Inventors:
Thomas Goodwin - Hamilton MA, US
J. Greenland - Norfolk MA, US
Bruce Hounsell - Boston MA, US
William Jakubowski - Boston MA, US
International Classification:
G06F017/60
Abstract:
The invention relates to systems and methods for trading products and services over a computer network, such as the Internet. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for trading financial products over a computer network. The item information is received from a seller, the item information is displayed to an interested user, and a bid is displayed to users if the bid is acceptable. The close of the bidding is extended by a predetermined amount of time if a new bid is entered within a certain period of time. Users of the system receive updates of the status of the bidding on an item. Items can be offered to bidders by each individual component of the item or the components can be offered in aggregate. The system can selectively display the bid history of an item to selected users, and the system can track the users by certain user information, as well as block a certain user's access to the system based on the user's information.