Supplier Ethic

This section covers ethical rules that suppliers must adhere to in order for them to truly benefit from an auction.

1. The Supplier, by participating in any sourcing project constitutes acceptance of all referenced and required terms and conditions.

Do not try to recoup perceived losses post-auction by charging exorbitant fees for change orders. In addition to expecting that a supplier will maintain the same level of quality, buyers expect that the supplier will maintain the same ethics and fair price structures that they have in the past. Charging more might help a supplier’s profits in the short term, but when the contract ends, chances are the buyer will drop the supplier. Furthermore, if a supplier gains a reputation in the marketplace as being deceitful, the chances of that supplier being invited to other auctions will severely diminish.

2. The Supplier will hold all information of the Buying company in confidence and shall not disclose it to third parties.
3. The Supplier will participate in an auction only if qualified to supply the specified goods and services.
4. All bids submitted in an auction are legally valid quotes without qualification; therefore Suppliers should only submit bids they can support.

Exceptions are made for honest, data entry errors. Any errors submitted during an auction should be immediately reported to the Buyer to prevent disruption of the auction. Many e-Sourcing software providers can support a process for managing auction-related errors. It is important that the e-Sourcing software can technically remove bids placed in error.

5. The Supplier will communicate to the Buyer in a timely, accurate manner.

This includes any discrepancies or inaccuracies the supplier may find in the RFQ and timeline. The buying team should establish a process for handling this type of feedback. Additionally, the e-Sourcing software should have a technical ability to accept comments from the suppliers.

6. The Supplier intends to provide goods and/or services and will not use the auction as a fact-finding project.

If the buyer thinks a supplier is participating solely to collect market intelligence, not only is it likely that the buyer will not award that supplier any business, but it is also likely that the supplier will not be invited to participate in future auctions. If a supplier gets a bad reputation by word of mouth, it could be a long time before that supplier is invited to another auction.

7. The Supplier will only submit bids through the auction.

Interested suppliers cannot sabotage the auction process by submitting bids via email, fax, post or orally. To be considered, all bids must be submitted via the online auction.