Adding a Lot Group

A lot group is a container of lots in a project that open and close for bidding at the same time and auto-extend together. See Lots and Items for more information.

NOTE: Auction and Sealed Bid projects must contain at least one lot group and each lot group must contain at least one lot which must contain at least one item.

»To add lot groups when creating projects

When creating a new project with the Create New Project wizard, Iasta SmartSource auto-creates the first log group and displays the Lot Group Properties window when you click Next on the Project Settings page. To create additional lot groups click on the toolbar in the Lots and Items page of the wizard to open the Lot Group Properties window.
Enter information for your lot group and click Finish to create the lot group.

»To add lot groups to existing projects

When editing projects in the Project Properties wizard, click Next to navigate through the pages of the wizard to get to the Lots and Items window then click on the toolbar of the page or you can expand the project in the Connections and Projects tree and click on the main application toolbar.
Iasta SmartSource opens the Lot Group Properties page. Enter information for the lot group and click Finish to create the lot group.

Fields in Lot Group Properties

Start Time: Use the calendar control and the time fields to enter the date and time that you want the lots and items in the group to be available for bidder project attendees to submit bids.
End Time: Use the calendar control and the time fields to enter the date and time when you want to end the period when bidders can submit bids for the lots and items in the lot group.

The length of time you want each lot group to be open is largely a matter of personal preference. Consider the following factors when determining start and end times for lot groups:

amount of spend for the lot group
complexity that bidders will face determining their bids during the Live Event
number of other lot groups that may be open (either simultaneously or cascading)
anticipated amount of technical assistance required for bidders
number of bidders

Also, you should strive to keep bidders as happy as possible throughout the entire project. Overly extensive lot open periods are sure to annoy bidders who feel that their time is being wasted. Experience dictates the best lot open periods for your organization. Iasta recommends a minimum of 5 minute lot groups for very simple, cascading lot groups. For simultaneously open lot groups, Iasta recommends 10-30 minutes per lot group. If the lot is overly expensive, complex, or competitive with many bidders you may want to keep a lot group open for 30-60 minutes. Frequently bidders will wait until the last few minutes to place their best bids and some bidders don't place any bids until the last few minutes.

Undetermined Date: (No Live Event projects only) For No Live Event projects, place a check mark in the box if you do know the dates and times of the optional Live Event.
Locked: This check box is available when the Live Event for this lot group is currently underway. You must de-select if you want to edit start and end times but you should be aware that it may be confusing to bidders and disruptive to the project for the times of the Live Event to change during the event.
Auto-Extend Length: Enter the minimum amount of time which you want to allow bidders to respond to bids submitted near the event end time. If necessary Iasta SmartSource will extend the end time of the event to allow bidders the specified amount of time. Iasta SmartSource will continue extending the end time until no bids are submitted for the period specified by the Auto Extend Length. For more information on how auto-extensions work, see Time Settings.
Winning Bids/All Bids: Choose the types of bids that will cause Iasta SmartSource to automatically extend the time period for the live event.

Winning Bids: Iasta SmartSource only extends the live event if a winning bid is posted near enough to the end time that the Auto Extend length cannot take place before the currently scheduled end time. Generally Iasta recommends choosing Winning Bids to avoid over-extending the Live Event for non-meaningful bidding.
All Bids: Iasta SmartSource extends the live event if any bid is submitted near enough to the end time that the Auto Extend Length cannot take place before the currently scheduled end time. Some situations where you might want to choose to extend for All Bids are:

A single bidder's preliminary bids are so low that you doubt any other bidder will be able to provide a winning bid. Thus, no extensions will occur without using the All Bids setting.
You intend to split the award on a percentage basis between more than one bidder, or you want a competitive quote from a secondary bidder and you want to ensure that there is a heated competition for second place as well as first place.
If you set up the project so that bidders cannot view the low bid during the Live Event, bidders may need extra time to "search" for and place a winning bid because they can only see their rank.

More Options: Extends the Lot Group Properties window to include Spotlight Length and Pending Length fields.
Spotlight Length: Enter the minimum amount of time that you want this lot group to be open without other lot groups in the project being open at the same time. Iasta SmartSource will extend the end time of a lot group's event to ensure that the spotlight length is available for each lot group. See Time Settings.
Pending Time Length: Enter the amount of time that you want this lot group to retain a status of "pending" before moving to a "closed" status.

Use these buttons to navigate:

Back: Returns to the Project Settings page of the wizard. The Back button is only available if you are editing lot group properties as part of the Create New Project or Project Properties wizards.
Cancel: Exits Lot Group Properties without saving.
Finish: Returns to the Lots and Items Window where you can add lots and items to the group.
Help: Opens Iasta SmartSource Desktop Online Help.