The Department of Corrections for a Southern State ran their 12^th reverse auction bid with eBridge today.  The event was a live online bid for bar soap and it was one of the most competitive bids ever run by eBridge.  Four suppliers were pre-approved to participate in the bid.  A good reverse auction is generally defined as one that has 10 or more first-place turnovers and a spread between 1^st & 2^nd place of less than 2%.   The original clock started at 15 minutes and because the bidding doesn’t stop until no lowering bids are placed in the final three minutes, the event went for 115 minutes.  In the end, there were an amazing 321 first place turnovers and a spread of just .10% between first and second place.  This bid was last run in 2007 as a traditional sealed bid.  Thanks to a successful reverse auction, the cost of soap actually decreased by 9.5% for the state and its taxpayers.