exhibiting at the auction site or within a period not so long after exhibiting, it is possible to energize the auction site itself, and consequently the number of bids is reduced. As a result, the bid price rises, and it is possible to raise the winning bid to a value close to the market price to be exhibited.

Also, exhibiting objects such as unattractive products or products having no price competitiveness can be excluded from an auction site or the like at an early stage. In addition to exhibiting products having price competitiveness and the like, efficient operation of an auction site and the like can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a computer network according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of an auction process according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing from the start to the end of a bidding period in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a display screen transition of a first example from the start to the end of a bidding period.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a display screen transition of a second example from the start to the end of the bidding period.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the transition of the display screen of the third example from the start to the end of the bidding period.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Internet 2 Server 3 Terminal

Claims (9)

[Claims] Claims 1. An exhibitor and an exhibitor's lowest bid price are presented on a computer network, and the highest bid price among bid prices higher than the lowest bid price bid for the exhibitor during a bidding period is sequentially updated. In an auction system that performs a bidding process for a bid participant who is bidding for the highest bid price at the end of the bidding period, measurement is started from a required point in the bidding period,
An auction system comprising setting an early bidding end period that is reset based on a bidding action, and ending the bidding period early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding end period. 2. The auction system according to claim 1, wherein the required point in time includes at the same time as the reset or after a predetermined time has elapsed from the reset. 3. The auction system according to claim 1, wherein the required time point includes a start time point of the bidding period. 4. The auction system according to claim 1, wherein the bidding action is one or more. 5. An early bidding end period measured before and after the reset is different.
Or the auction system described in 4. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information on the early termination of the bidding period is presented on a display unit of the user terminal.
The auction system according to 3, 4 or 5. 7. The auction system according to claim 1, wherein the auction period end information is presented pictorially. 8. An exhibitor presents an exhibiting object and a lowest bid price of the exhibiting object on a computer network, and sequentially updates a highest price among bid prices higher than the lowest winning bid priced for the exhibiting object within a bidding period. In the auction method of performing a bidding process for a bid participant who is bidding the highest bid price at the end of the bidding period, the measurement is started from a required point in the bidding period,
An auction method comprising: setting an early bidding end period that is reset based on a bidding action; and terminating the bidding period early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding end period. 9. The computer presents an exhibit object and a lowest bid price of the exhibit object on a computer network, and sequentially updates a highest price among bid prices that are equal to or higher than the lowest bid price to be bid for the exhibit object within a bidding period. In an auction system that performs a successful bid process to a bidder who is bidding for the highest bid price at the end of the bidding period, an early bidding end period is measured from a required point in the bidding period, and the early bidding period is measured. An auction system, wherein when a predetermined number of bidding activities are not performed within a bidding end period, the bidding period is ended early based on the end of the measurement of the early bidding end period.