Project Description:
I am looking for this...
Company Brief:
Small auction house seeks to tie in current mail auction with internet auction. However, it must comply with current auction rules and processes. Each auction is held via SNAIL MAIL, PHONE and EMAIL on a monthly basis. This means all lots in the system will have the same begin and end date for the bidding process. (Between 28 - 31 days depending on month.) This also means bids can come from online clients, regular mail (which is entered by a company employee), and via phone (which will also be entered by an employee).
The auction house will be the only entity with lots for auction and they must have some sort of animated tool to enter lots in, on a mass scale. (Around 5000 lots per month)
(They would like to include the possibility of having "stores" where individuals have there own auctions as well.)
Examples of Customization:
(Along with function these pieces may also have an admin side that isn't included in the description)
1. Current winning $ value must be invisible along with the bidder. If possible make both these value's a toggle button in the admin, allowing for possible viewing in the future.
2. The auction house must be able to change the winning bidder at the end of the auction no matter the bid amount. (The house changes winners based on payment history and other factors.)
2a. Some lots may have duplicates or "back-ups". These will not be shown in most cases (toggle in admin for this to). For simplicity all lots will only have 1 assigned to them. The auction house must also be able to assign winners on all duplicates of the lot at anytime.
3. The auction must allow for ALL bids no matter what they are, to be tracked in the database. IE: Item has current bid of $50. A bidder wants to bid $30. A bid record is created for his bid, even though he isn't the winner. Although, see #2, the house may decide to award him as the winner at the end. (house discretion)(Bids whether high or low can and will be entered at all times during the month.)
4. The OR bid. Where a bidder is allowed to bid on more then one lot and expect to only win one (even though he may have high bid on all). There is no upper limit on this. There could be 4 or more lots. IE: Bidder wants to bid $5 on lot 21, $10 on lot 56, $7 on lot 75 and $13 on Lot 44. But he only wants to win one of them. Which lot is decided by the house at the end of the bidding time period.
5. LIMIT BIDDER. A bidder has a LIMIT of $400 for the auction. This includes all bids on all items. There must be some way for the admin to assign winnings to these bidders. IE: Bidder has a limit of $400. He has bid on 3 items all for $400 each, for a total bid amount of $1200. The house must be able to decide through the admin which lot he will be awarded, while also keeping a record of each individual bid.
6. BOOK BID. This is administrative. This allows for other users or office staff to be created in the software and allows the user to place bids for the bidder. IE: Susan, an employee of the auction house gets 2 emails and a phone call from 3 bidders. She logs into the admin side and enters the bids for all 3 people. A record is created under each customer saying susan entered that bid for them. The bidder will be able to alter bids and add more based on there user/pass. Each bid that is a BOOK BID should be flagged as a book bid and not a direct bid by an individual bidder. (Hope that makes sense)
7. Invoicing. Since all lots are treated as individuals, invoicing must encompass all won lots in 1 invoice statement. There will be NO gateways or payment processing done on the site. It will all be done off the site.
I know this is a lot, but please ask any questions that you may have.
If you would like more information I have a word document that I will be able to get to you within the next few days. However, this is the majority of what I need to get done for this company.
I am open to idea's, so feel free to bounce a few off of me. I am technically inclined.
Research:
The largest competitor: http://www.ha.com/
If we can make a clone of this site, I think it would do it.
Pre-packaged possible resources:
http://www.phpprobid.com/
http://www.geodesicsolutions.com/products/auctions/auctions_enterprise.htm
