KR20040010538A - Reverse auction method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

An online reverse auction method is disclosed. The present invention comprises the steps of receiving information from a buyer, generating a proposal application, posting the proposal applications on a website for the seller to access, and at least one seller submitting in response to the proposal application. And displaying at least one bid book to the seller and the buyer via the website, and receiving a notification of acceptance of one of the bid books.

Description

REVERSE AUCTION METHOD AND SYSTEM

Today's online ticket auctions give each buyer an opportunity to bid on the ticket. Generally, the buyer enters the date of travel, the departure and arrival city, and the maximum price the buyer is willing to pay for each ticket. The online auction provider sends the written information to several airlines or agents in an attempt to obtain a ticket at a desired price.

The buyer then receives a notice from the online auction provider indicating whether the buyer's bid has been accepted by the airline. In today's online auction, buyers cannot negotiate prices directly with airlines. In addition, today's online auctions are not adequate to meet the needs of group buyers who want to purchase large amounts of tickets. This is because tickets are not transferable in today's online auctions. Also, if a single purchaser purchases a very large number of tickets at one time, the discount cannot be negotiated with the airline. In addition, the only relevant information considered as part of the decision to accept the bid is the price of the ticket. Therefore, in the art, auction methods and systems are required that can be presented to group buyers and that sellers can introduce information other than prices for services or goods as part of the auction process so that buyers and sellers can negotiate contracts directly. It is becoming.

Disclosure of the Invention

Describe the online reverse auction method and system. Specifically, according to such reverse auction method and system, a buyer who wants to purchase a product or service can generate a request for proposals and post the application on a website for suppliers to access. The supplier submits a bid by placing a bid on the website in response to the proposal. Buyers as well as suppliers can see all bids submitted.

The buyer may review the details of the bid submitted in response to the proposal and the supplier may review the details of the bid for bidding. The details of the bid can be reviewed by visiting the website. Once the bid is accepted by the buyer or a counter offer to the seller is accepted by the seller, a confirmation of the acceptance is sent to the buyer and the supplier who submitted the accepted bid.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an auction method and system for presenting to a group buyer and allowing the seller to introduce information other than price information about the service or product as part of the auction process so that the buyer and seller can negotiate the contract directly. There is. In addition, another object of the present invention is to give buyers and sellers the ability to perform transactions or contracts in performing business with each other. In addition, another object of the present invention is to enable both the buyer and seller to negotiate the contract via the Internet to achieve the above objects. In addition, another object of the present invention is to facilitate the negotiation process by posting the details of the proposal application submitted by the buyer and the details of the bid submitted by the seller on the website.

With the above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention as will become apparent from the following description, the features of the present invention will be described with reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings. Can be more clearly understood.

The present invention relates to an online auction. In particular, the present invention provides an internet-borne medium characterized by publishing the buyer's requirements for services and goods and matching bids from suppliers to meet the buyer's requirements. It's about an online business-to-business procurement service.

With reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the accompanying drawings

1 is a flow chart of a first method of the present invention,

2A to 2C are diagrams of a user interface according to an embodiment and method of the present invention for inputting user registration information,

3A-3D are diagrams of a user interface in accordance with embodiments and methods of the present invention for entering traveler's travel policy information;

4 is a diagram of a user interface in accordance with an embodiment and method of the present invention for uploading travel history data to a website,

5A-5C are diagrams of a user interface in accordance with a method and embodiment of the present invention for generating a proposal application;

6 is a display diagram of a proposal application for bidding and corresponding bidding in accordance with embodiments and methods of the present invention;

7 is a view showing the details of a bid submitted in response to the proposal for proposal according to an embodiment and method of the present invention.

8 is a diagram of a user interface for bid response in accordance with embodiments and methods of the present invention,

9 is a diagram of a user interface for searching a proposal application according to an embodiment and method of the present invention;

10 is a diagram of a display of search results of a proposal application in accordance with embodiments and methods of the present invention,

11 is a diagram of a buyer history display to which a supplier connects in accordance with embodiments and methods of the present invention;

12 is a display diagram of a proposal application submitted by a buyer in accordance with an embodiment and method of the present invention;

13 is a diagram showing a contract between a buyer and a supplier according to an embodiment and method of the present invention,

14 is a diagram of a user interface for inputting a bid according to an embodiment and method of the present invention.

