WO2004059518A2

WO2004059518A2 - Method and apparatus for general participants dependant tenders

Info

Publication number: WO2004059518A2
Application number: PCT/IL2003/001096
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mayer Makmal; Hezi Makmal
Original assignee: Mayer Makmal; Hezi Makmal
Priority date: 2002-12-26
Filing date: 2003-12-21
Publication date: 2004-07-15
Also published as: AU2003288509A1; IL153696A0; WO2004059518A3

Abstract

A method and apparatus for conducting a tender.(142) the method and apparatus comprising offering a participant with at least one service or good a participant proving a bid price for the at least one service or good.(142) determining the winning price as the bid price that provides the average price provided by all the bid prices forwarded in the tender.(148) selecting the participant forwarding the bid price closest to the winning bid.(155) The bid price is limited to a price range lower than the actual price of the at least one service or good offered, determining the differences from average required to win the tender.(156)

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERAL PARTICIPANTS

DEPENDANT TENDERS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention. relates to a method and apparatus providing computer-aided tenders, in general and to a method and apparatus providing a tender that determines a winner dependent on the general participants tenders, in particular.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tenders, auctions and bids of different types are long known in the art and serve suppliers as well customers in almost all the fields of commerce. Said method, as well as others resembling, for selling goods were well known in throughout commerce' history and are becoming evermore popular within networks such as the World Wide Web (WWW) which is a part of the Internet. Customers especially are attracted to purchase goods and services via tenders, auctions bids and the like. Customers are attracted to purchase products and services by tenders, auctions as to the adventurous aspect that is added to the purchasing experience. The adventurous aspect of purchasing supplies excitement and interest evolved from the competition with other potential purchasers that provide a tender or offer in parallel or follow one's tender or offer. The excitement and interest added to the purchasing experience as well as the notion that purchasing a product via a tender provide a chance for acquiring a bargain and money worth product. Normally, products purchased through a tender, auction are not for daily consumption and are likely more valuable. Such products that are more valuable require often careful consideration while purchased from a store or a merchant in comparison to daily consumption products. Experienced merchants will appreciate that generally products not sold easily at points of sale in stores can be successfully sold by tender, auction and the like. Purchasing goods and services remotely while at home, at work and other locations developed in the second part of the twentieth century. The phone opened up new channels of selling goods via telephonic tenders and auctions. The extensive use of the Internet and the ever-growing population promoted the establishment of web sites that provide tender services, auction services and the like. Nevertheless, the number of participants, apart of visitors and certainly the number of users of the Internet, is relatively small. One of the drawbacks of tenders and auctions performed on the Internet is the fact that a potential buyer cannot see or speak to a tender provider. This fact decreases the reliability and increases distrust a buyer has towards a specific website. One way of bypassing said drawback is by attracting potential customers to participate in such tenders and auctions by offering considerable low prices to products offered in comparison to same products in the stores. Another manner is changing the old rule that designates the winner as the highest bid price provided by a participant within a pre-designated time interval. One example is by increasing the bids price by set amounts only and the winner is designated as the remaining last bid that presented the highest price. There is thus a need for providing an enhanced method for tenders. There is a further need to provide tenders that encompass a purchasing experience with an interesting t nking game. The present invention provides an exciting, rewarding and therefore a worthwhile experience of purchasing goods and other products performed remotely.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION One aspect of the present invention regards an apparatus for providing goods or services promised to a winner in a tender, the tender price range is limited to a lower than the actual price of goods or services, the winning bid is the bid that provides the closest bid to the average price provided by all other bids, the apparatus comprising a central processing unit for processing data, a communication device for communicating with participants, suppliers, credit companies and financial institutes, a storage device storing tender database, a tender server application comprising tender server applications and managers for providing tender offers and receiving bids from participants and for determining the winner of a tender, based on the average price bid forwarded by all the participants in the tender. The tender database includes tender rules table and on going participants and tender data, the tender server application includes a database handler. The rules table includes a rule for determining a winner by resolving the average of bid prices and finding the nearest bid price having absolute difference from determined average. The rules table also include a rule for managing of the tender. Another rule provides for determining the average of all processed bid prices after every processed bid. The rules table also includes a rule for determining a winner of the tender by resolving the nearest bid price having absolute difference from an initial bid provided. The apparatus can further comprise a device for notifying participants of their current range of difference from current calculated average. The rules table also includes a rule for initiating a continuation of a tender after tender closing when there is more than one result having the nearest absolute difference from bid price average. The tender server application further comprises an application control for controlling the applications within the application tender server, a database handler for providing data for processing by the average handler, the transaction manager and the result handler, and a transaction manager for debiting participants upon the closing of a tender and establishing connections with third parties and request verification of credit of a participant. The tender server also comprises an average handler for deteπnining the average of all forward bids within an on going participants data, and for updating the on going tender data and for determining the difference of every bid price of all registered bids within the on going participants' data, and a result handler for arranging the participants within the on going participants data and for, determining an hierarchy of each bid.

