Sealed bids

You can choose to seal supplier responses (bids) until after an event closes. You may want to use this option for compliance or ethics reasons. Sealed bids are available for request for quote (RFQ), request for proposal (RFP), and request for information (RFI) events.

Want to use sealed bids?: To turn on this feature, contact [email protected].

Types of sealed bids

1-envelope

With 1-envelope sealed bids, all supplier responses are hidden. After the event closes, you can unseal responses.

This type of sealed bid is available for request for quote (RFQ), request for proposal (RFP), and request for information (RFI) events.

2-envelopes

With 2-envelope sealed bids, all supplier responses are hidden. There are two rounds of review before the responses are unsealed. First, evaluators review responses (without seeing the pricing) and select the responses to move forward. Then, you can review the selected responses and award.

This type of sealed bid is available for request for quote events and must be enabled for your company (see: Configurations).

Create a sealed bid event

When you create your event, you will need to select the Sealed bid option before sending your event. For RFQ events, select either 1 envelope or 2 envelopes. If using 2-envelope bidding, make sure to add at least one evaluator before sending the event (see: Manage evaluators).

Once sent, a banner will display at the top of the event, reminding you that you cannot view responses until the event is closed.

Review sealed responses

The review process depends on the type of sealed bid you selected.

1-envelope

Once your event closes, a banner displays the number of responses received. Click Unseal Bid to view responses. Once unsealed, responses cannot be resealed.

2-envelope (RFQ only)

After your event closes, there are two steps to unseal bids.

Evaluator review

Evaluators will review the event responses and select any responses they want to advance to the next round.

Buyer review

After evaluators finish reviewing and selecting responses, pricing is automatically revealed to buyers. Only selected responses that evaluators selected are visible for awarding.