The first ever ‘electronic auction’ to be staged by East Devon District Council took place yesterday.

Online bidding gave suppliers the chance to sell more than 1 million wheelie bins for waste collection to the 20 plus local authorities who have signed up to the hi-tech auction method.

East Devon District Council will eventually need to buy up to 65,000 wheelie bins and the saving made possible by the online bidding process has the potential to save EDDC a six-figure sum overall, feeding into efficiency savings and reducing the burden of greener waste collections on Council Tax payers.

The innovative method of purchasing goods and services online, known as e-Procurement, involves working in partnership with other local authorities and the Government to run a tendering process to achieve the best value for money possible.

The aim is to reach agreement on a pricing framework.

Once lots have an agreed price, the actual purchasing happens further down the line.

Posted: 12|1|06 at 10:39 am. Filed under: Auction News.