Buying Groups

The lead buyer is the individual bidder placing the highest bid at the close of the auction

Before the Auction

  • Forming the buying group:  The lead buyer organizing the buying group is responsible for communicating with each additional buyer in the group about which lot(s) to bid on, pricing and how to split to boxes amongst the group.
  • Agreeing to the bidder agreement:  A bidder’s agreement will be sent to each company that has registered to bid in the ACE auctions.  Bidding at the ACE auctions represents a contract to purchase the coffee.  Your participation in the ACE auctions indicates you have reviewed and agreed to the terms and conditions of purchase, payment and shipment in the bidder agreement for the respective ACE auction that you purchase any lot.
  • Sharing the bidder agreement with each member of your bidding group:  The lead bidder is required to share the specific bidder agreement for each auction and obtain each additional buyers’ acceptance and approval.
  • Entering the auction:  In order to bid in the ACE auctions, the individual bidder entering the auction is required to accept the terms and conditions of the bidder agreement.

After The Auction

  • Financial responsibility:  The individual bidder placing the highest bid at the close of the auction is responsible for the financial payment to the exporter of the entire lot. Individual bids once accepted by the auction software, may not be revoked or withdrawn.  Should a buyer default on payment legal remedies will be undertaken.  If for any reason the additional buyers are not able to make payment, the lead buyer will be held liable for their share of the payment regardless of group purchase.
  • Organizational responsibility:  The individual winning bidder will receive a winning bidder email with important logistical and payment information.  The lead bidder is responsible to share the winning bidder email with each member of their buying group.  The lead bidder is responsible to share with ACE and the designated exporter the contact information for each additional bidder with breakdown of how the group will be splitting the lot.
  • Facilitating communication: It is required that the lead bidder in the auction to collaborate with the exporter facilitating communication and expediting the payment process if any setbacks are encountered regarding payment or complications in communicating with other buyers from the group.

Additional Buyer Responsibilities

  • Requesting and accepting the bidder agreement:  Each additional buyer is required to have reviewed and agreed to the terms and conditions of purchase, payment and shipment in the bidder agreement for the respective ACE auction that you purchase any lot with your bidding group.
  • Financial responsibility:  The exporter may approve multiple payments and multiple shipping instructions for a single lot but only if the successful bidder requests the approval and submits all of the shipping instructions within 7 days of the auction.  If a lot is split and sent to more than one destination the additional buyers will be responsible for any additional costs or fees associated with that export.  In many auctions all additional buyers of said lot will be charged with an extra fee per shipment to cover the additional administrative costs associated with the export depending on the transport mode.  The additional buyer is required to review the bidder agreement for the specific auction they plan to purchase an auction lot.  An example of additional administrative costs could be…Air cargo: $200-300 USD or Sea freight: $350-500 USD.