A second aspect of the present invention regards a method for conducting a tender, the method comprising offering a participant with a service or good, a participant proving a bid price for the service or good offered, determining the winning price as the bid price that provides the average price provided by substantially all the bid prices forwarded in the tender, selecting the participant forwarding the bid price closest to the winning bid. The bid price is limited to a price range lower than the actual price of the service or good offered. The method further determines the differences from average required to win the tender. The bid price can be the price for participation in the tender or the price for participation in the tender and the price bid.

A third aspect of the present invention regards a method for conducting a tender, the method comprising the steps of setting a bid price rninimum and a bid price maximum and an initial bid price, receiving a bid from a participant, the bid to include a participant identification and a bid price within the bid price miiu um and the bid price maximum, deterimning the average bid price of the bid price received and the initial bid price, determination of the difference from the average bid price and the hierarchy of all the bids, deterrmning whether the closing term in the tender has been reached; and determining the winner of the tender. The further comprises the step of notifying the participant as to the bid hierarchy. The setting of the bid price is performed by the operator of the tender. The method comprises the step of collecting of participant information. The method further comprises the step of and storing the collected information in an on going participants database. The method further comprises the step of billing the participant for the price bid forwarded by the participant. The closing term is a limit of number of participants or a due time or a due date. The winning bid is the bid that offered the bid price having the smallest absolute difference from the average bid price or the bid closest to the average bid price. The wirining bid is the at least one bid equal to the average bid price. The method further comprises the step of notifying of the winning to the one participant forwarding the winning bid. The method further comprises the step of disqualifying the tender, after the tender is closed when two participants or more forward the same bid price average. The method further comprising presenting participants with the participant's bid price difference from the average bid price.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the environment system according to one embodiment of the present invention known in the art;

Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of the configuration of tender provider server according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 presents data tables concerning product data and tender participant data within tender provider server's storage device according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 presents data tables concerning on going tender data and on going participants data within tender provider server's storage device according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a flowchart presenting the bid process within the tender provider server according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is an illustration presenting the distance of price from current calculated average as presented to a participant according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a purchasing method and apparatus that combines participation in a tender with a purchasing experience including a thinking game providing an adventurous aspect. The method disclosed herein provides a new and novel manner for conducting a tender. The participant is offered services or goods promised to the winner in a tender limited to a price range lower than the actual price of the goods or services. The participant is requested to provide a bid price, which is within the price range offered. Such price range could be regarded as the price necessary to pay for the participation of the tender. The price range would in effect constitute the participation cost and the bid price itself. The winning bid is the bid including a bid price that provides the median or average price provided by substantially all the bid prices participants' forward in the tender. Thus, bid prices that were withdrawn or cancelled and the like will not be taken into account. The participant wining the tender receives the product or service for the bid price, which is within the low price range. The average price is initially set by the operator of the system and method and later determined by updating the initially set average after each bid is processed.

