A method of providing incentives to bidders on an auction item using a
database and a system, the method including creating the consumer profile
for at least one consumer, choosing at least one of the unsold items from
the inventory based on the consumer information in the consumer profile,
generating the incentive for the chosen unsold item based on the consumer
file, the selection of consumer information of the incentive being
substantially similar to the consumer information in the consumer
profile, and offering the chosen unsold item and the incentive to the at
least one consumer to induce purchasing of the chosen unsold item. The
database has an inventory file having at least one of detailed
descriptions of an inventory, a list of similar items of the inventory,
and a list of complementary items of the inventory, and a consumer
profile having at least one of bidding history, start bid, bid frequency,
bid increment, final bid, winning bid, target product, Internet service
provider, zip code, credit card type, and coupon redemption rate. The
system has a first memory for storing consumer profiles having consumer
information, including at least information relating to bids on the
auction items, a second memory for storing unsold items in an inventory,
and a third memory for storing a plurality of incentives for each unsold
item, each incentive having a value based on a selection of the consumer
information.