B2B tenders and online requests for quotation: how to get competing offers from suppliers

Is Markonex a tender platform?

No. Markonex has no open-cry auctions, timed reverse auctions or automatic award to the lowest price. The buyer publishes an RFQ, receives offers from several suppliers and decides who to negotiate with and who gets the order, based on price, lead time, terms and the company profile.

For many companies this is in fact the result they look for when they say "B2B tender", "building materials tender" or "product tender": competing, comparable offers for the same need, from suppliers they did not know yet.

How does an online request for quotation work on Markonex?

You publish an RFQ with a single product or a list of up to 200 lines, each with its quantity. You write the list, paste it as text or upload it from a photo or a PDF, Word or Excel file, and AI extracts the lines, which you check before publishing. The request stays active for 30 days by default, or until the date you choose.

The platform automatically finds matching suppliers by the meaning of the request, not just keywords, and suppliers following that type of request are notified in the app, by push or by email. If you want an offer from a specific company, you send it a direct price request with "Request price", which is not published on the marketplace.

How do you compare competing offers and choose the supplier?

All offers received on the same request appear in one place. On a multi-line request, suppliers quote per line, and the comparison shows the offers on each line, so you can award lines to different suppliers: for example, cement from a manufacturer and rebar from a distributor.

You negotiate separately with each supplier, in up to 20 rounds, with messages and attached documents. Every round shows all the terms, and whatever changed since the previous round is highlighted. An offer that is not finalised expires after 30 days, and the party expected to reply gets reminders.

Private tender by email, online RFQ or public procurement: what is the difference?

The three options answer different situations, and the choice depends on who is buying and which rules apply.

• Private tender by email: you send the specification to suppliers you know and compare the answers in a spreadsheet. It reaches only the suppliers you already know, and company checks and negotiation history are manual.
• Online RFQ on Markonex: the request also reaches new suppliers, automatically matched and ANAF-verified, offers are compared line by line, and negotiation, agreement and contract stay in one place.
• Public procurement: public authorities and institutions buy through the electronic public procurement system, following the procedures set by law. Markonex is not a public procurement platform and cannot be used for such procedures.

How do you check bidders and how is the deal concluded?

Each bidder's profile shows the data taken from ANAF by CUI, such as the legal name, CAEN code, VAT and e-Factura status, plus the public financial statements. Companies are then also verified by the Markonex team based on documents; accepting an offer, the agreement and the contract require both companies to be verified by the platform.

When you choose the offer, one party accepts it and the other confirms the agreement. Each party chooses whether it goes with or without a contract; the contract is generated as a PDF from the company template or uploaded, and accepted by both parties. From the agreement, a platform-verified seller can issue the invoice and send it to e-Factura.

Examples of use

The scenarios below show how an RFQ replaces a private tender. These are illustrative examples, not cases of real customers.

• A general contractor publishes a 40-line RFQ for a site's building materials, compares the offers on each line and awards concrete, rebar and insulation to three different suppliers.
• A factory requests quotes for a year of cardboard packaging, negotiates price and lead time with two manufacturers and concludes the agreement with a contract generated from a template.
• A retail chain requests quotes for IT equipment for its new locations and checks the bidders' public financial statements before accepting an offer.
• A transport company publishes an RFQ for courier services and compares the offers received from several courier companies.

Can you run the RFQ from ChatGPT, Claude or with an AI agent?

Yes, if your company is verified by the platform. Through the Markonex MCP server you connect ChatGPT or Claude to your company account and type, for example, "create an RFQ from this bill of quantities" or "compare the offers I received line by line"; publishing and awarding lines run only after you confirm. A Markonex AI agent can produce, on a schedule, the report of offers received and open negotiations, and every commercial action it prepares waits for a colleague's approval.

What does Markonex not do?

Markonex does not run tenders or reverse auctions, does not award orders automatically, is not a public procurement platform, does not process payments, does not deliver goods and is not a party to contracts between companies. The decision, payment and delivery stay between buyer and supplier, under their agreement and, if needed, their contract.