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Procurement glossary

What is Sealed Bid?

A bid submitted confidentially so that other suppliers cannot see the amounts offered until bids are opened.

Definition

In a sealed-bid event, suppliers submit once without visibility of competing offers, and all bids are opened together at a defined time. There is no iterative improvement and no live feedback.

How it works in practice

A public-sector tender receives six sealed submissions by a published deadline. Nothing is opened before it; all are opened together, recorded, and evaluated against criteria fixed before the deadline.

Why it matters

Sealed bidding maximises procedural defensibility and is common where regulation requires it. It gives up the price discovery that live competition produces, which is why some buyers run a sealed technical stage followed by a live commercial one.

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