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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution - 2012-R0059 - Contract - Rene Bates Auctioneers Inc.- Online Auction Services - 02/09/2012Resolution No. 2012-80059 February 9, 2012 Item No. 5.3 RESOLUTION BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK: THAT the Mayor of the City of Lubbock is hereby authorized and directed to execute for and on behalf of the City of Lubbock, Contract No. 9908 for on line auction services, by and between the City of Lubbock and Rene Bates Auctioneers, Inc. of McKinney, Texas, and related documents. Said Contract is attached hereto and incorporated in this resolution as if fully set forth herein and shall be included in the minutes of the City Council. Passed by the City Council on February 9, 2012 � A?�r � • •" ATTEST: Rebe ca Garza, City Secretary APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: Andy B trcham, Chief Financial Officer APPROVED AS TO FORM: Chad Weaver, Assistant City Attorney vw:ccdocs/RES.Contract-Rene Bates Auctioneers, Inc. November 11, 2011 Resolution No. 2012—R0059 CONTRACT 9908 City of Lubbock, TX On -Line Auctions Services RFP 11 -9908 -MA This Service Agreement (this "Agreement") is entered into as of the 9th of February 2012, ("Effective Date") by and between Rene Bates Auctioneers, Inc. (the Contractor), and the City of Lubbock (the "City"). RECITALS WHEREAS, the City has issued a Request for Proposals 11 -9908 -MA, On -Line Auction Services WHEREAS, the proposal submitted by the Contractor has been selected as the proposal which best meets the needs of the City for this service; and WHEREAS, Contractor desires to perform as an independent contractor to provide On -Line Auction Services upon terms and conditions maintained in this Agreement; and NOW THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein, the City and Contractor agree as follows: City and Contractor acknowledge the Agreement consists of the following exhibits which are attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, listed in their order of priority in the event of inconsistent or contradictory provisions: 1. This Agreement 2. Exhibit A — General Requirements 3. Exhibit B — Fee Schedule 4. Exhibit C — Insurance 5, Exhibit D — Proposal Scope of Work Contractor shall provide the services that are specified in Exhibit A. The Contractor shall comply with all the applicable requirements set forth in Exhibit B, C, and D attached hereto. Article 1 Services 1.1 Contractor agrees to perform services for the City that are specified under the General Requirements set forth in Exhibit A. The City agrees to pay for the amounts stated in Exhibit B, to Contractor for performing services. 1.2 Contractor shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to render Services under this Agreement in a professional and business -like manner and in accordance with the standards and practices recognized in the industry. Nonappropriation clause. All funds for payment by the City under this Agreement are subject to the availability of an annual appropriation for this purpose by the City. In the event of nonappropriation of funds by the City Council of the City of Lubbock for the goods or services provided under the Agreement, the City will terminate the Agreement, without termination charge or other liability, on the last day of the then -current fiscal year or when the appropriation made for the then -current year for the goods or services Q:PurchaseBid Documents/11-9908-MA Contract covered by this Agreement is spent, whichever event occurs first. If at any time funds are not appropriated for the continuance of this Agreement, cancellation shall be accepted by the contractor on thirty (30) days prior written notice, but failure to give such notice shall be of no effect and the City shall not be obligated under this Agreement beyond the date of termination. Article 2 Miscellaneous: 2.1 This Agreement is made in the State of Texas and shall for all purposes be construed in accordance with the laws of said State, without reference to choice of law provisions. 2.2 This Agreement is performable in, and venue of any action related or pertaining to this Agreement shall lie in, Lubbock, Texas. 2.3 This Agreement and its Exhibits contains the entire agreement between the City and Contractor and supersedes any and all previous agreements, written or oral, between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof. No amendment or modification of the terms of this Agreement shall be binding upon the parties unless reduced to writing and signed by both parties. 2.4 This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original. 2.5 In the event any provision of this Agreement is held illegal or invalid, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby. 2.6 The waiver of a breach of any provision of this Agreement by any parties or the failure of any parties otherwise to insist upon strict performance of any provision hereof shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent breach or of any subsequent failure to perform. 2.7 This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective heirs, representatives and successors and may be assigned by Contractor or the City to any successor only on the written approval of the other party. 2.8 All claims, disputes, and other matters in question between the Parties arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach thereof, shall be formally discussed and negotiated between the Parties for resolution. In the event that the Parties are unable to resolve the claims, disputes, or other matters in question within thirty (30) days of written notification from the aggrieved Party to the other Party, the aggrieved Party shall be free to pursue all remedies available at law or in equity. 29 At any time during the term of the contract, or thereafter, the City, or a duly authorized audit representative of the City or the State of Texas, at its expense and at reasonable times, reserves the right to audit Contractor's records and books relevant to all services provided to the City under this Contract. In the event such an audit by the City reveals any errors or overpayments by the City, Contractor shall refund the City the full amount of such overpayments within thirty (30) days of such audit findings, or the City, at its option, reserves the right to deduct such amounts owing the City from any payments due Contractor. Q:PurchaseBid Documents/I 1 -9908 -MA Contract CITY OF LUBBOCK, TX Tom Martin, Mayor ATTEST Rebe a Garza, City Secretary APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: Andy Burcham, Chief Financial Officer APP AS T FORM: ''lam` -� Chad Weaver, Assistant City Attorney Q:Purehase/Bid Documents/1 1 -9908 -MA Contract Sheryl Bates, President City o1 Lubbock, Texas On -Line Auction Services RFP 11 -9908 -MA L GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 1. INTENT Resolution No. 2012--R0059 EXHIBIT A a) The City of Lubbock (hereinafter called "City") is seeping proposals from interested firms and individuals, (hereinafter called "Offeror") for Online Auctioneer Services. b) Offerors are invited to submit demonstrated competence and qualifications of their firm for providing these services. c) The information contained within this document is intended to provide interested firms with the requirements and criteria that will be used to make the selection. 2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION a) The City desires to contract with a licensed and experienced individuals or firms to provide online auctions for the disposition of obsolete equipment and/or materials, light duty vehicles and trucks. Past auction sales have included such items as vehicles, trucks, furniture, maintenance and heavy equipment and obsolete supplies and abandoned police seized property. The City also desires to contract with a licensed and experienced auctioneer to auction heavy duty vehicles, equipment and trucks. Services will be utilized on an as -needed basis. Equipment and materials will be offered in "as -is" condition. b) Offerors are invited to submit demonstrated competence and qualifications of their firm for providing these services. c) The information contained within this document is intended to provide interested firms with the requirements and criteria that will be used to make the selection. 3. SCOPE OF SERVICES a) This specification includes the furnishing of all labor, materials, software, equipment, location, auctioneer to performance of all operations required to furnish auction services. The intent of the specifications is to describe, services for best performance. b) Contracts shall be utilized on an as needed, if needed, basis and the City reserves the right to dispose of items by any method it deems necessary in accordance with applicable Local, State and Federal laws. c) The City also reserves the right to add additional vehicle types or other items to future auctions. d) The City also reserves the right to establish minimum bid, accept or reject any and all bids, and withdraw the property at any time prior to the announcement of the completion of the sale by the auctioneer. e) As a minimum, The City of Lubbock auctions will have the following Terms and Conditions posted on all auctions. Q:Purchase/Bid Documents/11-9906-MA Contract 4. ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES a) All materials, equipment and/or vehicles sold must be removed by appointment only within THIRITY calendar days after the date and time of the items being auctioned, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. After the IOs' calendar day, a $25 per day, per item storage fee will be charged to the buyer. b) The City DOES NOT provide transportation or loading services for buyers to remove their merchandise. Any and all methods of lifting, towing, and hauling, as well as all other methods or requirements for the removal and transport of the materials, equipment and/or vehicles, is the sole responsibility or the buyer. c) TAXES — All sales are subject to local sales tax laws. All sales are taxable unless buyer presents a valid sales tax exemption certificate prior to the scheduled auction or at the time of final payment. Any chartered nonprofit religious, charitable, scientific or educational institution, governmental agency or other nonprofit organization must provide a copy of their certificate of exemption, for the City's records, to be exempt from paying taxes, False numbers will be reported to the Comptroller of the State of Texas. d) DESPITE EFFORTS TO AVOID WITHDRAWAL OF ITEMS FROM THE SALE LIST AFTER THEY ARE ADVERTISED, IT MAY SOMETIMES BE NECESSARY FOR THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS TO "PULL" OR REMOVE ITEMS FROM THE AUCTION. THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REMOVE ALL OR ANY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FROM ANY SALE WHETHER LISTED ON THE ONLIINE AUCTION SITE, ADVERTISED IN OR ON ANY MEDIA [NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, TELEVISION, INTERNET, ETC.] OR PICTURED IN A BROCHURE. e) Auction Firm will be responsible for including appropriate disclosures regarding each item; such as "AS IS, WHERE IS" and mileage not guaranteed or other statements. f) Proposed auctions must support a minimum of two photos of each vehicle, or item. g) Auctions are to be held in "real time," without delays. 