Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Chewable.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


       

Cascading bids

 Bid on multiple, sequential auctions
  (+7)
(+7) 		  [vote for,
against]

Rather than babysit eBay, I'd like to plunk down a fair bid on an item and walk away. Obviously, if someone wants that item more than I, they'll win and I'll have to find another auction and begin the process again.

I'd like to queue up multiple auctions and apply the same maximum bid to all of them. The bid would only initially apply to the auction ending soonest. If I win that auction, my bid is not applied to any auctions still in queue. If I'm out bid on the initial auction, my maximum bid rolls over to the next auction in queue until either I win an auction or run out of items in queue.

It's possible both queue length and the number of active cascading bids would need to be limited.

—phoenix, Dec 21 2008

ebay patent http://www.sumobrai...g/WO2008060477.html
ebay patent [rling, Jun 10 2011]

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       Brilliant. I just googled the exact same thought and even thought of the same name for it ("cascading" bids) and google sent me straight here. What a shame ebay haven't implemented this. But I guess they prefer that you have to visit their site a lot more so they can hit you with more advertising each time.
—rling, Jun 10 2011
   

       After a bit more digging, it turns out ebay already patented this idea! [see link] Fortunately (or unfortunately?) the patent was published a few months before this post on halfbakery, so they can't be accused of stealing the idea.
—rling, Jun 10 2011
   


 

back: main index
business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle