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Various methods and systems for auctioning items such as golf tee times, restaurant reservations, concert tickets or hotel reservations are disclosed. Users can effectively bid on a large number of items but receive at most one item at the end of the auction. This has the favorable effects for the u

Various methods and systems for auctioning items such as golf tee times, restaurant reservations, concert tickets or hotel reservations are disclosed. Users can effectively bid on a large number of items but receive at most one item at the end of the auction. This has the favorable effects for the users of: (1) increasing the probability of successfully bidding for at least one item; (2) making the auction process more convenient by greatly reducing the need for actively monitoring the auction; and, (3) decreasing the possibility a user will be out bid at the last moment and receive no item. This also has the favorable effects for the seller of increasing the probability their listed items will sell and increasing the expected average sales price.

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1. A method of permitting users to participate in an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) presenting items to users with an auction computing system adapted to conduct the electronic auction and coupled to a database of items available for auction;(b) receiving a set of bids for a corresp

1. A method of permitting users to participate in an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) presenting items to users with an auction computing system adapted to conduct the electronic auction and coupled to a database of items available for auction;(b) receiving a set of bids for a corresponding set of items selected from said database from said users using the auction computing system, each bid in said set of bids for a first item including at least a bid price and a bid ranking for said first item; wherein a bid ranking for said first item from a first user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by said first user for other items;(c) processing said set of bids with the auction computing system to conduct the electronic auction based on both said bid price and said bid ranking for said corresponding set of items to determine if there is at least one winning bid for one of said corresponding set of items for said first user including said first item. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said database of items correspond to access rights to an entertainment facility. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said corresponding set of items are selected by a user based on selecting items from said database that are to be processed during a predefined auction period. 4. The method of claim 1, where said processing step (c) determines how said corresponding set of items should be auctioned based on first considering a highest ranking bid submitted. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein during step (b), said set of bids includes at least one unconditional bid for a highest ranked item taken from said corresponding set of items, and the remainder of said set of bids being comprised of conditional bids for items ranked below said highest ranked item. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said conditional bids are not considered during step (c) unless said unconditional bid is unsuccessful for said highest ranked item. 7. The method of claim 1, further including a step (d): notifying a bidder when a highest ranked bid is unsuccessful for a corresponding item. 8. The method of claim 7, further including a step (e): permitting said bidder to increase a bid price for said highest ranked bid and then repeating step (c). 9. The method of claim 1, wherein when one bid from set of bids is satisfied for a bidder, any remaining bids are not evaluated for said bidder. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple sets of bids are entered by multiple participants in the auction, and said multiple sets of bids are subjected to the processing step (c) to determine a single winning bid for each of said corresponding set of items. 11. The method of claim 1, further including a step (d): allowing participants to monitor a status of the electronic auction by displaying bid price and bid ranking information for each of said set of items. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said bid ranking information is limited to an identification of a number of conditional bids placed for each of said set of items, and which conditional bids have a bid price equal to or exceeding a highest unconditional bid price for such items. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein said item is an access right to a venue having a finite capacity. 14. The method of claim 1, where said item is an intangible property. 15. A method of allowing a purchaser to bid on a right to play golf at a selected time and at a selected golf facility in an electronic auction, comprising the steps of: (a) using an auction computing system adapted to conduct the electronic auction and to present a list of available golf playing opportunities to the purchaser, said golf playing opportunities including information identifying a golf course, a golf course date, and a golf course time at said golf course available for playing golf;(b) allowing the purchaser to select one or more golf playing opportunities desired by the purchaser using the auction computing system, said golf playing opportunities being characterized by a common expiration period within the electronic auction;(c) allowing the purchaser to enter a bid for each of said one or more golf playing opportunities using the auction computing system, said bid including both a bid price and a bid ranking for each of said one or more golf playing opportunities, so that a set of purchaser bids are created for said one or more golf playing opportunities;(d) processing said set of purchaser bids, along with third party bids for said one or more golf playing opportunities using the auction computing system, to determine winning bids for said golf playing opportunities;(e) notifying the purchaser using the auction computing system when a currently highest ranked bid from said purchaser is determined to be a winning bid or when said currently highest ranked bid is determined to be not a winning bid;(f) allowing the purchaser to increase said bid price for said highest ranked bid within a predetermined time period using the auction computing system when said highest ranked bid is determined to be not a winning bid;(g) repeating steps (d) to (f) as needed until the end of the common expiration period, and until all of said purchaser bids are determined to be not winning bids, or until one of said purchaser bids is determined to be a winning bid;wherein the purchaser is permitted to bid on multiple golf playing opportunities using said set of purchaser bids, but at most only a single one of said set of purchaser bids is satisfied as a winning bid. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said time at said golf course in (a) is not a single specific time but rather a window of time which includes multiple potential starting times. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said multiple potential starting times are assigned to said purchasers that have been declared winning bidders with said multiple times assigned so as to increase the pace of play on the golf course and to improve the enjoyment of said purchasers because of said faster pace of play and because the said purchasers can be grouped according to playing ability so players will be assigned to play with other purchasers of similar capability. 18. A system for conducting an electronic auction comprising: an auction computing system coupled to a database of items available for auction and which auction computing system is configured with one or more software routines adapted to:(a) present items to users available for auction;(b) receive a set of bids for a corresponding set of items selected from said database from said users, each bid in said set of bids from said users including at least a bid price and a bid ranking for an item;wherein a bid ranking for a first item from a first user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by said first user for other items;(d) process said set of bids with the auction computing system to conduct the electronic auction based on both said bid price and said bid ranking for said corresponding set of items to determine if there is at least one winning bid for one of said corresponding set of items for said first user including said first item. 19. The system of claim 18 wherein said item is an access right to a venue having a finite capacity. 