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An electronic auction system which Includes a Central Auction Controller (CAC) that allows sellers to list items for auction and users to enter bids and rank srdorings Is disclosed. The CAC maintains a central database comprising a database of user information, a database of Items and bids and a dat

An electronic auction system which Includes a Central Auction Controller (CAC) that allows sellers to list items for auction and users to enter bids and rank srdorings Is disclosed. The CAC maintains a central database comprising a database of user information, a database of Items and bids and a database of vendor information. Administration of the system is accomplished via an I/O device and CPU and an optional e-mail processor allows automated messaging to users. This methodology allows users to effectively bid on a large number of mutually exclusive items but receive at most one item at the end of the auction.

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1. A method of processing bid information for an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) providing a database of items available for auction;(b) receiving a set of bids from one or more bidders for a corresponding set of items selected from said database, each bid in said set of bids includi

1. A method of processing bid information for an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) providing a database of items available for auction;(b) receiving a set of bids from one or more bidders for a corresponding set of items selected from said database, each bid in said set of bids including at least a bid price and a bid ranking specified by a bidder for an item; wherein said bid ranking from said bidder for an item represents a desired order in which a bid is to be resolved in the electronic auction compared to any other bids made by such bidder for other items in said database of items;further wherein said bidder can specify that a set of ranked bids submitted by such bidder for a set of items should be treated as mutually exclusive, such that the electronic auction determines at most a single item to be awarded to said bidder from said set of ranked bids by correlating a ranking relationship between separate items bid on by said bidder. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a set of bids from any particular bidder each include a unique bid ranking for each of said corresponding set of items. 3. The method of claim 1, further including a step (c): providing a maximum bid price for each bid, and an auto-bid indicator for raising said bid price as needed until said maximum bid price is reached. 4. The method of claim 1, further including a step (c): monitoring a status of the electronic auction, including a high bid for an item, and information relating to other conditional bids for said item. 5. The method of claim 1, further including a step (c): selecting a guaranteed purchase option for an item so that said item is purchased without undergoing further processing in the electronic auction. 6. A method of monitoring bid information for an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) retrieving a set of items from an auction database in accordance with a specified search criteria;(b) displaying said set of items;(c) for each item in said set of items, displaying a current highest unconditional bid price specified by a bidder and information relating to any conditional bids specified by other bidders for said item; wherein said conditional bids are not considered by an auction processing engine until and unless they become unconditional bids during an auction period associated with said item. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said set of items correspond to inventory to be auctioned during a common auction period. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein said information relating to said conditional bids includes a numerical value indicating a number of said conditional bids having a bid price equal to or exceeding said highest unconditional bid price and/or a minimum bid price for said item. 9. The method of claim 6, wherein said items correspond to access rights to an entertainment facility. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said entertainment facility is a golf course, and said items are golf tee times at said golf course. 11. A method of conducting an electronic auction comprising the steps of: (a) compiling a database of items available for auction;(b) grouping said items based on a common auction period to create a set of common items available to a plurality of purchasers for bidding;(c) receiving bids for said set of common items from said plurality of purchasers, said bids including at least a bid price and a bid ranking specified by a purchaser for an item, said bids being comprised of separate sets of mutually exclusive bids from each of said plurality of purchasers for separate and mutually exclusive items;(d) processing said separate sets of mutually exclusive bids based on both said bid price and said bid ranking specified by said purchaser for said set of common items to determine winning bids for each item in said set of common items by correlating a ranking relationship between bids for separate items made by such purchasers. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein each of said plurality of users receives at most one winning bid for said set of common items. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein a winning bid for an item in said set of common items is determined by comparing bids submitted by purchasers in an order determined by said bid ranking submitted by said purchasers for said item. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein said electronic auction for an item proceeds in a sequence determined by examining highest ranked bids in said separate sets of bids submitted for said item by purchasers, and not by reference to a highest bid price offered for said item. 15. The method of claim 11, further including the following steps: (e): notifying a first purchaser when a highest ranked bid from said first purchaser is determined to be not a winning bid for an item; (f) permitting said first purchaser to increase an amount of said bid price for said item within a predetermined time period; (g) notifying a second purchaser that their highest ranked bid is a winning bid when said first purchaser does not increase their bid price within said predetermined price period. 16. The method of claim 11, wherein said winning bids can be determined even before an end of said common auction period by giving purchasers an immediate purchase option. 17. The method of claim 11, wherein said bid prices for said separate sets of mutually exclusive bids for said set of common items, but not said bid rankings, are visible to said plurality of purchasers during said common auction period. 18. A system for conducting an electronic auction of items comprising: (a) an auction controller accessible by a number of bidding computing systems;(b) an auction inventory database accessible by said auction controller, and being adapted to store identifying information for the items; and(c) an auction bid database accessible by said auction controller, and being adapted to store information for bids on the items, each of said bids including both a bid price and a bid ranking specified by a bidder for an item, said bid ranking corresponding to a desired order in which a bid is to be resolved compared to any other bids made by such bidder for other items in said database of items; said auction controller being configured such that it processes said bids for said items in accordance with both said bid price and said bid ranking specified by a bidder for said items and such that said bidder's ranked bids for any of the items can be treated as mutually exclusive by correlating a ranking relationship between ranked bids made on separate items bid on by such bidder. 19. The system of claim 18, further including an e-mail processor for notifying bidders of results of the electronic auction. 20. The system of claim 18, further including an administrative computing device for performing administrative tasks for said auction controller. 21. The system of claim 18, wherein said bidding computing systems are connected through a network to said auction controller. 22. The system of claim 18, wherein all of the items are auctioned at the same time. 23. A system for conducting an electronic auction of items comprising: (a) an electronic auction file for storing information concerning auction items;(b) an electronic bid file for storing a set of bids for a corresponding set of items selected from said auction file, each bid in said set of bids including at least a bid price and a bid ranking specified by a bidder for an item;(c) an electronic auction processor for processing said set of bids based on both said bid price and said bid ranking specified by bidders for said corresponding set of items to determine if there is at least one winning bid for one of said corresponding set of items; and wherein a single bidder can bid on more than one item in the electronic auction, but said electronic auction processor can be programmed to only generate at most a single winning bid for said single bidder by correlating a ranking relationship between bids made on separate items bid on by such single bidder. 24. An electronic auction system comprising: a. means for entering auction inventory items; andb. means for storing said auction inventory items; andc. means for reviewing said auction inventory items; andd. means for querying said auction inventory items to create selected auction inventory items satisfying selection criteria of a potential bidder;e. means for entering a bid amount and a bid ranking specified by a bidder for one or more of said selected auction inventory items to create one or more bid entries;f. means for storing said bid entries;g. means for processing said bid entries to determine winning bids for said auction inventory items, said winning bids being based on both said bid amount and said bid ranking; wherein a bidder can specify that a set of bids submitted by such bidder for a set of items in said auction inventory items should be processed as mutually exclusive by specifying that a ranking relationship should be correlated between separate bids made by such bidder on separate items;h. means for transmitting a notification associated with said winning bids to one or more bidders. 25. The system of claim 24, wherein bid entries for an auction item from any individual bidder consist of at least one unconditional bid. 26. The system of claim 24, further comprising means for transmitting a notice to a bidder that their bid entries do not include a winning bid. 27. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means for permitting a bidder who has been outbid for an auction item to increase a bid amount of a bid entry. 28. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means for coordinating payment of any winning bids. 29. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means for observing a status of any auctions. 30. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means to store user information. 31. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means to store vendor information. 32. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means to store and retrieve historical auction results.