The method takes into account substantially all bids forwarded and participating within the tender for designating the final buyer of a product or service offered. Each participant's bid is taken into account in determining the average price and the differences from winning price required to win the tender. The average price required to win the tender is the average bid prices made by substantially all the participants combined. Every bid counts for the winning chances. According to the preferred embodiment the formula is an average calculation of substantially all bid prices received. The participant is not limited to the number of bids forwarded within the tender. Thus, one can increase the chances of winning the tender by forwarding more bids. In one embodiment of the present invention the tender is a game. The present invention will be further described in view of the following figures. For the purpose of clarity, in the present document, a tender is an offer for sale of a product or service. A bid is person offer to buy that includes the price, the tender referred to, details of person and the like. A bid price is the price offered within the bid. A participant is a person making a bid to win the tender. Fig. 1 presents an exemplary dependent tender system 10 (GPDS) according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to the preferred embodiment the GPDS 10 is comprised from a tender center 28 and a plurality of participants such as participants 12, 14 and 16. GPDS 10 includes further a plurality of suppliers such as suppliers 18, 2Q and 22 as well as a plurality of credit companies (CC) such as CC 24 and 26 and a plurality of financial institutions such as bank 25. All elements that are shown in Fig. 1 can be connected either by a data communication network (DCN) such as the Internet, a terrestrial telephone connection network, a wireless aerial network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a cable network and the like. Suppliers 18, 20 and 22 according to the preferred embodiment supply the GPDS 10 with the products to be offered by tenders. A supplier can offer its products to the tender center 28 or the tender center 28 can initiate a connection to suppliers 18, 20 and 22 to receive offers for a product to be provided by the GPDS 10 to participants 12, 14 and 16. According to the preferred embodiment a direct connection link is provided to CC 24, 26 and to bank 25 that enables to verify payments and transactions of participants 12, 14 and 16 to tender center's 28 account. Furthermore, CC 24 and 26 and bank 25 can assure payments and financing agreements between tender center 28 and suppliers 18, 20 and 22. Tender center 28 can establish connection with participants 12, 14 and 16 for providing data or for offering information to participants. Tender center 28 can initiate connection with CC 24 and 26 and bank 25 for performing a monetary transaction. Tender center 28 can receive information from CC 24 and 26 and bank 25 regarding to the financial ability of a participant, such as the disability to pay for services provided by tender center 28. According to one preferred embodiment tender center 28 operates a website or a network node that offers a variety of tenders with a plurality of products and services. Thus, potential participants are invited to forward their bid either by clicking on a hyperlink presented on screen, sending an e-mail, sending a fax, performing a phone call to a call center, contacting a sales point and the like. According to the preferred embodiment the tender offer includes a maximal price and minimal price for bid prices for the product presented in the tender. Every bid received by the tender center 28 is processed, accounted for and taken into account in the determination of the average bid price target. The determination, according to one preferred embodiment, includes an average price of substantially all bid prices forwarded by participants as well as the initial bid price, which can be provided by tender center 28. The initial bid price will be further explained below in view of Fig. 4 below. A further examination is performed to find the difference of every given bid price within each bid from said average and setting the hierarchy of the bids according to the nearest bid price to average. According to another embodiment the determination includes finding the nearest bid price to the initial bid price and setting all bids in a hierarchy there from accordingly. The tender center's 28 operation and functionality will be explained in view of Fig. 2 below.