5. DUTIES/BEHAVIOR a) The Auctioneer will be aware of not only the duties to be performed as outlined in this RFP, but that the firm, in effect, will be acting as a representative for the City of Lubbock The Auctioneer will maintain a spirit of goodwill, diplomacy and tact. b) The City of Lubbock will be contracting for auctioneering services to be carried out by an auctioneer licensed by the State of Texas. Auctioneer must follow all State of Texas codes, laws and rules. 6. TEST SALES The City MAY, at its own discretion, post auction items with any of the Offerors as a test of their system, customer service, ease of interaction between the Offeror and the City staff, marketing abilities, numbers of bidders and amounts of funds received. Information collected about the afore mentioned items, as well as sales amounts, both net and gross, will be compared to the five years of experience and historical data that the City has collected. This may be done prior to award of the contract and may be part of the evaluation/award process. 7. SOFTWARE The City of Lubbock does NOT intend to purchase auctioneering software at this time. S. REFUNDS OF SALE(S) All merchandise is "AS IS WHERE IS." Under normal circumstances the City of Lubbock will not issue refunds. All transactions are between the bidder and the Auctioneer and will not involve the City of Lubbock or the City of Lubbock's Auction Coordinator. Q:Purctwe/Bid Documents/11-9908-MA Contract 9. COLLECTIONS Offeror shall perform collections services for the City of Lubbock. Proposal shall include all methods of payment currently accepted by the auctioneering company. Offeror shall have responsibility for handling item disputes involving payments, etc. 10. SUBCONTRACTORS a) Offeror must list any subcontractor to be utilized in performance of services herein. For each subcontractor, detail on respective qualifications must be included. b) Offeror shall remain liable for obligations performed by subcontractors to the same extent as if a Offeror's employee had performed such obligations, and for purposes of this agreement such work shall be deemed work performed by Offeror. c) Offeror will provide copies of agreements with all subcontractors within ten (10) days of any request for said agreements by City. 11. TERM OF CONTRACT a) The period of this contract shall be for one year contingent upon City Council approval. This contract may be renewed at the expiration of its term by agreement of both parties. Such renewal may be for (4) four additional one-year periods, if agreeable to all parties for a total contract length of five years. b) Notice of Intent to renew will be given to the Offeror in writing by the City Director of Purchasing and Contract Management, normally 30 days before the expiration date of the current contract. (This notice will not be deemed to commit the City to a contract renewal.) c) This contract shall remain in effect until the expiration date, performance of services ordered, or termination of either parry with a thirty (30) day written notice by either party prior to any cancellation. Such written notice must state the reason for cancellation. Q:Purchase/Bid Documents/11-9908-MA Contract Resolution No. 2012—R0059 EXHIBIT B RFP 11-9908-14A OnhneAucumeaSaviccs V - Auctioneer Services City of Lubbock, Texas RFP 11 -9908 -MA Auctioneering Services Fee Schedule Commission Fee Schedule —'ne offeror shall attach its commission fee schedule that details the percentage commission fee that will be charged after each completed sale on the sale price. n cn cAuu �c M � M Auctioneer or Contractor Name'. Signature of Authorized Auctioneer or Contractor Official: RFP 11moa-MA 21 Resolution No. 2012—R0059 EXHIBIT C INSURANCE SECTION A. Prior to the approval of this contract by the City, the Contractor shall furnish a completed Insurance Certificate to the City, which shall be completed by an agent authorized to bind the named underwriter(s) to the coverages, limits, and termination provisions shown thereon, and which shall furnish and contain all required information referenced or indicated thereon. THE CITY SHALL HAVE NO DUTY TO PAY OR PERFORM UNDER THIS CONTRACT UNTIL SUCH CERTIFICATE SHALL HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO THE CITY. INSURANCE COVERAGE REQUIRED SECTION B. The City reserves the right to review the insurance requirements of this section during the effective period of the contract and to require adjustment of insurance coverages and their limits when deemed necessary and prudent by the City based upon changes in statutory law, court decisions, or the claims history of the industry as well as the Contractor. SECTION C. Subject to the Contractor's right to maintain reasonable deductibles in such amounts as are approved by the City, the Contractor shall obtain and maintain in full force and effect for the duration of this contract, and any extension hereof, at Contractor's sole expense, insurance coverage written by companies approved by the State of Texas and acceptable to the City, in the following type(s) and amount(s): Type Commercial General Liability per Occurrence Endorsements - General Aggregate - Products/Op AGG - Personal & Adv. Injury - Contractual Liability Amount Combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage of $300,000 per occurrence or its equivalent. ADDITIONAL POLICY ENDORSEMENTS The City shall be entitled, upon request, and without expense, to receive copies of the policies and all endorsements thereto and may make any reasonable request for deletion, revision, or modification of particular policy terms, conditions, limitations, or exclusions (except where policy provisions are established by law or regulation binding upon either of the parties hereto or the underwriter of any of such policies). Upon such request by the City, the Contractor shall exercise reasonable efforts to accomplish such changes in policy coverages, and shall pay the cost thereof. REQUIRED PROVISIONS The Contractor agrees that with respect to the above required insurance, all insurance contracts and certificate(s) of insurance will contain and state, in writing, on the certificate or its attachment, the following required provisions: a. Name the City of Lubbock and its officers, employees, and elected representatives as additional insureds, (as the interest of each insured may appear) as to all applicable coverage; b. Provide for 30 days notice to the City for cancellation, nonrenewal, or material change; c. Provide for notice to the City at the address shown below by registered mail; d. Provide that all provisions of this contract concerning liability, duty, and standard of care together with the indemnification provision, shall be underwritten by contractual liability coverage sufficient to include such obligations within applicable policies. e. All copies of the Certificates of Insurance shall reference the project name or proposal number for which the insurance is being supplied. Q:Pun;hasdBid Documents/11-9908-MA Contract NOTICES The Contractor shall notify the City in the event of any change in coverage and shall give such notices not less than 30 days prior the change, which notice must be accompanied by a replacement CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE. All notices shall be given to the City at the following address: Marta Alvarez, Director of Purchasing & Contract Management City of Lubbock 1625 13th Street, Room 204 Lubbock, Texas 79401 SECTION D. Approval, disapproval, or failure to act by the City regarding any insurance supplied by the Contractor shall not relieve the Contractor of full responsibility or liability for damages and accidents as set forth in the contract documents. Neither shall the bankruptcy, insolvency, or denial of liability by the insurance company exonerate the Contractor from liability. Q:Punchasci id Documents/ 11 -9908 -MA Contract Resolution No. 2012-R0059 EXHIBIT D ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES SECTION I ONLINE WEBSITE AND WEBSITE TRAFFIC A. Does the auction website contain the following on the first (index) page or readily available from a "contact" Iink? The name of the company, addresses of the company (street. city, state and zip code) and the phone, and fax number of the company? Our website contains a link from our home page that gives full information on our company including address, phone numbers and State license numbers. The following page is our contact page. When a bidder accesses our home page, they click on the "Contact" link on the tool bar and it immediately brings up the "Contact Us" page. This page contains all information listed above along with a form to email RBAI with any questions or concerns. At the bottom of every page that can be viewed by the public on our website, you will find the information that is displayed at the bottom of the "contact us" page;. Every public page displays, directly below our anniversary seal, our address, phone number, license numbers and email address. EXAMPLE OF CONTACT PAGE FOLLOWING B EAt � A i 1E I EJ I i It Contact Us R en6 Bates Auctioneers, Inc. 4660 County Road 1006 McKinney, TX 75071 Phone: (972) 548-9636 Fax: (972) 542-5495 Business Hours are 6i30 AM to 5:130 PM. Monday — Friday, You may contact us by phone during these hours. Any emails sent to us after 5:00 PM will be answered promptly during the next business day. Thank you. Your name: E-mail address: Subject: Message: .......... Send Comments �uc 5th - 4660 County Road 1006 - McKinney, TX 75071 - (972) 548-9636 AL UC 232: AIR LIC 215: FL LIC ABAU55; IN LIC AU010456113; LA LIC 139: NC UC 5297: OH LIC 57198537789-, WV LIC 367-1 SC LIC 6568 Copyright 1999-2010, Rend Bates Auctioneers, Inc. 4/16/2011 fF` B. Provide documentation of the "hits" or traffic on the auction website. Document the average current number of "hits" per month (for the last twelve months) that the proposed website receives. How do you separate those who just see the first page and then leave, and those who browse use the entire site? Provide the statistics/data on these visitors/users. The average number of "hits" per month for the year 2010 was 30,374,627. Our website received a total of 364,495,529 "hits" for this period. Our