Internet Bid (iBid) – Online Auction
Central Management Services
James Ellenberg
IT/Telecom Procurement Manager
120 W. Jefferson; 3rd Floor
Springfield, IL 62702
Responses due:
March 26, 2015 @ 4:30pm CST
Submitted Via Email to James.Ellenberg@Illinois.gov
Table of Contents
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Purpose of this Document ......................................................................................................................
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Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................
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Background and Plans .............................................................................................................................
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Objectives................................................................................................................................................
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Questions to Stakeholders ......................................................................................................................
1 Purpose of this Document
The purpose of this document is to identify and assess the technology solutions currently available in the
marketplace that provide, at a minimum, the features and functions of the State’s existing iBid software
application (as described below). The desired solution shall be implemented as an Internet-based,
interactive software application that includes at least the following capabilities:
iBid Workflow
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Online timed auction sales
Reverse auction sales (vendors provide bids for commodities to sell to SOI)
Sealed bid sales
Site is branded to cater to State of Illinois sellers
Any buyer can register and bid on items
Main site is branded as the public sales site of the State of Illinois (SOI), Central Management
Services (CMS) State Surplus
Local units of Illinois government can become Sellers with customizable storefronts
Site can be accessed by major browsers on PC, Mac, tablet, smartphone. Site will continue to be
updated to reflect technology changes.
Site must interface with and accept data and photo uploads from other active asset
management software.
Site must provide for credit card payments gateway for all seller transactions using State of
Illinois Treasurer’s office ePay system: https://www.illinoisepay.com/
System shall not retain payment card information and will fully comply with PCI standards
Site must allow for admin customizable visual look and feel including forms based website,
animated gif that pulls data from multiple assets, Top 10 active sales images and lists, user news
and info area, and other editable look and feel options available to admin. Site will continue to
be updated to reflect technology changes to maximize user friendliness and eye-catching visual
appeal.
Site must be hosted in a manner to minimize downtime. Hosting platform must contain
redundant services including load balancing across different hosting locations. Site must offer
disaster recovery option. Minimum of 99% uptime required. Site must be capable of minimum
of 2 million hits per month with anticipated growth to 5 million hits per month within 5 years.
Buyers
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Any person can register as a Buyer.
Registration can include optional credit card validation during registration
Buyer must certify the acceptance of terms and conditions by date and time stamp. This
acceptance will be archived in the user database.
Buyer is provided a user ID and complex password with password retention and limited reuse of
password
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Any internet browser can view auctions without a log in account
Buyer can log in to view items bidding on, purchase history, user profile, upcoming auctions.
Payments are made through payment card or they can pay in person with a certified check
Watch lists are provided with email notification of new postings
Buyers can email sellers and can email other buyers through the system, although the email
address is not revealed.
Sellers
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SOI has intergovernmental agreements with several Illinois local units of government to become
Sellers on Ibid.
Sellers have separate Ibid storefronts that are customizable with banners and other custom info.
Seller storefronts will display only Seller’s items that are for sale
CMS retains 2% of all sales attributed to other sellers
Seller can log in to view items selling, sales history, invoicing history, user profile, upcoming
auctions.
Sellers have access to customizable sales reports exclusive to their storefronts
Sellers cannot view invoicing, reports, or other data from other sellers storefronts.
Administrators
Administrators of the Ibid site have access to the back-end website that contains custom reports that
can be exported to CSV or other database format, user databases, fees for services, newsletters, auction
management and review, page content such as news, terms and conditions, FAQ, Privacy policy,
reporting, and shipping information.
Minimum reporting capability to include:
 Sales report broken down by seller and allowing custom date ranges
 Asset history report including sold and unsold items, paid and unpaid items
 User report including all captured user data
 Listing fee revenue
Sales
Online sales are conducted in the manner described below:
Sellers post items with options for
 Title
 Description (including advanced editing, grammar, spelling, font style and formatting)
 Starting price
 Reserve price
 Purchase it now price
 Payment instructions
 Tax calculation
 Shipping fees
 Location of item
 Category
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Lot number
Equipment number
Vehicle identification such as VIN, Make, Model, Year, odometer
Starting date and time
Ending date and time
Make featured (item will appear on front page)
Make bold (bold text in auction)
Make highlighted (highlight background of item)
Photo upload (bulk upload option, thumbnail creation either static photo or an animated gif that
displays rolling pics, auto resizer, photo from any source including tablet and phone cameras)
Video upload (load small videos that are imbedded in the ad)
Document gallery (upload of documents in Word, PDF, excel)
All items can be saved in a template for relist of one or more items
Item appears on sale screen during its scheduled auction time
Bidders can then place proxy bids on the item
Bidders must confirm bid on a pop-up box. On this pop-up box, proxy bidding will be briefly
explained
After bid is confirmed, webpage will display if you are the highest bidder or not. If you are not
the highest bidder, webpage will offer to bid again.
Email will be generated each time a bidder is outbid during an auction. This feature can be
disabled by the user in his profile screen
Item closing time can be adjusted if two bidders are bidding on the same item within the last
three minutes of an auction. If this occurs, its closing time will be extended three minutes.
Extension time can be incrementally adjusted by the administrator.
All bids are retained in a list available to all sellers. Bidder’s names are masked.