Fig. 2 provides a schematic illustration of the configuration of a tender provider server (TPS) 30 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. TPS 30 according to the preferred embodiment is a tender center 28 as is viewed in Fig. 1 above. Participants, CCs, banks and suppliers as illustrated above in view of Fig. 1 may access TPS 30 via DCN 62. TPS 30 includes a CPU (not shown), a communication device (not shown) and is linked to storage device 36. The CPU and communication device are well known in the art devices that enable the processing and communication operation of TPS 30. Storage device 36 includes a tender database 38. Tender database 38 includes a product data 42, tender rules 44, on going participants' data 46, on going tender data 48 and participants data 50. Product data 42 includes details regarding to products offered according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention by the TPS 30 within the GPDS. According to one preferred embodiment product data 42 can include various characteristics of a product or service a further review of product data 42 will be in view of Fig. 3 below. Tender rules 44 includes rules that enable the management of the tender within the GPDS such as calculation method of proclaiming a winner such as the sole bid with the bid price nearest to the average of all participating bids or a sole bid nearest to a predefined other value such as an initial bid price or other, calculation method of the initial price, method of conducting the tender after closing in case there is more than one winner, considering a difference from average in absolute values, method for indicating to a participant of the bid's current hierarchy in response to forwarding a bid to TPS 30 and the like. Participants' data 50 includes data of registered participants of the GPDS. One embodiment of a participants data 46 is reviewed in view of Fig. 3 below. On going participants data 46 includes data of participants taking part within an on going tender as well as their bid forwarded to TPA 30. One embodiment of the on going participants data 46 is reviewed in view of Fig. 4 below. On going tender data 48 includes data referring to on going tenders within TPA 30 that are currently conducted. A further review of one embodiment of on going tender data 48 will be viewed along the explanation of Fig. 4 below.

Tender server application (TSA) 40 according to one preferred embodiment includes an application control 52, a transaction manager 54, a database handler 56, an average handler 58 and a result manager 60. The application control 52 controls all applications within TSA 40. The database handler provides data for processing by the average handler 58, result manager 60 and transaction manager 54. According to one embodiment of the present invention application control 52 initiates a presentation of the on going tender data on a website (not shown). The data relating to an on going tender is within the on going tender data 48 within tender database 38. The relevant data regarding to an on going tender is retrieved by the database handler 56 from the on going tender data 48 after initiated by the application control 52. Upon commencing a new tender by TPS 30 by application control a calculation of a initial bid price relating to the minimal price and maximal price as can be viewed in Fig. 4 below. A participant that wishes to provide a bid can access TPS 30 for an on going tender through DCN 62. TSA 40 processes the said bid. Application control 52 activates database handler 56 that activates participant data 50 to verify whether the participant is registered. A negative reply consequences with the application control commencing the database handler 56 to perform a registration process of a new participant. After registration of participants' details the bid is accounted for and processed by the relevant handlers. Thus, the participants' details are registered by the database handler 56 within on going participants' data 46 and on going tender data 48. The registration within on going participants' data 46 and on going tender data 48 requires determination according to tender rules 44. According to the preferred embodiment an average determination of substantially all forwarded bids within on going participants' data 46, regarding a specific tender, is performed by average handler 58. The average handler 58 updates on going tender data 48. The average handler 58 determines further, according to one embodiment, the difference of every bid price of all registered bids within on going participants' data 46 from current calculated average (CCA). One skilled in the art can appreciate that another handler performing other calculation can be placed in addition to or in substitution to present average handler 58. The result manager 60 arranges all differences of all participants registered within on going participants' data 46 and determinates the hierarchy of each bid accordingly. According to one embodiment result manager 60 updates a participant's file within on going participants data 46 in the hierarchy 132 segment as can be viewed in Fig. 4. Thus, hierarchy segment 132 receives number 1 if the bid price is nearest to CCA 2 if the bid price is second nearest and so on. According to another embodiment the hierarchy segment 132 within on going participants data 46 is updated with the difference range from CCA of received bids from participants. According to the last embodiment one example can be the range of $1 or $0.1 difference from CCA the next range indicates $0.1 -$3 difference from CCA and so on as to include all possible difference of bid prices within the maximal and minimal price possible as indicated within on going tender data 48. According to one embodiment of the present invention the database handler 56 updates substantially all participants of their bids current hierarchy as indicated within hierarchy segment 132 within on going participants data 46 viewed in Fig. 4. The result manager 60 can proclaim the closing of the tender, according to the tender type 104 or maximal participants 108 all defined within on going tender data 48 and in accordance to tender rules 44. According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention the transaction manager 54 debits participant upon the closing of the tender. According to another embodiment the transaction manager 54 debits participants after TPS 30 receives the bid and the registration, if required, is complete. The transaction manager 54 establishes connection with CCs, banks or other reliable credit information suppliers and requests verification for creditability and debits a participant for the bid forwarded. A further description of one preferred embodiment of the present invention will be provided in view of Fig. 5 below.

