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Procedures

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Bid Process

The Bid Process is as follows:

  1. The Buyer posts an IFB.
  2. Each Seller reviews the Specifications and either submits or does not submit a Bid (during the Reverse eAuction process, each Seller may submit multiple Bids).
  3. If a Seller submits a Bid, the Seller MUST proactively confirm compliance with all Specifications; or if the Seller chooses not to submit a Bid, the Seller may submit a No Bid or not respond.
  4. The Buyer reviews Bids, performs Due Diligence, and decides to: i) Cancel the IFB, in which case all participating Sellers will be notified, ii) Repost the IFB with modifications, in which case the Bid Process begins anew,iii) extend the Buy for a specified time period, thus allowing Sellers to continue submitting Bids; or iv) Select a Bid, in which case the Buyer enters the Authorization Number into the Web Site, and each party receives the other party’s contact Information.
  5. Those Sellers not selected may view the Selected Bid amount and Seller Organization; however, the identity of the Selected Seller Representative will not be displayed to those that were not selected.

All Sellers submitting Bids on an IFB will compete in a Reverse eAuction process until the IFB expires. Throughout the bidding process, FedBid will rank the Bids based on Best Price. However, the Buyer maintains the right to use Offline Factors for award decisions. FedBid will provide Sellers with their Bid Status, consisting of: LEAD or LAG; LEAD-Pending Selection or LAG-Pending Selection; Selected or Not Selected; or Cancelled.

Reverse eAuctions take place Monday through Friday between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, unless otherwise specified by the Buyer.

A Buyer is NEVER obligated to complete the transaction, regardless of the status of the Reverse eAuction, and a Buyer may select any of the participating Sellers in order to obtain the most advantageous Bid in accordance with their contracting authority and applicable rules and regulations; however, the Selected Seller may not retract or cancel its Selected Bid except in the extraordinary event that the Buyer: (a) materially changes the description and/or quantity of the Commercial Items specified in the IFB, (b) has materially misrepresented the Commercial Items in the IFB, or (c) a system error has occurred on the Web Site creating an error in the Bid(s) or IFB.

A Buyer cannot award specific IFB line items to multiple Sellers or otherwise designate more than one Selected Seller per Reverse eAuction unless specified to the contrary in the IFB.

Non-compliance with FedBid’s Bid policy may subject users to negative ratings from FedBid community members and/or lead to revocation of some or all of the FedBid membership privileges.

UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, BIDS SUBMITTED BY SELLERS IN RESPONSE TO AN IFB MUST BE IN U.S. DOLLARS AND MUST NOT INCLUDE ANY SALES TAX (STATE, LOCAL OR OTHERWISE) OR ORDER COSTS.

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Order Process

The Order Process is as follows:

Once the Selected Seller is notified of the decision and each party receives the other’s contact Information, the Buyer issues to the Selected Seller an Order for the Commercial Items and contacts the Selected Seller to confirm the Order.

If the Buyer has not contacted the Selected Seller, the Selected Seller is encouraged to contact the Buyer to confirm the purchase of the Commercial Items and obtain an Order.

If Seller invoices Buyer, Seller must adhere to Buyer requirements by ensuring the following:

  • All Orders have been delivered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Order, as set forth by the Buyer; and
  • All invoice line item descriptions and pricing EXACTLY match the line item descriptions and pricing, including integrated FedBid Fees, set forth in Buyer’s Order.

Failure to adhere to either of these requirements is disruptive to the Order Process, is a violation of these Terms of Use, and may result in delayed payment or non-payment by Buyer and imposition of late payment fees or other penalties by FedBid.

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FedBid ActivityCard® Feature

FedBid’s ActivityCard® feature has been created to enhance the functionality of the Services by allowing market forces to encourage and maintain quality performance by Selected Sellers, Buyer confidence in Selected Sellers, and Seller confidence in the caliber of competitors.