website statistics are obtained on a monthly basis directly from our server. It provides us with information such as average number of hits per hour and daily as well as a maximum number of hits per hour and daily. Additional information our statistics provide us is the Top 30 countries represented in our website traffic. We are able to determine how many visitors view other pages in our auction with this same data. Our statistics document the different pages that are visited within our website. Each auction we conduct is posted on its own "unique" page which is then tracked to determine how many visitors were an that page. Each month we can determine the top 50 auction pages that were visited by the public based on this "unique" page setting on our server. When we close an individual auction, we document the following information for that particular auction: Participating Bidders Winning Bidders Page Views for that auction Unique IP addresses for the auction Number of bids for the auction 2010 WEBSITE HITS FOLLOWING C. Provide the number of auctions posted on the proposed website in the last twelve months. Provide information on how many bidders are currently registered with the proposed website. *Distinguish between acture and inactive. *Distinguish between the numbers registered internationally, nationally, and in the State of Texas. We conducted 805 auction events on our website for the calendar year 2010. We define an "auction" as an event that could include as little as one item to an event that could include 500 or more items. The 805 auction events that we conducted in 2010 had more than 26,000 items. If you consider an auction to be one Item, then we had over 26,000 auctions in the last twelve months. Active bidders are defined as those who have put up the $100.00 refundable deposit with Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. These bidders are activated and able to bid on any and all auctions posted on our website. Inactive bidders are those bidders who have completed the registration form but currently do not have the $100.00 refundable deposit up with Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. Many of our bidders activate their accounts for specific auctions only. (A bidder may only want to bid on the City of Lubbock auction. They will send in their deposit for that auction and when the auction has closed, they will request their deposit back and they will remain deactivated until their next request to be activated). We have bidders (usually individuals) who choose to bid in their geographic location only and we activate and deactivate bidders on a daily basis for this reason. On average, we activate approximately 50-100 bidders per week. We currently have 40,100 registered bidders on our website, www.renebates.com. Of the 40,100 registered bidders, approximately 55% or 22,055 are active to bid. Of the 40,000+ registered bidders on our website, they are broken down as follows: International Bidders - Approximately 1,200 National Bidders - Approximately 8,825 State of Texas - Approximately 30,075 t D. Describe the software capabilities and functionality available to the 1. HTTP address: www.renebates.com 2. Direct access is available at all times by accessing www.renebates.com 3. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has a dedicated web site to our online and live auctions hosted at the Rackspace Managed Hosting in San Antonio, Texas. Rackspace is one the largest web hosting companies in the United States and they utilize the latest technologies and have an experienced and dedicated staff available for technical issues 24/7 for all their clients. 4. Our website is hosted by Rackspace Managed Hosting in San Antonio, Texas. but all information, maintenance, and handling of the website is done by employees of Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. S. We offer expert technical support to bidders and selling entities, as well as 24- hour site monitoring, through our ISP, allowing for a 99.9% uptime guarantee. All servers and connectivity hardware are housed in a secure building with fully redundant power and multiple on premises backup generators. Our high performance, dedicated and redundant backbone network connections enable us to offer unlimited bandwidth, providing unlimited users full access to your auction. We accomplish this through multiple, triple redundant OC -3 connections via UUNET, MCI and GTE International network services. These connections allow for scalable bandwidth to make sure all bids are accepted at the closing of each item without delay, which ensures that the selling entity will receive the highest possible selling price. Through our firewall network administrator and traffic shaping abilities, we are able to protect against almost all types of Denial of Service attack, hacking, and Internet saboteurs. Our site also supports Secure Socket Layer (SSL) transaction encryption, allowing bidders to confidently transmit their registration information over the web. 6. Site Statistics include all information required for a complete detail of your entire auction. An example of those Site Statistics include a monthly "hit" volume on our website which is broken down by Hits per Hour, Hits per Day and Maximum and Average flits per Hour and Day. 7. Software Ability and Functions I. We have the ability to add or remove any and/or all auctions items at any time during the online auction process, before the auction closes, at no cost to the seller. Once we receive a request from the City to add or remove an item, we have two dedicated people at RBAI to make those changes and they are done within 24 hours of receipt. 11. We have the ability to add, delete, re -list and/or make any changes to an auction item with no cost to the seller. Once we receive a request from the City to add, delete, re -list or make any changes to an auction item, we have two dedicated people at RBAI to make those changes and they are completed within 24 hours of receipt. Items to be re -listed for sale will be done after coordinating a new auction date with the City. III. We have: the ability and a process in place to block bidders or cancel any bids on any items, being auctioned on, by bidders who have failed to comply with our online Auction's Terms and Conditions. The online auction staff at RBAI is able to block bidders or cancel bids within 5 minutes after receiving the request. We maintain our systems completely in-house and are able to make these changes at a moment's notice. IV. We have the ability to change any and/or all the information on auction items and inform all bidders of the changes to the auction items. If an auction item is changed after bidding has begun on an item, our system emails all bidders on the item to notify them of the changes. At this point, they have the option to change or cancel their bid if they so desire. In addition, if significant changes are made to the item, the change is posted on that item in BOLD CAPS so that any bidders looking at this item know that it has been changed since it was originally posted. V. We have the ability and a process in place to validate all of our online auction bidders. For items III and V, all our registered bidders are required to post a $100.00 refundable deposit before being allowed to make a bid on our system. This deposit ensures that we have valid, serious bidders bidding on your auction items. This also ensures that we have a minimal amount of non payments from our registered bidders. If a registered bidder does not pay for their items within the specified time frame, they forfeit their deposit and are permanently banned from all auctions through Rene' Bates VI. Auctioneers, Inc. Our system automatically invoices all winning bidders within 30 minutes of the time the auction closes. Their invoice includes a Lot number, Lot description, winning bid amount and applicable sales tax, if any. The invoice also gives the winning bidder complete instructions on how to make payment to Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. VII. When an auction item is paid for, a paid e -invoice is sent to both the buyer and the seller showing amount paid, method of payment and the buyer's name. This invoice can be sent to as many different contacts as the seller requests. This invoice is what the buyer uses when he comes to pick up his merchandise and the seller knows that they must have received the email from Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. before releasing any merchandise. VIII. Upgrades are made to our system upon our request on an as needed basis. Upgrades in the past have been a result of our requests to add features that are unique to our auctions. We also consider customer suggestions when adding or upgrading features. "These upgrades are always done in a timely fashion, sometimes same day or others might take longer in order to get the program written for the upgrade and the testing completed. All upgrades are fully tested on a private network before being implemented on the www.renebates.com server. E. Describe how customer feedback (from sellers and buyers) is received, considered and responded to, including typical time frames and ability to request customizations. Our website, www,renebates.com. has a feature where sellers and buyers can contact us through email. These communications are answered on a daily basis. All feedback from both sellers and buyers are cataloged by type and reviewed on at least a monthly basis to determine patterns of any of the feedback. These are then utilized to enhance our system based on the suggestions from sellers and buyers alike. Many of the enhancements made to our system in the past have been a result of direct feedback from our clients. Customer feedback from seller to buyer or vice versa is typically handled by email because the majority of our buyers prefer this method. In addition, we have various phone numbers on each of our buyers for communication via phone or fax. Because RBAI handles all aspects of your online auction, it is not necessary for the City to spend valuable resources in communicating with buyers. We handle this for the City and act as the liaison between the City and the buyers. We consider all customization requests from buyers and sellers as it relates to our auction program. Our computer programmer is available to accommodate any requests as it relates to changes and customizations to our site. F. Describe accounting process and online capabilities, including but not limited to documentation of payment and non-payment by bidders and invoicing. The accounting process begins when the auction has closed and invoices are sent to the buyers. At this point, the process will be different depending on if RBAI collects the money for the City's auction or if the City chooses to collect the money. When RBAI collects the money, payments are sent directly to RBAI in the form of cash, cashier's check or money order. Once payment has been received, the payment is verified against the invoice. If the buyer is claiming Resale or Exempt status, we make sure the buyer has sent in the appropriate form required by the State of Texas. Once this is verified, a Paid Receipt is emailed to the buyer and to the City. At this point, the buyer is able to take their Paid Receipt to the City and pick up their item. Once all proceeds have been collected, your auction is reconciled and payment is sent to the City along with a Recap Letter and additional copies of all reports that were emailed previously to the City when the auction closed. We also reconcile the sales tax collected on your sale and remit those funds to the State Comptroller's office at the end of each month. