Negotiation after the receipt of offers is called post-offer negotiation, or sometimes post-tender negotiation. Some practitioners believe that the routine practice of negotiation after the invitation of written bids leads to bidders including a contingency within their offer which they subsequently ‘yield’ in negotiation, leaving the buyer no better off. In the public sector, governance provisions seek to ensure probity, particularly if there are parallel negotiations with more than one bidder. Avoiding leakage of confidential information and avoidance of a ‘Dutch auction’ are key considerations if the process is to enjoy the confidence of bidders. Advocates of post-offer negotiation point out that the bidders may have ideas and suggestions that emerge only after a dialogue, which may be difficult to undertake prior to bids being issued. See also Auction, Dutch.

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