Three companies have submitted bids. Is it ever ethical to tell just one of the companies their bid was not the lowest and to re-bid?

I say no but want to hear from others who routinely take bids and approve projects.

TIA

I don’t know what’s considered ethical, but when we turn in bids, sometimes the customer will tell us if we’re on par or not with others. Nobody seems to think anything of it.

Do they tell you your bid is above the lowest and allow you to re-bid in those cases?

As a contractor, I’ve been told that there is someone else who has bid the job lower and that they would like to give us the job if I can come down on my bid.

Not here to argue with you.

If it’s for private work doesn’t matter, you aren’t required to go with lowest bidder. You are just selectively negotiating.

Thanks again for the replies.

I do procurement almost on a daily basis it seems like. I have get 3 bids to spend $1, no joke, DOL rules.

When I first got promoted and started doing the procurement I did this for someone that we've done business with in the past and I had a very good working relationship with them. I wanted them to get the bid because I know their work ethic and they're always prompt when a problem comes up with one of their products. I got reprimanded for doing this, I didn't know any better, but ever since then I just do the procurement and whoever has the lowest bid gets the job as long as everything is apples to apples.

Procurement isn't a major part of my job, but when it comes up, I routinely do this. Nobody ever seems to think it is out of the ordinary

It's only unethical if you're not truthful about it. In other words, if you're telling all the bidders(or just the lowest bidder) to re-bid in order to just get a lower price.

Kind of on the same track as shady RE agents telling potential buyers that a listed property has received another bid.

Pick one throw the other two in the trash....

Is it unethical to shop vehicle prices and tell the salesman about your other bids?

We take care of a lot of issues customers have due to taking the lowest bid and then many come back to us even know our bid is higher knowing they will get a quality product done right the first time.

If you have to ask, then it's probably questionable.

We sometimes use the highest bid if the work is better. And yes I will tell the contractor I want to use what others have bid. My job, my choice.

If I really want to use that vendor over a cheaper bid due to quality, I ask them to double check the bid, there must be a mistake. Another thing you can do is to specify things when you put it out for bid that may be exclusive to a certain vendor you want to use. For instance, if you really want a Cat dozer over a John Deere, specify an elevated sprocket design, Cat is the lone ranger in that dept.

Thanks again for all the replies.

I have to solicit bids for my non-profit on any major purchase. The lowest bid has bit me more than once due to quality issues. I've convinced my board now that we need to give weight to customer support as well as price. I won't share numbers with bidders, but I have asked a bidder if they were absolutely SURE it was their best and final offer.

I used to run a multi billion dollar procurement group. You need to be very careful when taking bids and having discussions with the bidders. You don’t always take the low bid, but you better have justification for why you didn’t. And it’s not good to give one bidder the inside info on what it would take to get the business, at the expense of the other bidders. This needs to be discussed with the legal department, unless you don’t have one.

Keep detailed records.

Those are my feelings as well, even though in this case it's a small board functioning as a private entity.

I agree with this

If you are familiar with the companies, you are aware of which one is best

I agree with 603. I submit and am submitted bids daily. Never divulge a price to a competing bidder bc it WILL bite you in the butt. Example, John works for X, Pete works for Z, you tell John what petes pricing is bc you like John's product better but not John. John leaves company X to work for Z with Pete but you dont like Z's product. Now john tells Pete's boss that he can get your work bc you'll tell him the others pricing. Now pete and his boss are mad for still not using them when the price is lower and you have to explain you wanted the service X offered and not Z even if they are cheaper.

Just imagine the fun you’ll have when the company with the lowest bid on a $100 million dollar contract finds out they didn’t get the business while knowing they were competitive. And you gave the business to another supplier and didn’t adequately justify and document why they got it when they weren’t low bid. The loser’s lawyers show up and you don’t have the paperwork to cover your a__. You don’t want that problem.

Now...if I was buying a truck or a swimming pool, I wouldn’t worry too much about who I told what to. Different league...different rules.

Wouldn’t this go without asking? Lol

If they are willing to tell us we’re off, then they’re typically willing to allow us to submit another bid.

Best value for the customer is not always lowest price. Never tell subs the others exact number. negotiate in round numbers to make sure the best value is given.