JP2006331284A - Auction system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform a flexible auction corresponding to commodity characteristics in the network auction. <P>SOLUTION: The auction can be flexibly operated so that the auction is operated by assembling a first mode for reducing prices at a first period step by step, a second mode as a normal auction which simultaneously bids up prices at the first period, and a third mode which bids up prices at a second period. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network auction.

  In general, in an auction, an auction participant raises a desired purchase price of a product to be auctioned, and a participant who presents the highest price within a predetermined period obtains a purchase right for the product.

For example, in the distribution process of used car sales, a used car wholesaler places a used car auction on a used car acquired by a new car / used car dealer through trade-in of a new car, and the used car dealer makes a successful bid. It is generally sold to a general user from a car dealer. And this used car auction is a mechanism in which auction participants auction the desired purchase price for the used used car and the person who presented the highest price makes a successful bid, so that the successful bidder gets the purchase right for the used car It has become.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-78992 JP 2001-101317 A US Pat. No. 5,794,207

  However, conventional auctions have the following disadvantages for auction participants and disadvantages for auctioneers.

  For example, when the above-mentioned used car auction is conducted, there are many intermediate traders in the distribution process, so an intermediate margin is generated, and there is a drawback that the sales price shown to the general user is finally high.

  In addition, since used car auctions are mainly targeted at used car dealers, it was completely impossible for general users to participate directly in used car auctions.

  In addition, due to the nature of the auction mechanism (price increase), it was stronger to protect the profits of sellers (auction organizers and exhibitors) than buyers (used car buyers). That is, when there is a product (used car) that the buyer inevitably wants to auction off, there is a tendency to give a high price in relation to the competitor, and as a result, the purchase price is often higher than the market price. This is because no upper limit is set for this type of auction.

  Conversely, if competition does not occur, the purchase price expected by the seller of the auction will not be reached, so there is a high probability that the negotiation will be closed, and the item that you want to clear from stock will not be sold, and you will have to conduct an auction with worse conditions. I will have to.

  The above disadvantages are not unique to used car auctions, but various conventional products such as vacant rooms in inns and hotels, tour trips, air tickets, entertainment tickets, etc., home appliances (computers) The same applies to tangible products such as sports equipment (seasonal products and golf equipment), overseas merchandise (imported furniture, paintings, European cars), branded products (watches, jewelry, bags, etc.) and intangible products such as real estate. There's a problem.

  Recently, an auction using a network is also considered. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-78992 (Patent Document 1), when a user registers participation in an auction from a terminal, an auction is automatically performed on an electronic market server. An auction method is proposed in which a user does not have to participate in real time in front of a terminal by being executed and notifying the buyer of the result. However, in Patent Document 1, a general auction is only realized on a network, and it is not suitable for a product that requires inventory space and avoids long-term inventory such as a used car.

  Also, a mechanism for lowering prices in stages in a network auction (Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-101317) has been proposed. Although an early successful bid can be expected, if a wrong price is set at the start of the auction, there is a possibility that a predetermined profit margin cannot be secured.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in network auctions, the price is gradually reduced along the real time at the first time, and the price is auctioned after the fixed time is over. The technical challenge is to realize a network auction system that can flexibly manage the network.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.

  The present invention comprises an auction server that hosts an auction and a terminal device connected via a network, and the auction server includes an input means for receiving input of auction target product information, a module for executing an auction, Storage means having at least product name information for each auction, auction start price information, price revision time information, auction period information, minimum price information, price revision width information, a customer database, and a vehicle database; The module of the storage means, the control means for reading and controlling the information and the database, and the control means of the auction server accepts the input of the auction target product information inputted at the terminal device to the acceptance processing module. Product name for each auction Information, auction start price information, price revision time information, auction period information, minimum price information, and price revision width information are generated, each of the above information is read out, and auction interface information is generated. The auction interface information is updated every time a predetermined time elapses and the auction interface information is updated and transmitted to the terminal device via the network, and the terminal device sequentially displays the auction interface information to make a successful bid for the user. In such an auction system that accepts input of information, the control means performs the first price revision that reduces the price step by step every day or every hour from the start of the auction to a preset first time. Mode and first time preset from the start of the auction Up to the second mode in which the price revision is performed in which the price is bid based on the successful bid desired price included in the user's desired bid desired information input from the terminal device, and the second time following the first time. In addition, the price revision is performed in combination with a third mode in which price revision is performed in which the price is auctioned based on the successful bid desired price included in the user's desired bid desired information input from the terminal device. It is an auction system.

