Live Auction Bidding 
Use
The Live Auction applet allows you to participate in live auctions in a real-time environment that simulates the fast-paced interaction and competition of an actual auction floor.
Prerequisites
If bidders wish to submit a bid they must have a user master record. For more information, see Logging on and Requesting Users. No user is required to receive information about a bid, as the registered supplier receives this information by email.
Activities
Launching the Live Auction Applet
Once you click 
(Launch Auction)
in SAP Bidding Engine, the applet opens in a new
window and is loaded with the data for the live auction you
selected.
Header Data
· Auction name and number
· Rule profile information
· Requester
· Start date and time
The start and end times are displayed in your local time zone.
· End date and time
If the auction includes automatic extensions and a bid is received within the inactivity period, the end date and time as well as the countdown for time remaining will be updated immediately to reflect the added time.
· Time remaining and status
Changes to the live auction status are immediately reflected in the applet. For example, if you launch the applet before the auction has started, the status displays as Published until the start date and time are reached, at which point, the status changes to Active. If the purchaser pauses an active live auction, the status changes to Paused.
The time remaining and end date are not effected or extended automatically when the purchaser pauses an auction; the countdown for time remaining continues although all entry fields are blocked until the auction is resumed.
Item Data
· Line item table
The auction line items are listed in the table along with basic information such as quantity and start price. You can resize the column widths or rearrange their order via drag and drop.
¡ Rank
Ranking is based on price only. Your rank for each line item is displayed and updated instantly as new bids are received.
¡ My Bid
Your last bid is listed for each line item for your reference.
¡ Best Bid
The best bid received so far is listed for each line item for your reference.
¡ Next Valid Bid
The next valid bid, based on the bid decrement criteria set by the purchaser, is listed for your reference. Any bid you submit must be equal to or lesser than the next valid bid.
¡ Price
Enter your bids in the Price field of the relevant line items. You can enter one or more line item bids before submitting your overall bid. To check your total bid price, click Calculation (for more information, see the Calculation section below). The system will generate a confirmation message once you submit your bid. This message will also contain your total bid price and ask if you wish to continue. Once you have completed your bid submission, it cannot be undone.
· Line item details
¡ Details
Select a line item from the table and click Details to display the details for that line item.
¡ History
Select a line item from the table and click History to display your bidding history for that line item.
¡ Charts
Select a line item from the table and click Charts to display the available charts for that line item. Double-click on a chart to open it in a separate window. You can open multiple chart windows this way and each remains open until you close it manually. This enables you to monitor multiple line items, for example.
Bids
This line graph tracks the bid price for the selected line item. The bid price is represented on the y-axis; one minute time intervals are represented along the x-axis.
¡ Calculation
Click Calculation to display the calculated total price of your bid before submitting it. The calculated bid price is the sum of the total bid prices for all line items. The entered bid price is per unit which means that you have to multiply that figure by the total quantity for the line item in order to reach the total bid price. The bid calculator does this for you and takes it one step further by also adding up the total bid prices across all line items.
You are bidding on three items in a live auction:
· 500 notebook PCs, for which you enter a bid of $200 each.
· 1000 hours of IT services, for which you enter a bid of $125 per hour.
· 200 cases of writable CDs, for which you enter a bid of $10 per case.
Before submitting this bid, you click Calculation to check your overall bid price.
(500 x 200) + (1000 x 125) + (200 x 10) = $227,000 total bid price
Communication Data
· A connection status indicator lets you know whether or not the purchaser is currently online and monitoring the auction.
· Chat and system messages
Both chat and system messages are displayed in the same area. You can select which messages to display as well as whether or not to display a timestamp with each message.
See also: