What is progressive tender?

Last updated on July 17, 2026

📺 Watch Our Podcast Episode: The Best Way to Sell Farm Land: CLHbid.com Vs. Realtors & Auctioneers

Progressive tendering is a process that typically spans several days and involves using a tender submitted by one party to solicit a higher tender from others. This back-and-forth is essentially ‘bid shopping,’ a practice viewed as unethical by the construction industry and a poor way to sell your valuable land.

The Problem with Progressive Tendering

You need a process that maximizes your return, but progressive tendering introduces several pitfalls that negatively affect the final sale price. Firstly, bidders often choose not to participate at all, knowing that you, the seller, or your hired agent, will merely use their bids as a bargaining chip to negotiate higher offers. Over the course of days, the shortlist of bidders often becomes public knowledge, opening the door to collusion and pushing prices down. Bidders grow cynical, feel they are negotiating against themselves, and eventually push away from the table.

The human element involved in this process leads bidders to be cynical of its integrity. They may fear losing a relationship with a neighbor, friend, or relative who has seemingly already staked a claim to the land, causing them to not participate in the first place. Tendering has historically been carried out by law firms that offer Solicitor-Client privilege. Recently, however, realtors have ventured into this space without offering the same privilege a law firm does, leading both bidders and sellers to wonder if a realtor’s preferred client will be unfairly shopped in the end.

Another major flaw is that once tenders are in and the bidders are known, the seller can unilaterally choose not to sell to the highest tenderer, sell to a party who is not high, or not sell at all. This undefined process discourages parties from spending the time and money to obtain financing, especially if they fear they are not on your "best friend list" or belong to a certain group. Furthermore, progressive tendering is almost always regional by nature, which drastically affects the selling price in today’s market where buyers are often from out of province.

Why CLHbid.com Delivers Maximum Value

Investors often see the human element and inherent biases in progressive tendering as bid shopping—something they will never participate in. At CLHbid.com, we ensure the playing field is perfectly level. Our automated system operates without personal bias, focusing purely on transparency and results. Your highest bidder is notified automatically and contemporaneously with the closing of the sale, eliminating any opportunity for bid shopping.

Progressive tendering is frequently offered as a one-dimensional service, often seen as a cheap method of selling without any real consideration for maximizing your land's net value. We see sellers, in some cases, even posting an ad and shopping tenders themselves to save on agent fees. We say, “anyone can sell land, but it is quite another to maximize value.” CLHbid.com offers multi-dimensional, professional service throughout the entire selling process—an essential element in maximizing your land's worth.

Crucially, progressive tendering is often an add-on service by firms that offer many unrelated services. It may be a ‘one-off’ offering, meaning the firm's reputation doesn't hinge on its track record. At CLHbid.com, selling farmland across Western Canada is all we do. After eight years and hundreds of sales, our reputation is built on results, not "one-off" transactions. If you wish to maximize value, you must engage as many buyers as possible by using a platform that provides 100% trust. Buyers rely on the integrity that comes with CLHbid.com being a law firm.

Maximizing your net value involves months and sometimes years of planning, coupled with proper parceling, world-class marketing, and transparent price discovery—facets that are often not integral to the progressive tendering process.