The rules governing GSA Schedules are set out in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4. Hopefully, this newsletter will keep you from having to read Subpart 8.4. The key points of the GSA Schedule regulations from a sales perspective are:

• GSA determines the price of items under Schedule contracts prior to contract award and considers these prices to be fair and reasonable.
• Orders placed by individual federal agencies are therefore considered to be purchases made in an arena of full and open competition. Federal buyers do not need to seek further competition or consider small business programs. For service task orders and some product orders, contracting officers must seek several quotes from GSA Schedule vendors. Real competition may or may not be achieved when multiple quotes are sought. At the very least, a "paper competition" has taken place.
• Federal buyers place orders by using GSA Advantage or by reviewing the price lists of at least three Schedule contractors.
• Federal buyers are encouraged to seek further price reductions when an order exceeds the maximum order threshold stated in the GSA Schedule contract.
• Vendors are not required to extend price reductions made under a specific GSA Schedule order to other federal agencies ordering under the vendor's contract.

In a nutshell, the regulations say the competition took place when the vendor negotiated its Schedule prices. Price and competition are important in federal purchasing but so are purchasing speed, efficiency, and product/service value. Federal purchasing organizations are notoriously understaffed, and contracting officers seek vendors who make buying easy--and they know purchases can be made quickly and with a minimum of effort from vendors with multi-vendor contracts. Your goal should be to be a company that buyers consider easy to do business with.