GSA Schedules

The General Services Administration (GSA) has one of the most widely known long-term agreements for vendors within the federal government. This agreement is known as a GSA Schedule.

A vendor negotiates their prices with the GSA for an item or service. Once they have reached an amicable arrangement, the company is included on the schedule and within their other systems that several government agencies can purchase from.

GSA Advantage and eBuy

One of the ways the GSA makes its process more appealing to others is that they have an e-commerce store that allows government agencies, whether federal, state, or local, to purchase items or services quickly.

GSA Advantage is mainly used for products while GSA eBuy is mainly used for services. You will be able to cerate these accounts and sign up to use these shopfronts once you are active on the schedule. You can then have your catalog of items or services added to these systems. Systems.

Eligibility

Here are a few criteria that you would need to qualify for a GSA Schedule:

• The company would need to have at least two years of experience, financial records, and past performance.
• The goods or services must be TAA or Trade Agreement Act compliant. This means the country of origin of the products or services must be within one of the agreement companies.
• If the company is not small, it must have a small business subcontracting plan in place.

Apply

It is recommended that you look over the GSA checklist before you apply. The checklist is a tool the GSA has created to help vendors stay on track and provide better proposals.

As with most federal government requirements, your company will need to have an active and compliant SAM registration.

Applying to be on the schedule is a tedious process and is something that you need to prepare for before you register. Making mistakes can set you back and make the process take longer than needed.

You should do as much research as possible on the agencies that buy your product or services and your competition to ensure that this would be economical for your company.

Other forms of research that you should do in preparation involve looking into which schedule works best for your company and locating the solicitation needed to complete your proposal.

Keep in mind that a GSA Schedule contract does not guarantee your firm any money or business. This program is just a vehicle giving you access to new streams of revenue. You will still need to market your business to government buyers to entice them to purchase from you.