For a detailed explanation of how to use the Ampelius Trading site please read the Rule Book.

About Ampelius

Who are the intended customers of the Ampelius brokerage?

We are aiming for a wide mix of energy companies and professionals from across the world to ensure there is as broad a choice as possible. If you have a part to buy or sell or a service to hire or offer we believe this tool will complement and enhance your current approach to procurement and sales.

Who are Ampelius?

Ampelius Trading Limited was established by energy professionals in November 2014 and is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland.

About the Brokerage

What are the main benefits to customers of this approach?

The brokerage provides your company with access to a global market, your transactions are quick and easy to execute, there are no upfront marketing costs and our fees are competitive.

How does it work?

The brokerage platform allows you to quickly list and review the items you wish to buy or sell (the “orders”). We help you match these orders and process them through to a transaction using our unique Marketplace design, auto populated contracts and voice brokerage assistance.

Why should my company subscribe?

We believe the service will appeal to those with a passion for achieving fair value through competition. It will appeal to those who have grown frustrated with the traditional approach and want dependable and timely price information. It will appeal to those fed up with long term contracts that lack the flexibility to match volatile revenue streams with their operating costs. It will appeal to those who know they have a great product but cannot spread the word fast enough.

How much does it cost?

As this is a new approach and we want to quickly attract companies and product there are only two small fees, an annual subscription that is intended to cover some of the administration costs and a commission fee as a percentage of each successfully completed transaction. Details of each can be found in the Rule Book.

Do you pay on line?

To keep cost down no credit card details or payments are taken through the system. We will send invoices separately to your accounts department each month.

What are the benefits of being an ‘early adopter’?

Early adopters will receive support in optimising their use of the system and how best to integrate it into their current operations. They will play a key role in determining how the service develops and grows becoming part of the transformation.

Why does the industry need another approach?

We are all dealing with increased volatility of earnings due to changes in regulation and demand and a related drive to reduce operating costs which the traditional approach can no longer satisfy. The demand for efficiencies in customer relationship management and procurement require ‘big data’ technology solutions. We believe that challenge can only be met by innovative solutions, such as our brokerage, that can provide dependable real time price information, an anonymous approach to negotiating price and ‘even handed’ contract terms. No need to routinely qualify suppliers and buyers to prepare tender shortlist or bids, no need to check if prices are still valid, no need for long running contract negotiations and the associated legal costs. No lengthy preparation and approval of budgets with no ability to market test the figures.

How do you subscribe?

The subscription process is all catered for on-line. Click on ‘Register Now’ and after entering some contact information about you and your company Ampelius will set you up with a Lead Subscriber account. For more detailed information please see the Ampelius Rule Book.

Managing your Account

How many people can each company have as subscribers?

There are no limitations on the number of people each company can add as active subscribers.

How do I add additional users from within my company?

Once you have registered the Lead Administrator you can add additional users by clicking on the ‘Manage Subscribers’ button in your Dashboard. You will need to fill in fields such as user name, password and contact details. Ampelius will then accept the new users and email them with log in access details. For more detailed information please see the Ampelius Rule Book.

How do I avoid Supplier and Buyers I do not wish to trade with?

There are two ways to avoid trading with particulars supplier and buyers, for example, subsidiaries of your own company. The Lead Administrator for your company can list the companies it does not wish to trade with so that none of their orders are visible and they cannot see your company orders. The other way is to look at the star rating others have given to supplier and buyers they have traded with and use this feedback to decide if you want to do business with them. As one of our aims is to broaden the choice in the market we would encourage you not to limit your activities to only those companies you already do business with.

About the Functionality

What is an ‘order’?

An order describes the product for sale or purchase and how much you want to offer or receive for the product. We have tried to make it clear and simple to populate the information required to describe the product.

What is the ‘Marketplace’?

The Marketplace is the screen displaying all the live orders.

Why is the brokerage anonymous?

We have designed the brokerage to be anonymous, up to the point of starting a transaction, for a number of reasons. We want to encourage a level playing field so that small, medium and large suppliers and buyers are offered an equal opportunity to trade and gain a fair price. We welcome subscribers using the system to benchmark budgets and other routes to market and believe the price data will be more representative of fair value if we retain a degree of anonymity between subscribers.

What is to stop companies progressing to the point when their identity, or that of the counterparty, is known then dealing with them directly to avoid paying brokerage commission?

