GSA Miscellaneous Schedule Category
The GSA Miscellaneous Category is one of twelve Large Categories in the GSA Multiple Award Schedule. It encompasses SINs related to various miscellaneous products and services. Through this Schedule, federal, state, local and tribal organizations can purchase clothing, apparel, order-level materials (OLM), flags and medals, and so on. The category replaces components of the legacy GSA Schedule 78.
WHAT IS GSA SCHEDULE 78?
This category of the GSA Schedule includes miscellaneous solutions, products and services. One common thing about SINs in this category, is that they are intended to support other primary categories, or are simply not included into one of them.
The Miscellaneous Category mostly replaces Schedule 78 of the legacy GSA Schedule, but also contains some other elements (see below).
GSA SCHEDULE 78 – MAS CONTRACT
What about budgets? Before MAS Consolidation in 2020, GSA Schedule 78 reported about $148 million in sales. With nearly 500 vendors offering products and services in this category, this results in $300+ thousand per contractor, on average. Maybe not very spectacular figures compared to other Schedules, but still worth pursuing. After all, government contract duration is 5 years, prolonged to the maximum of 20 years.
Miscellaneous products and services are ordered by multiple federal, state, and local agencies. Some of the most important are the Department of Education, Department of Health or Veteran Affairs.
What legacy Schedules does the GSA Miscellaneous Category replace?
The new Miscellaneous Large Category of the GSA Schedule replaces the following legacy Schedules:
- GSA Schedule 78 – Sports, Promotional, Outdoor, Recreation, Trophies And Signs (SPORTS)
- Also, some SINs of the new category are from Schedule 56 – Building and Building Materials, and from Schedule 03FAC – Facilities Maintenance & Management.
Of course, the new SINs are different from those in the legacy Schedule 78, because the consolidated MAS has rearranged SINs, to link them to NAICS codes.
What are SINs in the GSA Miscellaneous Category?
The GSA Miscellaneous Category contains 6 subcategories:
- Apparel – clothing, footwear and protective apparel.
- Awards – badges, medals and so on.
- Complementary SINs. You need to offer a product in another Large Category in order to offer something from this SIN.
- Flags.
- Musical Instruments.
- Personal Hair Care Items.
Specifically, each subcategory contains the following Special Item Numbers:
Apparel
| 3152 | Clothing – Includes all types of clothing, such as work suits, coats, hoods, gloves, reflective clothing, camouflage, hazardous material clothing and gloves, etc. |
| 315210 | Uniforms – Includes uniforms and work wear for food service, housekeeping, laundry, facilities, maintenance, guest services, and other hospitality personnel. |
| 316210 | Footwear – Includes all types of footwear, including shoes, boots, etc. |
| 339113PA | Protective Apparel – Includes all protective apparel, including firefighting suits and accessories, body armor, head protection, etc. |
Awards
| 339999ASB | Awards (SBSA) – Includes all types of customizable awards, medals, and ribbons. |
Complementary SINs
| 238910 | Installation and Site Preparation Services. This SIN includes installation and site preparation services ordered in conjunction with buildings and structures, building materials, storage tanks/systems, services for alternative energy solutions or power distribution equipment, fuel dispensing & management systems, and security systems purchased under this schedule contract. |
| 4PL | Fourth-Party Logistics (4PL) Supplies and Services. This SIN encompasses all commercially available Fourth-Party Logistics (4PL) delivery models required for a full solution that includes, at a minimum, providing the product, logistical support, transportation, inventory management, and all other services necessary to support 4PL operations. |
| ANCILLARY | Ancillary Supplies and Services. These are support supplies and/or services which are not within the scope of any other SIN on this schedule. |
| ANCRA | Ancillary Repair and Alterations. Includes ancillary repair and alteration services ordered in conjunction with the delivery, or installation of products or services. |
| NEW | Introduction of New Supplies and Services. Includes the introduction of new supplies, technology and services categorically related to items already on GSA contract, which may be in commercial development and/or not yet introduced to the federal government. |
| OLM | Order-Level Materials (OLM) – OLMs are supplies and/or services acquired in direct support of an individual task or delivery order, placed against a Schedule contract or BPA. |
How to get on the GSA Miscellaneous contract
Getting on the GSA Schedule is a tricky process full of nuances and pitfalls. Without diligent preparation, your chance to win a GSA Miscellaneous Category contract is zero. Indeed, GSA statistics reveals that almost 50% of applicants get rejected. Is there a way to avoid that outcome for your submission? Yes. Here are the very basic steps of getting the GSA Misc contract.
1. Before submission. There are a number of things you need to do before you can submit your offer to the GSA. First of all, your business must be legitimately registered. You need to have a D.U.N.S. number, a tax id, and assigned NAICS codes. Also, the GSA requires you to have completed obligatory training, before you can create an account at the System for Award Management – SAM.gov. In addition to this, we strongly recommend that you also read as many resources on GSA acquisition as you can find – this will certainly pay back.
2. Prepare for submission. Now, it is time to prepare everything the GSA requires. Specifically, you will need to prepare over 30 documents and fill multiple forms, and then submit them using the GSA eOffer system. Some documents are rather obvious, others are tricky. Make sure to read the solicitation completely to learn what exact documents you will need to provide. This step is crucial, so hiring an experienced consultant that will guide you through the submission process is recommended.
3. Submission and review. After you submit your offer through the eOffer system, a contracting specialist will review your submission. Mostly, your offer will not be approved on the very first attempt. The contracting officer may either request some missing documents, or ask for pricelist clarification if it finds your price narrative not convincing enough.
4. Negotiation. After the review completes, the negotiation phase starts. The contracting officer will negotiate prices, conditions, technical details and delivery terms. Once both sides have come to an agreement, the Miscellaneous Category contract is awarded.
5. After award activity. Winning a contract in the GSA Miscellaneous Category opens the road to GSA Advantage and GSA eBuy, but the work does not end here. You need to constantly market your offers, compete for bids, promote your GSA Miscellaneous contract, and maintain it. Winning the contract does not automatically mean that you cannot lose it. So don’t rest on laurels, there are more milestones to reach.
