System and method for auctioning services over an information exchange network

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an improved system and method for auctioning services, which overcomes some of the drawbacks in the prior art systems and methods. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, buyers request and specify at the start of the auction the number of lowest bids the buyers would like to see. By requesting to see more bids, the buyers would have greater opportunity to evaluate service providers based on factors other than price, thereby encouraging less price competition among providers. By requesting to see fewer bids, the buyers would have less opportunity to evaluate service providers based on factors other than price, thereby encouraging fierce price competition. The number of bids requested by the Buyer is made known to the bidders. The net effect is that the buyers can control the price / quality tradeoff at the onset of the auction process, and encourage the bidders to provide their lowest bids when pricing is important. This lets the buyers make their final decision based on factors in addition to price, at the lowest price possible.In another aspect of the present invention, a rating system is employed to rate the buyer's transaction history, with respect to their frequency of following through with the bids for jobs that they submitted for auction. This rating system deters those buyers that casually shop for pricing with little chance of following through with the auction. Buyers who frequently submit jobs without executing them will get a low rating. A low rating discourages service providers from bidding, thereby decreasing the competitiveness of an auction and increasing the cost of obtaining the service. Consequently, buyers will be reluctant or discouraged to submit for auctioning jobs that have a low chance of occurring, because it affects their rating. The buyer follow-through ratings give the bidders a better sense of the buyers' commitment prior to deciding on allocating resources to participate in bidding at the auction.In one embodiment of the present invention, the system and method for auctioning services are implemented over an information exchange network. In a more specific embodiment of the present invention, the information exchange network is the Internet. This facilitates bringing together the many service providers in a centralized auction market using standardized, electronic bid forms to communicate prices publicly, and service providers have a chance to adjust their prices in real time.For purpose of illustrating the inventive concept, the present invention is described using the example of document services, and more particularly printing services.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to the auctioning of services, particularly to the auctioning of document services, and more particularly to the auctioning of document services over an information exchange network.[0003]2. Description of Related Art[0004]In a market driven economy, one of the expectations that customers have is to obtain the best pricing. Traditionally, suppliers of goods and services establish pricing based on whatever the market would bear, based on the economics of supply and demand. Competition among suppliers tends to drive pricing down to some extent. Competition may be effectively created “on demand” by means of an auction process, for the supply side, the demand side or both. For the supply side, customers can typically obtain the lowest prices from auctioning to the suppliers the goods and services demanded by the customers. Some economists believe that the true market price is established via au...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The present invention is directed to an improved system and method for auctioning services. It overcomes some of the drawbacks in the prior art systems and methods. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, buyers request and specify at the start of the auction the number of lowest bids the buyers would like to see. Bidding is open and takes place in continuous time, allowing printers to see their competitors' bids. By requesting to see more bids, the buyers would have greater opportunity to evaluate service providers based on factors other than price, thereby encouraging less price competition among providers. By requesting to see fewer bids, the buyers would have less opportunity to evaluate service providers based on factors other than price, thereby encouraging fierce price competition. The number of bids requested by the buyer is made known to the bidders. The net effect is that the buyers can control the price / quality tradeoff at the onset of the auction process, and encourage the bidders to provide their lowest bids when pricing is important. This lets the buyers make their final decision based on factors in addition to price, at the lowest price possible.

[0012]In another aspect of the present invention, a rating system is employed to rate the buyer's transaction history, with respect to their frequency of following through with the bids for jobs that they submitted for auction. The buyer's rating is made known to the service provider before the service provider submits a bid. This rating system deters those buyers that casually shop for pricing with little chance of following through with the auction. Buyers who frequently submit jobs without executing them will get a low rating. A low rating discourages service providers from bidding, thereby decreasing the competitiveness of an auction. As a result, low-rated buyers should expect to pay more for the service provided. Consequently, buyers will be discouraged from submitting jobs that have a low chance of occurring. The buyer follow-through rating gives the bidders a better sense of the buyer's commitment prior to deciding on allocating resources to participate in bidding at the auction.

[0013]In one embodiment of the present invention, the system and method for auctioning services are implemented over an information exchange network. In a more specific embodiment of the present invention, the information exchange network is the Internet. This facilitates bringing together the many service providers in a centralized auction market using standardized, electronic bid forms to communicate prices publicly, and service providers have a chance to adjust their prices in real time.

Problems solved by technology

A low rating discourages service providers from bidding, thereby decreasing the competitiveness of an auction.

Consequently, buyers will be discouraged from submitting jobs that have a low chance of occurring.

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