15A and 15B show a display of a bid submitted by a supplier in response to several proposal applications in accordance with preferred embodiments and methods of the present invention,

16 is a diagram of a system for performing a reverse auction method according to an embodiment and method of the present invention.

Other features and advantages of the invention are either directly described or apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.

Referring now to the drawings in which like parts are represented by like reference numerals, FIG. 16 shows a reverse auction system 1600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. This reverse auction system includes personal computers 1601-1603 (buyer PCs) used by buyers, personal computers 1604-1606 (supplier PCs) used by suppliers, one or more exchange servers 1610, a group of webs and databases. Servers 1611 and networks (Internet) 1612 that interconnect these personal computers 1601-1606 and servers 1610, 1611.

The purchaser personal computer 1601-1603 and the supplier personal computer 1604-1606 may be self-supporting personal computers. Alternatively, the personal computers 1601-1603 may be interconnected via the Internet of the buyer company. Similarly, the supplier personal computers 1604-1606 may also be interconnected via the Internet of the supplier company.

In one embodiment of the invention, the buyer may be a company that wants to purchase a ticket from a supplier (eg, an airline). The buyer may also be represented by a travel agency.

Although the functions performed by server 1610, web server 1611a, database server 1611b may be implemented in a single server unit, these servers are shown separately to emphasize the individual functions of these servers. The server 1610 may include a computer having high data throughput. The web server 1611a and the database server 1611b may include a computer equipped with software for running a database system and a website. For example, the web server 1611 may be a Windows NT server, supplying static html pages generated to support the functionality of the user interfaces presented below and retained in the database server 1611b. It may also include software such as Microsoft Internet Information Services, which is used to model the compiled data. Web server 1611a may also include software responsible for data replication between database 1611a and server 1610. Database server 1611b may be implemented by running Oracle's SQL server 7.0 in a separate Windows NT server.

In the system 1600, the web server 1611a collects data from the purchaser personal computers 1601-1603 and the supplier personal computers via the Internet 1612 and transfers data to these personal computers. It serves as a front-end server. Data may be stored in the database server 1611b.

The exchange server 1610 may be connected to the web server 1611a and the database server 1611b via the Internet 1612. The exchange server 1610 may call data from the web server 1611a and the database server 1611b. The exchange server uses the called data to perform a function of searching for a proposal application based on criteria, grade bids, etc. input by the supplier.

13 illustrates a high level provisional trading agreement that may occur as part of an online auction. In the figure, each buyer 1302 submits one RFP. On the other hand, each supplier 1306 may respond to two or more RFPs. Although not illustrated, a more practical example is that each buyer submits two or more RFPs and each seller bids on any of the submitted RFPs.

1 is a flow diagram of a method for performing an online reverse auction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Step 101 includes online registration of a buyer and one or more suppliers or sellers. The information entered by the buyer or seller as part of the online registration 101 is described in FIG. 2 below.

In step 102, the buyer can enter the travel history and the planned travel information as well as information about the company. The information entered by the buyer as part of step 102 is described in the discussion of FIGS. 3A and 3B below.

In step 103, the buyer generates requests for proposals (RFPs) based on the travel history data. Travel history data may be entered as part of step 102 and may be automatically generated by maintaining a buyer's timely travel preference record. RFPs include information such as travel data, departure and arrival airports, desired class of service, number of seats, etc., which enable a supplier searching for an RFP to determine if the RFP is interested and to submit a bid as a response to the RFP. It may include (step 104).

For RFPs that remain open (eg, the buyer has not accepted the proposal submitted in response to the RFP), the submitted bid can be viewed by the buyer and the seller who submitted the bid (step 105). That is, the bidding activity can be viewed by connecting to the exchange server 1610 of FIG.

Step 106 may include observing a breakdown of submitted bids in response to a particular RFP. The display of the bid details will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

Step 107 includes actions the buyer can take as part of the reverse auction. These actions may include withdrawing an RFP, rejecting a bid, accepting a bid, or proposing a reverse.

Step 108 includes actions that a supplier or seller can take as part of the reverse auction. These actions may include accepting or rejecting an objection, and making an objection to the objection.

