PlanetBids is a web-enabled procurement and electronic bidding system, implemented by agencies to provide better service and convenience to their vendors. In order for the system to work effectively, you must register with the agency online. As a registered and approved vendor in the system, you will be automatically notified of Bid Alerts that match the categories you have entered in your vendor profile. You may, at any time, search for the latest contracting opportunities available, request and download documents, and bid electronically (if applicable) on all open requests up until bid closing. Best of all, this service is offered to vendors for free!

There are two different ways that you can search and receive bid notifications from PlanetBids.

Free: You may search for bids by going directly to the Vendor Portal of that Agency, select Bid Opportunities and either scroll through the list or use the search criteria fields at the top. Once you find a bid you are interested in, you can find out more details and participate by double clicking on the bid.
To participate, you will need to register directly with the Agency. Based on the categories that you select during registration, you will automatically receive an email notification when a bid is issued that matches your selection(s).

Fee Based: Register with VendorLine. VendorLine is a service that will notify you of new bids based on Categories, Keywords, and States selected. On a nightly basis, the system will cross reference your notification criteria against the Project Title, Invitation Number, Categories, and Description of every new bid issued by all Agencies using PlanetBids. If there is a match, you will receive a notification first thing in the morning. For more information on VendorLine, please go to http://www.vendorline.com .

If you would like to become a registered vendor, please select "New Vendor Registration" from the Agency’s main vendor portal and complete any mandatory items within each tab. All mandatory fields are denoted by a red asterisk.

Depending upon the Agency, you may have additional tabs to complete. Please read each question on the additional tab(s) and select yes or no. You may select no and come back later to change it to yes. Selecting yes, will generate an additional list of questions you will need to complete.
When you are done completing the vendor registration form, select "Register" at the bottom right corner of the page to submit your profile. Registration is immediate; you do not need to wait for the confirmation email to log in or begin using the system.

Depending on how the Agency has set up the bid, there are several ways to become a prospective bidder. From within the bid go to one of the following locations (not all locations may be applicable to the bid):

• RSVP for the Pre Bid Meeting (Bid Information tab)
• Download documents with an * next to them or select Download Now (Documents/Attachments tab)
• Select Ask Question (Q & A tab)
• Go to the Line Items tab (if there are no documents, this tab will force you to become a Prospective Bidder before you can view the items)
• Click on "Place eBid"