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE A SALES TAX PERMIT WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS WHICH ALLOWS US TO COLLECT AND REMIT SALES TAX ON YOUR BEHALF. IF YOUR AUCTION COMPANY COLLECTS YOUR AUCTION PROCEEDS, THEY MUST HAVE A VALID SALES TAX PERMIT TO LEGALLY COLLECT THE SALES TAX IN THE STATE OF TEXAS. If the City chooses to collect their funds, we will tailor the payment process to your needs. In that instance, we will email the City a copy of all winning invoices at the same time the buyer receives their copy. The City will use this copy to verify payment when the buyer comes to the City to pay for their item and pick it up. The City will then forward that invoice to RBAI by email, admin@renebates.com , so that we can update our bidder records to indicate when payment was made. (All of our bidders have a history that is updated each time they make a purchase, where they purchased the item and when they paid for the item. This history allows us to manage our bidder database in the event a particular bidder develops a pattern of late payments, complaints, etc.) After the time frame has passed for payments due, RBAI will begin contacting bidders for status of payment. We will keep the City involved and the City will be aware of all communications we have with the bidder. Once all payments have been received by the City, R.BAI will invoice the City for the commission and include a complete set of reports with the invoice. of s-•. G, Describe the various tools and customizations available to the seller in creating auctions, including but not limited to "private" auctions (e.g. law enforcement only), starting prices, minimum bid requirements, bidder deposit requirements, etc. We have various tools and customizations available to the seller. Some of them are: Internal reallocation -- This can be accomplished a couple of different ways. When the City has several internal departments offering items in the same auction, the lot numbers can be assigned to identify a particular consignor (e.g. Police Department would be PD101, PD102; Parks & Recreation would be PR101, PR102, etc.) When this option is used, the accounting reports that are provided to the City will have each department's total broken down separately for use in your internal reallocation. The second way many Cities and Counties have accomplished internal reallocation is by conducting separate auctions for the different departments. In this instance, the auction is specific to that department including City contacts, location of items and removal terms. Some City's prefer this option because it eliminates contacts from one department receiving bidder questions on items that belong to another department. Even though we are very specific when we post auctions with more than one location and one contact, many bidders do not read this and will call the first person on the list. By conducting separate auctions for the departments, this eliminates the confusion issue on the bidder's side. Because online auctions can be conducted at any time with any number of items, it is a very streamlined and simple process for any department to conduct their own auction. Private auctions — We have the capability of conducting private auctions. In the past, we have conducted private auctions when we have sold real estate for municipalities. Because of the value of the real estate, the municipalities wanted to ensure that only serious bidders were allowed to bid on the real estate. They required a larger deposit to bid on the real estate. One instance required a $10,000 deposit and another had required a $100,000 deposit because of the high value of the real estate being sold. RBAI handled this entire process by posting clearly on the website that only bidders with the "special deposit requirement" would be allowed to bid. Cashier's checks were sent to RBAI for the amount specified and were held by our office until the auction had closed. The cashier's checks were not deposited. After the auction closed, the unsuccessful bidders had their cashier's checks returned to them and then we forwarded, to the title company the City had requested, the cashier's check of the successful bidder. Even though all bidders accessing our site could view this auction, they could not bid on this private auction unless they had met the deposit requirement. This scenario would work the same way for a "law enforcement only" auction and RBAI would verify requirements of the bidders before allowing them to bid on that auction. Minimum Bid Requirements — This is the price that we begin bidding on your items. This price is set by the City along with recommendations from RBAL. Although our system does allow the feature "Minimum Not Met" we have not utilized it in the past. Our experience from conducting thousands of online and live auctions has helped us in assisting the clients we work to set their Starting Price that helps therm obtain the highest result. We have seen time and time again items which are started with a price that is too high will discourage bidding activity. However, if the Starting Price is realistic, the bidding activity will be high on that item and more often than not the item will bring more than the City expected. We know the market on all items we are selling and we have the historical data from thousands of items to validate what an item should be started at and what it will most likely bring. This is where the experience and knowledge of a true auction company, one that has been in this business for 45+ years, benefits the City and results in the best prices for your auction items. Bidder Deposit Requirements — Bidders on our site are required to have a $100.00 refundable deposit in escrow with RBAL The $100.00 has greatly reduced the number of defaults from winning bidders. This ensures that we have only serious, valid bidders on our site. We have found that when a bidder has the deposit at stake, they are much less likely to default on a bid. This deters anyone who is attempting to hurt the integrity of your auction by placing false bids or high bids that they have no intent to pay for. Any bidder that does not pay for their auction item forfeits their $100.00 deposit and they are banned from any future online or live auctions that R.BAI conducts. Ability to Copy Previous Auctions — All auctions conducted through our website are archived on our server, in addition to the copy retained in our files (both paper and CD- ROM). Auctions can be recreated at any time if the City makes the request. in addition, once we have conducted an online auction for the City, the static information contained on the City's "Title page" is kept on the City's dedicated workspace on our server to be utilized for future auctions. This information can be changed or updated as necessary at a moment's notice. 11. Describe the various tools available to the bidder in participating in auctions, including but not limited to, email notifications, proxy bidding., identity protections, dvnamic closing, etc. Email notifications —Bidders who have signed up to receive email notifications are sent an email once a week regarding all auctions that have been posted that week as well as any auctions closing the next week. When a bidder places a bid on an auction item, they are automatically sent an outbid notice from our system in the event someone places a bid greater than theirs. This is done instantly from our system and gives the bidder peace of mind that they do not have to continually watch the auction to see if they have been outbid. RBAI will notify them in the event they are outbid and this gives them the opportunity to go back in and place another bid. When a bidder places a bid on an item, the system will instantly tell them if they are the high bidder or if there is a bid equal to or greater than their bid amount. Proxy Bidding — We have a Maximum laid feature that allows bidders to place the highest bid they are willing to pay for an item. The system will then automatically place bids for this bidder up to their Maximum Bid amount. These automatic bids will be placed in increments set for that particular item and will only be utilized in the event it is necessary. If a bidder's Maximum Bid amount is exceeded by another bidder, they will be notified by email that they have been outbid and will have the opportunity to place another bid, if they so desire. Our bidders are very comfortable with the feature in that allows the freedom to set their maximum price and not worry about missing any bids if they are away from the computer. The security of this feature does not allow any bidder to see the Maximum Bid of anyone else and under no circumstances does RBAI share this information with any bidder. identity Protection — All of our bidder's identity is protected with the anonymity of a Bidder Number. The Bidder Number is the only identifying feature that anyone can see on our website. All other information, such as name, address, phone numbers, etc, is used exclusively by RBAI. All customer data on our server is encrypted and all customer information to and from our server is handled using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connections. Dynamic Closing — Also known as auto -extend or extended bidding. Our system supports extended bidding. In the event any item receives a bid within 5 minutes of its set closing time, it will automatically be extended for an additional 5 minutes. if another bid is placed on that item at any time during that extended period, the item will automatically extend for another 5 minutes. This will continue until there has been no activity for 5 minutes. When an item has gone into extended bidding, there will be an indication on the item that it has extended and will show how many minutes remain in the extended bidding. Bidder Updates - Active bidders are able to update their personal information via a secure website ^d hours a