This summer, the General Services Administration (GSA) launched a new online “eTool” that enables federal agencies to use a reverse auction process to procure basic commodities and services. The platform, ReverseAuctions.gsa.gov/, allows suppliers to bid competitively for government-contracting opportunities in real time, with the lowest bidder generally securing the work. While GSA has used third-party vendors, including Fed Bid Inc., to conduct such auctions in the past, this is the first large-scale reverse auction program run by the Government. This auction approach — which is essentially a lowest-price, technically-acceptable (LPTA) procurement with the pending low price visible to competitors during the course of the competition — has the potential to significantly impact the way that federal agencies purchase products and services through the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program.
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