Auctions promoted by ALMAF, through Trade.is.it electronic platform, are divided into Purchase auctions and Sale auctions:

Purchase auctions
Purchase auctions allow the buyer to negotiate the sale of goods or services with many suppliers at the same time, through his/her computer, without geographic boundaries and in complete security, with maximum transparency and equal opportunities.

The implementation of this system makes it possible to reduce the resources which are typically used in traditional processes, and the time spent in looking for suppliers and in bargaining.

The purchase auction, according to the knocking down method used, can be of two kinds: “maximum reduction auction”, in which the winning offer is the one with the lowest price, or “economically most favourable auction”, in which the awarding goes to the offer which expresses the best quality/price ratio obtained on the basis of a score which takes into account a number of elements among which there is the price, too.

Sale auctions
Sale auctions allow the auctioneer to negotiate the sale of goods or services with many suppliers at the same time, through his/her computer, without geographic boundaries and with complete security, with maximum transparency and equal opportunities.

Trade.is.it computer platform offers significant advantages which can be traced back to an increase in the supplying process and to a sensible decrease of the purchasing time.

	Efficiency: A reduction of up to 70% in the time of communication with suppliers, of evaluation of offers and of awarding of the supply.
	Costs:  reduction of the management costs thanks to the electronic exchange of documents which replaces the printing of many paper copies and the sending by mail or fax.
	Purchase prices: reduction of the purchase price of goods and services ranging between 10% and 30% thanks to the use of a function which enhances the competitiveness among suppliers.
	Easy to use: this tool is easy to use since it does not require Hardware nor Software installations but just an internet access.

Framework contract
The framework contract is an instrument which allows the contracting station to sign a permanent supply contact for one or more years with a supplying company. In this way all users within the company can buy at the best negotiated conditions, thus avoiding purchases outside the contract.
Once the supplying company has been found through an on-line auction and the framework contract has been entered into, the contracting station gains access to a purchase catalogue which contains all the goods and services which are object of the framework contract and, through a function of Trade.is.it, it can forward the purchase orders.
When an order is placed, the supplier is notified through an e-mail and s/he can manage the order from his/her personal area and verify the list of the products required.