day and view current bidding activity also. IFI. Describe what reporting capabilities are available to the seller. The following reports are provided to the Seller at the conclusion of each auction. In addition, these reports can be obtained by the Seller directly from our website by accessing our archives, which will be provided to each Seller upon their request. The "Auction Totals" page shows the following: a. Number of Items in auction b. Items with bids c. Standard bids d. Maximum bids e. Total bids f. Current total (final auction results) The Title Page details the following: a. Name of Entity b. Date and Time of Auction c. Location of auction d. Highlights of items being; sold e. Categories of items included in auction f. Notes regarding auction including inspection dates and times, contact persons, staggered ending explanation g. Additional terms of auction including removal terms, information regarding sales tax, information on how title work is handled and statement regarding $25.00 storage fee h. Contact information for Rene' Bates Auctioneers Inc. The Auction. Results report includes: a. Item or Lot Number b. Full description of item being sold along with all disclosures added by Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. c. Final Sales Price d. Winning; Bidder Number e. Also included on this report on the first page at the top right is the name of the selling entity and date and time of closing of the auction. A "Paid Receipt" is sent to the Seller when payment as been received. The information that will always be found on a paid receipt is: a. It will always be sent from a @ renebates.com email address. b. It will have the distribution list that has been given to us by the Seller c. The Subject Linc will state "Paid Receipt -- Bidder No. ####" d. It will state "Paid Receipt" again in the body of the email, list the name of the selling entity and the internal sale number we utilize. e. The receipt will then show "Paid", the dollar amount received and what form of payment was received (i.e. cash, cashier's check, money order, wire transfer) f. The Bidder's number, name, address and phone numbers will be listed next. g. The items that were purchased will be listed with their item number and full description. h. The Taxable and Non -Taxable Totals will be showing. if tax is paid, it will reflect the amount paid. If tax is not being paid, it will show either "Resale" or "Exempt" where the tax should be. i. The Removal Terms will be on the final paid receipt along with any other pertinent information the selling entity has given us. j. These paid receipts are sent to the selling entity and to the winning bidder. The winning bidder uses the receipt to pick up their winning items from the selling entity. THESE REPORTS ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THE FOLLOWING FORMATS FOR THE FOLLOWING TIME PERIODS: Your Auction Totals page and Title Page can be obtained from Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. at any time by requesting them. They will be mailed to you upon completion of your auction and they can be emailed, if requested and will be available for a minimum of three years. The Auction Results will also be mailed upon completion of the auction and can be emailed also. Your auction results are archived on our website indefinitely and can be pulled up at any time by searching our history function for your auction. In the event any of your staff wishes to utilize this function, simply call our office and we will provide the instructions for our archived auction section. Your auction results will be available for three years. The paid receipts can be reproduced (email, mail, fax) at any time if the Seller is in need of another copy for their records and will be available for three years after the date of the auction. All of these reports can be reproduced for the Seller at any time. We have records of all online auctions that we have conducted since 1999 and will be happy to assist with any request of reports needed. SAMPLE REPORTS FOLLOWING ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES SECTION II FEES Discuss and itemize all fees (percentages, buyer premiums, etc.) and any, and ALL costs related to the program (including collections, training, implementation, postage, advertising, etc.) that will be charged to or withheld from the seller (City) and/or buyer, other agencies and vendors and how the fees will be collected. RBAI proposes to conduct online auctions for the City of Lubbock. Texas for a commission of 5% of gross collected sales. It is our understanding that the Online Auctioneer Services will cover the City's heavy equipment, fire trucks, refuse trucks and all other miscellaneous items. Even though vehicles and light trucks are being bid as an option under the Local Auto Auction Services portion of this bid, as always, we would be able to handle them under the online portion if the City so desires. There will be no other fees charged to the City of Lubbock, Texas or the buyers. The total of fees charged will be 5% withheld from the City's gross proceeds as there will be no buyer's fees or premium charged to the buyer's on the City of Lubbock auctions. RBAI will collect all monies for the City of Lubbock. RBAI will remit to the City of Lubbock all funds collected less sales tax collected and commission. There will be no additional charges to the City for the posting of auction items, collecting the auction proceeds, handling all sales tax collection issues and issuing all paid receipts to the buyer. There will be no fees charged to the City for items not sold or items not paid, if any. RBAI will maintain all files pertaining to the auction including all sales tax exemption and resale forms for the State of Texas in order to comply with all state laws as it relates to the collection of sales tax so that the City of Lubbock will not have any responsibility as it relates to sales tax collected by the auctioneer on their auction items. As another option, we would like to make sure the City of Lubbock is aware that they can also use the statewide Buyboard contract and that rate can be negotiated with the City of Lubbock depending on the type of items being sold via that contract. ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES SECTION III SERVICES A. Describe how the Offeror proposes to market the auctions to potential bidders. Provide samples of marketing efforts that have worked effectively in the past attracting new bidders. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has been advertising municipal auctions for over 45 years. We use all types of advertising mediums from newspaper and trade journal ads to our Internet web page and e-mail notifications. We have extensive experience with formulating the correct marketing and advertising strategies to create a successful auction. Many of our clients have retained our services on a repeat basis; some since 1966. We feel that a part of this is a direct result of our advertising efforts bringing major vehicle, equipment and miscellaneous buyers to our auctions. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. will advertise your auction at our expense. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has an in-house advertising agency, R & B Advertising Agency, which will design a custom advertising strategy to tit your auction. R & B Advertising Agency has the (. experience and knowledge of the most current design, layout, and advertising techniques to strategically advertise your auction to give the most exposure to the specific types of desired customers while attracting the potential buyers' interest. Due to the large volume of advertising purchased by Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. I R & B Advertising Agency, we are allowed high - dollar volume discounts making it possible for us to produce more media exposure for the advertising dollar. The fact that Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. is conducting monthly live auctions and hundreds of online auctions per year throughout the United States, R & B Advertising Agency has the experience and expertise to properly advertise your auction in the most advantageous way to produce exposure and, in turn, generate revenue for your auction. The Marketing Plan to be used for auctions includes: • E -Mail • Electronic Mailings • Media • Mail List • Brochures • Advertisements (Trade Journals and Newspapers} • Calendars • Verbal Announcement • Personal Contact A more detailed description of each of these marketing tools/capabilities is as follows: E -Mail and Electronic Mailin s Rene, Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has an e-mail address (auction iformates.eom) which allows customers to contact us regarding brochure requests, auction nformation, mail list addition requests, or any other information. Electronic mailings allow us to quickly announce, advertise and distribute auction information using our global email mail list with just a few clicks of a button. We currently have approximately 500,poo names on our email list as well as over 40,000 registered bidders on our site. OF THE MORE THAN 40,000 REGISTERED BIDDERS, MORE THAN 50% OF THEM ARE "REGULAR BUYERS". THEY ARE ACTIVATED TO BID AND PARTICIPATE REGULARLY IN ONLINE AUCTIONS WHETHER THEY ARE THE SUCCESSFUL BIDDER OR NOT. The email addresses that we have were not bought or retrieved from some random source. These are interested buyers who have registered on our website and requested to be added to our email lists in order to receive notification of auctions. These buyers have the option to add or remove their name at any time. These buyers have the ability to remove their games each and every time an email is sent from RBAL This is done in order to comply with governmental anti - spam regulations. We currently average over 30 million hits per month on our website and we are adding email addresses and registered bidders daily due to our continual national and international advertising. Because we conduct auctions across the United States and are continually adding new locations, the exposure you receive from the new entities buyer's base and our advertising for these new locations will benefit your auction in the increased exposure our website receives. On a weekly basis, we send email announcements to our registered bidders and the email addresses that have registered with us. These announcements are sent based on the type of items the bidder is interested in. if your auction has vehicles, computers or miscellaneous items in it, all bidders who have indicated an interest in those items will be notified that your auction has been posted and they will be notified again the week before your auction closes. Your auction will be listed on the home page of www.renebates.com on a continual