Private Auctions allow suppliers to share a material lot for sale with a select group of buyers where they compete to drive the price up. Auctions work well and are recommended when a material is under-supplied in the Market.
Creating an Auction
Create or Identify the Inventory Item for Sale
All private auctions must be associated with a Core Inventory Item, which describes the specific lot for sale. All of your active inventory can be found by navigating to Core Operations -> Inventory.
If you have not yet created the inventory item in Matium, click the New Inventory button in the top right. Provide details including the specific material being sold, location, weight, packaging, etc.
If the inventory item already exists, select it from the list to view the inventory details.
Tip: Make sure any and all of the material specifications are included before creating an offer. Material specs cannot be updated after an offer is shared. To edit specs, click on the material name next to the image on the inventory detail page, and then select Edit from the Actions drop-down.
From the inventory detail page, select New Private Auction from the Actions drop-down in the upper right.
Step 1: Identify Inventory
Core Inventory - Set to the Core Inventory Item for sale.
Material Name - Provide a name that will be shared with invited bidders.
Material Description - Provide a description of the material.
Shipping Terms - Set the desired terms (Picked Up or Delivered) that will be shared with bidders. Note that the location of the inventory item will be shared with bidders if Terms are set to Picked Up.
End Date and Time - Set the date and time that the auction will end.
Starting Bid - Set the starting bid for the auction. Bidders will not be able to submit a bid lower than this price point. Leave blank if you want bidders to submit an initial bid at any price point.
Bid Increment - Set the bid increment for the auction. Once an initial bid is received, all bidders will be forced to bid above the current leading bid plus the bid increment.
Documents - Attach any documents or images about the material lot that will be shared with bidders.
Step 2: Select Links
Select the links you would like to invite to bid on the auction. You can search by company name, select individual companies, or click 'Select All Links' to share with all of your network links.
Note that you must be linked with a company to invite them to an auction.
Step 3: Review
Review the auction details and the list of bidders. Click Submit to create and start the auction.
Upon submit, all bidders will get an email notification that the auction is starting with a direct link to access the auction and place a bid.
Managing your Live Auction
All of your auctions can be found by going to My Activity in the left sidebar, clicking on the My Listings tab and then Auctions. Click on an auction to view all details, manage bids and make any updates.
Editing an Auction
If you need to make changes to your auction, select Edit from the Actions drop-down in the upper right corner. Here you can update the Material Name, Description, End Date and Time and Starting Bid (if no bids have been placed yet). Note that bidders will get an email notification with an auction is updated.
Note: Once an auction has started, you will not be able to update the material specifications. If you do need to edit the specs, you will need to cancel the auction and corresponding inventory item and then re-create both with the correct specs.
Adding or Removing Bidders
Click on the Invited Links tab to view, add, or remove invited bidders.
Click the Add Links button to invite additional bidders. New bidders will get an email notification with a direct link to join the auction.
Click the Uninvite link next to a bidder in the Invited Links list to remove them from the auction. Note that uninviting a bidder will cancel any of their active bids.
Viewing Bids
Scroll to the bottom of the auction detail page to view All Bids. View details including price, company, time submitted and contact information for the bidder including name, email address and phone number.
Declaring a Winner
When an auction ends, click the Declare Winner button in the upper right corner to confirm the winner from the list of active bids.
Declaring the winner will notify the winning company and create a Confirmed Offer in Matium with the details of the transaction that both you and the winning company can reference. Click the View Confirmed Offer link at the top of the auction detail page to view and converse directly with the winner.
Declaring a winner will also create a Core Order for your internal reference, which will fill the weight of the associated inventory item and automatically close it for you.