Facilitating electronic commerce through two-tiered electronic markets and auctions

摘要

A computer-implemented two-tiered electronic market system includes a data repository storing information corresponding to an inventory of one or more available items and a first-tier electronic market (e.g., a retail tier) that provides a first participant (e.g., a retail consumer) access to the inventory of one or more items in the data repository. The inventory is offered to the first participant under a first (e.g., retail) pricing scheme. The two-tiered electronic market system also includes a second-tier electronic market (e.g., a wholesale tier) that provides a second participant (e.g., a wholesale dealer), different from the first participant, access to the inventory of one or more items in the data repository. The inventory is offered to the second participant under a second (e.g., wholesale) pricing scheme different from the first pricing scheme. Electronic commerce is facilitated using an electronic auction system having at least a wholesale tier and a retail tier by presenting for auction an item description stored in a database operationally coupled to the electronic auction system. The presentation of the item includes a current retail bid amount. A wholesale bid is received from at least one wholesale-tier participant and the current retail bid amount is selectively displaced if the received wholesale bid increased by a predetermined amount is greater than the current retail bid.