Private tenders: from a brief to a clear contract
Review private buying requests, offer the right service and avoid excessive unpaid work or unclear commitments.
After this guide, you can …
- Check a private buyer and brief
- Clarify the selection process and bid scope
- Understand price validity, rights and ordering
1. Check the buyer and the actual request
Verify the business, contact and procedure link through traceable channels. Identify whether the request concerns a definite contract, non-binding market research or supplier registration only. Entry in a supplier database is not an order. A privately constituted business can also be subject to public procurement rules in particular circumstances. Do not assume public rules or unrestricted negotiation merely from its name.
2. Clarify the selection process
Ask about scope, any shareable budget, selection criteria, schedule, presentations, negotiations and the expected proposal format. Clarify which information is binding and who may approve changes. For creative or advisory work, discuss usage rights, confidentiality and payment for substantial preliminary work. Providing a fully developed concept for free is not an inevitable condition of every private request. Decide consciously how much effort to invest.
3. Make your proposal comparable
Describe outputs, scope boundaries, customer input, schedule, acceptance, price, options and any recurring costs. Separate required services from extras. State price validity and contract terms clearly. Depending on its content, a proposal can create binding obligations; the “non-binding” label and actual wording need to agree. Obtain qualified support for important or unusual contract questions instead of relying on a generic template.
4. Distinguish selection from an order
Use the agreed submission route and preserve the sent version. When the response is positive, determine whether a binding order exists or whether negotiations, internal approvals or a contract remain. Document changes to scope and price. Vergabezone can organise private opportunities and preparation tasks; a workspace status is not the customer’s purchase order. Delivery is governed by the contract actually agreed.
Private tenders allow flexibility. A clear process and contract turn that flexibility into a workable opportunity.
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Go to the original source
Editorially checked on 27 October 2026. The current original documents of your procedure govern.
- GWB § 99 — Öffentliche AuftraggeberBundesamt für Justiz / Gesetze im Internet
- BGB § 145 — Bindung an den AntragBundesamt für Justiz / Gesetze im Internet