In step 109, the seller can send a buyer a collective identification (ID) number upon reaching a sales agreement. After the group ID number is sent, the buyer can terminate the transaction.

In step 110, the web server 1611 sends a notice to the buyer as well as the seller who submitted the successful bid. The notice indicates the confirmation of bid acceptance.

2A illustrates a user interface 200 for entering user registration information. The user interface may be displayed on any of the buyer personal computer 1601-1603 of FIG. 16.

The interface 200 may include fields for logging in by entering the user's name 202 and password 204. Additional fields 206 may also be provided for confirming the password. The login process can take place prior to registering with the system as an entity. That is, the new user can receive the login and password required to register with the system by e-mail. Alternatively, the user can first register and then obtain a login name and password.

2b shows a field of the interface 200 used to enter information about a company. This information includes company name (208), company classification (210), company's taxpayer identification number (212), company address (216), city, state and country where the head office is located (218, 220, 222), company's telephone And fax numbers 224, 226, DUNS numbers 228, and the company's website address 230.

DUNS number 228 may be defined as a number assigned by Dun & Bradstreet Corporation to a company in order to associate it with a particular industry. In the present invention, the DUNS number 228 can be used to verify that the company that signed for registration is actually a true company.

As part of the registration process, the buyer enters contact information as illustrated in FIG. 2C. Specifically, the buyer may enter name 232, job title 234, email address 236, language for injection 238, phone number 240 and fax number 242 information.

3A illustrates a user interface 300 for entering traveler policy information. Travel policy information may be included as part of the RFP or may be used by the seller in target RFPs to submit bids.

The buyer may enter an alias 302 to remain anonymous during the online auction process. The buyer can enter the name 304 of the agency to be used to book the trip, along with the agency's number 306. Agency IATA numbers are numbers assigned by the International Air Transport Association and can be used to identify travel agencies that book air travel. The buyer may also indicate whether the use of the current agency is enforced (308). That is, the purchaser may have a registered travel agency that may be forced to book a trip through the system of the present invention as indicated in field 308. Finally, if the buyer does not want to force the use of the current agency for the reservation of the trip and wants to force the use of the new agency, the buyer can use the field 310 to indicate so.

The purchaser may enter a desired class of service for a flight that takes less than a specific time 312 or continues over another time 314. The service class may include normal class, business class or first class. The purchaser may also indicate whether or not a non-stop flight is desired (316).

The buyer may enter alternate airport information in field 318 and travel pattern information in fields 320 and 322. The travel pattern information may include current annual air volume 320 and anticipated change 322 in air travel. Current annual volume is a calendar year, which can be expressed in dollars for one year. The expected change in air travel 322 can be expressed in units of percentage for the following year in calendar year.

In FIG. 3B, the user interface 300 may also include a field 326 indicating that the buyer will only be able to submit a bid for the REF. The airline in field 326 may be selected from the list of available airlines 324.

3C shows a field 328 in which the buyer can enter the reason why the airline in the list 326 was ignored. Finally, Figure 3d shows a message displayed to the buyer upon successful registration. After the message is displayed, an email is sent to the buyer whose username and password are confirmed.

4 illustrates a user interface 400 for posting travel history data on a website. In the example of FIG. 4, the travel history data may be mounted in a file of any one of the purchaser personal computer 1601-1603. The user interface 400 provides a field 402 for entering the name of the travel history file. Travel history data can be used to generate an RFP. The RFP can also be generated manually without relying on the travel input data to be raised.

The travel history data to be uploaded may be limited to only part of the travel history. For example, the travel history may be defined by entering a departure date and an end date. The user interface 400 provides fields for entering the start date 404 and the end date 406. The user interface 400 also provides fields for entering the country 408 in which the ticket is to be purchased and the dates of future travel 410 and 412.

Travel history data files can be created using a spreadsheet program such as Excel. In addition, the travel history data file may have fields specifying rank information, city pair information, airline, segment count, revenue and service class.

A rank is a market rank based on income. The rank field is filled with numbers, where 1 will be the highest rank. Revenue can be defined as the sum of one-way fares in a given market for a particular carrier minus the amount spent on fees, discounts, taxes, etc.

The city pair field contains the departure city and the destination city in both directions, while the airline field contains the airlines operating between the city pairs.