Successful bids will automatically invoice and email to buyer
Buyers can email Seller for additional information
Item has live clock that shows minutes and seconds to end of the auction
Seller has the option to award item to the runner-up bidder in event of high bidder failure
Seller can edit the auction at any time
Seller can cancel highest bid with an entry screen for reason
Seller can choose to sell similar item from auction item screen
Seller has option to relist assets that do not have successful sales
All items will show a current system time clock for reference, clock will adjust time zone based
on user location.
Sales invoicing, reports, payment tracking, user tracking
 All user login activity will be logged and tracked separately
 Payments will be tracked and logged
 SOI is interested in optional technology to prevent fraudulent bidding, fake user registrations,
bogus bidders, etc. Technology such as IP tracking, bidder authentication, etc.
Feedback on this public consultation is welcome from all constituents of Illinois, including service
providers, community anchor institutions, businesses and residents. It is preferred that the responses to
the questions are emailed to James.Ellenberg@illinois.gov
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If electronic email response is not possible, responses can be provided via hard copy and sent through
U.S. Mail addressed to
James Ellenberg
IT/Telecom Procurement Manager
120 W. Jefferson; 3rd Floor
Springfield, IL 62702
All responses should be received by March 26, 2015 @ 4:30pm CST
Specifically, the public consultation seeks to :
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Provide opportunity for public to comment on the plans and influence the RFP
The Department of Central Management Services is seeking information to use for a future
competitive solicitation. The information provided to the State should not include specific
prices for any products or services provided in the response to this RFI.
2 Glossary
Our industry uses many terms and acronyms that may not be familiar to you. To assist you in reading
this Public Consultation we have provided definitions of some of these terms below.
RFI: Request for Information.
RFP: Request for Proposal.
Service Provider: a seller of services requested.
3 Background and Plans
State and Federal Surplus Inventory
The SOI acquires or accumulates surplus property over time that may be still be serviceable to other
entities, but which is no longer of use to the State. The goal of this program is for the State to recover
any economic value that remains in this property in a cost effective (i.e., revenue positive) manner. The
desired iBid solution must therefore provide a cost effective process for the inventory, sale, and
ultimate transfer or disposal of this property. To accomplish this objective, the desired iBid solution
must interface seamlessly with our existing asset inventory systems to promote the sale of these items.
Online Auctions
The State of Illinois utilizes a custom software application that is unique to the web-based auction
industry. To avoid potential disruptions in service to current auction clientele, the desired solution must
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be capable of integrating with our existing system and credit card gateway known as iBid
(http://ibid.illinois.gov) into the purchased auction/inventory system.
Online bidders bid against each other in real-time on the public site until the date and time that the lot
closes. In all online auctions, bidders are automatically notified by email when they win a lot, and they
must pay online with a credit-card. This auction provides the option of shipping or pickup only. Bidders
are also notified by email if their absentee bid is exceeded.
System administrators must select a time period to extend online auctions if there is bidding within a
specified number of minutes before the initial closing date and time. Administrators must oversee all
collections and suspend the accounts of non-paying customers. In the event of non-payment, lots must
optionally be sold to the next-highest bidder.
Sealed Bid Auctions
These must be created by the Illinois Surplus Property Office. The auction has a closing date and time,
and bidders must place online bids (where only they know their own bid amount) or must mail-in bids.
The bids must not be seen by personnel until after the date and time of closing. At that point, personnel
must enter any mail-in bids to record all bids in the system, and then select the winning bidder. Tied
winners are shown on the screen and must be called on the phone in the event of a tie-breaking bid.
These bids are also recorded in the system.
4 Objectives
The SOI desires to retain and possibly enhance the existing functionality of its existing iBid software
application (to include):
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Retain the current branding on its current iBid website, as well as obtain the ability to modify
(update) this branding as desired in the future.
Retain the unique features and functionality that currently reside on its current iBid website.
The iBid website must integrate seamlessly with both State and Federal surplus property
inventory tracking systems; and accommodate transfer of photos, descriptive narrative, and
other pertinent information about the surplus property that is available for auction.
The iBid website must be maintained and modified over time to ensure the SOI remains
competitive and cost effective in the liquidation of surplus property via online auction.
The SOI desires to partner with a well-established technology service provider who has the capability to
offer the requisite capabilities (as described in this document) as well as enhance and sustain this highperformance service capability to effectively compete, and maximize revenue, in the competitive world
of online auctions.
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5 Questions to Stakeholders
1) Please include a detailed description and diagram of your proposed solution, along with a
comprehensive and detailed materials list (include any applicable software licenses).
2) Please identify any additional features and functionality available in the proposed software
application along with a description of how they can be effectively utilized to enhance the
usability or improve the financial return derived from this process and proposed software
application.
3) Please identify the underlying Technology platform and Service Models that you utilize to
implement your proposed solution (e.g., COTS, On-Premis, SaaS, other Online Service) and
include any hosting requirements and or Services required.
4) Please identify the system interfacing capabilities of your solution, including any Application
Programming Interface (API) included to accommodate data transfer (import/export).
5) Please identify any Content Management and/or Metadata capabilities included with your
proposed solution (e.g., photographs, audio, video clips, or other descriptive content to assist in
promoting the items that are for sale.
6) Please identify any Configuration or Customization capabilities included as part of you solution
that may be utilized to align your proposed system with the SOI’s existing business process.
7) Please provide a description of any professional or technical services that you offer to modify
the software application, enhance functionality, track and resolve problems (e.g., Help Desk and
Service Request Tracking), or to expand available services.
8) Please identify any Training Services or associated products that you offer that are associated
with your proposed solution.
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