A good buyer

What makes a good buyer in few words ...

• Has a good knowledge of the market: Knows who has what he (or she) is looking for, estimated price of a good or a service, location of the good, current and future availability, who is going to transport it to desired location, currency, expected (or possible) payment conditions, has even knowledge about the complete supply chain of key vendors (total responsibility of supply chain) and the local or worldwide behavior of raw material required by his (her) suppliers for the manufacturing of sourced good.
  
  
• Knows about clear Specs / Scope of work: A good buyer requires clear specs and conditions to buy with efficiency, otherwise will get very differentiate offers from suppliers (this is obviously a bad sign when you are comparing offers). Reverse auctions require this buyer characteristic in special. Clear descriptions, dimensions, use, quantity required over time (annual, monthly), type of material, physical specs (voltage, Amps, hardness, working temp, etc..), endurance, capacity, manufacturer, reference or part number, if it's new or rebuilt, quality, warranty and many others depending of the product he (she) is acquiring.
  
  

• Knows Incoterms: Although you can purchase without knowing Incoterms standard terms of commerce, it is better to use international standards (you will notice.. this is intuitive). A buyer could say I want to buy a car shipped in vessel which departed from NY, but the right term would be: I want to buy a car FOB NY (see incoterms 2010 rules - International Chamber of commerce). Standard commerce terms give precision to purchase process.
  
  
• A Good buyer goes prepared to a negotiation or purchase: No matter if it's a regular purchase or if he (she) wants to use reverse auctions to source products. But reverse auction are absolute critical in regard to precise specs and preparation. A buyer can't let a door open for inferior quality products.
  
  
• He (She) is concious about weekness and negotiate accordingly. For instance if the product is unique and no other vendor is available (seek for colaborative and long term agreement), if needs to buy urgent, and other cases, etc...
  
  

• Communicate interests: Term of agreements (duration), purchasing volume, return policy and changes, scale discounts required, long term price agreements and yearly calculation formula for annual price adjustments (CPI for instance), etc....
  
  
• Determines with precision the scope of work of Services: Contracting services, scope looks more difficult to define with precision, but not impossible for reverse auctions. It can be contracted by hours, by days, by finished job, may include or not supplies and materials required, can be turn-key projects (no matter how many workers will be required), etc.... For instance rebuilding a kitchen should be contracted by job finished according to clear specs and blue prints, and the buyer should get the materials in order to reduce the general cost.... All in all ..He (She) must indicate clear Terms and Conditions (Ts&Cs).
  
  
• Seeks for savings without sacrifiying performance or quality from purchased goods or services.