Create & Publish a Reverse Auction – Item Level
A Reverse Auction at the item level allows buyers to analyse offers in detail by considering quotations, starting prices, and minimum increments for each product or service. This flexibility enables buyers to select multiple winners within the same event by evaluating each item separately.
Regardless of its complexity, every auction follows 5 key phases:
1️⃣ Creation – Create the auction.
2️⃣ Configuring Auction Sections – Define auction details, including settings, suppliers, and items.
3️⃣ Publishing – Invite suppliers to submit their bids.
4️⃣ Monitoring – Track supplier participation, bids, and deadline compliance.
5️⃣ Closing – Collect and evaluate offers to determine the most advantageous one.
Step 1: Creating the Auction
To start, go to the Event page and click the “Add event” button in the top-right corner.
🔹 Choose Reverse Auction from the dropdown menu.
Step 2: Configuring Auction Sections
Each auction in Prokuria consists of 4 main sections: General info> attachments, Settings, Suppliers, and Items.
1️⃣ General Information
🔹 Add a name for the auction and describe what you are purchasing.
2️⃣ Settings
🔹 Cool-down period – Extend the auction deadline when a new best bid is submitted.
🔹Time unit-Time unit can be in minutes or seconds
🔹Deadline supplier to send message -Set a deadline for suppliers to send or respond to messages. If left empty, suppliers can communicate at any time.
🔹 Auction at each item level – Enable bidding at the individual item level.
🔹Auction per total– Allow suppliers to bid on the total price of all items rather than individual item prices.
🔹 Show best bid to suppliers – Display the highest bid value (without revealing the supplier’s name).
🔹 Show rank to suppliers – Allow suppliers to see their ranking compared to competitors.
🔹 Show starting price – Set a maximum starting price that suppliers cannot exceed.
🔹 Show starting price– Define the sum of all item starting prices.
🔹 Currency & Rounding – Select the currency and number of decimal places for bids.
🔹 Allow multi-currency – Enable suppliers to submit bids in multiple currencies.
🔹 Allow Adjustment factor – Apply an adjustment factor if needed.
🔹 Allow pre-bid – Allow suppliers to place bids before the auction start date.
3️⃣ Suppliers
In this section, add the email addresses of invited suppliers. They can be new or existing contacts in the supplier module.
📌 There are Two invitation options are available:
🔹 Option A – Add one contact per supplier.
🔹 Option B (Advanced) – Allow multiple contacts from the same supplier to access the auction via one-time passwords (OTP). This feature is useful for large-scale RFQs where multiple representatives collaborate.
Note: Option B provides enhanced security and audit tracking and can be activated upon request. Please contact our support department at: support@prokuria.com for details.
4️⃣ Items
🔹 Starting price per unit – The minimum accepted value for each item.
🔹 Minimum bid step per unit – The smallest bid difference required for consecutive offers on the same item.
Step 3: Publishing the Auction
Once all required fields are completed, click “Publish Event” to launch the auction.
✅ The event status changes to “Published” or “Started”.
✅ Suppliers receive an email invitation to place their bids.
Example of an email inviting suppliers to participate.
🚨 Extra Security Step (for certain accounts)
🔹 Some accounts may require an extra security step before accessing the auction.
🔹 If this applies, the supplier will receive a one-time password (OTP) via email.
🔹 Enter the password when prompted to proceed.
Step 4: Managing an Active Auction
Once published, some actions can still be taken:
🔹 Change End Time – Adjust the event deadline; suppliers are notified via email.
🔹 Add New Suppliers – While the auction is published, new suppliers can still be invited.
Pausing & Editing the Auction
If modifications are needed, click “Pause” to temporarily stop the event. When paused, the following sections can be updated:
🔹 General Info – Edit the auction name and description.
🔹 Settings – Adjust the end date, budget, cost center, and visibility settings.
🔹 Suppliers – Invite new suppliers to the auction.
🔹 Items – Modify or add new items.
Once changes are made, click “Resume” to restart the auction.
You can choose to:
✅ Move all supplier responses back to Draft or keep them as they are.
✅ Notify suppliers about changes by displaying an alert banner or continuing without notification.
After the event has been published, the buyer can modify the event’s end time by clicking the “Change end time” button.
Step 5: Finalizing the Auction
When the event reaches its deadline, the auction closes automatically. Suppliers can no longer submit bids, and buyers can proceed with evaluating offers.
Need Help?
📩 Contact us at support@prokuria.com – We’re here to assist you!