There is no physical or legal way we can prevent this, however we believe subscribers will prefer to support this new market approach. It is only through supportive participation that this approach will flourish and deliver the benefits and changes we all wish to see. Companies who obviously flout the rules will have their subscriptions terminated.

How do I buy something? How do I sell something?

Simply click on ‘Add Order’ in your Dashboard or select an existing order directly from the Marketplace and click on the ‘Bid’ or ‘Offer’ button to add a price to an existing Order. If you wish to transact immediately with an Order in the Marketplace, simple click on the price and you will be able to ‘Start Transaction’ with the counterparty directly.

Every time you add a new Order or change details of an existing Order (for example, the price) you will be required to click the button ‘Send to Ampelius for Review’ before the Order can be posted on the live Marketplace. This step allows Ampelius to verify and suggest additional information for the Order, to help you find a match as quickly as possible. Once Ampelius have reviewed the Order you will be alerted and be able to post your Order onto the live Marketplace.

How does the matching process work?

Matching allows subscribers to approach other parties in the Marketplace in order to get more information about a product. Rather than create a database of every part and service we use a combination of mandatory and non-mandatory fields, document uploading and unique Tags to describe each product. To reduce the time required to populate this information we anticipate other subscribers, interested in the product, will wish to verify through a question and answer process whether or not it is what they are looking for. When you see a product you are interested in you can click on it and ask the order owner a series of questions to get the information you require.

How does the transaction process work?

Once a Subscriber has identified a matching order or an order that meets their requirements they can initiate the transaction process by clicking on the ‘Start Transaction’ button. When initiated, both parties to the transaction will be notified and can access, through the system, a pre-populated supply contract. This lists the relevant details of each company (such as company name and delivery address) and the details of the matched or selected order. We have designed the contracts to be equitable for both the buyer and seller. There is also the option to add an alternative contract if you wish. The system stores each iteration of the contract until both parties confirm it has all the necessary information required. They then record on the system that the transaction has been completed.

What market information is available?

Information on every order and transaction processed is available to every subscriber. The details of each company involved are the only details not accessible. We show a summary of the latest transactions on the system, however you can request other bespoke information and representations from Ampelius. We aim to standardise some market reports if there is shown to be demand and a degree of consistency.

How do I negotiate with another party in the Marketplace?

Ampeliustrading.com allows you to negotiate very easily. If you are interested in an order, or have a counterparty interested in an order you placed you will both be able to change your price on either side of the order simply by clicking on your order and editing the details.

What happens if I change my mind about a Buy or a Sell order that I place in the Marketplace?

You can at any time withdraw or delete an order that you have placed in the Marketplace – at the click of a button. We obviously advise you to check all the details thoroughly before posting an order, and the Ampelius ‘review’ step is designed to assist you in making the details clear to other participants.

Is there any training required before I can use the system?

We are hopeful you will find the system simple to use. More detailed information on the site can be found in the Rule Book document. We are always on hand to answer any queries you may have on any aspect of the site and processes – you can contact us by email or telephone. Ampelius will periodically host webinars which will take subscribers through the system with a detailed run through of how to place an order, right through to processing a transaction. We will email all subscribers with details of these webinars throughout the year.

What is the voice brokerage service offered by Ampelius?

Ampelius staff have years of experience in trading energy industry parts and services and will help source orders on your behalf.

How can I contact Ampelius Trading.com?

Contacting us is easy – by phone or email – our contact details are on the Contact Us page.

How can I leave feedback?

There is a Feedback tab on every page of the site where we encourage you to comment on the functionality, design and features of the system. We have also provided you with the ability to feedback on those subscribers you have traded with by associating their performance with a star rating.

How am I protected if the parts or service do not get delivered or paid for?

The Terms of Business sets out the rights and obligations between Ampelius Trading Limited and each subscriber company. We have designed the auto populated supply contracts to ensure the rights and obligation on each party to the contract are as clear and equitable as possible. However either party can alter these provisions before signing the contract and we would encourage every company to perform a legal review and risk assessment on each contract in accordance with your company’s policy. Any redress for non-delivery or non-payment is dealt with under the terms of that completed contract.

How do I change my price in the Marketplace?

If you want to increase your Buy Price or reduce your Sell Price to make your Order more attractive you can click on your Order in the Marketplace which will open up the initial Order Entry screen. You can then edit any information in that screen and click ‘send to Ampelius to review’, who will then OK the changes and notify you when you can post the changes to the live Marketplace. It is the same process for editing any information in your Order.