The ActivityCard functions by first establishing an Information baseline for each Seller, which provides Buyers with the following Information regarding Seller activity on the Web Site:

  1. Member Since - how long the Seller has been active on the Web Site.
  2. Total Awards - the total number and dollar value of Orders awarded to the Seller through FedBid.
  3. Active Since by Buyer Org - how long the Seller has been actively bidding on Reverse eAuctions posted by a particular Buyer Org.
  4. Awards by Buyer Org - the number and dollar value of Orders awarded by agency, and
  5. Alerts - the number of Performance Alerts submitted by Buyers in response to materially problematic performance by the Seller.
  6. Experian- A green, yellow, or red Experian BizCheck badge will display if a Seller has an Experian report. Clicking on the badge will display the Experian Report page for that particular Seller and where a Buyer may choose to purchase the full report from Experian. Sellers can also see this information. Disclaimer: The Experian BizCheck indicator and related information is provided by Experian Information Solutions, Inc., which is solely responsible for that information.

The Buyer is able to view all of this Information in determining its award of an Order to a particular Seller. The ActivityCard feature operates on the premise that a Seller’s performance has been satisfactory unless otherwise noted by a Buyer. In case a Buyer experiences a materially problematic performance issue with a Selected Seller, the ActivityCard feature provides Buyers with the opportunity to submit a Performance Alert.

The Performance Alert contains no performance Information or subjective content and simply authorizes FedBid to make the Buyer’s contact Information available to the Flagged Seller and to other Buyers considering the Flagged Seller as a Selected Seller.

Note: THE PERFORMANCE ALERT IS NOT A PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND FEDBID DOES NOT SUBMIT PERFORMANCE ALERTS ON BEHALF OF BUYERS OR ANY OTHER PARTY.

If a Buyer submits a Performance Alert, the Flagged Seller will have a flag attached to its profile. Any Buyer in a subsequent Reverse eAuction in which the Flagged Seller participates then may contact the Buyer that submitted the Performance Alert to determine whether the performance issue will impact its decision to choose the Flagged Seller as Selected Seller. In addition, the Performance Alert will appear in the Flagged Seller’s FedBid profile on the “ActivityCard” page under “My Profile”, together with the Buyer’s contact Information, allowing the Flagged Seller to contact the Buyer for additional information or to resolve the issue.

The ActivityCard feature compiles and displays cumulative Seller Information, except that Performance Alerts older than 18 months are not displayed to Buyer or Seller. FedBid maintains all information, including Performance Alert data, according to FedBid internal data archiving policies.

Neither Buyers nor Sellers shall initiate any action that might undermine the integrity of the ActivityCard. Buyers shall submit Performance Alerts only for materially problematic performance issues, and Buyers must be prepared to provide Information related to those Performance Alerts to other Buyers and to the Flagged Seller.

Flagged Sellers may contact the Buyer that submitted the Performance Alert, but any dispute between a Flagged Seller and a Buyer must be settled according to applicable federal, state or local procurement laws and any other terms and conditions contained in the Order giving rise to the dispute. In no case may any party engage in any harassing, hostile or otherwise unprofessional behavior.

Contact ActivityCard@FedBid.com with any questions or comments regarding this feature.

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About Seller Feature

Through its About Seller feature, FedBid provides Sellers the opportunity to provide Information viewable by Buyers as part of Seller’s Information profile on the Web Site. Sellers are required to adhere to the Information requirements, as set forth in the Information clause, above.

ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY THE SELLER FOR INCLUSION IN THE ABOUT SELLER FEATURE IS VOLUNTARILY PROVIDED BY THE SELLER, AND FEDBID IS NOT RESPONSIBILE FOR THE ACCURACY OR CONTENT OF SUCH INFORMATION.

Contact AboutSeller@FedBid.com with any questions or comments regarding this feature.

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How FedBid Invoices the Selected Seller

FedBid will ONLY invoice the Selected Seller after the Buyer has accepted a Seller’s bid. The FedBid invoice will include system-generated competition-specific information for identification and referencing purposes. This information includes:

  • FedBid  Buy #
  • Accepted Bid #
  • Invoice Date
  • Buying Agency
  • Agency’s PO# (or “Purchase Card”)
  • Competition Description
  • Your Salesperson
  • Your Bid Amount
  • Total Paid By Buyer
  • FedBid Fee Amount

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Non-Payment Certification for Sellers

From time to time, Buyers may accept Bids requiring an extended or delayed delivery period. In turn, this may result in delay of full payment to Sellers beyond the Payment Due Date. In order to confirm payment delays, FedBid requires the Selected Seller to submit a signed Non-Payment Certification, which certifies that they have not yet received payment from the Buyer.

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