Seller Guidance v4.pdf

Department of Financial Management 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 6th Floor

Long Beach, CA 90802

(562) 570-6425

Long Beach Buys User Guide: Submitting a Quote

This guide is designed to enhance the user experience on Long Beach Buys by providing detailed guidance on process of submitting a response to a contract opportunity. It aims to address frequently asked questions and streamline the submittal process, ensuring users have all the necessary information they need to navigate the system effectively.

USER ROLES

There are two roles for users in Long Beach Buys:

• Seller – this role allows vendors to interact with the City’s bid solicitations, allowing users to review bid details, download bid attachments, and ultimately create and submit a quote.

• Seller Administrator – this is designated for administrative maintenance of the organization’s account. Any piece of information provided during registration, with the exception of a user’s Login ID, can be updated via the Seller Administrator role.

Please note: The two roles have different homepages. The Seller Administrator homepage does not allow user to view, engage with, or submit a response to a bid solicitation. Please reference the image below detailing how to change roles in the system.

LOCATING THE BID SOLICITATION – OPTION 1

1. Log into Long Beach Buys

2. Click Bids Tab as shown below:

3. Under the section, Open Bids locate the Bid Solicitation number. The Bid Solicitation number is provided in the email sent by Long Beach Buys or can be found on the ‘Open Bids’ page linked on the homepage.

4. Click Create Quote (Located at the bottom of the Bid summary tab)

5. Click Follow and Yes on the Acknowledge Receipt and View Solicitation screen.

• Clicking Yes opts you into being notified when an amendment occurs against the document.

• If an amendment occurs, the user who acknowledges receipt of the Bid Solicitation is emailed that a change occurred and needs to log into the system and locate the Bid Solicitation to view the change.

• The page refreshes and will be directed to the Create a Quote.

https://longbeachbuys.buyspeed.com/bso/view/login/login.xhtml

LOCATING THE BID SOLICITATION – OPTION 2

1. Click the Settings icon

2. Click Advanced Search

3. Click Bids in the Document Type field

4. Enter the Bid Solicitation number in the Bid # field

• The Bid Solicitation number is provided in the email sent by Long Beach Buys

5. Click Find it

6. Click the Bid Solicitation number

7. Click Yes on the Acknowledge Receipt and View Solicitation screen

• This opts you into being notified when there is an amendment to the document.

• You're directed to the Bid Solicitation screen

8. Click Create Quote – page will refresh, and you will be directed to the General tab of the Quote

SUBMITTING THE QUOTE

Validation Errors

Upon creating a quote, validation errors will appear. All red validation error messages that appear will need to be addressed before submitting the quote. Common validation errors include:

• Terms & Conditions is not acknowledged

• Please attach all required attachment(s) before submitting Quote

Line-Item Tab

Pricing will only be provided in the line-item tab if the solicitation in question is an Invitation to Bid (ITB). For all other types of solicitations (RFPs, RFQs, EOI) the line-item tab provides a description of the opportunity and includes all associated commodity codes in order to notify potential vendors.

For ITBs the tab will capture the vendor’s response (e.g., pricing) for each Item on the Bid Solicitation.

1. Enter the price for each Item being bided against in the Unit Cost field

2. Sellers can export all the Items by clicking the Export button located at the bottom of the screen, enter their Price for each Item under the Unit Cost column and removing “Y” under the No Bid column, save the CSV File to their computer, then upload it by clicking the Upload button, and selecting the file from their computer.

3. Items not being bided against, leave the Unit Cost as $0

4. Click Save & Continue

Terms and Conditions Tab

The Terms & Conditions, which are established by the City Attorney and Risk Manager, and all other Bid Attachments are shown on this tab. Be sure to read and understand the terms and conditions associated with the Bid Solicitation before accepting.

1. Review materials. Any attachment shown on the tab may be downloaded by the Seller.

2. The Seller has the option to accept or to not accept the Terms & Conditions of the Bid.

3. Click Yes

4. Click Save & Continue

5. Click the Attachments tab

Attachment Tab

Allows the Seller to capture any supporting documentation related to their Quote that may be helpful to the evaluators. Required Attachments are used to ensure that vendors provide all mandatory attachments at the time of submittal, to ensure all proposers are responsive. All Required Attachments must be uploaded for the attachment validation error to be addressed.

1. Click on ‘Required Upload’ then Click Choose File (Google Chrome) or Click Browse (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox), Select the file, Click Open, Complete the fields – The Seller may update the Name for the attachment and enter a description that displays to the Organization user. Click Save & Exit – Repeat previous steps to add additional attachments.

• Examples include proposal documents, product specifications, warranty documents and completed/signed forms required by the Bid Solicitation.

Sellers have the option to make attachments confidential from the public. Documents containing sensitive information, such as tax information, would be deemed confidential.

2. Click Confidential associated with the document

3. Click Save & Continue

Sellers also have the option to delete an attachment:

1. Click Delete associated with the document

2. Click Save & Continue

Summary Tab

Allows the Seller to review all the information entered on the previous tabs prior to submitting the Quote. Once the Quote is submitted, the Seller cannot edit the document; however, the Seller may withdraw the Quote (for editing and resubmission) at any time before the Bid Opening Date and Time.

1. Click Submit Quote

2. Click OK in the popup window confirming you want to submit your Quote. The screen refreshes, leaving you on the Summary tab. The status changes to Submitted – The Quote is officially submitted ending the process.