Suppliers submit their bids directly on the platform. The purchaser is not obliged to accept any of the offers.

RFI (Request for Information)
The bids submitted are not binding.

RFP (Request for Proposal)
The bids submitted are binding.

Suppliers submit their bids directly on the platform. Suppliers underbid each other in the minimum bid-range laid down by the buyer. The offers submitted are binding.

Depending on what the purchaser has stipulated at the beginning of the auction, he is obliged to accept the best or one of the best offers if it is lower than the binding limit price he has set.

Beginning with a low starting price defined by the purchaser, the item price is raised round by round until either the maximum price is exceeded or a supplier submits a bid at the current price. In this case the purchaser is obliged to accept the bid. If several bids are submitted in the same round, the purchaser decides which of these bids he accepts.

As purchasers are obliged to accept bids submitted in a Reverse Dutch Auction they have to clarify the conditions and all the quality requirements with the suppliers in the run-up to the auction. During the Reverse Dutch Auction it is then determined through the offer price, which supplier is awarded the item.

In a Multi-Round Auction the price decreases round-by-round beginning with the starting price set by the purchaser. Every supplier in the Multi-Round Auction must confirm in each round that he is still offering at the current price by submitting a bid. In a multi-item auction the supplier must confirm the price for each item separately. If the supplier does not confirm the price for an item in a round, he drops out of the Multi-Round Auction for this item and the price from the preceding round is his last valid bid for the item. In this case the supplier cannot submit a bid for the item concerned in a later round.

The purchaser defines the acceptance of bid rule (award to one of x best bidders) and the VBO option in the master data of the Multi-Round Auction. The acceptance of bid rule is in effect for an item, if the binding limit price for the item has been reached or underbid by a submitted bid.

Purchasers may combine successive RFIs, RFPs and auctions in a multi-stage procurement process (MPP).
The suppliers admitted at a procurement stage are not obliged to have already submitted a bid at a previous one. This allows that a supplier may be deliberately included in the negotiations at a later time.

Suppliers may view all Requests for Quotations, whose circles of suppliers are not restricted.

Requests for quotations with a limited circle of suppliers can be seen only by the suppliers in the respective group.

Purchasers may additionally publish a "Request for Quotation with Reply" or a "Request for Quotation with Bid". This applies to all types of Requests for Quotations in which the bids are submitted on fairpartners.

A Request for Quotation "with Reply" is subject to a predetermined deadline (reply deadline) and restricted to suppliers who have previously replied on the platform. Only these suppliers are able to see the Request for Quotation furthermore and to submit bids. The reply deadline is normally before the beginning of the bidding period. If it is after the start of the bidding period, the submission of a valid bid also counts as a "reply".

A Request for Quotation “with Bid” differs from the one “with Reply” in that instead of an informal reply, the submission of a bid by a predetermined deadline determines the further circle of suppliers. The reply deadline can only be within the bidding period.

If a purchaser wishes to allow only a certain circle of supplier, he can determine on an individual basis, and by means of the supplier management, which suppliers (e.g. strategic suppliers, internal departments) will be entitled to submit a bid. If internal departments are also to submit bids in response to the request for quotation, they have to be registered with fairpartners as a supplier as well. The decision which suppliers may submit bids can still be changed after publication of the RFQ. However, a supplier may be deliberately included in the negotiations at a later time.

For all purchasers, the operator of the platform, Skill Portal AG, offers an additional service in respect of tendering for IT Services. In this case, Skill Portal takes over the full processing of the RFP, from quality control and placing the tender, selecting the best proposals, to forwarding proposals to the purchasers. The final decision is made by the purchaser.