In one embodiment of the invention, a method for interacting with an offer
matching system comprises a number of operations. For example, a first
participant may communicate to the offer matching system a first
description of a first offer. A first identifier is associated with the
first offer and is not associated with any offer other than the first
offer. (The first identifier may have been provided by the first
participant or may have been created by the offer matching system, for
example). If the first participant did not already know of the first
identifier, then the offer matching system communicates it to the first
participant. A second participant communicates to the offer matching
system a description of a second offer that is capable of being executed
at least in part against the first offer in accordance with a set of
rules that govern the operation of the offer matching system. The first
participant then discloses the first identifier to a first disclosee. The
first discloses may then present a query to the order matching system,
containing among other things information indicative of the first
identifier.