New for Agencies: 7 Updates to Help You Find and Buy What You Need, Faster

Ask anyone who buys for a city what’s on their list, and you’ll hear the same things:

The people we talk to make sure their city gets what it needs: the right things, at a fair price, bought by the book. That’s important work. The calls, the chasing and the paperwork just get in the way of it.

So that’s what we worked on fixing for you. Here are the 7 updates, at a glance:

• Ask in plain words: Describe what you need, reach matched suppliers in one request, and get our help when nothing matches.
• Hear back without chasing: Text alerts, a notification bell, and supplier replies that go to the right person.
• Keep your team on the same page: Department views and urgent-request alerts.

Watch the video below, or keep reading to learn about all the latest updates.

Ask in plain words

Start a request the way you’d describe it out loud, and we’ll get it to the right suppliers.

1. Describe what you need in plain words

Off your list: Figure out which category this is

Type it the way you’d say it, like “road salt” or “HVAC repair.” No category codes, no guessing which bucket it belongs in.

2. One request reaches matched suppliers

Off your list: Call around for three quotes

Local suppliers are flagged first. You choose who gets your request, and every quote comes back to one place.

3. No matches? Our team finds suppliers

Off your list: Find someone who even sells this

Some things are hard to find. Send your request anyway, and our team will look for suppliers who can help.

Hear back without chasing

Quotes and replies now come to you.

4. Get a text when quotes come in

Off your list: Keep refreshing my inbox

Turn on text alerts, and we’ll let you know when quotes and replies arrive. Prefer to stay in the app? The new notification bell keeps it all in one place.

5. Supplier replies go to whoever owns the quote

Off your list: Forward the vendor’s email to the right person

When a supplier sends a message, it goes straight to the right person. No more forwarding chains.

Keep your team on the same page

For agencies where several departments buy.

6. Each department sees its own quotes

Off your list: Ask whose quote is whose

Staff see their own department’s quotes. Admins still see everything, with a department filter to narrow it down.

7. Urgent requests email every admin

Off your list: Tell my boss this one’s urgent

Mark a request as high priority, and every admin at your agency gets an email right away.

One more, for agencies that run formal bids

You can now upload bids that arrived on paper or by email, see solicitations past their deadline as “Reviewing,” and award more than one supplier.

Behind the scenes

We made changes on the supplier side too. Suppliers now get text alerts, and their whole team gets your quote emails. In short, suppliers hear about your request faster.

Want a hand?

All of this works when you run a quote yourself. When you’d like help, just email us what you need. Our team will find the right way to buy it and come back with quotes. Either way, it’s free for state and local government and schools.¹

What's still on your list?

Most of these updates started with something an agency told us. So tell us what's still on yours. Reply in the Agency Community Hub, or email us. We read every one.

¹Suppliers pay a nominal fee set by their lead entity's master services agreement.