20. The system of claim 18, where said item is an intangible property. 21. The system of claim 18, wherein said corresponding set of items are selected by a user based on selecting items from said database that are to be processed during a single predefined auction period. 22. The system of claim 18 wherein said auction computing system includes a routine for allowing participants to monitor a status of the electronic auction by displaying bid price and bid ranking information for each of said set of items. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein said bid ranking information is limited to an identification of a number of conditional bids placed for each of said set of items, and which conditional bids have a bid price equal to or exceeding a highest unconditional bid price for such items. 24. The system of claim 18 wherein N bids from said first user are input to the auction computing system and considered during the electronic auction to determine M winning items, where N>M. 25. A system for permitting a purchaser to bid on a right to play golf at a selected time and at a selected golf facility in an electronic auction, comprising: an auction computing system coupled to a database of items available for auction and which auction computing system is configured with one or more software routines adapted to:(a) conduct the electronic auction and to present a list of available golf playing opportunities to the purchaser, said golf playing opportunities including information identifying a golf course, a golf course date, and a golf course time at said golf course available for playing golf;(b) allow the purchaser to select one or more golf playing opportunities desired by the purchaser, said golf playing opportunities being characterized by a common expiration period within the electronic auction;(c) allow the purchaser to enter a bid for each of said one or more golf playing opportunities, said bid including both a bid price and a bid ranking for each of said one or more golf playing opportunities, so that a set of purchaser bids are created for said one or more golf playing opportunities;(d) process said set of purchaser bids, along with third party bids for said one or more golf playing opportunities, to determine winning bids for said golf playing opportunities;(e) notify the purchaser when a currently highest ranked bid from said purchaser is determined to be a winning bid or when said currently highest ranked bid is determined to be not a winning bid;(f) allow the purchaser to increase said bid price for said highest ranked bid within a predetermined time period when said highest ranked bid is determined to be not a winning bid;(g) repeat operations (d) to (f) as needed until the end of the common expiration period, and until all of said purchaser bids are determined to be not winning bids, or until one of said purchaser bids is determined to be a winning bid;wherein the purchaser is permitted to bid on multiple golf playing opportunities using said set of purchaser bids, but at most only a single one of said set of purchaser bids is satisfied as a winning bid. 26. The system of claim 25, wherein said time at said golf course in (a) is not a single specific time but rather a window of time which includes multiple potential starting times. 27. The system of claim 25, wherein said multiple potential starting times are assigned to said purchasers that have been declared winning bidders with said multiple times assigned so as to increase the pace of play on the golf course and to improve the enjoyment of said purchasers because of said faster pace of play and because the said purchasers can be grouped according to playing ability so players will be assigned to play with other purchasers of similar capability. 28. A method of permitting users to participate in an electronic auctions comprising the steps of: (a) presenting items to users with an auction computing system adapted to conduct the electronic auctions and coupled to a database of items available for auction;(b) receiving a set of bids for a corresponding set of items selected from said database from the users using the auction computing system, each bid for an item in said set of bids form the users including at least a bid price and a bid ranking for said item;wherein a first bid ranking for a first item from a first user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a first bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by the said first user for other items;further wherein a bid ranking for said first item from a second user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a second bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by the said second user for other items;(c) processing said set of bids with the auction computing system to conduct the electronic auctions based on both said bid price and said bid ranking for said corresponding set of items to determine if there is at least one winning bid for one of said corresponding set of items for said first user and said second user, including an auction for said first item. 29. The method of claim 28, wherein said first user and second user are permitted to enter N bids for N items but are guaranteed to win only one item in the electronic auctions. 30. The method of claim 28, wherein multiple first items are auctioned in a logical grouping in a single auction. 31. The method of claim 28, wherein a losing bid for said first user is automatically rolled over into a second bid ranked lower by said first user in a second auction. 32. The method of claim 28 wherein said first bid further includes a time limit. 33. The method of claim 28, wherein said first user and second user are permitted to see bid prices but not bid rankings for other users for said first item. 34. The method of claim 28, wherein said first user's bids are considered by first taking into account a bid ranking and then a bid price. 35. A system of conducting electronic auctions comprising: an auction computing system coupled to a database of items available for auction and which auction computing system is configured with one or more software routines adapted to:(a) present items to users available for auction;(b) receive a set of bids for a corresponding set of items selected from said database from the users for the electronic auctions, each bid for an item in said set of bids form the users including at least a bid price and a bid ranking for said item;wherein a first bid ranking for a first item from a first user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a first bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by the said first user for other items;further wherein a bid ranking for said first item from a second user designates an order to be used by the auction computing system for resolving a second bid for said first item relative to any other bids provided by the said second user for other items;(c) process said set of bids to conduct the electronic auctions based on both said bid price and said bid ranking for said corresponding set of items to determine if there is at least one winning bid for one of said corresponding set of items for said first user and said second user, including a first auction for said first item. 36. The system of claim 35, wherein said first user and second user are permitted to enter N bids for N items but are guaranteed to win only one item in the electronic auctions. 37. The system of claim 35, wherein multiple first items are auctioned in a logical grouping in a single auction. 38. The system of claim 35, wherein a losing bid for said first user is automatically rolled over into a second bid ranked lower by said first user in a second auction. 39. The system of claim 35 wherein said first bid further includes a time limit. 40. The system of claim 35, wherein said first user and second user are permitted to see bid prices but not bid rankings for other users for said first item. 41. The system of claim 35, wherein said first user's bids are considered by first taking into account a bid ranking and then a bid price.