About reverse auctions
Reverse auctions are bidding events where each supplier who bids must enter a price equal to or less than the lowest price currently submitted.
Responses to reverse auctions
For suppliers, the event line summary will display a column with the lowest bid for event lines set to display the lowest bid amount. On the event line response, a field displays the lowest bid. If there currently is no low bid, the field will be blank. A no charge low bid displays .00. Text next to the low bid field indicates the supplier needs to enter a price that is less than (or equal to) the lowest bid. When the supplier enters a unit price, the system compares it to the low bid. Depending on the setting for Lowest Bid Option, entered unit price must be less than or equal to the lowest bid. If not, an error message will indicate that the unit price must be less than (or equal to) the lowest bid. The system will not accept the response that is higher than the lowest bid. If the supplier enters the lowest bid, it will not register in the system as the lowest bid until the event response is submitted.
For buyers who enter manual responses, reverse auction lines must be less than or equal to the current lowest bid (depending on the Lowest Bid Option setup. Event response forms created by a buyer do not display the current lowest bid.
Reviewing reverse auction lines
Access Response Analysis by selecting the View link in the Responses column from the tabs on the Buyer Page.
On Response Analysis forms, Responses By Line, lines set for reverse auction display an alert next to the supplier response or responses that are the lowest. The buyer is not required to award the event line to the lowest bid, as there could be other factors such as weighting that factor into the award decision.