basis which receives the benefit of all the traffic on our website. This means that a buyer interested in an auction anywhere in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or Alabama, etc. will also have access to your auction when they access our site. We sell for numerous cities and counties across the State of Texas, Florida, Arizona, Alabama and the United States and any buyer accessing our website for any of these auctions will also see your auction listed there. In addition, the entities that we work for provide a link to www.renebates.com from their own city or county websites. When an individual accesses those numerous websites, they are able to access ours giving them the ability to view and bid on any and all auctions that we have posted. In addition, our web host provider submits our website address, along with 20.30 main keywords to national search engines on a monthly basis to ensure that anyone searching the internet can also pull up a link to our website simply by searching for key phrases such as Vehicles, Auctions, Municipal, Heavy Equipment, Police - Cars, etc. Media Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has vast experience conducting interviews with television correspondents and radio station personnel. We are prepared to discuss any aspect of the auction and the items for sale in either a live or pre-recorded interview environment. However, we will NOT conduct any press conference type interviews with local/any newspapers, television or radio stations without the consent of the Purchasing Manager. Mail List In addition to the 500,000+ names on our email list mentioned below, Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has a hard mailing list of over 35,000 names of proven buyers. This diverse list has been amassed from conducting municipal auctions for over 45 years throughout the United States, past buyers and auction attendees from across the globe, submissions forwarded from city/county mail list requests, and daily telephone and e-mail requests. Our hard mail list (or live auction mail list) is maintained, added to, cross referenced, and backed up on a daily basis. 'These names are coded under one or more of our 70 different coding categories as to the type of items they purchase and the distance each buyer will travel. Our extensive list of reliable buyers will follow your online auction to strengthen the bidder activity of your sales. Our experience has been that we consistently draw national and international bidders to our website, and even if they are not the successful bidder on a piece of surplus inventory, their participation enhances the results of the sale. In addition, we currently have approximately 500,000 names on our email list as well as over 40,000 registered buyers. The names on our entail list are individuals and companies who have signed up through our website and have requested to be on specific mailing lists. Online, they are able to choose from over 35 different lists of interest, i.e, vehicles, equipment, miscellaneous, trucks, tractors, trailers. They are also able to choose their interest geographically and we are able to pull up all bidders in any given state and send emails to there if an auction is being conducted in their home state. Once they are on the email list, they are sent a notice any time an auction is added that includes items they are particularly interested in. Bro� chures When the date is determined for your auction, your name and scheduled auction date is immediately included in every auction calendar Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. distributes. `this calendar is printed on the face of each brochure we mail. 'Because Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. is conducting monthly live auctions and hundreds of online auctions annually, we are distributing many thousands of brochures across the globe with your auction date on the brochure calendar. Depending on the size and tvpe of merchandise that is being sold determines the type of advertising that will be done. Advertisements of Sale We advertise continually in major newspapers across Texas and the United States. They include, but are not limited to: The Dallas Aforning News The Fort Worth Star Telegram The Orlando Sentinel The Houston Chronicle The Odessa American The El Paso Times The Waco Tribune -Herald The Lubbock Avalanche Journal Our advertising strategy for online auctions is different than the strategy for live auctions. Since online auctions tend to be conducted on a more frequent basis, snaking the size of the auction typically smaller, we have found the following to be more effective. We will advertise your online auctions in conjunction with the many other auctions that are being conducted daily on our website. We advertise in trade journals, such as Rock & Dirt and Machinery Trader, just to name a couple. We send out brochures for our live auctions on a monthly basis and we include all online auctions in those brochures, as well. These brochures are sent to our snail list which is broken down geographically and by buyer's interest. This ensures that we reach anyone in your area or those buyers that are interested in the items you are selling, regardless of where they are located. EXAMPLES OF TRADE. JOURNAL ADVERTISING INCLUDE, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: Trade -A -Plane Machinery Trader — All Editions Rock & Dirt — Several examples enclosed Fire Trader Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Our experience in conducting live auctions since 1966 and online auctions since 1999 has helped us in determining the above advertising strategy and fine tuning as we find what works best. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. will handle all advertising for your auction, EXCEPT THE LEGAL ADVERTISING WJ-ITCH YOU ARE REQUIRED TO DO. Verbal and Personal Contact Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. will begin announcing your auction date at each. auction we R conduct prior to your auction as soon as an auction date is determined. Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. always personally contacts proven buyers of the type of vehicles and equipment each auction has. Upon receiving the initial inventory we begin to place phone calls to known buyers of your surplus assets. RBAI will work in conjunction with the Seller to receive Public Service Announcements (PSA) from local news media.. These have been very effective in the past at getting the local community informed and involved in the online auction. The following pages represent samples of the continual advertising that "e place in multiple trade journals and newspapers. SAMPLE OF ADVERTISING POLLOWI STC www.firetirader.com Avg . ..s em. !► '1i f TA ,•.1 -ail: IT"; L `7" Wffi G�- -7- - ONLINE AUCTIONS -,,--EqWpmpnt such as V=qrs. Motor aradetv,WFELip It Tmcks & Inuchmvp owl"O.- Log CPM tot Wh cut 4"M811 Matl "O"M of nw q#1006 Ong Auefomq. EA"TURIED AUC ti 'y or 2003 Boms4 BC772RB dompactor 2001 Catetpillar Da bozer 1973 John. Doere 450B Doieriand more No Text 1EX� LUn-ry Mor\r14LY ONLINE AUCTIONS Leader to Texas County and Municipal auctions sine 1966 Licensed in the State of Texas * Approved Buyboard Vendor * WBE & HUB Certified OEME HOTES INC. RUCTIOMEERS, ma eneha1Ls.1,om Tx LIC ssg Contact us at auction@renebates.com AJ 'INIE CTION WWI U pr ,ming Online Auction. Polk County, T a4 1 ay i Beginning at 10:00 � (ST Selling: 1993 Caterpillar 8260 Compactor, #99fi Caterpillar EL240B Excavator, 1987 Caterpillar 8186 Compactor, 1998 Terex Z7UC Articulated Dump Truck, 1.994 Mack Rolloff Truck, 1993 Mack Rolloff Truck, 1998 Fina Hydroseeder HERE BfTES RUSTIONf ERS. INC. -:r ;� my 4660 Ca 'ON • RdUinney, Texas 75071 - 9-21548-%36 ,,.,,. HOW w1rw.renebates.com rbai(a�renebates.com rx UC 66,1, '`'' `' .. u$, r' �,!�'d VL ;3 f, ti IJL �iS►AI ' BaIC* %{ :t _ , ' �:°i4, y. d7i6. -{ LL{^�_o_—._ = - ... V' "1 7--- '711 1999A me -man Lafr,�-Ace Cvnerptl Pumper , W ,f4, 0 1 - Fire Truck wilhWit"isrsiz5opul". �vo &Mcm pel lar!k. Fzam Rydaulic Mose Rc!M. Honda Er.13MM Oim GeneT-Atm am Quara tic:lts. i fm -1,-aritatl Utrrmcc Ce n M.; Pum Per P. a Truck r.� th V1.116-rcus C9125,0 PumP, L 1.25i Cr.!s. 5n Gaswrr ro!y 11rik. Fv;!-.n PrG NA- GLr.l v.iM Gro-urd Sam. Hose 9021. Hondl E?M�Msx G35 Tcl ?S*111 ft-r.pLr Pre Thick vfiM Wilerrmig cs 12!0 Pump. 1.2510 GM]m Is. SW (WP-31yr T:!!,&L Foam Fre SplEm- M,,Ir&&c 14-3sa R -M. ftd.i V MA ... V' "1 7--- '711 1999A me -man Lafr,�-Ace Cvnerptl Pumper , W ,f4, 0 1 - Fire Truck wilhWit"isrsiz5opul". �vo &Mcm pel lar!k. Fzam Rydaulic Mose Rc!M. Honda Er.13MM Oim GeneT-Atm am Quara tic:lts. i fm -1,-aritatl Utrrmcc Ce n M.; Pum Per P. a Truck r.� th V1.116-rcus C9125,0 PumP, 1.25i Cr.!s. 5n Gaswrr ro!y 11rik. Fv;!-.n PrG NA- GLr.l v.iM Gro-urd Sam. Hose 9021. Hondl E?M�Msx G35 r,,3m air -ft: Upti. 19-31 a Pir -e A"Mm ICTSm.eMArrial V!ed Frc Trucr' .4 ZIP, 1,500 300 G.i;:um Tank. Osan 50 - artzLiq�z wr- � Irr. Ov. . Eec- G4- mcrV Card PMJYma Rvorlm 7, F-:5 La, Y7 R-'' r randB. Describe the Offeror"s plan to minimize the number of buyers who renege on awarded auctions the tools available to the seller if this occurs. We require each bidder to post a $100.00 refundable deposit to ensure that each of our bidders is a valid, qualified bidder. This deposit method has been implemented for the protection and security of each of our bidders, as well as for the protection and security of our sellers. Each bidder knows that all bidders are valid and that they have met the same requirement to be able to bid online. The $100.00 deposit is fully refundable. It activates the bidder's account and, once activated, they can bid on any auction items in all online auctions conducted. In the event that a bidder does not pay for an item, their $100.00 is forfeited and they are banned from all auctions conducted by RBAI, live or online. We have found that the $100.00 refundable deposit has greatly reduced defaults on auction items. With this deposit, the bidders have a stake in their bidding actions and are much fess likely to bid on an item they have no intention of paying for. If a successful bidder has not paid for their item within the 4 days required on our website, RBAI will begin our process with the bidder to secure payment. This is just one more service that we offer to you. The City staff will not be required to do any extensive follow up that may be needed with any late payments. We will keep the City appraised of all communications that we have with the bidder until resolved. If an item ultimately is not paid for, we will report the item at no charge to the City at their discretion. We can also attempt to go to a back-up bidder if the City so desires. This is all done i at no additional cost to the City. a C. Describe the training services that are available