Lowest Unique Bid (Reverse Auction) Web & Online Service

What is a Reverse Auction?

MPP’s reverse auction service is an innovative application that hosts and runs SMS and web-based reverse auctions. A reverse auction is an auction process conducted via mobile phone or web where the winner places the lowest unique bid. A 'lowest unique bid' is the lowest bid placed, that no-one else matches.

For example:

Bid 1: £1.98
Bid 2: £1.98
Bid 3: £2.44
Bid 4: £2.44
Bid 5: £2.44
>> Bid 6: £3.00 <<
Bid 7: £5.20
Bid 8: £6.28
Bid 9: £6.36

In the above example, the winning bid is £3.00 because it is the lowest bid which no one else has offered. However, the MPP reverse auction engine takes the bidding a step further and sends messages or emails giving the status of all bids. For example, a new bidder might receive a message stating that theirs is the lowest unique bid, and should this change before the end of the auction period, they will be updated on this when it happens. Should a new bid not be unique, then the player will be notified whether the unique bid is higher or lower than their bid. This extra element of skill makes it a much more fun process for the player, and encourages repeat bidding. All this leads to higher revenue for you!

1. Consumers simply choose the lowest price that they think that no one else will offer and enter it as their bid.

2. Once the preset maximum number of bids have all been placed, the auction will then automatically be drawn, and if theirs is the lowest unmatched (i.e. unique) bid, then the consumer can purchase the item for the low price that they offered.

How Does It Work?

In a reverse auction, the entrant can not just enter the lowest bid and win; otherwise everyone would simply bid 1p. What the entrant must do is enter the lowest "unique" bid. Say 90 people bid 1p for the auction item, 50 people bid 2p and 30 people bid 3p and so on. If, for example, only one person bids 4p, that bidder is the winner. Revenue is generated by premium SMS messaging where bidders are charged a fee to place their bid. If a user texts a bid which is not unique they can be sent an auto response thanking them for their entry but also letting them know their bid is not unique thus encouraging them to bid again. Online billing statistics are provided with this service.

You would be able to launch multiple competitions across any of the titles they advertise in for this service. MPP would initially limit the number of competitions to two at any one time, although this could be increased if competitions were being successful.

MPP can facilitate the auction as an SMS only interaction where consumers respond to a call-to-action detailed on your website or in printed press. Alternatively, MPP can build you a fully transactional website where consumers can view details of the auction and either enter via SMS (as above) or pay for entries using their credit or debit card on the site itself. In all cases MPP provide you with access to full transactional history via our secure management console which is available online 24/7.