Q: What is a Reverse Auction?
A reverse auction (also called eAuction, eProcurement, eSourcing, sourcing event, procurement auction, eRFP/eRFQ, B2B Auction) provides a real-time, secure, web-based, electronic sealed bidding process in which qualified groups of vendors competitively bid for a defined product or service over a period of time.
Q: Is a buyer obligated to accept the lowest bid?
No, each buyer may evaluate the online bids against their own criteria for value, price, and vendor qualifications.
Q: Is a buyer obligated to award the bid?
No, if the buyer is not satisfied with the bids, they are free to reject all bids.
Q: Do vendors have to lower their bids?
No, they are required to submit their bids online by the deadline but are under no obligation to lower their bids.
Q: Who invites and approves vendors?
The buyer provides a preferred vendor list. However, eBridge offers the option to supplement the list with additional vendors from the eBridge database and from our customized sourcing efforts. The buyer ultimately approves all vendors that are invited to bid.
Q: What if problems occur during the online event?
During the training of all vendors, a toll-free telephone number is provided allowing for any assistance needed throughout the entire auction.
Q: How long does the auction last?
All auctions are initially set for 15 minutes. However, clock extensions occur as long as competitive bidding continues until no lowering bids have been placed for 3 minutes.
Q: Where can I watch the auction?
Auctions are viewed online with a secure password and can only be viewed by whomever the buyer approves.
Q: Will vendors compete in the auction process?
The reverse auction gives vendors an opportunity to control their final price. They can place multiple bids for an item or service rather than one bid through the paper bid process. They know where they rank and can choose to lower their price or put in their best price and not participate in the auction. Also, your vendors are exposed to additional business opportunities once they register in our database.
Q: How much does the service cost?
eBridge offers both a buyer paid model and a vendor paid model. In the vendor paid model, there is no direct cost to the buyer and a small transaction fee is only paid by the winning bidder.
Q: How much money can I save?
The reverse auction process helps buyers find true market value. eBridge saves our customers an average of 14% versus budget on commodity purchases and 25% on service contracts.