The segment count field contains the sum of the number of segments served in a particular market for a particular carrier. A segment may be defined as a one way trip. A market can be defined as a departure city and a destination city. In terms of hotels, a market may be defined as the location of a hotel. In addition, from a rental car perspective, a market can be defined as a place to pick up and return a vehicle.

The revenue field may include the sum of the segment prices of the market for a particular carrier. The class of service field may indicate a class of service operated in the market for a given carrier per segment basis, which may be defined as how much a company pays for a particular class of service in a particular market ( For example, 100 one-way trips on a moderate fare from Philadelphia to Dallas, with a one-way fare of $ 300.00. The revenue field would then include $ 30,000 (100 * $ 300.00) as the total income spent in the market.

5A illustrates a user interface 500 for manually generating an RFP. The user interface includes a category 502, a booking country 504, a destination city 506, 508, a segment 510, travel departure and end dates 512, 514, class of service 516, RFP start Fields for entering a date and an end date 518, 520, and a section of access control 522.

The category field 502 may refer to the type of service or product for which the RFP is being submitted. The user interface 500 of FIG. 5A is customized for air travel. Modifications to the embodiment may include customization of the user interface to reflect RFPs wishing for goods or services rather than air travel.

The booking country field may refer to the country in which the ticket is sold. In field 506, the buyer may enter which airport (s) the airport they are going to depart from. Likewise, in field 508, the buyer can enter which airport (s) they are trying to arrive at.

Buyers may enter segment (ie, one-way trip) information in field 510. For example, 100 segments in field 510 reflect 100 one-way trips filed as part of the RFP.

Fields 512 and 514 may include travel start and end dates or date ranges, respectively. The buyer can enter a desired class of service in field 516. For example, a buyer may enter a rating, business class, or first class.

In field 518, the buyer can enter a date when the RFP becomes available in the system to which the seller connects. Field 520 includes the date when the use of the RFP is discontinued in the system for review by the seller.

Call control section 522 of user interface 500 includes a list of airlines excluded from the RFP.

5B illustrates a user interface 524 for generating RFPs using the loaded travel history file. 5C includes a section 526 for entering a travel history date used to generate an RFP. Also, FIG. 5C illustrates a list of RFPs generated from uploaded travel history files.

6 is a display of a buyer's RFPs open for bidding and corresponding bidding. 6 also illustrates three bids 624, 626, 628 submitted for a single RFP. These bids are assigned an RFP number 602. In addition to indicating the RFP numbers, additional information about the RFPs is included. Each RFP in the list has a "active" state indicating that the RFPs are open for bidding. For states other than "active", "available" indicates that no response or bid has been received, "response" which means that the airline has submitted a bid or objected to the buyer's opposition. Under offer means that you make the opposite offer and wait for a response, "sold" means that the offer or bid was accepted by the buyer, and "declined" means that the bid was not accepted by the buyer and is closed. have. Other RFP and bidding related information includes bidder 604, booking country 606, city pair 608, proposed segment count 610, requested segment count 612, class of service 614, standard date and travel. Dates 616 and 618, and RFP start and end dates 620 and 622.

7 illustrates a breakdown of bids submitted in response to a particular RFP 702. Each bid has an associated status 703 that can indicate whether the bid is new, updated, or whether the buyer has made a counter offer or has been rejected. In addition, the seller has access to the details of the bid for a particular RFP and can therefore update their bid in an attempt to allow the buyer to accept. In one embodiment of the invention, once a bid is rejected for a particular RFP, the seller who submitted the rejected bid may not renew the bid or may submit a new bid in response to the RFP.

Field 704 displays the name of the airline that submitted the bid. Seller commitments section includes price (705), percentage discount (706), percentage rebate (708), upgrade (710), and frequent flyers for frequent passengers. miles (712).

The buyer commitments section includes a segment field 714, a proposed one way travel rate 716, a percentage revenue 718 and a revenue amount 720. Segment field 714 includes the number of segments suggested by the airline with the price per segment displayed in price column 705.

Percentage revenue 718 may include the percentage of revenue spent for a given market, which a supplier may need to provide discounts or incentives. For example, a supplier can expect to get an operating value of $ 100,000.00 for this market in exchange for a 10% discount on a particular market or bundle market (at least two markets). In another example, a supplier can expect to get 50% of the amount spent on a particular market, ie the buyer spends $ 300,000.00 per year for a given market and the supplier expects at least $ 150,000.00 from the buyer. do.

