www.WhyAbe.com, Free e-Sourcing Tools

About

Founded in Philadelphia, PA in 2005, www.WhyAbe.com was developed by Steven Belli and William Dorn to provide free procurement tools and promote collaboration between buyers and suppliers in a global marketplace. The current community includes hundreds of progressive suppliers and buyers seeking to find new business opportunities or improve existing relationships.

Mission

WhyAbe.com's mission is to create tools that allow buyers to collaborate and exchange information with suppliers of products and services without the costs associated with consulting or software. Additionally, WhyAbe.com provides small businesses a free way to advertise and list their products and services for sale.

The Market

WhyAbe.com is not limited to any products, services, or commodities. In fact, one of the powers of the system is the flexibility to attach any documents when creating an RFP listing or Seller's Listing. RFPs can be public or private. Private RFP listings are only accessible by the suppliers and reviewers that the Buyer invites.

Buyer's Listings (RFP & Reverse Auction)

Buyers of any product or service (commercial, government, or consumer) can use the Source option and create a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Reverse Auction. Buyers can upload their own attachments and specifications, invite their own suppliers by entering email addresses, and can select from pre-registered vendors. Once an RFP or Reverse Auction is created, buyers can view the bids from multiple suppliers on a single screen via the Dashboard.

Stores

In 2006, in response to the requests of many suppliers, WhyAbe.com developed new features in which Suppliers could create their own listings for products or services that they sell. This feature has evolved in recent years to full blown online stores. Using the Stores option, suppliers can build their own free storefront to promote and sell their individual products and services. Buyers will be able to see these items and services in customized storefronts that include the supplier logos, and can even place orders immediately for the goods or services.

Feedback

After completing a transaction with any user, users have the ability to provide feedback on this user. If you see a user’s nickname anywhere on the site, you can click on the name and see their corresponding feedback that other user’s have left, and you can see their average rank out of 5 stars. This feature allows buyers and suppliers to see reviews on each other and decide whether or not to conduct their business with the other party.

Find Suppliers

WhyAbe has an advanced Find Suppliers feature. All registered suppliers to WhyAbe select product and service categories that they specialize in. You can search for new suppliers by typing in the product or service category of the item or service that you are searching for. Wherever possible, supplier contact information will be displayed. Additionally, registered and logged-in users of WhyAbe can select multiple vendors at the same time and send a quick message via email to them.

Contract Repository

WhyAbe.com also offers its users a free way to store and manage their contracts. Never miss a contract expiration data again, WhyAbe is able to email its users at a predetermined date to make sure a buyer has sufficient time to renegotiate their contract. Never lose a contract again, you can easily upload pdf and electronic documents to the site for safe keeping.

Private Label

WhyAbe.com also offers low-cost private label pay solutions of its online e-sourcing suite.