Tips for Buyers

If this is your first time submitting a request for quotation (RFQ) to the site, you’ll be please to learn that it is friendly and fast. Simply comply with the easy to follow procedures listed below.

1. First, take advantage of the free Registration with . If you have already registered, proceed to paragraph 2. If you have not registered, please realize that your registration must occur before you will be able to submit any RFQ to the Site. Registration is not complete, and you will not be granted entry to the Site for any reason, unless and until you have "agreed" to the Buyer Agreement at the end of the registration process. To avoid unnecessary delays in gaining access to the Site, it is recommended that you print out and review a copy of said Agreement prior to commencing the registration process. During the registration process, you will be required to provide a screen name and password. These are your keys to the Site and should not be shared with anyone. If you forget your screen name and/or password, simply e-mail us at help@forgefinder.com and we gladly will send you the needed information.

2. At the end of the registration process is a Buyer Agreement that establishes the legal framework for you to participate on the Site. The Buyer Agreement reinforces the fact that use of the Site can be totally free to you. You can print out a copy of the Buyer Agreement for an off-line review by clicking here: Buyer Agreement. A copy of the Buyer Agreement must be signed and forwarded to us at 8713 Digges Road Manassas, VA 20110, prior to submitting any RFQ for bid on the Site. An executed copy of the Buyer Agreement may be faxed to us at 703-530-8172, but participation in the auction format is contingent upon receipt by us of an executed original copy. will notify you of our receipt of the document. Any questions you have can be answered by calling us at 1-703-530-8171.

3. Once you successfully have registered with , you can go to your own personalized buyer home page. Your buyer home page will allow you to keep track of the orders that you have placed and permit you to monitor your ongoing RFQ auctions. It can store completed auctions that have yet to result in an order by you and hold RFQs that have been partially entered into the system (but have not been submitted to the Site for bidding to commence). Your home page also will keep a record of the RFQ auctions that you have completed on the Site.

4. Please note that multiple individuals from the same buying organization will be able to maintain separate buyer home pages on the Site. It is recommended that internal controls be established to coordinate your company’s bidding by assigning screen names and disseminating assignments to your procurement staff. You will want to preclude multiple buyers from your organization soliciting bids for the same forging opportunity.

5. Prior to placing a new RFQ on the site, and to make the RFQ insertion process as simple as possible, we recommend that you gather all of the necessary information possible before logging onto your buyer's home page. You will want all of the specifications for the forging(s) you are buying, and, if available, a downloadable copy of the print ready for transmission to the Site. Regardless, you always will be able to save your work and return later.

6. After completing the RFQ submission form, please review it for accuracy. will review your RFQs for completeness before they are posted on the Site, but we will not edit them for content. Only you, the buyer, can determine the size, shape, specifications and material of the forging(s) you desire.

7. By placing an RFQ on the Site, you are not required to make a purchase of that particular forging, now or in the future. You are agreeing that by placing your RFQ on the Site, if you do purchase that forging during the following year, that you will do it through the Site and that the Site will be entitled to receive the commission it is owed by the participating forge shops.

8. As the buyer, you control who sees the RFQ and when they see it. If your purchasing requirements are large enough, will establish a private bidding venue where only your pre-approved suppliers can congregate to review and bid on your most recent RFQs. If you think your buying requirements are large enough to warrant the creation of this type of private bidding venue for your company, then contact us by e-mail at sales@forgefinder.com. We can have your private bidding venue up and operating in a couple of days. Alternatively, even if you have a private bidding venue on the Site, you can still create RFQs that are viewable by all of the forging suppliers who have registered on the Site. In this manner, you can monitor your proven supplier base to determine if they are continuing to provide you with the best prices and delivery schedules.

9. Note that in the RFQ submission form, you will be asked to establish the time and date when the auction closes. However, this date is not chiseled in stone. If at any point in a particular RFQ auction you determine, for whatever reason, that you want to end the process, you can. This site was built by taking into account the real life processes of buying and selling forging(s).

10. When sellers begin to submit responses to your RFQ, you will be able to see their proposed price and delivery schedule. You also will be able to see all of the general terms and conditions of their offer. What you will not see until after the bidding closes is the name of a particular seller linked to their bid.

11. Once an auction ends, the buyer who submitted the RFQ and all of the sellers who submitted bids will be notified that the time for submitting bids has ended. Thereafter, you will be given an opportunity to have the names of the potential sellers revealed. By revealing the names of the sellers who submitted bids, you are committing to making a purchase through the Site. This does not mean, however, that you have to choose the supplier who offers you the best price or best delivery terms. Rather, you can purchase from any of the sellers who have submitted quotations, at any price, with any delivery schedule and with any other terms and conditions that the two of you negotiate. We realize that existing buyer/seller relationships will, in some instances, override cost considerations or getting a forging onto your shop floor earlier.

12. Finally, when the names of the Sellers are revealed, you will be given an opportunity to select the seller you wish. When you do select the seller for your specific RFQ, a final e-mail will be sent to all of the auction participants notifying them of who has been selected. You and the winning bidder are then required to conclude the terms and conditions of the deal within three business days.

 


The Top Ten reasons for forging buyers to use 's market web site are:

(1) It is Free. The site is free to buyers if properly used. charges the sellers a commission after the forging is sold. Because charges lower commissions than “normal” sales representatives, these cost savings could be passed on to the buyers.

(2) Reduced cost for forging. Online auction promotes competitive pricing among sellers. Sellers of forgings will be competing, based on price, to obtain a customer’s business. Dynamic pricing is a marvelous way to build an online community, move excess inventory and increase customer loyalty. Given that internal purchasing costs account for 36 percent of corporate expenses, according to the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies, tremendous savings can be realized for “decimal dust” investments.

(3) Reduced delivery times. This site will do more than compare pricing; it will determine availability and turn-around time. Because of the auction model, sellers of forgings will be competing, based on delivery schedule, to obtain business. The latency between stated requirements and delivery will plummet.

(4) Reduced time investment to obtain responses to RFQs. The site allows forging buyers to instantly send an RFQ to myriad forge shops with a single e-mail message through this site. Buyers no longer will have to endure the glacial process of sending individual correspondence through multiple faxes, or e-mails, to those forge shops that they wish to receive their RFQs, permitting them to escape routine administrative matters so that they can better address business issues.

(5) Target preferred forge shops. If a buyer already knows the qualified forge shops, or desires to reduce the number of his forging vendors, ’s preferred seller feature permits buyers to tailor their lists and target sellers, significantly streamlining the purchasing process. As a result, only select forge shops are given the opportunity to review and respond to certain RFQs.

(6) Identify new forging suppliers. Currently it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for buyers to know where to buy their forgings at the best price and with the best delivery schedule. provides an immediate solution to this conundrum.

(7) Emergency forging capabilities. Because forgings are customarily purchased on a “just-in-time” basis, gives buyers the ability to immediately locate a forge shop that can produce emergent requirements.

(8) Enhanced record keeping. Buyers normally purchase the same forgings repetitively. allows the buyers to keep an electronic record of their RFQs and submitted responses. This information will be of great value when RFQs for the same forging are submitted to later.

(9) Improve operational efficiencies. The site not only saves forging buyers countless hours of their precious time, it reduces the costs involved in faxing or overnight mailing RFQs to prospective sellers.

(10) Error reduction. The site will eliminate many of the problems normally associated with current methods of buying forgings. RFQs and the responses thereto are held in a secure site and cannot be lost or left unreadable.