Bidding is a competitive offer or price tag that an individual or business sets to compete for the contract of an item, asset or project and acquire it. The bidding process can also be understood as the determination of the cost or value of something.
People or corporations can perform bidding according to the situation and under the influence of a specific product, service, or asset. Bids are used for purchasing several different things, like, property, livestock, vehicles, art, goods, etc.
Table of Contents
What Is Bidding?
Definition: Bidding is defined as the attempt or effort of buyers, dealers, traders, or investors to compete with each other by setting a price tag in a way that the best bidder wins the contract. Buyers commonly make bids at auctions or stock markets.
When buyers decide to bid, they also specify and evaluate the amount they are willing to pay for the asset and the amount they want to purchase. The companies also participate and make bids to compete with their competitors for project contracts.
Bidding is also a price for which buyers wish to buy the security. There are various ways in which bidding can be made. Some ways are brokers, online, making the bids live, or making them through a bidding process.
Types of a Bid Process
There are various methods through which competitive bids are practiced by traders, dealers, or other buyers. Therefore, let us delve into different ways that are used to place bids-
1. Academic Bidding
Academic Bidding is also named as Course Bidding Process or Class Bidding Process. It is an online process for students. Students, through this process, can select their seats in electives or courses which have limited seat availability.
They can choose courses and electives with maximum cap enforcement. This process can generally be seen functioning in the top law and business schools. There are two types of academic bidding. One is known as the closed bidding process, and the other is the open course bidding process. In the former, an allocated number of bidding points is calculated by the students.
These bidding points are based on the understanding of historical wins of bidding averages. In the Open course, insights into the precise bidding are provided to the students. They are provided with the insights required to win a seat at a specific time.
2. Online Bidding
Online Bidding has two categories, unique and dynamic bidding. Unique bidding is a form where the bidders place unique global bids. Biddings in Unique bidding are generally kept a secret.
Bids in this online form can be eligible only when the bid amount is unique, which means no other person can bid the same amount. Dynamic bidding allows a person to set the amount of the bid on the product. The user might be present or absent, but the bid amount automatically rises to the specified amount.
PPC ads or Google Ads are one of the common examples of online bidding. They also comprise an automated bid strategy. Let us have a look upon that as well-
Automated bid strategy in Google Ads
With Google Ads, there is an automated bid strategy that ensures the automatic channelization of bid placement on a company’s Google ads as per their chances of getting clicks online.
The automatic bidding here also works in coordination with different ad goals like boosting visits by target audiences to their site or optimizing site visibility by showing ads at the top of SERPs.
3. Timed Bidding
The users can make their biddings at any time, within a defined period in the timed bidding auctions. They can quickly enter into a maximum bid to do so. The bidders, while bidding, are not required to wait for the call, as timed bidding takes place in the absence of an auctioneer.
His entrance determines a user’s will to pay for a lot into the maximum bid. The bidding service is automated, which ensures that the user meets the reserve price on his behalf.
However, if someone raises the bid higher than the maximum bid, the user is notified. It is done so that the user can alter his bid and stay in the auction. Once the user wins the maximum bid and wins the lot, the auction ends.
4. Joint Bidding
Joint bidding is the submission of a single bid by two or more similar firms. It appears in procurement, tendering, and auctions. Joint bidding provides a valid bid to the firms to get resources.
The process of joint bidding can also be known as bidding consortia. It is done between potential companies and is commonly performed in public and private procurement.
5. Bid Rigging
In the process of Bid rigging, the groups of firms conspire to increase prices or decrease the quality of goods and services. The groups perform this practice for the products offered to public tenders.
The method is illegal, yet, it demands and receives a large amount of money from taxpayers and practice cost governments. The illegality of the bid-rigging practice has been a significant priority in various nations. National competition authorities detect bid-rigging through the reliance on leniency programs.
6. Bidding off the Wall
The process is also known as taking bids from the chandelier—the auctioneer bids on behalf of the vendor. However, h can bid on behalf up to a reserve price, but not including the reserve price.
It can be helpful for the bidders as they want their reserves to be met. The auctioneers can perform this process at all auctions, including motor vehicles.
How does a Bidding Process Work?
The process of bidding occurs in the market where the selling of products and services occurs to more than one buyer. Bids happening during an auction generally occur in person or online while you may also witness bidding processes when investors bid via their brokers for securities such as stocks.
In addition, sometimes, secret bidding also occurs via a sealed process that is useful in fair and conflict-free bidding. Companies do bidding for winning contracts for different projects. Governments or large corporations generally issue such contracts for different projects related to infrastructure, IT, construction, social services, etc.
