Reverse auctions for small business
Invite your suppliers to compete for your order.
SourcingHQ runs a reverse auction — a price competition that only moves down — between the suppliers you already work with. They bid through a secure link. No account, no password, no reason not to show up.
Free during private beta · Sign in with Google or email
Northwind Trading invited you to quote
Packaging — October
Bidding as Ridgeline Packaging · Open auction
Ends Tue, Jul 7, 8:31 AM EDT
Corrugated sheets
5,000 units
Ceiling $0.56/unit · $2,800.00 total
Your last bid: $0.512/unit · $2,560.00
Current lowest
$2,510.00
$0.502/unit
You're not lowest
Packaging cartons
10,000 units
Ceiling $0.45/unit · $4,500.00 total
Your last bid: $0.418/unit · $4,180.00
Current lowest
$4,180.00
$0.418/unit
You're lowest
Stretch wrap rolls
400 rolls
Ceiling $2.375/unit · $950.00 total
Your last bid: $2.03/unit · $812.00
Current lowest
$812.00
$2.03/unit
You're lowest
What your suppliers see: the live lowest bid and where they stand. Never who they're up against.
The live auction
Watch the price come down, then lock in.
Your dashboard shows the real numbers and the leader on every line while it runs, then hands you a clean award when the clock stops.
Open auction · you see the real figures on every line
Corrugated sheets
5,000 units · ceiling $2,800.00
Current lowest
$2,510.00
$0.502/unit · Leading Anchor Box Supply
Packaging cartons
10,000 units · ceiling $4,500.00
Current lowest
$4,180.00
$0.418/unit · Leading Ridgeline Packaging
Stretch wrap rolls
400 rolls · ceiling $950.00
Current lowest
$812.00
$2.03/unit · Leading Ridgeline Packaging
A live illustration of the buyer view, through to the moment it closes and hands you the award.
The way sourcing works today
One supplier at a time.
Email, WhatsApp, a phone call if you're lucky. Every negotiation starts from zero.
No real competition.
Your suppliers don't know they're competing — so they don't price like it.
No record of any of it.
When someone asks "why this supplier, at this price?", the answer lives in an inbox.
How it works
How a reverse auction works on SourcingHQ
From your supplier list to an auditable decision, in one time window.
- 01
Create an auction.
List what you're buying: items, quantities, a ceiling price for each, and when the auction opens and closes.
- 02
Invite your suppliers.
The ones you already work with — add them by typing or uploading a spreadsheet. Each gets an email from your company name with a secure bidding link. No account needed.
- 03
They compete, live.
Inside your window, suppliers bid the price down. Show them the live lowest number, or run it blind so they see only whether they're lowest — your call, per auction.
- 04
You award, line by line.
The lowest bid on each item is the default; the final call is yours. Download a report of every bid, from every supplier.
What you get
What a competitive auction gets you.
Get your week back.
One scheduled window replaces days of emails, threads, and typing quotes into a spreadsheet by hand.
Stop chasing suppliers.
Invites and outbid alerts go out automatically, so suppliers stay in the game without you following up one by one.
Pay less, and know you did.
Real competition surfaces a sharper price than any single quote, and shows you what the market will actually charge, so you're never left wondering if you overpaid.
A decision you can defend.
Every bid lands in one downloadable record, so "why this supplier, at this price?" has an answer that isn’t in your inbox.
Features
- Multi-item auctions with split award
- Open or Blind bidding
- Scheduled auctions with anti-snipe
- Bring your team
- Attach specs and documents
- Bulk-add suppliers
- Email invites and outbid alerts
- Downloadable buyer report
Why competitive bidding works
The case for a reverse auction isn't ours to make.
We're new, so don't take our word for it. Independent research on competitive bidding lands in the same place:
~6.75%
Average price drop across procurement auctions in a peer-reviewed analysis, after stripping out the outliers.
Peer-reviewedJournal of Benefit-Cost Analysis (Cambridge)
$1B+ / yr
Saved by Ukraine's national procurement system running reverse auctions since 2015.
Government dataProZorro (via Cambridge JBCA)
~14%
Average savings per contract reported across supplies and services at the US national labs.
Government dataUS Department of Energy
More bidders, lower price
Empirical studies of real procurement auctions find that adding bidders measurably drives the final price down. Your invite list is the lever.
Empirical studyIndependent research
Figures are drawn from third-party studies and industry reports, not guarantees of results on SourcingHQ. Actual savings vary by category, supplier competition, and how sharp your starting prices already are.
In plain terms
This tool facilitates the auction only. All terms, delivery, and payment are settled directly between buyer and supplier.
- You keep control of your supplier relationships.
- Flat fee. No percentage of your spend.
- If nobody bids, you get a free re-run credit.
- Questions before you sign up? contact@sourcinghq.ai
Pricing
Flat fee per auction. No subscription. No cut of your deal. Free during private beta.
See how pricing works →Why this actually gets used
Not a marketplace. Not more email. Your suppliers, competing.
Your suppliers bid without an account.
They get an email from your company, click a link, and bid. No signup, no password, nothing new to learn. That is the whole reason they actually show up. Most sourcing tools die because suppliers refuse to onboard. Yours never have to.
These are your suppliers, not a marketplace's.
You are not handing your order to strangers who lowball once and vanish. You invite the people you already trust to deliver, and let them compete on price. The relationship stays yours.
The deal never leaves your hands.
SourcingHQ runs the auction and hands you the result. Price, delivery, terms, and payment stay directly between you and your supplier. We never sit in the middle of your money or your relationship.
The supplier side
Your suppliers get an invitation, not homework.
The whole thing only works if your suppliers actually show up. Here's exactly what lands on their side.
- 1
An email from your company name.
"Acme Pvt Ltd has invited you to quote" — with each item, its quantity and ceiling price, and any terms you added. It reads like an invitation, not spam.
- 2
One secure link.
No account, no password, nothing to install. They open the link and bid.
- 3
A fair view of the room.
They see the live lowest bid — or just whether they're lowest, if you run it blind — never a competitor's name or amount.
- 4
Their own bids, saved.
Close the tab, come back later: their last bid on every line is still there.
- 5
Nothing to pay.
Suppliers never pay a fee. And the same disclaimer you see appears on their bid screen, so both sides know where the platform stops.
What happens next
From signup to your first auction.
- 1
Create your account.
Google, or email and password. That's the whole setup.
- 2
Build your first auction.
Items, ceiling prices, rules, timing, and your suppliers (type them in or upload a list) — one short, stepped form.
- 3
Invites go out by email.
Suppliers bid through their links. You watch it live from your dashboard, then award and download the report.
Stop negotiating one supplier at a time.
Free during private beta. Create your account and run your first auction.
Get started