Fig. 3 shows product or service data 42 according to one embodiment that includes a product serial number 72 which could be the internal number for the product or service, a product name 74, a product identification code (which could be provided by manufacturer) 76, tender or tenders serial numbers forwarded in relation to the product 78, product type 80 (e.g. electrical, household appliances, cars, computing devices and the like), a product manufacturer 82, a products supplier 84 and recommended retail price of product 85. Participant data 50 according to one embodiment of the present invention can include a participant's serial number 88 which identifies the participant, provided by the tender database 38, participant's name 90, participant's address 92, participant's credit information 94, participant's URL contact 96 and participant's other contact possibilities 98. The credit information 94 can include all relevant details that are vital for performing a financial transaction. The additional contact 98 can include a phone number, a fax number, an additional URL address or any other accepted way for establishing a connection.

Fig. 4 includes one preferred embodiment including on going tender data table 48 and on going participants data table 46. The on going tender data 48 includes a tender serial number 102 which identifies the tender, tender type 104, the product offered within tender 106, maximal participants within a tender 108, number of current participants of tender 110, the maximal accepted price for tender 112, the minimal accepted price for tender 114, date of commencement of tender, due date for closing of fender 116, initial bid price provided by TPS 118 and CCA 120. The maximum price 112 and the minimum price 114 provides a specific interval of bid prices that can be forwarded by participants, thus, enhancing the chances to influence the intermediate and final calculated hierarchy results. The range between the minimum price 114 to the maximum price is likely to be much lower then the real price for the product or service offered. The initial price 118 is calculated according to a rule within tender rules 44 within tender database 38 viewed in Fig. 2 above. One example of an initial bid price 118 is the price twenty percent higher of the actual average price between the maximum price 112 and the minimum price 114. However, other calculation of initial bid price 118 can be provided such as a random number between the maximum price 112 and the minimum price 114. The initial bid price 118 is accounted for as a bid and is taken into account for calculated average of the bid prices. The importance of the initial bid price 118 is within the initial "spin" of the adventurous game aspect of the present invention. According to another embodiment the initial bid price remains unknown to participants. In one example a product such as a car can cost in excess of $25,000, the minimum bid price shall be $10 and the maximum bid price shall be $30 and the initial bid price can be $15. Such tender will be limited to a minimum but not necessarily to a maximum predetermined number of participants, although in a preferred embodiment the maximum number of participants will also be restricted so as to allow reasonable chances to win the tender.

On going participants data 46 includes according to one preferred embodiment the bid's number 122, the on going tender the participant is taking part 124, participant's number 126 as registered within participant data 50 as viewed in Fig. 3 above, participant's bid price for on going tender 128, absolute difference between participant's bid price and CCA (after presenting participant's bid) 130, participant's hierarchy in comparison to substantially all bid prices within on going tender 132 and history 134. Price 128 is one sum that ranges between maximum price 112 and the minimum price 114. Price 128 forwarded by the participant is also the only payment the participant- would be requested to pay. The present method and system does not contemplate registration fee, participation fee, postage fee or other fee. According to another embodiment difference 130 can be another value as described above. According to the present embodiment the highest hierarchy is calculated similarly to the previous possibility however the subtracted parameter of the CCA is substituted with the initial bid price 118. History 134 contains previous hierarch values within table 132. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the hierarchy of a participant's bid is influenced by each bid received. Thus, a revised CCA is performed and the hierarchy is reestablished. Having a re-established hierarchy would allow the system to provide to participants an indication as to their position relevant to the average bid price at the time of forwarding their bid. The hierarchy table 132 also enables a quick and efficient manner to control the process of the tender. When a large number of participants provide bids, each bid is processed according to the time it is made in and as a consequence the hierarchy and CCA is updated. Optionally, the participant is offered information showing his ranking in relation to the CCA needed to win. Because the average bid price may change after each bid again, if a person has made a bid which is equal to the average price bid then the system can provide to such participant that his bid is equal to the average price bid at the time of making his bid. Additional bids will change the average price bid.