A company or government manager sends the bid to the interested vendors for their bids to acquire a project. Then vendors do their bidding and the highest bidder gets the ownership of the item straight away paying their bid price.
Terms of Bidding and Auctions
The market keeps going through buyers and sellers. Every participant contributes to the sale and purchase of the assets. Sellers provide the assets to purchase, and buyers purchase goods and services. There are various terms that one needs to know about bidding and auctions, which are described below.
1. Automatic Bidding
Automatic bidding is one of the easiest ways to bid on auction sites. The user needs to enter the highest price that he wishes to pay for a product or service. Automatic bidding helps the user to stay ahead in the competition of bidding.
After knowing the maximum amount, the auction app automatically increases the bid on the user’s behalf. However, the increment is done up to the limit provided to the sites or apps by the users. It can also alert when someone else increases the bid to alter the maximum amount and stay in the competition.
2. Retraction of Bid
When people bid, they also get a facility to retract their bids under specific situations in case of any mistake. The bid can be rejected under the circumstances, like the seller’s change in the description of an item. It can be retracted if the person accidentally makes a bid of the wrong amount.
While retracting a bid, it is also essential to take care of the time. If there are 12 hours or more before the end of the listing, the bids can be retracted.
A fixed time is also provided for the listing. If the list ends in less than 12 hours, then the most recent bids can be retracted. However, it should be less than an hour since the placement of the bid.
3. Reserve Prices
Reserve prices are the minimum amount of the price that the seller wishes to pay. The item is not sold if the reserve prices are not met, even if the person is the highest bidder in the auction.
Sellers have the facility to reduce their reserve prices. They can also make a second chance offer once the auctions end.
4. Second Chance Offers
Second Chance Offers to help the participants buy the item at the amount they offered to pay in their last bid. This offer comes into the picture when the sellers offer people the things they bid on, even if the users aren’t winners. It is possible if the stock is more than the desired amount or the reserve price didn’t meet.
In these situations, the sellers want to sell their items. It is in the hands of users to accept the offer or decline it. The user can either respond or ignore the offer, in which case, the proposal would immediately expire. The user has a certain period set according to the selles to decide about the offer.
Examples of a Bidding Process
1. Bidding at Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s is known as one of the biggest marketplaces in the world where bidding occurs to buddy art and luxury goods. It is functioning in more than 40 countries that serve 44 different categories like jewelry, wine, contemporary art, spirits, etc. It holds 600+ auctions each year online, in person, or via private sales.
2. A Ride on the Blue Origin
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos auctioned off a seat on his spaceship in June via a month-long bidding process. The auction occurred over the phone ended on June 12, 2021, and the winner bid $28 million for securing a place on the Blue Origin with Bezos.
3. Bidding on eBay
You can make an account on eBay and do the bidding as a guest to enter the total amount you want to pay for the associated product. eBay does bidding for you in increments without crossing the maximum limit set by you. If you are outbid by anyone else then eBay will inform you. In case you want to increase your optimum limit, you can do that to win bidding on eBay.
4. Bid on Government Contracts
Government bids are also one of the very common examples of bid processes that occur prevalently. Bidders register with their site website or agency for competing for government projects. Generally, government contracts are available via a sealed-bid process. You may also bid yourself via government bidding portals. Using a bidding service can also alleviate the process for you.
Tips to Win Bidding Auction
Following are the points that can help in increasing the chances of winning the bids-
- Proper research is essential before going into bidding. The bidder can search for the item he is looking for, using various terms, on the internet. He can thoroughly search and get information about the same.
- The search of misspelled words can be one way, as a few people will find the listing with a typo.
- The time of the auction and the time when it ends can be noted. It helps in knowing how many other people can bid and whether one can be available and bid at the end moment. One is less likely to get more amount of bidders if the bidding takes place at night.
- It is essential to think about the amount that the bidder is willing to pay. They should also decide their maximum limit for the bid. It helps in making and taking last-minute decisions at auctions.
- If the bidder is immediately outbid by someone else, they should instantly find ways to set up automatic bidding.
Conclusion!
Individuals can buy goods and services through auctions, with the help of the bidding process.
There are many terms similar to each other that have evolved about bidding. These terms can or cannot use similar concepts them.
Reverse auctions, social bidding are some of the words that have recently developed. Bidding is also used in ethical gambling. The prize money in honest gambling is evaluated not only based on luck but also on the total demand attracted to the prize itself.
Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Business
