The City of Philadelphia has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to implement a reverse auction bidding procedure for the purchase of certain supplies, equipment, services, and concessions in lieu of ordinary, sealed paper bids.
In a reverse auction bidding, sellers compete with each other, in a dynamic, real time environment, until the lowest price is reached, thereby accruing to the buyer – here the City of Phila. – potential savings that might otherwise not be achieved with traditional, one-time paper bid submissions.
The City of Phila. is able to implement a reverse auction bidding after its Home Rule Charter was amended to allow the conducting of competitive, electronic auction bidding.
According to the eContractPhilly page announcing the RFP:
This RFP seeks proposals for the performance of electronic reverse auction services for the City of Philadelphia. Applicants should be able to conduct efficient, competitive electronic reverse auction services for the City of Philadelphia. Applicants’ proposed solution should be at no cost to the City, instead obtaining any required payments from auction participants. Additionally, Applicants should describe in detail any other related services, if any, that can be provided that would allow the City to best achieve its purpose for implementing electronic reverse auctions as described in the RFP.
The City of Phila.’s RFP was issued on March 2, 2016, and can be found here. Proposals from interested vendors are due no later than 5:00 PM, April 1, 2016.
A Philadelphia Inquirer article reporting on issuance of the RFP can be found here. According to the article, reverse auction bidding is currently being conducted by the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has also conducted reverse auction bidding, according to a press release from June 2015.
Christopher I. McCabe, Esq.