8 illustrates a user interface 800 responsive to a bid. The buyer can review the bid 624 for a particular RFP number 802 and respond to the bid by using the button 804 to accept, decline, or disagree the bid.

9 illustrates a user interface displayed to a seller for the search of a buyer or RFPs of a system that meets certain criteria. User interface 900 may include fields 904 that enable sellers to search for RFPs based on criteria such as departure or arrival airport, city pair, segment retrieval, class of service, date of travel, etc., entered by the buyer, headquarter of the buyer company And a field 906 that allows the seller to search for RFPs from the buyer based on the buyer's criteria, such as location, buyer travel agency, expected change in air volume, and the like.

The search field 902 provides the seller with a search option for all available RFPs open within a certain time period. Finally, the seller has the RFPs search option by clicking on button 908 of user interface 900, or the buyer search option by clicking on button 910.

The RFP information may be in the database 1611 of FIG. 16, where the search is performed by querying the database using an SQL command that includes information entered in fields 904 and 906 as a parameter for a query, for example. This can be done by. Once RFPs are retrieved from the database that meet the description in the field, these RFPs can be displayed to the seller. Each RFP contains information that sellers add to what they use as search parameters.

10 illustrates the display of search results for a buyer. The purchaser may be identified by alias 1002. The information displayed may relate to a particular RFP submitted by the purchaser 1002 that has met the RFP search criteria. This information may include a client air volume 1002, a reservation agency 1004 for a particular RFP, a city 1008 of the head office and a country 1010 of the head office. The volume of transport may be defined as the total amount that a company will spend on air travel over a certain period of time. For example, if a company's annual shipping volume is $ 1,500,000.00, the company is expected to spend that much on air travel during that year.

11 illustrates a display of exemplary buyer history information that a supplier connects to. The information displayed is the buyer's alias (1102), annual shipments in dollars (1104), expected change in shipments (1114), booking agency (1106), relevant IATA number (1112), agency enforcement indication (1102), reservation It may also include the agency 1110 and travel policy information 1116 necessary for. The seller may call the list of flights 1118 booked by the buyer within the date range of the relevant historical data.

12 illustrates a display of a list of RFPs 1204 submitted by a particular client 1202. This list 1204 may include a buyer's RFP that meets the seller's search criteria, as well as other RFPs submitted by the same buyer.

14 illustrates an interface 1400 for entering a bid. Once the buyer has confirmed the relevant bid, he can begin negotiations with the seller who submitted the bid. The buyer may make a proposal against the initial bid as part of the negotiation. The user interface 1400 can display the first offer issued by the seller 1401 as well as the counter proposal 1402. The interface 1400 provides a field 1404 to the supplier in response to the buyer's counter offer when displayed to the supplier.

FIG. 15A illustrates a list 1502 of bids submitted and processed by the supplier in response to several RFPs. Information on the list includes RFP number 1504, buyer alias 1506, reservation country 1508, city pair 1510, number of segments proposed in the bid (1512), number of segments initially requested by the purchaser (1514), service Class 1516, travel start date 1518, travel end date 1520, RFP start date 1522 and RFP end date 1524. Similarly, FIG. 15B illustrates a finished list of RFPs 1526. This list 1526 includes a section for listing the rejected 1530 as well as RFPs sold to other suppliers 1528.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments, modifications and variations are apparent. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of the invention described above are illustrative and not intended to be limiting. Many changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (27)