Fig. 5 provides a flowchart of the method of the GPDS 140 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Prior to the execution of the tender, the bid minimum and maximum prices as well as the initial bid price are set by the operator of the GPDS. Optionally, said prices are set by a third party or by participants or generated randomly. According to the presented embodiment in step 142 a bid includes details of participant, identification of fender referred to as well as credit information regarding to billing possibility by TPS. According to one embodiment the bid price is checked whether it is within the minimum and maximum price of the tender as set initially. In step 144 the TPS is provided with the details regarding the participant and inquires whether the participant is known to the GPDS. In step 146 if the participant in not known to the GPDS the system initiates a registration process of the participant. In step 148 after processing registration or alternatively after recognition of participant the TPS updates a participant's data. Though according to one embodiment a participant is not limited to the number of bids participating within a single tender within another embodiment can include a limitation for the number of bids provided. According to the last embodiment the limitation for the number of bids of, a single participant within a sole tender is found within tender rules 44 within tender database 38 shown in Fig. 2 above. Hence, according to the last embodiment prior to updating participants data step 148 another step verifying the bids number limitation is performed (not shown). The bids limitation verification includes a verification of to whether the bid does not exceed the limitation. An affirmative reply the processing of the bid is continued towards the updating participants data step 148. A negative reply meaning the participant offered more than the bid number limitation results with halting of the processing of the bid and replying to participant the result or alternatively replying the turn down of the bid and offering the participant to try provide another bid for another tender. According to one embodiment billing of a participant is performed prior to updating participant's and tender's databases. According to another embodiment the billing of substantially all participants is performed after closing of tender. After updating participant's data and tender in the on going participant's data 46, in step 150 the hierarchy of the bids forwarded by substantially all participants, including the bid received in step 142 is determined. The hierarchy determination in step 150 includes determining the average price of substantially all bid prices received so far including the initial bid price, determination of the absolute difference from CCA and the hierarchy of substantially all of received bids. The hierarchy means a list of bids sorted in their relative and absolute difference than the CCA such that is in absolute terms one bid is greater in number than another bid in reference to the CCA it will be located lower in the hierarchy list. At this stage the relevant tables are updated. Next, in step 151 a message is sent to the participant last forwarding a bid. The message may include details of the bid. The message may also include the participant's bid hierarchy after the forwarding of his bid. Optionally, in step 152 and after step 150 substantially all participants are updated of their hierarchy after the CCA is known. In the next step the TPS determines whether the closing limit of number of participants in the specific tender has been reached. According to one preferred embodiment the closing limit of number of participants depends on a maximal number of participants. According to another embodiment the closing depends on a maximal number of participants and a due date. Other closing criteria may be provided such as a due date only and the like. In case the closing limit offender is not yet reached the TPS continues to receive bids from other participants in step 142. If the closing limit is reached a calculation of best results is performed in step 155. According to one preferred embodiment the winning bid is the one that offered the bid price having the smallest absolute difference from the average bid price. According to a second preferred embodiment the winner of the tender is the participant, which forwarded the average bid price. After determining the best result in step 155 an inquiry is made whether there is a sole bid having a bid price that compares to the best result in step 156. Affirmative reply consequences with a proclamation of the winner and informing the relevant participant of the result in step 158. If there is more than one participant that provided a bid price that meets the best result calculated in step 155 the relevant participants are notified and invited to forward new bids in step 157 according to step 142. In accordance with this embodiment those participants who forwarded the best hierarchy bid result alone will provide further bids in the same manner once again in order to determine a single winner. Alternatively, the tender may be disqualified for having more than one winner and restart. In such case participants will not be charged.

