Congratulations! It's an e-Buy!

Although the General Services Administration has not yet firmly established GSA Advantage! as the mother of all online government contracting, GSA continues to push GSA Advantage! by offering new methods for conducting online procurements. The result of all that pushing is GSA's newest bouncing baby Ñ e-Buy.

As every GSA Schedule contractor knows by now, GSA Advantage! is the Web site for GSA's Schedule program. It's a bulletin board, catalog, shopping mall, and library for federal agencies interested in buying the goods or services offered under the GSA Schedule program.

Every GSA Schedule contractor, as a term of the contract award, is required to upload its authorized GSA Schedule pricelist into GSA Advantage! While vendor compliance with this mandate has been lackluster in the past, GSA, in recent years, has prodded all contractors to upload their GSA Schedule pricelists or else, by threatening to cancel the contracts of scofflaws.

Before you break out the cigars to celebrate the new e-Buy feature, you're going to want to know what e-Buy is and how it works. e-Buy is a feature of GSA Advantage! fully available only to GSA Schedule contractors who have uploaded their GSA Schedule pricelists onto GSA Advantage! In short, e-Buy is an online Requests for Quotes (RFQ) system for products and services offered under Federal Supply Schedules.

By using e-Buy, government purchasers (GSA calls them Buyers) can post RFQs on the Web and receive quotes from GSA Schedule contractors online in a short period of time Ñ and without the need for paper, phones, or faxes. The hoped for result is expected to be a savings in time and money for the Buyer and a quicker turnaround for GSA Schedule holders who want to sell their goods and services. For GSA Schedule contractors, e-Buy could develop into a much-needed publication service, allowing GSA Schedule contractors to discover new procurement opportunities.

Just like an announcement in the Government Point of Entry at www.fedbizopps.gov, each RFQ falls under a category such as audio video products (Group 58) or information technology equipment (Group 70). GSA Schedule holders are required to register under those categories for which they would like to receive RFQ notices.

Registering under certain categories, however, doesn't guarantee that a GSA Schedule contractor will receive an e-mail alerting them to an applicable RFQ. The Buyer makes the ultimate decision as to how many and what vendors will receive notice of the RFQ. Because the Federal Acquisition Regulations require that Buyers obtain at least three quotes for purchases over the micro-purchase threshold (currently $2,500), presumably at least three vendors will receive an e-mail alerting them to the RFQ.

Of course, GSA Schedule contractors who aren't notified by the purchasing entity may still submit quotes. Once logged in, a registered GSA Schedule contractor will be able to see postings of recent RFQs for their categories and submit quotes to their heart's content. These quotes will not be visible to other GSA Schedule contractors, so there's no worry that your company's confidential pricing strategy will be disclosed to competitors. Only the Buyer can view contractor names and quotes.

The RFQ period must be open for a minimum of 48 hours and quotes may not be evaluated until the period is closed. Once closed, the Buyer is free to evaluate quotes and place an order based on price and overall best value to the government. The name of the winning GSA Schedule contractor will also be posted.

e-Buy allows Buyers to generate purchase orders right from the RFQ, although an agency can opt to stick with its own internal system for issuing purchase orders if they so desire. Another added feature of e-Buy is to allow Buyers to create an RFQ from items contained in their GSA Advantage! shopping cart by clicking the "e-Buy Quote" box for that product.

So, if a Buyer was on GSA Advantage! and found a printer they wanted, the Buyer could add that item to their cart. However, before checking out, the Buyer could arrange to obtain numerous quotes from other vendors to find a better deal without having to continue shopping around. Also, e-Buy has a function that allows Buyers to see their past ordering history and review all RFQs that they have posted.

GSA has developed some e-Buy Rules applicable to Buyers. Some of the more important rules include the following:

Buyers may not set a reserved price for any product (i.e., the highest price a Buyer will accept).

Buyers are encouraged not to use e-Buy for purchases below the micropurchase threshold. For these small requirements, Buyers are instructed to consider ordering directly from GSA Advantage! instead of using e-Buy.

Buyers should include in the RFQ any criteria that will be used to evaluate quotes and make awards (i.e. socio-economic goals, contractor past performance, acceptance of brand name or equal, etc.).

RFQs must remain open for a minimum of 48 hours.

Buyers may consider alternative solutions, lower quantities, etc. if offered. Buyers are required to specify these considerations in the RFQ.

Buyers may accept one or more offers. Buyers may also elect to reject all quotes.

Buyers may modify or withdraw an RFQ, once it has been posted, if necessary. GSA Schedule contractors must be notified via e-mail if this occurs.

A link to e-Buy is located on the GSA Advantage! Web site at www.gsaadvantage.gov. Users of GSA Advantage! and e-Buy are required to register with the site, but registration is open to the public and private sector alike, so go ahead and check it out. Keep in mind, however, that only GSA Schedule contractors will be able to benefit from all of e-Buy's features.

Like much of federal e-commerce, GSA Advantage! to date has been stuck in the "hurry up and wait" syndrome. GSA Schedule contractors have been urged (and lately forced) to get their Schedule pricelists onto GSA Advantage!, but have rarely gotten substantial business from it. Perhaps e-Buy will be just the thing that GSA Advantage! needs to take off.

Interesting statistics relating to the increased use of e-Buy are available online at http://apps.fss.gsa.gov/fcsDistro/Current_eBuy_Reports.xls.