Receiving information from the buyer to generate a proposal application; Posting the proposal applications on a website for the seller to access; Displaying at least one bid submitted by the at least one seller in response to the proposal application to the seller and the buyer via the website; And Receiving a notification of acceptance of one of the bids; online reverse auction method comprising the. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information from the buyer and generating a proposal application Receiving a service classification; Receiving an access start date for the proposal application; Accepting the number of segments; And Receiving the end date of access to the proposal application; reverse online auction method, characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the information from the buyer and generating a proposal application Accepting air travel as a service classification; Receiving airport departure and arrival information; And Receiving a travel date; Online reverse auction method further comprising. The method of claim 1, Displaying the details of the bid for the proposal application; Online reverse auction method further comprising. The method of claim 1, And receiving a record of the purchaser's travel history data and displaying the record on a website. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of receiving information from the buyer to generate a proposal application Receiving an entire travel history data record, a plurality of selections from the record, and a single selection from the record, and generating a proposal application. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of accepting a record of the travel history data of the buyer is Accepting a departure city and a destination city; Accepting an airline used for travel between the departure city and the destination city; Accepting a sum of the number of one-way trips operated in a particular market for a particular airline; Accepting an expected change in travel information; Accepting a sum of segment costs of a market for a particular airline; And And receiving information representing a service level for each segment of the airline flying in the market. The method of claim 1, Generating an electronic contract between the buyer and the seller who submitted the accepted bid; the online reverse auction method further comprising. The method of claim 1, Receiving an offer from a buyer and a seller to negotiate a bid; the online reverse auction method further comprising. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of accepting the proposal is Receiving an offer of opposition; The method of claim 9, The online auction method characterized in that the negotiation of the bidding is stopped if the proposal is rejected. The method of claim 10, The online auction method, characterized in that the negotiating of the bidding is stopped if the rejected proposal is received. Retrieving a proposal application from a database; Accessing the proposal application form; Receiving a first bid that responds to the proposal application; Displaying other bids submitted in response to the proposal application; And And sending a notification to the party if the party submitting the proposal application accepts the bidding. The method of claim 13, Displaying the details of the bid for the proposal application; Online reverse auction method further comprising. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the details of the bid Displaying the grade of the bid; Displaying the status of the bid; Displaying the supplier who made the bid; Displaying a price; Displaying a discount rate at the time of sale of the selling price; Displaying cash back information; Displaying upgrade information; Displaying credited miles; Displaying a bid end date; Displaying the number of segments; Displaying the segment as a percentage of the expected total number of trips; Displaying at least one income percentage; and at least one of the online reverse auction method. The method of claim 13, Updating the first bid after the seller's review of the other bids; Online reverse auction method comprising the. The method of claim 13, And receiving a counter-offer from the party that submitted the proposal application. The method of claim 13, wherein retrieving the proposal application Receiving a city pair, airport code, segment number, class of service, travel start and end date, proposal application open and end date and proposal application number; Online reverse auction method, characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 13, Retrieving a buyer having an available proposal application. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein retrieving a buyer having the available proposal application Receiving a search criteria including at least one of annual travel volume, travel agency, buyer confirmation number, contract agency, agency IATA number, expected change in travel size, alternate airport information, and buyer headquarters location Online reverse auction method, characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 13, wherein accessing the proposal application is Displaying comprehensive buyer information without displaying a buyer name. The method of claim 13, wherein accessing the proposal application is Displaying the buyer history information; Online reverse auction method comprising a. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of accepting the first bid Upon receiving the price, Accepting a discount percentage, Receiving the rebate information, Receiving upgrade information, Receiving miles for frequent occupants included as bonus offers An online reverse auction method comprising at least one step of. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of accepting the first bid Receiving information of an income percentage for the proposed proposal; Receiving a requested business percentage from a segment based proposal; Receiving a price per segment; Entering the number of segments promised by the buyer; Online reverse auction method characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the details of the bid Displaying the grade of the bid; Displaying the status of the bid; Displaying the supplier who made the bid; Displaying a price; Displaying a discount rate at the time of sale of the selling price; Displaying cash back information; Displaying upgrade information; Displaying the number of credit miles; Displaying a bid end date; Displaying the number of segments; Displaying the segment as a percentage of the expected total number of trips; Displaying at least one income percentage; and at least one step of the online reverse auction method. Means for retrieving a proposal application from a database; Means for accessing a proposal application; Means for receiving a first bid that responded to the proposal application; Means for displaying other bids submitted in response to the proposal application; And And a means for sending a confirmation number to the party if the party submitting the proposal application accepts the bid. Means for receiving information from the buyer to generate a proposal application; Means for posting proposal applications on a website for the seller to access; Means for displaying at least one bid submitted by the at least one seller in response to the proposal application to the seller and the buyer via the website; And Means for receiving a notification of acceptance of one of the bids; on-line reverse auction system.