"The first bid from a bidder is any" feature

"The first bid from a bidder is any" setting changes the rules for submitting the first bid (only in the "Auction" mode) and affects the availability of information about the auction progress.

Important! This feature is available to companies on the Pro, Expert, and Enterprise plans and works on both public and private exchanges. It is not available to Starter and Free plans or to individuals.

With this setting enabled, a potential bidder can submit the first bid at any price, regardless of the current best bid, minimum increment or starting price.

This gives companies more flexibility when starting bidding and helps attract carriers and freight forwarders quicker, even if some participants are hesitant to make the first move in an already active bidding process.

Furthermore, this setting allows customers to see interest from carriers even if bidding is already underway and competition is intense. In some cases, the auction winner is not the carrier with the lowest bid, but the one assessed by the customer as the best fit for a specific cargo.

This is especially important for large customers, as their procurement regulations may require a certain "quorum" of participants. Without it the additional complications may arise when organizing a non-competitive procurement or restarting an auction. With "The first bid from a bidder is any" feature, customers can meet these requirements and simplify the bidding process.

The system still monitors the correctness of the bid:

• If the price is higher than the starting price, the bid is automatically rejected.

• If the price is equal to the current best bid, the bid is created and becomes the outbid (immediately after the best bid).

• If the price is higher than the current best bid, the bid is immediately outbid.

• If the price is lower than the current best bid, the bid becomes the best bid.

• If there are no bids in the auction, any bid ≤ the starting price becomes the best bid.

After submitting the first bid, the company automatically becomes a bidder and gains full access to all auction information.

If the company already has a bid (regardless of its status), subsequent bids are submitted according to the standard Auction rules, taking into account the minimum bid increment.

What does an offer look like for a non-auction participant?

With this feature enabled, potential bidders are not exposed to any data that could influence their decision.

Hidden:

• All bids,

• Number of bids,

• Number of participants,

• Starting price,

• Current best bid,

• Estimated price.

In the preview, the offer appears as if the bidding hasn't yet begun, and the starting price isn't specified. This creates a fair environment: each participant has a clean start, and only those actually participating in the bidding have access to the information.

How does it work inside the company?

• If one of the company's employee places a bid, all colleagues see the offer as bidding participants.

• If the user switches to another space that hasn't placed a bid, that space again sees the offer as "empty."

Data export and public API

If "The first bid from a bidder is any" feature is enabled:

• Bid data, including the planned price, is not transmitted to non-bidders in the API;

• Bidders receive full data within the current bid privacy setting.

When exporting to Excel/CSV/JSON, bid information is displayed according to the bidder's status.

If company downgrades from Pro, Expert or Enterprise plan to Basic plan:

• The setting remains in existing offers;

• It is unavailable in new offers.

• When applying a template or creating a duplicate, the value is ignored.

If company gains access (upgrades the tariff):

• "The first bid from a bidder is any" feature becomes available even in existing offers.

A potential participant can submit a bid at any price.

• If the bid price exceeds the auction's starting price, the system will reject the bid.

• If the price is lower than the current best bid, the bid becomes active and participates in the auction.

When this setting is enabled, only participants who have placed at least one bid have access to auction information. Non-participants see the offer as "empty", without any bids or starting price.