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Opening and Reading Bid Leads
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Once you have found the bid leads, open the bids by clicking on the title. (You might be asked to log in first.)
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Reading bid leads is very straight forward matter.
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- Title: On top of every bid lead, you will find
the title. In most cases, title shows the most basic description
of the bid, which are products/services being bought.
- Bid Description: Bid description explains
the general scope of the contract - services/products being
bought, procedures and requirements, buying agency information,
important dates, reference information, product/service
code, etc. Usually, bid description is the synopsis which
offers the basic information about the contract, and in
most cases, you will acquire only the basic but usually
enough information to decide the feasibility and profitability
of the contract by reading synopsis. More detailed information
will be provided through a solicitation package with required
forms, documents, etc. So, when you find the bid lead that
interests you, make sure that you frequently check the website
to acquire the following solicitation, amendment or any
other updates. Also, it is usually very good idea to visit
the original website of the bid leads because that is the
surest way to check for the updates. (Information on checking
the original source is available below.)
Some contracts, usually state government contracts and local
contracts, skip the synopsis procedure meaning that the
whole solicitation package is available from the start.
In that case, First Government Contract will excerpt the part of
the solicitation and the excerpted part will be provided
as bid description. Also, the whole solicitation package
usually will be available as a downloadable file format,
and you can download it to your computer for further viewing.
To read the whole solicitation, open the solicitation file
using appropriate software.
- First Government Contract ID: When First Government Contract indexes
each bid lead, we assign a seven-digit number to every
bid lead. This is called First Government Contract ID and it is designed
to identify the specific bid quickly.
- Original Document: Original Document section provides
a hyperlink to the original website where the bid was first
posted online. You might want to visit the original website
to see if there are any changes or updates available. Although,
First Government Contract will generally update the bid as new changes
or updates are made, it is usually good idea to check the
original site to make sure.
To visit the original website, just click on the hyperlink.
(Please understand that due to frequent update of the original
website, the link sometimes does not work properly.)
- Attachment: An attachment is a computer file that
can be downloaded to your computer. Usually, solicitation
package, which includes solicitation notice, forms, documents,
specifications and any other type of information, is provided
as an attachment file. Since it is a lot easier for the
buying agency to provide solicitation via online rather
than mail the whole package to potential vendors, increasing
number of agencies are using the online file download method.
The file is either in Adobe PDF format or Microsoft Word
format. If you already have the Adobe Reader or MS Word,
you shouldn't have any problem opening the file and read
it. If you do not, you need to download the necessary software
and install the software to your computer.
To download Adobe Reader, please click here.
To download MS Word Viewer, please click here.
- Contact Information: Every bid lead has the information
on the person or office in charge of the contract. If you
need assistance or if you have inquiries regarding the contract,
call, fax or email the person/office in charge.
- Update: Update indicates the date on which the
specific bid lead is added to First Government Contract database
and becomes available for viewing. For example, if the update
is made on 1/1/02, that means the specific bid lead is added
on to First Government Contract on 1/1/02 and is available for viewing
from that date.
- Due Date: Most contracts have deadline for submitting
bids or proposals. That means buying agencies do not respond
to late submittal of bids or proposals and there is no exception
to this rule. So, when you see the due date, you should
consider whether you have enough time to submit a bid or
a proposal.
- State: State/Region where the buying agency is
located or in some cases, state/region where the service
is performed or products to be used.
- SOL: Each contract has its own ID number assigned
by the buying agency, which is called solicitation number
(SOL). In other cases, the solicitation number is also called
"contract number" or "bid number." The
number is assigned to track and manage each contract and
when you contact the buying agency for inquiry, you should
provide the solicitation number for reference.
- Status: Government contract goes through several
procedures - Synopsis, Solicitation, Amendment and Award.
Each step indicates the status of the contract being developed,
and the most current status of the contract will be shown.
- Print View: Clicking print view will open up the
printer friendly format of the bid lead.
- Add to My Briefcase: If you would like to save
the bid lead for later use, clicking this button will save
the bid lead into My Briefcase. Later, you can pull up the
bid lead from My Briefcase to review.
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