How Ebbrate works: a reverse auction for your freight

In an ordinary auction buyers bid up the price of one item. In a reverse auction it runs the other way: one buyer describes what it needs, and sellers bid down to win the job. Governments and large companies buy this way; Ebbrate brings the reverse auction to a single shipment of freight.

The point is competition on a like-for-like job. Every carrier prices the same description, so the bids can be compared line by line.

1. You post the shipment: the route, the cargo line by line, the ready date, the terms such as DDP, who handles customs, and any services the price must include. The form shows a guide price from past auctions on the lane once there are enough of them.
2. Verified carriers on that lane bid. Each new bid must beat the best one by a set step, so prices only go down. Carriers can ask questions, and every answer is shown to all of them.
3. Bidding runs for a set number of business hours where the carriers are, shown as a countdown. Then you have a set window to choose. The exact figures are on the marketplace rules.
4. You compare bids by price, transit time and carrier score. Each bid is split by leg, with duty on its own line and anything left out stated.
5. You accept one bid, or none. Accepting needs a verified account; choosing none costs nothing.
6. You hand over the contacts and documents, the carrier reports each step as it happens, and you can claim within the window after delivery if something is wrong.

Only carriers a person has verified: company registration, operating licence and insurance certificate. A carrier bids only on lanes it has added, and its cargo insurance must cover the value you declare. Delivering duty paid or into Amazon needs a reviewer’s approval on each lane. Every company in a shipment is screened against US sanctions and export-control lists.

Nothing to post, nothing to bid on, nothing to choose. You pay the price you accept. The carrier pays Ebbrate a share of the service part of its price, never of the duty; the full rate card is on the marketplace rules.

An instant freight quote is a price read from rates a forwarder has already published for a lane. Freightos, for example, shows instant quotes from the rates of more than 30 vetted forwarders. The price is there at once, but it is a list price for typical cargo, set before anyone saw your shipment.

A reverse auction takes hours instead of minutes, and in return carriers price your actual shipment against each other. The two fit different jobs:

• Instant quote: a standard lane and standard cargo, and you need to book today.
• Reverse auction: you can wait a business day, the cargo or the customs set-up is not standard, you want duty paid with the duty shown, or you want carriers to compete for the job.

• One description for every bidder, and answers to questions shown to all.
• Changes to the cargo while bidding is open are sent to every bidder, and bids on the old details can no longer be accepted.
• No charges added after the award unless you accept them, with the reason and the figures.
• A public score for every carrier, built from its deliveries, reports and documents on the platform.

Accept none. Nothing is booked and nothing is owed. You can post the shipment again with other dates or terms, or change the cargo while bidding is still open. See Can I change a shipment after posting it?.