Request for Quote, Request for Proposal, other requests

Jan 5 22:21 UTC 2007

Since we have been discussing a nontrivial purchase and will be putting
out an RFQ to several vendors, I figure we probably want to formalize a
few things before going forward on that. 

Firstly, I have a list of vendors that I would call, but it is probably
not the same as the ones that the staff would call. Who are our
preferred vendors? 

Secondly, should there be a mailing list (perhaps rfq@cyberspace.org or
quotes@cyberspace.org or something) that forwards to a representative of
the board, the senior-most member of the technical staff and to the
treasurer that we can put into our RFQ letters as the contact person
(contact group) both for submissions of quotes/proposals and also so
that we have a technical, executive and financial person available to
answer questions posed by the vendor? This would allow for a sensible
email address and would allow us to change who gets the responses
without having to send errata to the vendors. 

Thirdly, do we have a dollar amount that is a threshold above which we
must get quotes from vendors (implying below which, we can just send a
local to the parts store with a check or a money order)? 

Lastly, should we make a standard RFQ worksheet so that whenever we need
new equipment above the threshold price, we can simply fill in a few
blanks and email it off, instead of having to reinvent the silly
document? While writing an RFQ is not difficult, it is tedious, and I
had to look over bunches of other ones from NPOs and schools. By having
a worksheet that can be filled in and sent off, we would have a
consistent image to the vendors and can save time in the future. If we
want to alter the one I wrote into a generic worksheet, I would
recommend that we add a section that says something to the effect of
"Until such time as a vendor has been selected and announced, this
document does not constitute a promise or other commitment to purchase
the equipment listed. Once a vendor has been selected and announced, a
contract for the sale of the goods at the price listed in the quote will
go into effect, which will be binding upon both the vendor and
Cyberspace Communications." or something like that. 

response 2 of 18:

Jan 7 00:49 UTC 2007

I don't think we have a threshold for buying, either; the board considers
every request.  As near as I can tell, the Treasurer is out of pocket for
postage.

response 4 of 18:

Jan 7 13:29 UTC 2007

I thought staff (and treasurer) could spend up to $50 without prior
board approval.  This was done to allow purchases like stamps and
small hardware purchases.  But this discussion was years and years
ago and I could be misremembering.

response 6 of 18:

Jan 7 17:46 UTC 2007

I'm glad you didn't mention that, Joe.  We kept that junket out of the 
minutes for a reason.  And I still think I should have been reimbursed for 
the suntan lotion.

response 8 of 18:

Jan 8 16:44 UTC 2007

Re #4:  Yes, I believe that's correct.

response 10 of 18:

Jan 11 20:31 UTC 2007

I have only sent out fairly informal requests. What I have seen from
school and from work is that by sending out a formal request, especially
for a bigger purchase, you can sometimes get a better price than the
list price, and you can get it in writing, which obligate the seller to
sell at that price. The reason for the better price is two-fold:
firstly, the seller knows that they are bidding against someone else and
so may be willing to come down in price a bit to guaranty the sale;
secondly, the RFQ lets us tell something about ourself and our mission,
which can influence the pricing (people get warm fuzzies from helping a
non-profit whose mission sounds good). Additionally, it helps
Cyberspace.org's image, as it is a formality of heavyweights, and being
seen as a heavyweight causes others to deal with you differently (if
someone is a badass, you treat them nice without asking them to prove
it; going through the formalities that badasses do makes us look like
one, which can sometimes buy us a little lower price or something). 

response 12 of 18:

Jan 12 01:04 UTC 2007

Is he?  i know he was over a decade ago but...

response 14 of 18:

Jan 12 04:28 UTC 2007

We are still using three of the 50 computers he gave us to recycle back in
around 2000, tradeins from people that got new hardware with new software on
it from him.  We replaced a few things like serial ports, CD-ROM drives, and
battery holders in the better boards.  Still have a HP II Plus laser printer
from him with no paper feed problems that the newer ones all have.

response 16 of 18:

Jan 12 04:59 UTC 2007

Well...I think he's hanging with Matt at UofM games per the norm...

response 18 of 18:

Jan 12 18:53 UTC 2007

Since he's still local, he needs to come check out some of the grex events
[like the Sat. lunches] and/or come back online!  Some of the other old-timers
I miss, too.