SAN FRANCISCO - Moai Technologies this week will ship three versions of its Java-based online auction software LiveExchange.
The first product, LiveExchange Enterprise, is for use by one seller taking bids from multiple buyers. The second, LiveExchange Marketplace, lets multiple buyers and sellers form an exchange to auction off goods under a variety of controls. Finally, LiveExchange ASP is designed to let ISPs host both types of auctions. All three versions are available for Windows NT, Sun Solaris or Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX.
Moai's LiveExchange auction software can be set up to run what's known as English, Dutch and reverse auctions, and can be used in business-to-business or business-to-consumer situations.
An English auction begins with the lowest acceptable price and solicits higher bids unless the bidding stops and the items sold to the highest bidder.
A Dutch auction starts with the high price the seller thinks he can get for an item. Then the price steadily drops lower until a bidder claims the item.
A reverse auction allows buyers to post items they want to buy and sellers compete for the best price at which the buyer will accept the items. This type of auction works well for business-to-business procurement.
The Moai auction software can also determine the winning bid not only by price and quantity, but other parameters such as location.
Start-up Homeauctioneer.com will be using Moai LiveExchange Enterprise as the technical foundation for a home-buying auction service that starts next week.
"We're one of the guinea pigs for Moai," says Michael Cho, Homeauctioneer.com's co-founder and vice president of business development. In beta tests the Moai auction software has proven to have the kind of flexibility Cho says he needs in his service, which will let homeowners offer their house for sale and prospective buyers to bid on it.
"We wanted an application that is stable and customizable to accept our workflow," Cho points out. The auction software has to keep track of documents proving home-ownership, and residential buyers will be pre-qualified by lenders before being allowed to bid.
Moai's Open API allows the software to be integrated with external systems, including other Web sites. Homeauctioneer.com plans to link with sites such as eLoan to get buyer information directly.
According to Moai's Chief Technology Officer Ray Letulle, LiveExchange auction software typically costs $5,000 to $6,000 per month.
Letulle says Moai has about 40 customers, mostly in the test phase, with Ingram-Micro its marquee customer using an earlier version of the software.
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