FAQ for FR8SHIP(Frequently Asked Questions)- Who determines the starting bid?
- What is the Bid Increment?
- What are Proxy Bids?
- What does using this site cost and how do I qualify?
- How do I bid?
- How do I Post an item for shipment?
- How do I find out more about a posted item?
- How do I know if I won?
- What is the difference between Shippers and Carriers?
- Why am I not getting any bids on my shipment??
- How can I generate more interest in my shipment??
- What information am I allowed to put in my FR8SHIP profile??
- Can I register as both a shipper and a carrier??
The shipper (the person who posted the item) decides what he or she wants the bidding to begin at. Usually this is (and should be) the max price they are willing to pay for the shipment they need done. If you bid, the system will ask you to bid the starting price minus the Bid Increment. Shippers are encouraged to start items at the maximum amount they are willing to pay for the shipment they need.
The Bid Increment ($1 is the default increment) lowers the bidding each time by that minimum amount (you can always bump it down even lower). The purpose of the bid increment is to keep someone from outbidding you by some silly amount like $.01. It protects you and assures the shipper of getting a decent shipping price.
Proxy bidding allows the system to bid for you automatically. Think of Proxy bidding as someone who stays and watches the shipment 24 hours a day while you're off doing more interesting stuff. You activate Proxy Bidding by entering the lowest amount you are willing to receive into the place bid box. The system will then bid for you, bidding only enough to make you the low bidder. If someone bids less than your bid,our system places another bid for you and so on up to the lowest amount you've specified. Under no circumstances will Proxy Bidding ever bid LESS than you entered. But the system will send you e-mail about an outbid so you can enter a lower Proxy Bid amount if you'd like.
This site requires that all shippers and carriers be registered. This enables our software to keep track of items needing shipped and who bids on what. It protects both ourselves as the providers and you as shipper and/or carrier. Registration is free and simple. Merely click on [New Registration] here or near the top or bottom of any page. Carriers and all others who bid on the shipments will never have to pay any fee. Shippers may list their shipment FOR JUST 10.00. This is the only charge they will ever incur with this shipment. This makes it very affordable for all shippers, no matter how big the shipment is, and encourages shippers and carriers to communicate with each other openly.
Click on the name of items you'd like more information about. If you wish to place a bid, enter your bid in the box below the item, then just click on the place bid button nearby. We suggest that a good strategy for items you really want is to place the lowest bid you are willing to do the shipment for. Otherwise, someone may beat you out. Should someone outbid you, the system sends you an e-mail notification with a link back here to the item. Click on the link right in your e-mail message and you will be returned directly to the item. You can then decide whether you want to lower your bid.
Posting your items for shipment here at FR8SHIP easy. Simply register if you have not already (by clicking [New Registration] here or at the top or bottom of any page). Our system automatically mails your password usually within a few seconds. Once you have the password, you might want to copy it from your e-mail and go to [Change Registration] to replace our rather obtuse collection of letters and numbers with something you might more easily remember. Posting items for shipment is accomplished by clicking on [Post New Item] here or at the top or bottom of any screen. Fill in the form with a short descriptive title (We recommend using the pickup location and delivery location as your title). Next, select the category the item should be in (if you don't see an appropriate category on the drop down list, please e-mail us Site Administrator and ask for that category to be added. Be a little patient, please--we get LOTS of e-mail.
If you have any questions about an item, by all means contact the shipper and ask him or her (not us!). Click on the Ask Shipper A Question link found on the item page.
The system automatically sends the carrier (lowest bidder) and shipper of the item an e-mail when the auction ends. The carrier and shipper are then responsible for making their own arrangements to conclude the deal by payment and shipment. This website merely offers a venue for shipping. We will not, nor cannot, be held responsible in any way for any lack of performance by any and all parties. We simply provide a place that allows people to ship freight. HOWEVER, do let us know of any problems. We can and will banish anyone who abuses our site.
For the purpose of this reverse auction website, Shippers are defined as the person or company that has the freight available for shipment. Carriers are defined as any person, business, trucking company, freight broker, or company that is willing to haul that freight, or arrange shipment of said freight.
There may be several reasons you are not receiving any bids on your shipment. 1. The primary reason there is no bidding on a listed shipment is the starting bid is placed too low. Trucks have to be able to make a profit on every shipment, or they will not be in business long. If your shipment is listed at too low of a price, carriers will simply move on to another shipment and will probably not come back to yours. Be reasonable in your requests! 2. Another reason for the lack of interest on your shipment is the time frame. Trucks are here today and gone tomorrow. If you need your shipment in a couple weeks, then by all means, set the expiration for 14 days away, but if you are flexible on the shipment, we recommend setting the shipment closing date for 3-4 days, and then re-list it if you have not gotten bids. 3. The next most common cause of no bids is shippers putting too large of a bid increment on their freight. If you want to create competition amongst carriers, set the bidding increment at a low number, like 1.00. That way when a carrier bids, the next carrier to view your shipment does not have to go so low on the bid that it is no longer profitable. If you set the increments to 15.00-20.00, you will only get one bid, and take it or leave it. This would defeat the whole purpose of posting your load here.
In one word...PICTURES!! If you can get a picture of the shipment, you are far more likely to get bids on that shipment. There is no charge to upload your photo to the site, so it just makes good sense to include them in your listing. You may also consider changing the title of your shipment, or the description of the listing to make it more appealing. Another good way to generate more interest in your shipment is to list it in the featured shipment section of the website. You may also want to move it to a different category. The main thing is to play with it and try it several different ways until you find the combination that works.
CARRIERS---You may list any relevant information about your company that you would like to include. Use your best sales pitch. Tell the shipper what services you provide, tell them about your safety record, tell them how many trucks you have in your fleet, or your commonly used lanes. Tell them anything you would like to make them feel warm and fuzzy about doing business with you. However, in an effort to keep the site as it was designed, we need to ask that you refrain from including the following items....Please do not include contact phone numbers, business addresses, or website addresses. This site is not designed to be a large directory of trucking companies. This site was designed to encourage competition between carriers and insure that the shippers get a fair price for their shipments. There are thousands of truck company directories on the web. SHIPPERS---Feel free to list any information you would like about your company, your shipments, your business hours, or any other shipping requirements you may have. Remember, this is your site. Don't be bashful. Use this section to tell the carriers exactly what you expect from them. If you have a lot of shipments every month, feel free to use this space to arrange regular shipments with a steady carrier. Feel free to list your website or a map to your location. Keep in mind that if you add a phone number, you may receive a lot of phone calls, so use caution.
There is no need to do this. The system recognizes the user name and you simply determine if you want to bid or you want to ship. You only need to register once, and simply bid on shipments or list your shipments under the same user name and password. Pretty simple.
For any other questions you might have, please feel free to e-mail our administrator, Administrator.
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