Question 1

What is buytogethr?

Accepted Answer

A group purchasing organisation and reverse-auction procurement platform for Indian institutions — a group buying platform for hospitals, nursing homes, builders, schools and hotels rather than for consumers. Hospitals, builders, schools and hotels that intend to buy the same equipment in the same window register their requirement; buytogethr pools those requirements, qualifies suppliers, runs a reverse auction, and each institution then buys directly from the manufacturer.

Question 2

How does buying together make it cheaper?

Accepted Answer

A single nursing home buying one CT scanner has no leverage. Forty of them buying one each represent a forty-machine order, and manufacturers price that very differently. Pooling converts forty separate negotiations into one competitive tender, without anyone having to buy more than they need.

Question 3

What does it cost to join?

Accepted Answer

Founding membership is free for the first 1,000 institutions to join, and stays free through your first pool. Separately and always, buytogethr takes no cut of your purchase, holds no escrow and never handles your money — any booking advance goes directly into the manufacturer or dealer account.

Question 4

If I join a pool, am I committed to buy?

Accepted Answer

No. Registering a requirement is a statement of intent, not an order. Nothing is committed and nothing is paid when you join, and you are under no obligation to accept the negotiated price when it comes.

Question 5

Who do I actually buy from?

Accepted Answer

The manufacturer or its authorised dealer. Each institution raises its own purchase order against the negotiated price. buytogethr never takes title, never holds stock and is not a party to your purchase — your warranty and service contract are with the supplier.

Question 6

How are suppliers chosen?

Accepted Answer

Technical qualification comes before price. Suppliers are assessed on manufacturer authorisation, past performance, end-user certificates, financials and demonstration. Only bidders who pass enter the price competition, which is an online reverse auction with a minimum decrement and an anti-sniping extension. The award is made on ten-year total cost of ownership — machine, installation, software, accessories, transport, insurance, taxes, warranty, maintenance contract, consumables, uptime and training — not on the lowest sticker price.

Question 7

Can suppliers and dealers join?

Accepted Answer

Yes, free. OEMs, authorised distributors, dealers and service or AMC providers can request onboarding through the same interest list. Registering is not an award: every supplier is qualified on authorisation and performance before any price competition begins.

Question 8

Is buytogethr operating yet?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. buytogethr is pre-launch and no pool has closed. The first healthcare pools are forming now. Every price range and saving figure shown on this site is a modelled planning figure from our own research — not a quotation, not an offer, and not an achieved result.

Question 9

How is this different from a consumer group-buying or deals site?

Accepted Answer

Nothing here is a deal, a coupon or a flash sale. buytogethr aggregates the capital-equipment requirements of institutions — a Rs. 1.5 crore CT scanner, a bank of elevators, a fleet of school buses — writes one technical specification, qualifies suppliers on manufacturer authorisation and past performance before any price is opened, and runs a reverse auction awarded on ten-year total cost of ownership. Consumer group buying discounts a product someone already stocks; collective purchasing of this kind changes how a tender is run.

Question 10

What is a group purchasing organisation, and is buytogethr one?

Accepted Answer

A group purchasing organisation aggregates the buying requirements of many independent members so they can negotiate as a single large customer. buytogethr is one, for Indian institutions, with two differences from the traditional model: it never takes title to goods or holds inventory, and it never handles purchase money — each member raises its own purchase order directly with the manufacturer.

Question 11

How can a hospital get bulk purchase pricing on a single machine?

Accepted Answer

By buying at the same time as other hospitals buying the same machine. A manufacturer prices a forty-unit order very differently from a one-unit order, and pooling converts forty separate negotiations into one competitive tender. Each institution still buys only the single unit it needs and raises its own purchase order — bulk purchase pricing without a bulk purchase order.

Question 12

How do hospitals in India buy equipment together?

Accepted Answer

Institutions that intend to buy the same equipment in the same window register the requirement. Once enough demand is aggregated, one standardised technical specification is written so every bidder quotes the same machine, suppliers are qualified on manufacturer authorisation and past performance, and only the technically qualified enter an online reverse auction. The award is made on ten-year total cost of ownership, and each institution then contracts directly with the manufacturer.

Question 13

What is collective purchasing for institutions?

Accepted Answer

Collective purchasing is several independent institutions combining their requirements into one procurement so they hold the collective buying power of a much larger buyer. It is the model state medical-supply corporations use for public hospitals; buytogethr runs the same engine for private hospitals, nursing homes, medical colleges, builders, schools and hotels.

Question 14

What is a reverse auction, and why use one for medical equipment?

Accepted Answer

In a reverse auction the buyers state what they need and qualified suppliers bid the price down, rather than buyers bidding a price up. It suits medical equipment because the specification can be standardised, so bidders compete on identical scope. Crucially, technical qualification comes first: only suppliers who pass on manufacturer authorisation, past performance and demonstration are allowed to compete on price, which is what stops a reverse auction becoming a race to the cheapest inadequate machine.

Question 15

Does buytogethr serve individual consumers or small quantities?

Accepted Answer

No. The buyers are institutions — hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, medical colleges, builders, architects, contractors, schools, colleges, hotels and resorts — and the catalogue is capital equipment, consumables and annual maintenance contracts. An individual buying one item for personal use is not what this is built for.

Question 16

Why award on ten-year total cost of ownership instead of the lowest price?

Accepted Answer

Because the sticker price is a small part of what a machine costs. The award weighs the machine, turnkey installation, software, accessories, transport, insurance, taxes, the three-year warranty, the seven-year maintenance contract, consumables such as tubes, guaranteed uptime and training. A lower quoted price with an expensive maintenance contract is not the cheaper machine, and judging on ten-year cost is what prevents that trade.

MRI: pooling demand against a concentrated supplier side

What you are actually buying

Why mri suits collective purchasing

Pin down before price

What drives ten-year cost

How a pool for this runs

Also pooled under Imaging & diagnostics