to the seller and to the buyers. E ven On When a city begins utilizing online auctionsat can be dlone to ensurie the success training online forms below. The most important thing t auction is to complete the forms on your ainventory Al toutesold as of any disputesaccurately h and uturedetailed over possible. This wilt help keep the City misrepresented items. We encourage you to use the knowledge and experience that we have gained from conducting auctions since 1966 thfand Wenw►1lne auctions help thesince Citygstaff understand the 9. We have learned what to look for and what to watch o importance of describing items accurately and help them recognize problems before they occur. As you can see, the instructional documentation is very limited for r theseller. r. s your auction cAll ompany, it is our fob to make the online auction processy possible and we put them in a you do is provide the information to us o twebs ms You the Cityu want to , are not required to input consistent format and post the auction to your own auction to our website. That is a standard service that we provide to you, We know that the City employees have many other duties and the online auction process should not take n enormous amount of their time. Once your information is sent to us, we will organize it, Post and add any pertinent disclosures to items that are needed. All you need to do is look it over once we have it posted and give us the okay to turn it on for bidding. is no Any City employee will be able to prepare a list of inventory e fmajority of the work on ther an online auction. There auction special training needed because our p p utscompany, not the City. What we will offer to the City staff is the experience and knowledge of a licensed, auction company that has continually conducted liveauctions �donline after 45+ yearsssince in the 1966 and 1999 respectively. You will benefit from auction business and one of the main things we have learned is to make the process simple for the customer. FOR THE SELLER, SAMPLES ATTACHED ARE: How to Conduct an Online Auction Vehicle and Equipment Information Sheet For the buyer, they have tools available on our website to answer any questions they have regarding the bidding process. They are also able to call our office staff for one-on-one guidance on the bidding process if they so desire. How to Bid, Located on our Help titenu at www.renebates. corn Frequently Asked Questions located on our Help Menu at www.renebates.corn Terms & Conditions located on our Help Menu at www.renebates.com D. Describe what types of other support your company provides (e.g,-on call, hotline, on-site emergency assistance, etc.). What are the hours and days of other types of support (7 days/week, 24 hours/day). Distinguish between support available to the seller and support available to the buyers. Our office staff is available Monday — Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. They are available during these hours for any questions or concerns the City might have, as well as the bidders. In addition, the City's auction designee will always be able to reach our staff any time during their working hours. There would be no time when your City staff was at work that they could not reach our office or their Project Manager. The hours listed here are available to the buyers and sellers alike. The City has an emergency contact with their Project Manager and your Project Manager will be available to you 24/7 via the cell phone number given to the appropriate City staff, if requested. Technical support regarding our website is available to RBA124 hours a day, 7 days a week by our web hosting company. Our website is monitored 24/7 for downtime and is corrected immediately if any problems are noted. Bidders are able to contact us during Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM and receive telephone customer service, if they desire. They are also able to contact us through our website 24 hours a day. Bidders who make contact through our website are answered during our normal business hours. ( g. Check, Visa, MasterCard, etc.) E. indicate payment options accepted by the Offeror e. Cash, We accept payment for auction purchases in the form of cash, cashier's check or money order within 4 days of the close of the auction. In addition, we are able to accept wire transfers upon request. For the $100.00 refundable deposit only, we allow our bidders to send us money via Pay Pal. The use of Pay Pal for the payment of the $100.00 refundable deposit allows bidders to remit these funds instantaneously. This is a convenience tool for the bidders who do not want to obtain and mail a cashier's check or money order and also accommodates those bidders that wait until the last minute to decide they want to bid. Pay Pal is a very quick and reliable way for bidders to remit their $100.00 refundable deposit. RBAI has chosen not to accept credit cards as payment for auction purchases. The two main reasons for this decision are the fees associated with credit cards that we do not want to pass on to the buyer (or the City) and the fact that payment by credit card can be charged back and disputed for up to six months after the transaction. Because of the type of merchandise we are selling (City surplus being sold AS -IS, WHERE -15) this would not work for us because in effect, due to the charge back policy on credit cards, we would be giving a six month warranty or guarantee which we absolutely cannot do. I . Describe the collections and All collections for payment are done by Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. Once a successful bidder has been invoiced for their auction purchases, they have four days in which to remit payment to RBAI. Payment is made in the form of cash, cashier's check or money order. Payment can also be made in the form of a wire transfer if the bidder requests that method. Once payment is received, the bidder and the seller is sent a Paid Receipt from RBAI which the bidder will utilize when picking up their items in accordance with the seller's specific terms and conditions. After the four day has passed, the staff at RBAI begins contacting all bidders whose payment has not been received. A standard email is sent to the bidder reminding them of when the payment was due as well as a second copy of the invoice sent to them previously. Each communication sent to the bidder has a deadline of when RBAI expects payment. If the deadline passes with no response, we begin with our second email as well as telephone follow-up. We make every effort to collect on all items sold through the online auction. In the event our collection process is not successful., the bidder will receive a final email notification demanding payment and informing them that their $100.00 refundable deposit will be forfeited and they will be banned from all future auctions if payment is not received by the designated date. RBAI will keep the City informed of all communications between ourselves and the bidders as it relates to the collections procedure. G. Describe the notification process to the buyer and the seller. Buyer — Our principal means of notifying buyers is via email. Buyers are able to access all questions regarding our online auctions on www.renebates.com. Buyers register online, contact us online and bid online. When a buyer is participating in an online auction, they are emailed each time they have been outbid. They are sent email notifications on a weekly basis of all auctions that have been added to our website. When a buyer is the successful bidder, they receive their invoice via email. When they have; paid for their auction items, they receive a paid invoice via email. Initial follow-up is done with the bidders through email. This ensures that we have a track record of all communications and notifications to the bidder. Buyers are also able to contact us by telephone during our business hours. In addition, we consistently make phone contact with our bidders if a phone call is more appropriate depending on the type of question or problem that the bidder may have. If a buyer reaches the collection status, they are contacted by telephone as well as the emails that are sent by our office. Seller — We have found that our sellers prefer to be notified by email as their primary source of notification. Sellers receive their paid receipts by email as a record of their online auction. We also notify sellers by email or by phone if we have any questions regarding; items that are being sold on our website. H. The City may, due to unforeseen circumstances or type of property to be auctioned, require at "on-site" auction take place. its option that an Indicate if your company can provide a physical location within the City limits of Lubbock for an on-site auction. In the event the City of Lubbock requires on "on-site" auction we would be willing and able to conduct this auction but would require that the City provide the location for the auction. Describe the services that would, or would not, be provided to accomplish an on- site auction. In the event that an on-site auction was needed, Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. would provide all services needed to conduct a successful on-site auction. Those services would include, but not be limited to: • Advertising in the form of brochures, newspaper advertising, etc. (See below for fees) Pre -sale setup will include: ✓ Prepare inventory list from items at sale site by referencing list provided by City ✓ Mark all items with lot numbers verifying each item to be sold ✓ Prepare and attach Federal "As -Is" stickers to all vehicles ✓ One day prior to auction date conduct a viewing of inventory to be sold and pre -register any prospective buyers • On the auction date, RBAI will provide: ✓ Auctioneers and Bid Spotters to conduct the sale ✓ Registration Clerks to register all potential buyers ✓ Ticket Writers to record all sales ✓ Computer Personnel to input the sales, invoice buyers and provide complete set of final reports to the City on sale day ✓ Auctioneer will provide public address systems sufficient to provide clear audio transmissions of the auction proceedings and will provide a tape recording of the auction for the City's records Provide information on any changes to the fee structure that would be incurred by holding an on-site auction. The fee structure for an on-site auction would be 10% of gross sales collected, which would cover the additional expense of conducting an on-site auction as well as the additional advertising that would be required. ONLINE AUCTIONEER. SERVICES SECTION IV QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE A. State Offeror's principal place of business and website address. (The website will be viewed by the evaluation staff and its professionalism, ease of use and user friendliness, etc. will be considered in the evaluation.) Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. 4660 County Road 1006 McKinney, Texas 75071 www.renebates.com B. Indicate the number of years the Offeror's online surplus auction program has been in Rene' Bates Auctioneers, Inc. has been in the municipal auction business since 1966. We have been conducting online auctions since 1999. C. A minimum of five (5) sellers references, preferably from government entities similar to the City of Lubbock., Texas. Include the reference's contact name, title, phone number and a brief descrintion of their online auctions. REFERENCES - CLIENT LIST CITY OF ARLINGTON, TEXAS Live Client since 1972; Online Client since 2002; 201 E. Abram St., Suite 800, Arlington, Texas 76004-3231 Contact: Debra K. Twinam, Purchasing Manager, Phone 817.459.6305 Selling Vehicles. Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items CITY OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS Live Client since 1986; Online Client since 2008; P. O. Box 424, Baytown, Texas 77522-0424 Contact: Drew Potts, Purchasing Manager; Phone: 281.420.6525 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items CITY OF WACO, TEXAS t; r Live Client since 1986; Online Client since 2000; p. O. Box 2570, Waco, Texas 76702-2570 Contact: Dennis Russell, Phone 254.750.8064; Fax 254.750.8063 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items DALLAS/FORT FORTH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD, TEXAS Live Client since 1981; Online Client since 1999; p. O. Box 619428, DFW Airport, Texas 75261-9428 Contact: Loyd Renfro, Surplus Sales; Phone 972.574.4740; Fax 972.574.9983 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items, Portable Buildings CITY OF MIDLAND, TEXAS Live Client since 1974; Online Client since 2000; 300 N. Loraine, Midland, Texas 79702 Contact: Mark Phillips, Phone: 432.685.7235 Selling Vehicles. Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items CITY OFDENTON, TEXAS Live Client since 1973; Online Client since 2004; 901-B Texas Street, Deaton, Texas 76201 Contact: Jody Hays, Purchasing, Phone 940.349.7100 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items TARItANT COUNTY, TEXAS Live Client since 1976; Online Client since 2000; 100 E. Weatherford, Suite 303, Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0104 Contact., Jack Beacham, Purchasing Manager, Phone 817.884.1133 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items and Estray Livestock Conducting Live and Online Auctions for Tarrant County COI. LIN COIiNTV, TEXAS Live Client since 1977; Online Client since 2002; 200S. McDonald, Suite 230, 'McKinney, Texas 75069 Contact: Frank Ybarbo, Purchasing Manager Phone 972.548.41.1 l Selling Vehicles. Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items F 71TY OF PLANO, TEXAS Live Client since 1973; Online Client since 2000; 1520 Avenue K, Plano, Texas 75086 Contact: Diane Palmer -Boeck, Purchasing Manager, Phone 972.941.7557 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items CITY OF RICHARDSON, TEXAS Live Client since 1965; Online Client since 2000; 411. W. Arapaho Road, Richardson, Texas 75080 Contact: Pam Kirkland, Purchasing Manager, Phone 972.744.4132 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items CITY" OF MCKINNE'Y, TEXAS Live Client since 1976; Online Client since 2003; 1550-D S College, McKinney, Texas 75070 Contact: Debbie Nye, Purchasing Manager, Phone 972.562.6080 Selling Vehicles. Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items DENTON COUNTY, TEk;kS Live Client since 1973; Online Client since 2004; 401 W. Hickory, Suite 324, Denton, Texas 76201 Contact: Beth Fleming, CPM, CPO, Director of Purchasing; Phone: 940.349.3130 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS Live Client since 1998; Online Client since 2004; Current Contract Buyboard 501 N. Thompson, Suite 405, Conroe, Texas 77301 Contact: Darlou Zenor, Asst. Purchasing Agent; Phone: 936.760.6906 Selling Vehicles, Heavy Equipment and Miscellaneous Items D. identify any subcontractors and/or third parties that «+ill be involved in the online auction There will be no subcontractors or third parties involved in the execution of the online ruction program. Also included in this section are resumes on key personnel and copies of auctioneer licenses for those key personnel. ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES SECTION V METHOD OF APPROACH Roles and Expectations: Offeror shall describe in detail any roles and expectations for the Contractor and City. Roles and Exectutivns ©r Rene' Butes �Iuctianeers lnc. RBAI will conduct online auctions for the City at their request RBAI will provide training for City staff regarding the online auction process including completion of forms, process for digital photography, electronic means to submit information to RBAI and other any other special training as required by the City. • RBAI will provide a Project Manager for the City to be available for personalized training of City staff as well as to address all questions and concerns of the City. • RBAI will assist the City with starting prices for each online auction item if so desired by the City. RBAI will post all online auction information on �NAv .renebates.coni and display auction items for one month prior to the closing date of each online auction conducted. • RBAI will advertise all online auctions via normal advertising channels. RBAI will email each of our online auction bidders when the City's online auction is posted, when a new item is added to the City's auction and the week prior to the City's online auction close date. and applicable sales tax and generate E -Invoices RBAI will collect all auction proceeds for both the City and the buyers for each auction item sold. • RBAI will send Paid Receipts via email to the City's designees along with the successful bidder. RBAI will remit all sales tax collected to the State of Texas. RBAI will remit all monies, less sales tax and commission, to the City. Reales and Expectations 16r the City o 'Luhbock -rhe City will provide all information on auction items to be sold. This information will include digital photographs of each item as well as a full description of the item being sold. For vehicles and equipment, the City will complete a Vehicle/Equipment Information Sheet. lin miscellaneous items, the City will give a complete description of items included in each lot_ The City will complete and attach Federal "As Is -Where Is" stickers on all vehicles. The City will provide onsite viewing of all auction items, on a date designated by the City, before the closing of each online auction for bidders to come and physically inspect all items. if they so desire. a The City -,will oversee checkout and removal of paid auction iterns. The City will utilize .. the Paid Receipt provided by RBAI to ensure proper checkout of items. The City "ill complete all paperwork on titled vehicles and forward this paperwork to the successful bidder in the manner the City desires. Resolution No. 2012-80059 ONLINE AUCTIONEER SERVICES SECTION VI TRAINING AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT rt and A. Contractor shall provide easily accessible ed ogtthieybuye�shall bensive chnical responded to oow�thiin customer service. Problems identified by the sell twenty-four (24) hours of notification during Monday through Friday operations. Describe how technical support is provided. TRAIN-ING SUPPORT Training for the seller is very minimal due to the fact that RBAI surpluhandlles all RBAI aspSwill cts of your online auction with the exception of gathering data on , ourtraining, as needed, to the seller de as it relates to the completion of forms necessary required Your information to RBAI. We provide ee theseller with the �which allows the seller to be confident accurately gather information on ne in knowing that they are sending all pertinent information 6lankseeded on thetfoim we provide toly'outon auction. This is accomplished by merely filling any vehicles or equipment you wish to sell. This n form, a along s wtemrith si it thatois graphs of isthe a item, is all that �s needed from the seller. For description of the item along with digital photographs and then RBAI will finish the process from there. We are available to train any new personnel on this procedure at your convenience aand s inn of manner you prefer, We can train by telephone by taking the City designee through p the data gathering process while viewing actual items that are posted on our website. All pertinent disclosures for auction items will be added by RBAI to ensure the most protection for the City and RBAI. Training for the buyers is accomplished two ways. The first is the Help menu on our home page which explains all features on our website and how they work. It includes the Frequently Asked Questions that we have compiled from our many bidders over the past 7 years, In addition, we have staff available Monday — Friday from 8:30 A!vi to 5:00 PM to assist bidders via the telephone or email, whichever method the: buyer prefers. TECHNICAL SUPPORT RBAI has ample staff available to respond to customer service wid such issuetechnical Monday issues, ear 8 ale to respond within 24 hours (which is our internal policy on 1 ved or AM to 5:00 PM. It is our policy to answer all sentthe same toOD PMionsari,�given day. y they are rDur entire by the next business day for those. requests sst o tis staff is fully trained in all website operations and can respond and resolve most issues in a very ain contacts assigned to them in regards to technical short period of time, Our sellers have two st issues with RBAL In addition, our sellers can always contact the owners of the company as it relates to customer service or any other issues. Those contacts are Sheryl Bates and Rene' Bates. ` ice very seriously and do everything in our power to At RBAI, we take customer service accommodate both our sellers and buyers in any way that we can. As it relates to technical issues, RBAi has technical support from our web host server 24 hours a attention and all day, seven days a week. if we identify any p odder, we guarantees an pen rime percentage of matters are handled as such. Our web hos p 99.99% and we demand the guarantee be upheld and the service provided to us is exemplary. We also provide computer technical support us�blhti event en thereller or is a bidde�rthat needser is g any issues they can't resolve. We see thisfrequently assistance on why their particular int bidnetders hve older operatingrowser or mputrsystem is usi g older systems.aOur certan way. This typically happens when computer personnel are able to help determine any problems and assist in educating the bidder on the ways that online auctions are "best viewed" according to industry standards.