Auctions on Matium allow suppliers to share a material lot for sale with a group of potential buyers with the lot going to the highest bidder. As a buyer, learn what to expect when you're invited to an auction on Matium.

First off, make sure everyone in your organization that will need access to an auction has a Matium account. Tenant administrators can add additional users by visiting Administration in the left side bar, clicking the Users tab, and then clicking Add User.

Next, make sure that your company is linked with the supplier and everyone that works with the supplier is added as a representative. This is very important - when a supplier creates an auction, only users listed as representatives for that supplier will be notified that the auction is starting.

Visit Directory in the left sidebar, find the supplier holding the auction and click on their company card.

If you are not yet linked, click the Link button in the top right corner, add everyone from your company that works with this supplier as Representatives, and click Request to send a link request to the supplier.

If you are already linked, click the Linked button in the top right corner and then click Edit Reps. Add everyone from your company that works with this supplier as Representatives, and then click Submit.

Once an auction has started, there are two ways to access the auction - email and in-app notifications.

All users marked as representatives for the supplier holding the auction will receive an email when the auction starts with a link to access the auction detail page.

Representatives will also get an in-app notification. Click the Notification (bell) icon in the top right corner to view your notifications. Clicking on the notification that the auction is starting will take you to the auction detail page.

Note that once you click on a notification, it will not be shown by default in the list of Unread notifications. However, you can always find it by clicking on the All tab.

The auction detail page will provide you with all information on the auction including the date and time that it is ending, time remaining, current leading bid, and all material specifications and lot details.

Any documents that the supplier has shared, such as images of the material or terms of the auction, can be found by clicking on the Documents tab.

You can place a bid at any time while the auction is live by clicking the Create Bid button in the upper right corner.

You'll be prompted to enter your contact information, your price, and where you need the lot delivered.

Note that if the supplier has provided a starting bid, the first bid of the auction must be greater than or equal to this price. All subsequent bids must be higher than the current leading bid.

All of your bids will be shown at the bottom of the auction detail page under My Bids. If you have a bid that is currently leading, it will be marked as such. All other bids will be marked as trailing.

You may cancel a bid at any time while the auction is live by clicking the Cancel Bid button on a bid card shown under My Bids. This action cannot be undone.

Note that there is no way to edit a bid once it has been created. You must cancel the bid and then create a new bid.

You will be updated in real-time via an in-app notification if you have been out-bid or if one of your previously trailing bids becomes the leading bid again.

Clicking on the notification will take you to the auction detail page, where you will have a chance to create a new bid or make any updates to your previously submitted bids, if needed.

If you do not click on one of the above notifications within 10 minutes, an email will be sent to you. Because there can be a short delay in emails being sent, it is recommended that you log into Matium for real-time updates.

When the auction is close to ending, it is recommended that you log into Matium if you have submitted a bid so you can get real-time updates related to your bid.

If anyone places a bid in the final 5 minutes of the auction, the auction will automatically extend so that all bidders have a full 10 minutes to review and update their bids.

Once the auction ends, no more bids will be accepted. All bidders will see what the price of the winning bid, and will see if their own bids ended as leading or trailing.

The supplier will reach out to the leading bidder with next steps to finalize the transaction. Note that the supplier may, at their sole discretion, determine the winner of the auction and may reach out to a trailing bidder if a leading bid is disqualified.