  According to the present invention, the first mode in which the price is lowered step by step in the first period, the second mode as a normal auction in which the price is also auctioned in the first period, and the subsequent second period In addition, the auction can be operated flexibly by operating the auction in combination with the third mode for auctioning prices.

  In particular, in the first mode, the auction is started at the desired price (store retail price, etc.) of the selling user, and the price is lowered with the passage of time, thereby accepting a successful bid from a trader user in addition to a general user. It becomes possible to operate the “retail auction for general users” and the “commercial buyer auction” in parallel. At this time, even if it is a trader user, if it is urgent to make a successful bid for a product, it is possible to make a successful bid at an early stage of the auction. In particular, for popular products, rare products, and value-added products, the network auction is activated by enhancing user psychology such as “sold out if not made soon” by using cooperation with store sales. be able to.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an auction system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, an auction server (AS) connected to a network (NW) is mainly configured. A user terminal is connected to the network (NW) via a plurality of store servers (FS) and a provider server (PS). A device (UT) is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the auction server (AS) has input means such as a mouse 21 and a keyboard 22 connected to a bus 25 via an input interface 23, and a central processing unit (CPU) 24 is connected to the bus 25. , ROM 26, RAM 30, external storage device 31, etc. are connected to the bus 25, and a display unit 28 (display device) and printer 29, which are output means, are connected to the bus 25 via the output interface 27. . The bus 25 is connected to a network (NW) via a communication processing device 32.

  The RAM 30 includes a program area 30a and a data area 30b. The program area 30a stores a module group such as a reception processing module, an auction processing module, a price setting module, a contract processing module, and a database processing module. ing. These modules are read from a program area 31b of the external storage device 31 to be described later.

  In the data area of the RAM 30, product name information, period information, start price information, minimum price information, down time information, down width information, and the like are stored for each auction. These pieces of information are read from a database area 31a of the external storage device 31 described later.

  The external storage device 31 is provided with a database area 31a and a program area 31b. In the program area 31b, in addition to an operating system (OS), programs constituting the modules are registered. The database includes a customer database, a car search database, and a vehicle database. The customer database stores an ID assigned to each customer and information such as an address, a telephone number, and an e-mail address. In the car search database, the model, year, equipment, desired price, etc. of the vehicle of the customer who wishes to purchase are registered. In the vehicle database, the model, year, equipment, desired price, etc. of the product (vehicle) to be exhibited at the auction are registered.

  The procedure of the network auction according to the present embodiment is realized by the central processing unit (CPU) 24 of the auction server (AS) reading each program in the external storage device 31 via the RAM 30 and sequentially executing the program.

  Although not shown, the store server (FS) and the user terminal device (UT) are also the same central processing unit (CPU) 24, input means, storage means, and output as the auction server (AS) described in FIG. Have means.

Next, the price control procedure by the auction server (AS) will be described with reference to FIG.

  When there is a used car to be exhibited in the auction, used car auction application information is transmitted in a predetermined format from the store server (FS) or the user terminal device (UT). This auction application information is processed by the acceptance processing module read by the central processing unit (CPU) 24 from the RAM 30 via the CGI function of the auction server (AS). The completed product (used car) is registered in the vehicle database of the external storage device 31, and auction data for the product is generated in the data area of the RAM 30. Specifically, the auction ID (X1 in FIG. 2), the product name information corresponding to the auction ID, the auction start price information (start price), the price revision time information (down time), and the auction period information ( Period), minimum price information (minimum price), and price revision width information (down width).