Fig. 6 presents one embodiment showing the manner in which the intermediate and final results can be presented to the participants 160. According to the embodiment the various circles present their distance from the CCA or other parameter substantially all bid prices refer to. The inner circle 168 indicates the circle nearest to the CCA. Circle 166 indicates a further difference from CCA in compare to circle 168, and 164 and 162 are further to CCA respectively. Arrow 170 points out the interval a participant's bid price is at present in compare to CCA as to the bids forwarded so far. Line 172 indicated to whether the bid price is over or beneath the CCA. According to another embodiment the different circles can have different colors and the colors can indicate the difference of a participant's bid price from CCA.

The person skilled in the art will appreciate that what has been shown is not limited to the description above. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. It will be apparent that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and those modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the invention. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

CLAIMS I/We claim:

1. An apparatus for providing goods or services promised to a winner in a tender, the tender price range is limited to a lower than the actual price of goods or services, the winning bid is the bid that provides the closest bid to the average price provided by substantially all other bids, the apparatus comprising: a central processing unit for processing data, a communication device for communicating with participants, suppliers, credit companies and financial institutes, a storage device storing tender database, a tender server application comprising tender server applications and managers for providing tender offers and receiving bids from participants and for deternuning the winner of a tender, based on the average price bid forwarded by all the participants in the tender.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tender database includes tender rules table and on going participants and tender data, the tender server application includes a database handler.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein rules table includes a rule for determining a winner by resolving the average of bid prices and finding the nearest bid price having absolute difference from determined average.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein rules table includes at least one rule for managing of the tender.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the at least one rule for deterrnining the average of all processed bid prices after every processed bid.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the rules table includes at least one rale for determining a winner of the tender by resolving the nearest bid price having absolute difference from an initial bid provided.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a device for notifying participants of their current range of difference from current calculated average.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the rules table includes at least one rale for initiating a continuation of a tender after tender closing when there is more than one result having the nearest absolute difference from bid price average.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tender server application further comprises: an application control for controlling the applications within the application tender server; a database handler for providing data for processing by the average handler, the transaction manager and the result handler; and a transaction manager for debiting participants upon the closing of a tender and establishing connections with third parties and request verification of credit of a participant; an average handler for determining the average of all forward bids within an on going participants data, for updating the on going tender data and for determining the difference of every bid price of all registered bids within the on going participants' data; and a result handler for arranging the participants within the on going participants data and for determining an hierarchy of each bid.

10. A method for conducting a tender, the method comprising offering a participant with at least one service or good; a participant proving a bid price for the at least one service or good; determining the winning price as the bid price that provides the average price provided by substantially all the bid prices forwarded in the tender; selecting the participant forwarding the bid price closest to the winning bid.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the bid price is limited to a price range lower than the actual price of the at least one service or good offered.

12. The method of claim 10 further determining the differences from average required to win the tender

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the bid price is the price for participation in the tender.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the bid price is the participation cost and the price bid.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising presenting at least one participant with the at least one participant bid price difference from the average bid price.

16. A method for conducting a tender, the method comprising the steps of: setting a bid price minimum and a bid price maximum and an initial bid price; receiving at least one bid from at least one participant, the at least one bid to include a participant identification and a bid price within the bid price minimum and the bid price maximum; determining the average bid price of the at least one bid price received and the initial bid price; deteπnination of the difference from the average bid price and the hierarchy of all the at least one bid; determining whether the closing term in the tender has been reached; and determining the winner of the tender.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of notifying the at least one participant as to the at least one bid hierarchy.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of setting bid prices is performed by the operator of the tender.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of collecting of the at least one participant information.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of and storing the collected information in an on going participants database.

21. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of billing the participant for the price bid forwarded by the participant.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the closing term is a limit of number of participants or a due time or a due date.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the winning bid is the at least one bid that offered the bid price having the smallest absolute difference from the average bid price.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein the winning bid is the at least one bid equal to the average bid price or the at least one bid closest to the average bid price.

25. The method of claim 16 further comprises the step of notifying of the winning to the at least one participant forwarding the winning bid.

26. The method of claim 16 further comprises the step of disqualifying the tender, after the tender is closed, when at least two participants forward the same bid price average.

27. The method of claim 15 further comprising presenting at least one participant with the at least one participant bid price difference from the' average bid price.