  At this time, the exhibitor can set a desired mode for price transition. For example, a mode in which the price is sequentially decreased from the start of the auction (from the start to the 14th day) (first mode: c → d in FIG. 3), conversely, a fixed time from the start of the auction (from the start 14) Mode (second mode: b → d in Fig. 3) until the first day), and mode to increase the price after a certain period of time (after the 14th day) (third mode) : D → e) in FIG. 3 can be combined.

  Next, the central processing unit (CPU) 24 that has read the auction processing module refers to the start price of the RAM 30 and sets the start price of the auction (the price “c” is set in the figure).

  Next, the central processing unit (CPU) 24 performs setting to sequentially lower the price from the start of the auction to the 14th day based on the period information and the down width information. As a result, the price drops to the price “d” on the 14th day from the start of the auction (first mode). In this first mode, it is possible to elevate the user psychology of so-called “users who sell out if they do not make a successful bid early”, and target stores and net users who are likely to become a so-called “early winner” psychology. be able to.

  Therefore, in the first mode, sales at the store and network auction are in progress at the same time.

  Next, when the seller has previously set up the auction mode (third mode) when the 14th day has passed, the price will be auctioned according to the bid amount of the bidder. (Third mode). In this third mode, when there is no successful bidder in the first mode, it is operated as a network auction targeting normal net users by gradually auctioning from the price at the end of the first mode. it can.

  In this way, by combining the first mode and the third mode, an efficient auction with a successful bid target at each time point becomes possible.

  The central processing unit (CPU) 24 reads the auction processing module, and instead of the first mode, lowers the price setting at the start of the auction (the price of “d”), and bids from there. The price may be controlled as a network auction (second mode: b → d in FIG. 3).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first mode in which the price is gradually reduced in the first period, the second mode as a normal auction in which the price is also auctioned in the first period, The auction can be operated flexibly by operating the auction in combination with the third mode in which the price is auctioned in the subsequent second period.

  The present invention can be applied to an auction system using the Internet, particularly a network auction in which a commodity requiring a stock space such as a used car is a target for auction.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the auction system which is embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the auction server of embodiment The figure which shows the price change of the auction which the central processing unit of the auction server of embodiment controls.

Explanation of symbols

21 Mouse 22 Keyboard 23 Input interface 24 Central processing unit (CPU)
25 Bus 26 ROM
27 Output Interface 28 Display Unit (Display Device)
29 Printer 30 RAM
30a Program area 30b Data area 31 External storage device 31a Database area 31b Program area 32 Communication processing device FS Store server AS Auction server NW Network PS Provider server UT User terminal device

Claims (1)

An auction server that hosts the auction,
Consisting of terminal devices connected via a network,
The auction server includes input means for receiving input of auction target product information;
Module for executing auction, at least product name information for each auction, auction start price information, price revision time information, auction period information, minimum price information, price revision width information, customer database, vehicle A storage means having a database;
The module of the storage means, each information, the control means for reading and controlling the database,
The control means of the auction server includes
The acceptance processing module accepts the input of the auction target product information input at the terminal device, and the product name information for each auction, the auction start price information, the price revision time information, the auction period information, the minimum price information, Price revision width information is generated,
Reading each of the above information, generating auction interface information, updating the auction interface information by revising the price at every predetermined time of the auction, and transmitting to the terminal device via the network,
In such an auction system, the terminal device sequentially displays the auction interface information and accepts input of user's successful bid request information.
The control means includes
From the start of the auction to a preset first time, a first mode for price revision that reduces the price step by step every day or every time,
From the start of the auction to a preset first time, a second mode for performing price revision for auctioning the price based on the successful bid desired price included in the user's desired bid desired information input from the terminal device;
A third mode in which, in a second time following the first time, a price revision is performed in which the price is auctioned based on the successful bid desired price included in the user's desired bid desired information input from the terminal device; An auction system characterized by price revisions in combination.

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